‘Wisdom comes forth only from clear, quiet mind. To hold on to nothing and not leave behind any remnant of thought is the mysterious nature of wisdom and the samadhi of meditation. Then everything we do is that samadhi, that mu – eating, sleeping, standing, walking, But if we become attached to that practice, we again become trapped in our thoughts about it. Instead, leave no remnant of any thought behind, all day long! Even if you can do it in the zendo, if you are not able to keep it alive in your daily life, that is not true zazen. Zazen is not the form of sitting, but the practice of continually cutting away every extraneous mind moment. We cut as we see, as we hear, as we taste, as we smell, as we think, as we feel, and because we do this we are no longer pulled around by all that we see and hear and smell and easte and feel. But this does not mean that we don’t respond to things – we respond more sharply than ever, and more appropriately. If we are falling, asleep, feeling, vaque and fuzzy, we are not doing zazen correctly. It is a question of whether we are truly cutting and doing the practice thoroughly.’ (Not One Single Thing)
I have been finding the words ‘mind moment’ helpful in my teaching recently. I think it corresponds to the concept of ‘nen‘, and every time the mind moves, every time the mind moments accumulate, we get further and further away from presence.
Shundo David Haye 