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Mindful Living & Koan Meditation
There are 191 days left until the year 2000. During the retreat at Bailin Temple with 182 Zen practitioners, the practice of mindfulness is expressed through the smallest actions. Sweeping the courtyard, cooking meals, or washing the dishes is as sacred as sitting meditation and chanting. Instead of using mediums like cassette tapes to take refuge or run away from reality, the practice requires investing 100% of our mind into a single object. A lack of mindfulness while working or walking on the street brings two disadvantages:
- Not paying full attention to vehicles and potential accidents.
- The mind is scattered, unable to invest 100% of our mind into a single object.
The secret of Zen meditation is one thing each time – doing only one thing at a time, which helps us touch deeply the wonders of life in the present moment, such as the cypress tree in the courtyard, the white clouds, or the blue sky. A koan and a hua tou are seeds that need to be sown into our store consciousness instead of just using our intellect. The process of inquiry requires uninterrupted concentration, a constant care like a gardener taking care of a seed or a mother nourishing her fetus. Many ancestral teachers have used Questions to open up insight:
- Do you see the cypress tree in the courtyard?
- Does a dog have Buddha nature?
- Who are you, brother; who are you, sister?
- What was your state before your mother gave birth to you?
- When not thinking of good and not thinking of evil, who are you?
- All dharmas return to the One; where does the One return to?
- Who is the one reciting the Buddha’s name?
The tendency of living Zen emphasizes bringing Zen into daily life to transform a society that is being swept away by busyness. However, if we focus too much on mysterious literature, ancient verses, or works like the Blue Cliff Record, Zen can become a form of escaping reality. In Plum Village, a koan is unlocked using three basic Dharma keys:
- Impermanence.
- No-self.
- Interbeing.
This approach helps us face our actual suffering, anger, and entanglements directly, turning every step and every breath into a tool to achieve solidity and liberation.
Part of the following collection
Stopping and Living Deeply in the Present Moment