Learned to Have a Conversation.

This post is the third installment of an unconnected trilogy of posts that focus around conversations, like a Serge Leone spaghetti western trilogy, but for Zennists and totally unconnected in any way shape or form other than the title.

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I've been hammering the drink lately, and it's been affecting my judgment in all sorts of areas, work and home life have been suffering because of it.. So yesterday I took a day off the booze and it was a breath of fresh air.

My life is sporadic and fragmented, I work for myself, with no set hours or real framework and the work can be very stressful, the kids have left home, and my partner and I have a turbulent relationship at best.

What has all this got to do with Zen?

One word.... PREFERENCES.

Obviously I would prefer to have a stable and tranquil existence, harmonious relationships and an easy work life, I'd like to be able to find meaning within life that doesn't require me to drink myself into oblivion at every given opportunity..

Are these the desires that Buddhism warns against?

Is the desire for peace and a harmonious life antithetical to the study of the mind, or should a zennist, like Bodhidarma suggests, be happy under any circumstances? How does he put it?

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To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.” When you seek nothing, you’re on the Path.

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He also says..

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As mortals, we’re ruled by conditions, not by ourselves. All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions. If we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, it’s the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past. When conditions change, it ends. Why delight In Its existence? But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes. Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path.

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These are the questions that I pose to myself on a daily basis, the conversations that I have with myself..

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It seems that the path of Zen is in conflict with my desire to have a harmonious existence within the framework of work and family life..

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On the other hand, will a peaceful and simple life lead to a better understanding of one's own self/mind?

Or is that just setting up practice and conditions that create a false reality?

Didn't Joshu say that.

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"The ordinary mind is the Buddha"

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That begs the question, what is "ordinary"?

Its perfectly ordinary for me to live my life as I have been doing for ages now, working hard, getting stressed, drinking, relaxing, repeating,

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The path isn't to be found in any set of particular circumstances, it is to be found right here, in the centre of our experience no matter what the circumstance.

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Having said that, Zennists throughout all of history have sought out quiet and peaceful circumstances and locations in order to be able to see exactly that mind/self nature that they want be able to discern.

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In a couple of days, I am heading out for a two week road trip, a retreat of sorts... Interesting to see how a change of conditions will affect my ability to "Silently follow the Path"

Submitted June 13, 2022 at 12:31PM by transmission_of_mind https://ift.tt/JjGV5Yg