Strong Zazen

Often I hear people talking about how to start or maintain a zazen practice. Usually the discussion starts after a sesshin, when people will be going home to back home to their everyday lives. I remember trying to follow the monastery schedule when I “returned to the world”. It is near impossible to live “in the world” as if in the monastery. waking up early to do zazen at 4 AM, chanting, and then eating oryoki breakfast, followed by samu kitchen clean up before going to work. I remember bringing oryoki to work with me and trying to eat my meals at my desk oryoki style. In the evening cooking a lite meal and then zazen. Silence in the evening was a must until after morning service. This enthusiasm wouldn’t last because life “gets in the way”. Trying to live as if in the monastery when you are not there is denying your life just as it is. For me it was thinking Zen practice has to be a certain way, or I’m not doing it successfully. The “real zen practice happens in the monastery” is a very popular delusion. Your everyday life is Zen practice. Living in a monastery is Zen practice for a monk. Living at home is zen practice for a priest, or for a house-holder. Living the precepts is Zen practice whether you’ve taken Jukai formally, or not. There is no limit to zen practice within the life of us. There may be conditions that are favorable for practicing a certain way, but it is not necessary to live a “ Zen life” to live a Zen life. Accepting the circumstances of our life is the first step to a strong practice. If we are in hell, we must practice zazen as a hell dweller. If we are in heaven, we must practice zazen as a heaven dweller. It is hard to practice zazen in hell without accepting that we are in hell. A heaven dweller cannot practice zazen as a hell dweller. The suffering in hell would be too harsh for a the type of zazen done in heaven. The same is true for the hell dweller trying to practice zazen in heaven. The hell dweller would not be used to how soft and pleasant the zendo is in heaven therefore zazen wouldn’t be possible. Each practice has to be done for the setting and situation suitable for the conditions present. A strong practice is being able to transition from one place to another and maintain the practice that is suitable for the current circumstances without lamenting the loss of favorable conditions, or longing for a better set of circumstances. If the only time you have to do zazen at home is ten minutes, do zazen for ten minutes. If you have an hour, do an hour. It is important to do it regularly. That is how we build up a strong practice that can survive the spectrum from heaven to hell.