Awakening: a presence to what is

Zazen 11 a.m.

The monk Joshu asked Master Nansen : ‘What is the Way?’ Master Nansen’s answer has become famous: ‘The spirit of daily life is the Way.’

There is no need to stand on your head, to do strange things or flagellate yourself. The spirit of daily life is the spirit we need to have to live our daily lives to the full – to get up, to wash, to go to the toilet, to have breakfast, etc. – the peaceful mind we need in order to live our human condition in the best possible manner.

Why is it so difficult to attain peace of mind?

It is the fact that we focus on ourselves, on our egocentric ideas, that makes life difficult. The obstacle to peace of mind is thinking only about ourselves. The obstacle is the I, the me, mine, everything that has to do with me, my feelings, my suffering, my thoughts, my ideas. These views relative to the I are partial views of reality, views relative only to the I. In fact, what is relative to the I, to the me, to mine drives me apart from reality. It is because we are not in harmony with reality, locked in our egoistic attitudes, that we encounter suffering.

Whereas ‘pure indivisible reality always takes first place in the present’.

Zen practice leads us to be ourselves, as we are, simple and sober, with a clear and peaceful mind. There is no longer any separation between us and our environment. At every moment, we become part of reality. At every moment, we receive and respond to reality. This is how the great master Keizan answers the same question: ‘What is the Way?

When the tea is served, drink the tea. When the rice is served, eat the rice.

To follow reality, to be at one with it, to respond unceasingly to reality – this is the Way.

There is something unconscious, automatic and natural about peace of mind. Following the cosmic order, the ultimate, indivisible reality (of which we are part) is the attitude of awakening.

We could say that peace of mind is nothing other than the awakening of the mind to reality: when the mind is no longer agitated by fears, anxieties, jealousies, anger, hatred…

Sitting in zazen, we give ourselves to reality at every moment, we don’t pursue our thoughts, we don’t agitate our passions. We don’t create all kinds of illusions far removed from reality. We just sit, to the exclusion of all else. Totally seated, we become ourselves, with no other preoccupations. Only awakened, present to reality.

Just sitting is difficult!

We always tend to want to grab something, to want to grasp reality, whereas we are reality. During zazen, you don’t dwell on anything, you don’t try to become aware of anything, your mind isn’t tending towards anything, it is not agitated by anything. Master Keizan wrote another poem that expresses the spirit of zazen:

It is like a black lacquered ball rolling in the night.

This means we cannot see, we cannot grasp anything. You cannot distinguish the black ball from the darkness of the night. There is no separation between us and what surrounds us. We are in perfect continuity with everything around us and we always have been.

This is difficult to accept. To accept a reality in which we are one with everything, even though we are not aware of it… Unconsciously, naturally and automatically are the characteristics of awakening. So you need to have great faith in letting go. Letting go of your viewpoints, your thoughts, your ideas, your ideologies, your suffering, in a word, your I, your me and mine.

Awakening: an astonishing presence to what is.

Taiun JP Faure, January 2025