So many are saying Where is God when I need him? Especially today. Many feel deserted and alone. But it is only that we have been looking in the wrong direction, searching everywhere but at home. The surprising answer to the question tells us instead, that all we need is right here with us in our everyday life. In fact it is right at the kitchen table. It is only that we have been looking elsewhere, searching all around. These episodes offer specific ways in which we can encounter God, fulfillment, enlightenment right here in our daily lives, wherever we go.
We're all looking for thrills and chills as we go through life. Our ordinary everyday life seems too simple, dull and repetetive. To make life special we feel we have to jazz things up, create dazzling goals, become someone special, receive all kinds of acclaim. Or else we've failed, missed our chance. Zen practice shows us just the opposite. Every day, just as it comes and as it goes, is extremely precious. As we attend to it, stop trying to twist it into something else, and honor the moment just as it is, something beautiful happens. We see the uniqueness in every moment and every person who comes our way. We also see that nothing at all is repetetive. It is only our lack of attention to what happens, that makes it seem as though the same old thing happens again and again. It does not and cannot. And even our illusion of being "stuck" is only an illusion. Who we are and what is going on is constant change.
Good morning, good morning. It's Brenda Ash and Shoshana back with another episode of Zen Wisdom for your everyday life. You know, when we say everyday life, of course it's day by day, but what we mean also in in Zen practice for your ordinary life, your regular life, day by day, your your simple life. Life as it comes and as it goes, as it rolls along. It's very, very, very, very interesting when we look at what practice actually is and what we intend it to be, what we want from it. We want it to make our everyday life better. We want this, we want to be strong, we want to be enlightened, we want to be smart, we want to be healthy, want, want, want. We have an endless, endless list of desires, wants. And most of them are based upon making every day special, different from what it actually is. Not repetitive, not ordinary, not simple, but dashing, glorious, thrilling. The thrills and the chills. We want the thrills and the chills. I remember when I was a little girl and living in Brooklyn, and it was a big treat to go to Steeplechase and Coney Island. That was the old, old days. And everybody wanted the thrills and the chills of Steeplechase. You would go in, and there were these long mirrors, and your whole body was distorted in the mirror. It looked different than it was, and everybody would go, whoa. Everything was distorted somehow. Everything looked different from the way we knew it in ordinary life, and that was thrilling. It was exciting, it was fun. There's all kinds of illusions, magical moments. They weren't magical, but they were the you just walk right into the world of illusion big time in Steeplechase. That was the thrill of it. And you go up and down the rides, the roller coaster in Coney Island and so forth, the parachute. There was a ride called the Parachute when you would feel yourself suddenly dropping down quickly, or all kinds of excitement going against nature, going against our everyday life. And then we left and felt like a very exciting day. It's very, very, very fascinating because Zen practice is actually the opposite. Although some people use it to be like Steeplechase, too, I must say. Oh, I want a great experience, I want a great enlightenment, I want to look in the mirror and see a new version of myself, one that I've never seen before. And as if as if everyday life as it rolls by is not enough. It's boring, it's repetitive, it's not thrilling and chilling. And we want more. We want something to make our time here on earth seem very special. Now the premise of not only Zen practice, but all true practice, any religion, every religion, every practice, the premise of all true practice is that every moment as it rolls by, as it is, excuse me, is special, it's wonderful, it's complete. It's much more I don't more or less, I'm not comparing, but it's certainly a different kind of feeling than we get in steeplechase, for sure, but it has such resonance with our ordinary life and and depth and meaning that we don't really need these thrills and chills. Actually, they're distraction from a Zen point of view, including all the big experiences we seek in practice. A distraction. Distraction. Now that might be a very strange thought. How can that be a distraction? Well, it is when we really take hold and really look squarely at what our practice is. It's to enter and honor and and see the truth about every ordinary moment, just as it is, just as it comes to us and just as it goes. Very, very brief. We it's brief, brief, brief, brief. Brief. We don't even know how brief it is. We do think this is going to last forever and ever as it is, and we don't like that either. Seems too repetitive. But when we really see the moments as they come to us coming and going, like bolts of starlight coming and going, coming and going, we realize that no moment repeats itself again. As my teacher used to say over and over, this step, this particular step, this step, will not come again. Mmm. Doesn't seem that way though. But it's true. The next time we make a step, we will be different, the day will be different, our hearts will feel different, our circumstances will be different, it'll be a different step, a different day, a different moment in time, brand new. And yet we do not receive our everyday life in that manner. We do not experience it that way. We do not attend to it, attention, attend to it. We just rush through this and rush through that to get where we're going to the next form of steeplechase. I want to win this prize, I want to make a million dollars, I want to find the love of my life. So we're rushing through each moment and each day, using it in a way, using these days and these moments to get what we want, what I want. You know, I worked for so many years as a therapist, many, many, many years, and one of the main things you heard over and over was, well, I'm disappointed I didn't get what I want. As if we measure all of life, as if it's based upon what I want. And not only what I want, but what I demand. And that we see what happens in the world when we live like that, particularly these days, because everybody wants something else, demands something else, and on and on. So we end up in a state of great chaos and a great state of great rage and hatred as well. Very, very, very so sad that to speak about being in steeplechase, whoo, that is steeplechase itself, such distortion of what's available here, the beauty, the warmth, the fun, the simple natural gifts that are available to everybody, and that we've been given to live with and to share with others. And how does it get distorted into wars and hatred? How does that happen? That itself is a huge koan, a very important koan. And as I've said many times in Zen, a koan is a fundamental question which cannot be answered logically, rationally, we have to sit with it. We have to really become it, dwell upon it, live with it, encompass it, and let the koan reveal itself to us, the answer, reveal itself, open up. So the the most powerful ko, there are many, many, many books of koans by great teachers all through the centuries. And of course, from my perspective, the most powerful koans are the koans that life gives us itself day by day. You could call each day a koan, each breath. What is this? To truly be with each moment as it comes and as it goes. That's when you're truly with it, when you're attending to it, when you're not imposing your needs upon the moment or your decisions or your perspective on the moment, then you're honoring the moment as it is, not as you want it to be or demand that it be. This is the very crux of all true practice, not just in practice. It's honoring, honoring each other, honoring our life as it comes, honoring our gifts, honoring it, receiving it and to honor it. What does it mean to really honor something? You know, when you are in the state of mind and of being to honor something, you cannot be unhappy, feel empty, be at a loss. No, no, no. You cannot feel that gratitude and that that that appreciation and be upset at the same time. It doesn't happen. So in order to turn the confusing staple steepaseness of life, the upside-downness, the distortion, into clarity, into harmony, into good will, what we do as we practice is to develop a consciousness, a mind, and a heart which honors life as it comes. And that includes every person who comes into our venue. People can do things that really offend us, yes, and hurt us seemingly, or disturb us seemingly, but it's not them. They're just being who they are. It's our reactions that are disturbing us so much. The way we view it, the way we receive it. Now, a person, can we honor that they're alive, that they're here, that they have many, many gifts, that this is a moment in time for them, that they are somehow living in a distortion when they do that. These distortions come all the time, and our job is not to let them take us over, but to see them for what they are, a distortion. And even to understand that that is part of life. That is part of a person. It's not all of them. It's not who they are, or you are or I am fundamentally. So stay with it. Stay with the truth of what's happening until you see deeper. And when you do, your distortion disappears and so does theirs. Disappears. Because it's nothing, it's just a distortion in the mirror. We stay with something, just stay with it until the truth appears, until the reality, the deeper reality is revealed. It's very easy to get stuck in bitterness and disappointment and in hurt. Very natural, very easy. And most of us get stuck for a long time in that. When something appears in our world and it's so painful to see it, or it's so disturbing or shocking or whatever else. And in true practice, we know deep in our hearts that we and everyone we encounter is much much more than that momentary confusion they're going through and pain they're going through. And and we don't stay stuck there with that. We just stay with them and allow that to evolve. Now I'm not suggesting that we stay in a toxic or in a painful or difficult relationship, of course not. I'm not suggesting we let ourselves be harmed or that we harm anyone, God forbid, of course not. But I'm we're talking about how we perceive and receive life and the world itself. And this requires a very open-minded and open-hearted perspective. To know each moment changes. It's here, then the next moment comes. Then the next moment comes. There's a Zen saying that if I haven't seen you for three weeks, I believe it's three weeks, or maybe it's three days, probably more like three days, I cannot be said to know you. That always really touched me that saying, because it implies that we keep changing and growing and evolving so much that this step will not come again. It may seem that some of us are stuck forever in a certain spot. It may seem that way, but if we as practitioners look deeper, are more patient, are more open, our perspective, our perception will grow and grow and grow. And I want to just close by saying that what we see in others we bring out in them. It's a very well-known psychological truth. What we see in others, we bring out in them. So just be mindful of how you are perceiving life, the how you're perceiving the moment, the day, and others who you encounter during the day. And as you perceive them, so will you bring that out in them. If you're a parent with a child and you keep perceiving that's a naughty little kid, I got a rough one here. You will bring that out in them. And if you focus on their beauty and their charm and all their possibilities, you will bring that out in them as well. The one who perceives has a great influence and how we perceive. So thank you very, very much for listening. Thank you for being here today. It's lovely to talk to you, and I love that. There are many of you who I don't even know you, I probably will never meet you in person, but I do know you deep down, and I love talking to you. And this is it's a very lovely, wonderful moment to share this with you. So have a beautiful, beautiful day. And um, the URL for the podcast is wwwzenwisdomtoday.com. And if you need to contact me for any reason, my email is topspeaker at yahoo.com. Thank you.
