There’s a practice that Chozen Roshi used to assign during the summer Grasses and Trees sesshins: to walk out in the fields and sit down by a flower, a blade of grass or perhaps a tree branch or down by the stream. And open all the sense gates. Listen. Really.. . . . just be…..experience the life of this flower, blade, branch, rill, your life too. The play of the breeze in it, the visits from a bee or a grasshopper, or some other very small, winged, unnamable being. A tadpole in the transparent stream. Experiencing not only the intimacy of this very moment, in company with fellow beings, but also simplicity, the joy of sharing sentiency in its original forms. Complete life happens not only on the cushion or bench during zazen, but continually. When we remember to commune with whatever makes up this moment,. . sounds, smells, thoughts, sensation, beings, objects…the zen environment is always where our true home is found. Inside, outside, infinite dimensions emerging. In the field, in the office, in the bedroom, in the woods, in the car…..here is where our life is found.
