“What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for self-realization, but continue to ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?”
– Bassui
What is this mind? Find out, here and now.
How?
So many questions…
When you answer this question, you will smile, not just from the mind, but from the heart of your very being.
How?
Sit, if you are able, if not, standing or walking is just fine, why wait? Sit on a chair, with your legs a little way apart, feet grounded, forming a steady base. If you choose to sit on the floor, cross legged, burmese, or half lotus are good if you know how to do them. Keep your spine straight, but not stiff, let it have a little flow to it, yet remain upright, a sense of balance.
Breathe. You know how. Actually, your body knows how, it will do it anyway. But let’s dig a little deeper, slow the breath, begin to breathe more slowly, steadily, in, and out, one, two, three, four, counting each in breath. Allow yourself to settle into the space created by this breathing. Count to ten, on in breaths. Then begin again. If you lose count, begin again. Just keep this cycle going. You won’t need to remember, after some time.
Be effortless. In this sitting and breathing, be effortless. Float on it’s ocean. Glide on it’s updraught. Weightless in mind and body. At first, this will not come easily, it may even feel like a battle, and there may be no understanding of how to be effortless. It was this way for me. And explanations didn’t help me get it. All I can say is that teachers continued to repeat this to me, and somehow, like riding a bike, one day, it simply was effortless. Without trying. That is the nature of effortless. But for so long I tried too hard. My zen teacher did too. It made me feel better to hear that. But it didn’t help me find the way, it just helped me to persevere.
Persevere. No matter what you are discovering. No matter what you are making of it all, continue. Keep going. You will know when you step into the clear light of the true answer.
Remain aware. When you begin to inquire, you will see only the question. You will hear only the question. Let it become your silent mantra. Take it to the core of your being, your heart. Be broad in your awareness, wide open.
Contemplate. Quietly, as you settle into the quietness of the breath, and the sitting.
Keep quiet. Be in silence. Sit in quiet, spend time in quiet, walk alone. If you are with others, partner or family, for instance, try to take time out for this process. But you can do it with them too, because you can still talk with them, from this silence, yet remain at peace in yourself. With time, and practice, it will come. And if you spend less time in mundane conversation with them, remember, they might actually be grateful for that!
“Be alone in your own contemplation. Not alone, wrapped up in your own self-centredness.
The true nature of the mind is contemplation, natural meditation, silence.
That's the healthy mind, the mind essence.
Talking, chat chat chat, is a very lowly kind of conduct. It means that there is not really much harmony. It is like a disease. It goes on and on and on.”
– Mooji
Find a teacher. In my case, I was fortunate, my path took in a number of awakened masters. Mostly through a growing sense of direction, and certainly through grace, which I see now I look back. And there were many other teachers, yoga teachers, Buddhist teachers, a whole range of beings who stepped onto my path to assist this journey. My recommendation to you, as a caution, is to find a teacher, one you click with, and follow their guidance. You could choose my own teacher, Mooji, for instance.
If you can’t do it this way, explore it through writing, in a journal, or speaking into a voice recorder. That's possible. But whatever you do, begin. And if you have already begun, continue. Keep going. “Full steam ahead!” as one of my teachers would say.
When you find the answer, you will smile. It might take years, months, weeks, days, hours, or it might be spontaneous. It could be right now.
Now there is something to smile about!
ANDO / LIVING ZEN RETREAT / DAY 12 / FRIDAY 17 JANUARY 2014, 12:00.