"Walking is Zen, sitting is also Zen. Whether speaking or remaining silent, whether moving or remaining still, one is at peace. Even when one is confronted with the edge of a sword, he remains at ease. Even when one is drugged with poison, he is at peace, free of tension and fear.
That is Zen."
This is a passage from the Zen classic "Shoudouka" by the Tang Dynasty Chinese Zen monk, Youka Genkaku.
I am often asked, "By the way, what do you do when you practise Buddhism?"
Until I experienced actual training in a monastery, my image of training was that of a darkened hall or deep in the mountains, where you devote yourself to zazen with a single-minded devotion.However, after actually living in a monastery, I realized that "shugyo" (ascetic practice) is a way of life.
Cleaning, laundry, cooking, meals, chopping wood, burning, bathwater, weeding, field work, rituals...
Not only the time spent in zazen, but also every moment of daily life is considered as training. In fact, the monastery rules state;
"The ingenuity of movement is a million million times greater than that of stillness."
It means that it is more important to be ingenious in every movement than to sit quietly.
If we work with careful awareness and with the same concentration as in zazen, every aspect of our daily life will become zazen in motion. Even if you are not ordained, even if you do not go to a training hall, every act of your daily life, depending on how you look at it, can immediately become Zen practice.
We should savour every moment of our daily life and live each day with a deep and careful appreciation of it. That is the way to practise in this world.Please enjoy the experience.
Tosei Shinabe
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