In the Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen’s Instructions to the Cook, Dogen quotes an exchange with the cook. “What is practice?” he asks. The cook replies “There is nothing in the world that is hidden.” Such a simple statement. How does it guide us in practice?
Well, we certainly have to be quite present to see what is each moment. We have to wonder. As the ten thousand things emerge, we emerge with them, with receptivity, untainted by whatever hides what is from view. This requires us to turn the gaze to look within.
The paradox of presence is our practice……poised in each moment, wholeheartedly engaged, as an embodied mind that is open and free from being stuck in any ideas or expectations. Not so controlled by them, limited by them, really. We are all fundamentally free to allow the world its complexity. This takes practice, practice, practice. As Dogen recommends, “continuous practice”. On the great road of Buddha ancestors there is always unsurpassable practice, continuous, and sustained. It forms the circle of the Way, and is never cut off.
