Riding the Ox Home (eBook)

Fromthe Introduction Thepath of enlightenment is a spiritual journey of discovering our true nature.But the fact is that from the very beginning there is nothing to acquire. Fromthe beginning, we are perfect and complete, lacking nothing. During a spiritualjourney, in taking up and engaging specific practices, we come to personallyexperience and verify the reality of that perfection. Shakyamuni,the historical Buddha, attained enlightenment through a thoroughgoing study ofhis life in a seated meditation called zazen. At the moment of his realization,he directly experienced the very foundation of reality. He exclaimed, 'I,all beings, and the great earth have at once entered the Way.' With thatstatement, the Buddha was unequivocally pointing to his and our intrinsicperfection. A genuine spiritual journey directs itself to this matter. Thejourney is a return to our original perfect state, the ground of beingavailable to us at every moment. In Zen, we call that perfect state the TrueSelf, the most fundamental aspect of our life. Each one of us is born with itand will die with it. Some will realize the fact of that perfection, some willnot. Nonetheless, it is always present. Sincethere is nothing external to attain—,nothing that anyone can give us andnothing that we can receive—,the spiritual journey is a ceaseless process ofinvestigating ourselves, of digging through the layers of our conditioning toreach the ground of our being. Conditioning is unavoidable. It begins at birthand continues throughout our lives, perpetuated by our culture, parents,teachers, religions, peers, and society. We all define ourselves through it.When we reach adulthood we find ourselves living our lives out of this deeplyingrained script. At some point, we may sense that something is not quiteright. Feeling unreal, meaningless, or perpetually dissatisfied despite plentyof material goods and good experiences, we become aware of an undercurrent ofsuffering that permeates our lives. Questions begin to arise, and with them theimpetus to find our true humanity and to become completely free. Eachstep of a spiritual journey involves this crucial turning point of becomingaware of our most profound questions. In acknowledging our impulse for clarity,it is then possible to develop our aspiration for enlightenment. Once we areconscious of our deepest yearnings we can begin our practice, realizeourselves, and share that wisdom with others. At each stage along the way thiscycle of practice, realization, and actualization is repeated. Again and againand again. Eachstep requires the questions of great doubt—,'Who am I? What is truth? Whatis reality? What is life? What is death?' These questions change as thespiritual journey unfolds, but there are always questions. They are the cuttingedge of practice. We also need to have faith. Unless we trust ourselves and theprocess, there is no possibility of being fully engaged. If there is no trust,skepticism and cynicism arise and we don't receive what the practice offers.Along with great doubt and great faith we need great determination, the abilityto persevere in spite of all odds. Thirteenth-century Japanese Zen Master EiheiDogen said, 'To study the Way is to study the self, to study the self isto forget the self, to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousandthings.' Studying the self is the most difficult undertaking any of uswill ever engage in our lives. The spiritual journey requires incredible effortbecause the self is specifically conditioned not to be forgotten. In theprocess of exploring the self, resistances will come up. But when great...