Eye Never Sleeps (eBook)

Chapter4: Undisturbed in the Way Donot remain in the dualistic state, avoidsuch pursuits carefully. Ifthere is even a trace ofthis and that, of right and wrong, theMind-essence will be lost in confusion. Althoughall dualities come from the One, donot be attached even to this One. Whenthe mind exists undisturbed in the Way, nothingin the world can offend, andwhen a thing can no longer offend, itceases to exist in the old way. Donot remain in the dualistic state, avoidsuch pursuits carefully. Thekey point here is to cease seeing things in a dualistic way, to free ourselvesfrom dualistic ideas and ultimately from dualistic consciousness itself. Thisprocess begins with sitting. If we are constantly judging our sitting,'Oh, this is terrible sitting,' or 'I am not sitting as well asI was last period or last retreat,' or 'I should not be thinkingthese kinds of thoughts, having these fantasies or feelings,' or 'Ishould not be thinking at all,' right there we are caught in the dualisticstate. Our zazen is to practice nonthinking and if we sit there scoldingourselves, that is certainly not practicing nonthinking. When we simply allowthe mind's natural function to take place, then thoughts will arise, just asbubbles rise to the surface of water. That is the natural function of the mind,just as the natural function of the ocean is to have waves. Ifwe can leave them alone, not giving them any special importance by loving themor hating them, clinging to them or rejecting them, and simply allow ourselvesto be empty space, infinite space, where any thoughts at all may come and go,then they will simply dissolve of their own accord. Just as waves come and go,rising and falling, just as bubbles come to the surface and burst, so thoughtswill appear and disappear. Ourmind in its natural state is like a mirror, simply reflecting what comes beforeit. What appears in the mind is not separate from it. Mind and objects are nottwo. All things are nothing but Mind, but this Mind is not the small egoisticmind, very limited in its perspective and capacity, with which we normallyidentify. Howhave we become trapped in this narrow little mind? Knowingly or unknowingly, wehave built up over many years a fixed position made up of beliefs and habits.We have been taught from early childhood onward how to act in every situationand what views to hold. When we walk into a shop, when we go to an art galleryor attend a film or a play, we are expected to have opinions about everything.And every time we meet other people, we are expected to form judgments aboutthem. Our lives are made up almost entirely of unconscious attitudes and habitsthat govern everything we do, from brushing our teeth to interacting with others. Whenwe sit in ritual situations, such as meditation retreats, it is easier for usto see unconscious habitual patterns of thought and action. If we have astructure with certain rules and regulations that helps us to slow down andface ourselves, then it becomes harder to avoid noticing the numerous ways wethink and feel and act automatically. Oncewhen I was at an insight meditation retreat, we were asked to take fiveprecepts during our stay. One of them was not to take anything that isn't yoursor given to you. I happened to have forgotten my toothpaste, so I brushed fortwo or three days without any. Then I noticed a roommate's tube of toothpastesitting out on the counter. I thought, 'Using a little bit of histoothpaste is not going to bother him. I'm sure if he were here, he would giveinto me.' I had nearly finished squeezing it out on the brush...