God forbade...must reading!

Zazen

   We do not practice zazen to attain enlightenment, but rather to express our true nature. Even your thinking is an expression of your true nature when your are practicing zazen. Your thinking is like someone talking in the backyard or across the street. You may wonder what they are talking about, but that someone is not a particular person. That someone is our true nature.

  So the secret is just to say “Yes” and jump off from here. Then there is no problem. It means to be yourself in the present moment, always yourself, without sticking to an old self. You forget all about yourself and are refreshed. You are a new self and before that self becomes an old self, you say “Yes” and you walk to the kitchen for breakfast. So the point on each moment is to forget the point and extend your practice.


   Some students who practice zazen very hard are liable to ignore everyday life. They may say,
      “My study has been good, whatever I do is OK. I have complete freedom from good or bad. Only the unenlightened stick to the idea of good and bad.”
   Speaking in that way is to ignore everyday life. They do not take care of their life. They do not know how to organize their life or know what kind of rhythm they should have. To know the rhythm of our lives is to understand what we are doing. It is necessary to see our activity with a clear mind, through zazen experience.
 
Suzuki- Not Always So