The word Tao means the Way, the direct reality of life and the natural order of the universe. Before we put words to it, before thinking about it, not dependent on words…the lively reality of this moment continually arises. Thinking and words are also part of reality, but just a small portion of what makes up the loved moment. Words and thoughts can become a veil over all of life if we are not awake to the Tao. Without awareness of this, we can be held hostage to a narrow regime of words. Direct experience is the Way. The touch of clothing on skin, the whoosh of the car driving by, the sound of water falling into the sink, that caw in the tree on the trail. The sense world are forms that express the material aspect of Tao. The lively play of conditions. The Tao reaches beyond the senses though. What of our intuition? What of dreams?
When we talk about the Way-seeking mind, the mind that seeks the Way…this is what we’re referring to. What brings you here here? That inmost wondering that infuses this practice of inquiry into the Way is a stream of circumstances and temperament that run silently deep beneath our ordinary lives. The Way-seeking mind brings us to this path of practice and keeps us here, even long before we can see the path unfolding in this moment and long after. What is before and after? Looking back to how you came to Zen practice, you can see the Way-seeking mind in action. What caused you, what conditions makes this path yours? What brought you to where you are today, here? A marvelous web of causes and conditions create our necessity for practice. This isn’t the case for everyone. But it’s the case for any of us who take up the Way of Dharma, of inquiry into the nature of this human experience in this Way.