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Abstract:  Zazen as a meditative practice  is introduced.

I.  The practice of zazen leads to a loss of a sense of time and space and consequently provides a sense of  things as they are.

A. When we are faced with problems, it is worthwhile wondering, "Which is more important--the problem or 'us'?"


1. Of course, this is a divided question fallacy.--neither aspect is the more important. What is significant, however, is the awareness, with an accompanying gentle surprise, that we are wholly present "in the moment."

2. Without this presence, in a sense we are "lost in the world." (Compare the grandmother who likes the idea of being a grandmother, but doesn't like the grandchildren (i.e., doesn't like to doing of what a grandmother does).


B. In truth, when mastered as a meditation, no difference between zazen and activity occurs in life. For this reason  zazen is the heart of Zen practice.

     

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