***4 Freedoms Integration Exercise (8): Now and Zen

INTEGRATION EXERCISES Exercises To Do On Your Ownnby Al Link and Pala CopelandnnNOW AND ZEN

A variation of Buddhism that asserts enlightenment can come through intuitive insight, Zen is the simplest, most direct route to enlightenment but one of the most difficult to traverse. In Zen, there is nothing to find, nothing to discover, nothing to learn, nothing to remember, nowhere to go, nothing at all to do. How difficult is that? Most difficult.

nnTime for Exercise: one minute to ete itynnProperties Required: nonennSteps:

• Sit comfortably (or uncomfortably) in complete silence. Just stay there until you get it!n nn
• An option: Vow to continue sitting until you become enlightened, or until you die.n nn
• Another option: When ready, begin. When thirsty, drink. When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep. When curious, look. When afraid, tremble. When happy, smile. When finished, stop.

nnVariation: Try sitting together and employing this option: Ask your love to give you a whack upside the head—not too hard but enough to jolt you out of your train of thought.nnComments:

"There’s no Dharma [the way of higher truths] outside, and even what is on the inside can’t be grasped. You get taken up with the words from my mouth, but it would be better if you stopped all that and did nothing. Things already under way, don’t go on with them. Things not yet under way, don’t let them get under way. That’s better for you than ten years traveling around on pilgrimages.

"The way I see it, there’s no call for anything special. Just act ordinary, put on your clothes, eat your rice, pass the time doing nothing. You who come from here and there, you all have a mind to do something. You search for Buddha, search for the Dharma, search for emancipation, search for a way to get out of the threefold world. Idiots, trying to get out of the threefold world! Where will you go?" –Lin-chi I-hsuan (d. 866)