Blogma

Mothers’ Day brings to my mind Prajnaparamita, mother of all Buddhas.  What IS prajnaparamita? We translate it as the “perfection of wisdom”. “Prajna” is “wisdom”, and “paramita” means “that which goes beyond”. Whatever’s happening right here and now. Where is the beyond? This practice that we do is all about looking into the nature of what is and what is beyond. When we refer to prajnaparamita, wisdom beyond wisdom, we are recognizing that wisdom is not a static “thing”. Rather the flowing nature of NOW. What makes up this sense of the present moment? What is true about it? How does it work? How does it coalesce in your heart and mind to seem so permanent and perhaps separate? Investigating this, we come to know intimately the mother of all Buddhas, the mother of being, the life we are living.

Listen. Just listen. At any time of day or night, anywhere. Listen to the sounds of the world. This simple practice is always available in the midst of activity or stillness. One of the gifts of just listening, according to Master Dogen, is what that allows for.

At the very time
When my ears hear
The voice as it is
Everyone that I talk with
Is my friend.

Friendliness, or intimacy, arises when just listening and only listening. We chant, “Absorbing world sounds awakens a buddha right here.” What “wakes up” when we drop our usual add-ons, side murmurings and mental commentaries that ordinarily sound-track our experience and distract us – with friends and acquaintances, co-workers, while walking in nature, while gardening, doing the dishes, driving the kids somewhere. What is speaking to us that we miss? There’s so much we notice when we truly listen. It’s so simple and yet can be hard to get to. Sound expresses so much in this intimate space and perpetually touches the inmost heart of our goings and comings. Listen, just listen and hear the voices of the ten-thousand things, any and all phenomena. What did you never notice before?

There’s a phrase, “mind like a steel trap”. What an image! It describes a mind that is sharp and quick to grab on. This sounds good, something we would want. Some of us have such a mind, snatching at every thought, every piece of information and holding on tight. Although this may serve in some situations in some ways, it doesn’t always serve. A steel trap narrows and holds tight. Animals caught in a steel trap have been known to gnaw off a limb to get free. We don’t have to go that far. Instead, we can stop gnawing on any bone, any obsession or fixed view and release into our wholeness and ease.

We each have the capacity to open the heart of the mind in zazen. To slip out of the trap. In zazen, we notice the habits of snatching and holding and discover a more flexible mind, which helps us enjoy the larger life that we are part of and to bring a large view to any situation we encounter. Then our warm heart can have more of a say in the choices we make and how we respond. We’re more able to contribute what’s truly needed from this quality of mind.

When you begin to practice Zen, you may notice more frequently that you drift off into both thinking and daydreaming more than you’d realized, even in the midst of your daily routines. If these routines are long established and/or humdrum, the mind has lots of incentive to tune out what’s here and now and slip into imagined realities. How much of our mental planning and fantasizing is a variety of dream states? A Zen practice includes noticing when the mind begins to troll through worries, plans, regrets, resentments.

These mental narratives can create or feed suffering states.  On the other hand, they may help us to address situations that need more attention and suggest creative solutions. It’s all in how we wake up to and use our awareness. Bringing greater awareness to dream states helps us to claim more of our mental life for benefit rather than disturbance and harm. We are always living a dream. Our practice is to realize the fundamental dream nature of all phenomena.