September 2018
Dear Sangha,
From the Blue Cliff Record, Case #14, a monk asked Yun Men, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yun Men said, “An appropriate statement.”
An interesting reply—one that sounds deceptively simple. Like saying, Just do the right thing. But of course it’s not so easy, because everybody has an opinion about what the “right” thing is.
So as practitioners of Zen, it’s essential that we, first of all, practice the generosity of spacious awareness. Attain substance. Only when we allow for the boundless space of a before-thinking mind, is it possible to then practice the generosity of attention and attain truth so that we can see clearly what appears in the transitory moment world. Seagulls going one way, waves another, rocks and clouds living and dying.
Then, bringing both the generosity of awareness and attention together we can naturally attain the generosity of activity, our appropriate Bodhisattva function.
May we, with appropriate grace and wisdom, be of service in our uncertain times.
Yours in the dharma,
Jeong Ji
