The Essence of Zazen - and Life

     "Zazen is the practice and realization of manifesting our body as Bodhi, as enlightenment. It is both the practice and the realization, for when we truly do zazen, there is no distinction between practice and realization. It is wisdom as is, as things are. This zazen, the practice of the Buddha Way, is none other than the practice of one's life.
     The best way to practice is to forget the self. By forgetting the self, we can appreciate our life not in the narrow, restricted, isolated way that we usually live but rather as a life of unity, a life that is unsurpassable. Another way to explain what we mean by forgetting the self is that we are transcending the subject-object relationship or the I-Other relationship. We are transcending duality."

       Adapted from "Appreciate Your Life: The Essence of Zen Practice" by Taizan Maezumi Roshi, Shambhala, 2002.
       Shambhala Sun, May 2015                      www.lionsroar.com/category/shambhala-sun/

Yeow Kwang Yeo FRPS   www.dpreview.com