Monday, February 11, 2019

Water?

Then what is our zazen? Or what is water? This may be another -- the next question you will have; if zazen is not zazen, what is that which we are practicing everyday? This will be the next question. Here Dogen Zenji says, ‘This is Buddha’s activity, some activity which was given to you.’ Tentatively the water is not water actually; it is something which was given to you. Our practice is not something which you can understand because it is something which is given to you. You didn’t make it; you did not invent it; you did not practice zazen through and through. But the reason why you can practice it is just because it was something which was given to you. So this practice is possible because Buddha gave this practice to us. So there is no reason why we do not know what it is, but because it was given to us we have to receive it, we have to accept it. That is just why we practice zazen. --------------------------------------------------  " Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-014 as found