Appreciate Your Life

1. Appreciate Your Life as the Manifestation of Buddha Nature

Your life is the 'treasury of the true dharma eye and subtle mind of peace.'

Buddha nature is inherent. Every person's life, exactly as it is, embodies the wisdom and virtue of the Buddha. This realization is not something to be attained in the future, but a truth to be recognized in the present moment. Our practice is to close the gap between our perceived life and our actual life as the manifestation of Buddha nature.

Life is already complete. There is no need to add or subtract anything from your current experience. The challenge is to see through our conditioned perceptions and recognize the inherent completeness of our existence. This recognition leads to a profound appreciation of life, free from the constant seeking for something more or different.

Key aspects of Buddha nature:

• Present in all beings without exception
• Not separate from our everyday experiences
• Manifests as both wisdom and compassion
• Transcends conceptual understanding

2. Practice Zazen to Realize Your True Self

When you sit, don't get involved in any side-business. Be determined to resolve the great matter.

Zazen is direct realization. The practice of zazen, or seated meditation, is not a means to an end but the direct expression of our Buddha nature. It's not about achieving a particular state of mind or having special experiences, but about intimately encountering our true self.

Forget the self in practice. The key to effective zazen is to let go of our usual self-centered thinking and simply be present with whatever arises. This doesn't mean suppressing thoughts or feelings, but rather not getting caught up in them. As we practice, we naturally align with the rhythm of the universe.

Elements of effective zazen practice:

• Correct physical posture
• Breath awareness
• Non-attachment to thoughts and sensations
• Sustained effort without striving
• Openness to present experience

3. Embrace Impermanence and Non-Self

When you truly forget yourself, a transformation takes place. Then your life is no longer your life. It is the life of Buddha.

Impermanence is Buddha nature. Rather than seeing impermanence as a problem to be overcome, we can recognize it as the very essence of our Buddha nature. Everything is constantly changing, arising and passing away moment by moment. This ceaseless flux is not separate from our true nature but is its very expression.

Non-self is freedom. The teaching of non-self or emptiness doesn't mean that we don't exist, but that we don't exist as separate, fixed entities. When we deeply realize this, we are liberated from the confines of our limited self-concept and can function freely in accord with circumstances.

Implications of impermanence and non-self:

• Every moment is fresh and new
• No fixed identity to defend or maintain
• Interconnectedness with all beings
• Freedom from attachment to outcomes
• Spontaneous compassion arises

4. Understand Koan Practice as Embodying Reality

Your life is no other than that!

Koans reveal reality. Koan practice is not about solving intellectual puzzles, but about embodying the living reality that koans point to. Each koan is an invitation to directly experience the truth of our existence beyond conceptual thinking.

Life itself is the ultimate koan. While traditional koans can be powerful tools, our very life is the most fundamental koan. How do we live fully in each moment, responding appropriately to circumstances without being bound by our conditioning? This is the ongoing practice of realizing koan in everyday life.

Approaches to koan practice:

• Whole-hearted engagement with the koan
• Letting go of intellectual analysis
• Allowing the koan to work on you
• Bringing the koan into daily activities
• Seeing all experiences as expressions of koan

5. Cultivate the Bodhi Mind and Great Faith

Trust yourself as you truly are; you are already the Buddha Way itself.

Bodhi mind is beginners mind. The aspiration to awaken, known as bodhi mind, is not something we develop once and for all. Rather, it's a continual renewal of our commitment to practice and realization. Each moment is an opportunity to freshly engage with life from the perspective of awakening.

Great faith is essential. To progress on the path, we need unwavering faith in our innate Buddha nature and in the efficacy of practice. This faith is not blind belief, but a deep confidence born of our own experience and the testimony of realized beings throughout history.

Aspects of bodhi mind and great faith:

• Constant renewal of practice intention
• Trust in innate wisdom and compassion
• Courage to face life's challenges
• Perseverance through difficulties
• Openness to guidance and teaching

6. Live the Life of No Separation

When you truly forget yourself, a very different scenery is revealed in front of your nose. The other shore is where you stand.

Oneness is our true nature. The sense of separation between self and other, subject and object, is an illusion created by our conditioned mind. In reality, all phenomena are intimately interconnected, arising together in each moment. Our practice is to realize and live from this fundamental unity.

Intimacy is the way. True intimacy means no separation between ourselves and our experience. It's a direct, unmediated encounter with life as it is. This intimacy extends not only to pleasant experiences but to all aspects of life, including pain, difficulty, and uncertainty.

Manifestations of non-separation:

• Spontaneous compassion for all beings
• Natural harmony with circumstances
• Absence of conflict between self and other
• Direct perception without conceptual overlay
• Effortless action in accord with the situation

7. Face the Great Matter of Life and Death

Clarify what life is, what death is. There is a very clear answer. How you appreciate it and how you live it is up to you.

Life and death are not separate. Our usual view sees life and death as opposites, with death as something to be feared or avoided. From the perspective of awakening, life and death are not two. Each moment contains both birth and death, arising and passing away simultaneously.

Confronting mortality awakens us. Deeply facing the reality of our own death can be a powerful catalyst for awakening. It strips away our complacency and forces us to question what is truly important. This confrontation can lead to a profound appreciation for the preciousness of each moment.

Approaches to the great matter:

• Contemplate impermanence in daily life
• Face fears and resistances around death
• Cultivate gratitude for the gift of life
• Live fully in each moment
• Realize the deathless nature of true self

8. Realize Thusness in Everyday Experience

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Thusness is immediate reality. The term "thusness" points to the direct, unmediated experience of reality as it is. It's not a special state to be achieved, but the ever-present nature of our experience when we drop our conceptual overlays and habitual patterns of thinking.

Ordinary mind is the way. We don't need to seek for some extraordinary experience or altered state of consciousness. Our everyday mind, when free from grasping and aversion, is itself the expression of Buddha nature. The challenge is to recognize the profound in the mundane.

Characteristics of thusness:

• Immediacy of direct experience
• Absence of conceptual elaboration
• Naturalness and spontaneity
• Non-discrimination between sacred and profane
• Fullness and completeness of each moment

9. Transcend Dualistic Thinking

When you close the gap, that is the best way to take care of your family, of your community, of your life.

Beyond good and evil. Our habitual dualistic thinking divides experience into opposites: good and bad, right and wrong, self and other. While this conceptual framework can be useful in daily life, it ultimately limits our freedom and creates unnecessary suffering. True wisdom transcends these artificial divisions.

Unity of relative and absolute. The relative world of distinct phenomena and the absolute realm of undifferentiated oneness are not separate realities. They are two aspects of the same truth, like two sides of a coin. Our practice is to realize the interpenetration of these two dimensions in every moment of life.

Ways to transcend dualism:

• Cultivate non-judgmental awareness
• Embrace paradox and contradiction
• See the interconnectedness of all things
• Recognize the emptiness of fixed concepts
• Act spontaneously without hesitation

Last updated: November 18, 2024