The Land Of Bliss

We have the four great vows, and I want to talk about the second great vow. “Delusions are endless; we vow to cut through them all.” Originally, this universe was empty. Then something appeared. What appeared is delusion. If we cut our attachment to this delusion, then life can be bliss. And so, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is inside.” The Buddha said, “The Tathagata lives in the land of bliss, even while he’s still in his body.”

For myself, what I do practicing here at the Zen center is I go into the dharma room and I sit down, and I practice. Like all of us. Just back to this moment. I don’t plan to walk around in a blissful state, and no Buddhist actually does. And so what happens when I sit down and bring myself back to this moment, whatever I’m holding on to in that moment lets go.

And then of course my mind wanders and picks up all that stuff. And once again I bring myself back again to this moment. And again, my mind goes, I bring it back. In this process of just bringing myself back to this moment, a very simple process, just always have this beginner’s mind, because there’s nothing really to learn here but only persistence, try mind, and direction.

Any time when I do that and sit in the evening or in the morning, when I leave the Zen room my consciousness is always lighter. I’m holding on to less. Actually, there’s not a whole lot to say about that, because that’s what the practice is. You do that. And of course, when you do that, you have direction, because you understand, there is no I, my, and me. So why see only what I can do for myself? Instead, how can I help others?