"If you do not see the way,
you do not see it even as you walk on it.
When you walk the way, it is not near, it is not far."
you do not see it even as you walk on it.
When you walk the way, it is not near, it is not far."
The Harmony of the Relative and Absolute (Sandokai)
It is fortunate that even when we do not see it, we walk the Way. What can this mean? We are not separate from the Great Way, even when we stop sitting for a time, and cannot see it. Why then must we sit zazen? It is not only to walk the Way, but to know that we walk on it. Watching my children live their lives, I often see them express great mastery of some skill, or great insight, and not see it themselves. On one hand, this is what zazen is about, returning to that state of simple, unaffected expression of a child. Yet we are loaded down with concepts, grasping, aversion, and thoughts that obscure this sight and taint our actions. As said by the Ancient Masters, going beyond this by zazen means that we eat when hungry and drink when thirsty, and now know our intent and actions, simply and for what they are. The vision of years and unencumbered action of a child.
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