Effort In Zen

Anytime, anyplace, you must not forget your true direction. Why do you eat every day? When you are born, where do you come from? When you die, where do you go? "Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed— that is human." Everybody comes into this world carrying nothing. Everybody leaves for some place, also carrying nothing. We cannot take anything with us. And yet in between, everyone wants things, everybody chases things, and everybody is attached to things very much.

When moving, standing, sitting, lying down, talking, being silent, moving, or dwelling in complete stillness-anyplace, anytime-how do you keep your mind? Outside conditions and outside situations constantly take your mind and pull it around and around and around. It is possible to find your true nature in the midst of all of this coming and going, in the middle of your everyday activities. The name for this is keeping a not-moving mind.

This world is becoming more and more complicated every day. There are always many, many things happening around you all the time. Many airplanes and cars are constantly coming and going. New scientific and technological changes appear more rapidly than we can ever digest them. Also every day we watch TV, or go to the movies, or go dancing, or visit the bustling city. We meet many people, fly here, and then fly there. There are plans to be made and projects to be finished on deadline. All these things are not good and not bad. But they take your energy, so you cannot keep your center in the midst of your involvement with them. Then when you die, where does your true self go? That is something that should concern you above all else. So, watching TV is not bad. Going to the movie theater is not bad. Meeting friends in the city is not bad. Any kind of action is not good and not bad, and should not be a problem. The most important thing is that you must help your center to become strong so that you can digest all of these experiences and turn them into some kind of wisdom for others. That is very, very important.

Excerpt From Compass Of Zen