Judgment: Is that So?

I need to be aware of how I allow the external world to influence my mind and consciousness.  I am seeing how I am facing the challenge of the way society through the media, continues to indoctrinate my mind. Just being aware of that is all that is necessary, as there is no need to go off at a tangent trying to discover some secret antidote, because awareness is the antidote.  That is pure awareness without judgment or making comparison.

It is not that society it doing this deliberately, because all people are in the same boat here with the exception of enlightened Zen masters who have transcended worldly affairs and  no longer make judgments and comparisons. I need to stop judging society too.

I am reminded of the story of a Zen master who was wrongly accused of making a local girl pregnant. When her parents accused him he just responded, "Is that so?". The parents of the young girl brought the child to him when it was born and he cared for the child for many years until the child’s mother had a pang of conscience and admitted to her parents that she had lied about the Zen master being the father. The parents then went to the Zen master and told them their story. They apologized and as they walked away with the child, the Zen master again responded, "Is that so?"

Zen for 1000 Years?

It has been said by many a Zen master that a Zen practitioner needs to be willing to practice zazen for 1000 in search of enlightenment.

Being mindful of all my activity during the day, is the extension of my Zen into daily activity, yet there is a lot of past conditioning to bring up into my awareness. It is in the last 10 years or so that I have recognized the wisdom of the "1000 years" of zazen statement. And now that my Zen practice has reached the 30-year mark it continues. It is the journey, not the destination, so I really need to learn to stop counting the years. That time is an illusion!