Dealing with busyness

[Jundo]

Shinshi

[Tokan]

Hey Dogukan

I work full-time with random shifts and on-call duties, have three young children, and support my wife by sacrificing my 'me' time so she can get some for herself, leaving me little in the kitty some days. I do two things - one is just to sit regardless, sit with that compulsive need to do something (isn't zazen doing something?) My wife tells me I'm doing nothing, I like to think I'm neither doing something or nothing, but I usually say I and "doing nothing on purpose!" The second thing for me is to not be confined to zazen. Sometimes my practice feels just as vital when I am making food for my children, picking up their toys, taking out the trash, washing the dishes, and so on. When I include these things into my practice I sometimes also find that, once completed, I can then sit quite naturally, as it is important to attend to the daily needs of life. It would not be very ethical, at least in my mind, to let the children be hungry while I sit zazen, after all, my essential peace will only be disturbed by their 'hangry' mood afterwards

Jundo mentioned in his comment about 'insta-zazen', and that is something I also use. Sitting one 30 minute zazen is good, but 15 two minute mini-zazen's through the day also have their value. I know Jundo compares zen practice to jazz music at times, having rules that allow plenty of space for creativity and self-expression, I have found it helpful to look at it this way, it seems to allow a more natural and relaxed flow to my practice when it is about more than the zafu!

Best wishes and gassho

Tokan (satlah)