... Chapter 19 ....... Contents ...
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| 18. To you who are complaining all the time that you haven't got any time |
People only keep themselves busy to avoid boredom.
Everybody complains that they're so busy they haven't got any time. But why are they so busy? It's only their illusions that keep them busy. A person who practices zazen has time. When you practice zazen, you have more time than anyone else in the world.
If you aren't careful, you'll start making a big fuss just to feed ourselves. You're constantly in a hurry, but why? Just to feed yourself. Chickens too are in a hurry when they peck at their food. But why? Only to be eaten by humans.
How many illusions does a person create in their lifetime? It's impossible to calculate. Day in, day out, "I want this, I want that..." A single stroll in the park is accompanied by 50,000, 100,000 illusions. So that's what it means to be 'busy'. "I want to be with you, I want to come home, I want to see you..."
People are constantly out of breath - from running so quickly after their illusions.
You want to reach nirvana to be liberated from your present life? It is exactly that attitude which is called 'transmigration'.
The development of transportation has made the world smaller. Now we race around in cars, but where to anyway? To the arcade! We step on the gas, just to kill time.
Some people spend the night playing Mah Jong only to swallow a handful of vitamins the next morning and hurry to work with swollen eyes.
The world is in a constant state of agitation. What can you do when faced with ordinary people besides shrug your shoulders in resignation?
In old koans you often hear, "Where do you come from?" Here they're not asking for a place. Where do we all come from? Some desire sex. They come from sexual desire. Those who are greedy for money come from greed. "Please give me a reference!" A person who says this comes from the desire for career and fame.
"I've got to do this, I've got to do that, I haven't got any time!" This is how some people go completely crazy. What should they do? The best thing would be nothing at all. They've just got to calm down.
Not carrying out any human activity - that's zazen.
Big businessmen and politicians complain that they're so busy. But at the same time they take their chances with two or three lovers. The question is simply, what is important to us?
There's no end to running away. There's no end to running after. In this moment, we practice zazen without complaints. Nothing is more precious than a life lived out of the full-lotus posture.
Drifting in the world is like clouds drifting in non-mind [mushin]. It isn't a matter of floating more quickly. Everything moves in non-mind.
Everything depends on interdependent origination, there is no substance. It's the same with clouds: it's not that they exist, but they also do not not-exist. And at the same time they do exist and they do not exist. And now everybody's cracking their heads over that.
When the floating world is seen by zazen, this enriches the buddha-dharma and your life. Your life will never be enriched through struggling to get by in this floating world.
... Chapter 19 ....... Contents ...