Time to pick up where we left off (and pick up the pace)
Shohaku continues our dance with emptiness, bringing us beyond the idea that there is something “other”, something beyond phenomenal existence.
“When we hear ‘since all dharmas are marked with emptiness, they do not appear or disappear’ we might imagine there is ‘something’ beyond the phenomenal... We might believe this something is noumenon which does not either appear or disappear, something that is permanent.”
(In metaphysics, the noumenon is a posited object or event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. Wikipedia)
Looking back on it now, that search for ‘something’, that permanent base to build ‘I am’ upon, was what brought me to practice in the first place. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it all shifting sand!
Can you think of a time when the sand shifted under your feet? How did it feel? Was there fear? Was there joy? Something else?
The Heart Sutra does not leave us immobile on that shifting sand though, it also shows us another way to navigate. Shohaku references Genjokoan again and reminds us that rather than try and build sandcastles, the key is to embrace the changing patterns of our lives to become ‘free from our yardstick and see things from a broader perspective’. More than just sandcastles can be built...
‘This is the way we transform ourselves, transform ourselves, transform our way of life, enabling us to be flexible and see things without attachment. It is not mere insight or wisdom but rather a practice. Practice in the form of zazen is the foundation of our lives.’
We sit. We watch our thoughts come and go. Sometimes we build sandcastles and watch the sea knock them down...
Practice can be scary. It can also be wonderful. Have you felt the fear? The joy?
![](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201110/r836218_7755260.jpg)
Gassho,
Shugen
Sattoday/LAH
Shohaku continues our dance with emptiness, bringing us beyond the idea that there is something “other”, something beyond phenomenal existence.
“When we hear ‘since all dharmas are marked with emptiness, they do not appear or disappear’ we might imagine there is ‘something’ beyond the phenomenal... We might believe this something is noumenon which does not either appear or disappear, something that is permanent.”
(In metaphysics, the noumenon is a posited object or event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. Wikipedia)
Looking back on it now, that search for ‘something’, that permanent base to build ‘I am’ upon, was what brought me to practice in the first place. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it all shifting sand!
Can you think of a time when the sand shifted under your feet? How did it feel? Was there fear? Was there joy? Something else?
The Heart Sutra does not leave us immobile on that shifting sand though, it also shows us another way to navigate. Shohaku references Genjokoan again and reminds us that rather than try and build sandcastles, the key is to embrace the changing patterns of our lives to become ‘free from our yardstick and see things from a broader perspective’. More than just sandcastles can be built...
‘This is the way we transform ourselves, transform ourselves, transform our way of life, enabling us to be flexible and see things without attachment. It is not mere insight or wisdom but rather a practice. Practice in the form of zazen is the foundation of our lives.’
We sit. We watch our thoughts come and go. Sometimes we build sandcastles and watch the sea knock them down...
Practice can be scary. It can also be wonderful. Have you felt the fear? The joy?
![](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201110/r836218_7755260.jpg)
Gassho,
Shugen
Sattoday/LAH
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