117: Zen versus Daily Life

UnMind: Zen Moments With Great Cloud

I have used the term “versus” for many years, without ever looking it up in the dictionary. It is defined as “against (especially in sports and legal use)”; or “as opposed to; in contrast to.” So when we speak of Zen versus daily life or vice-versa, we imply that somehow the practice of Zen is necessarily set ”against” the other dimensions of life. This issue comes up frequently for experienced practitioners as well as rank newcomers. This segment will broach this subject and outline some of its parameters, which will be expanded in following episodes of UnMind.

Everything is Practice

The question often arises, after a person has been practicing zazen for some time, how, specifically, can we adapt some of the approaches and attitudes that we find on the cushion, to the rest of our day, off the cushion. Of course, this also comes up quite regularly with newcomers, to whom the standard reply is, “Don’t worry about applying Zen to your life; just apply yourself to Zen meditation. It will apply itself to your life, in a natural way. In fact, if you do try to apply Zen to your life, you will probably screw it up.”

However, Zen is not only for everyone, as Matsuoka Roshi would often say, it is also “Anyone, anywhere, anytime Zen.” But, as I mention in my first book, “The Original Frontier” the first of many excuses that most people cite for not practicing meditation is, “I don’t have time.” To have yet one more demand on our schedules is too much of a burden, just another activity competing for our scarce resources.

So the issue of integrating Zen practice into any and all aspects of everyday life becomes one of turning a perceived negative into a positive, converting a confrontational approach to one of collaboration and complementarity.

From the perspective of Design thinking, this enterprise comes under the category of how to design your life in general, but particularly focusing on what we can glean from our Zen practice, finding ways to incorporate its skillful or expedient means (S. upaya) into our everyday life. This focus was prompted by the publisher of my monthly newsletter column, “DharmaByte,” who suggested commenting upon:

Taking Zen off the cushion into daily life

Making space for practice in everyday life

Finding a balance between dharma practice and sitting

There are several sets of contrasts we may employ to structure the discussion, such as:

- Lifestyle: Monastic versus Householder

- Physical: Zazen versus the four Cardinal Postures

- Biological: Meditative breathing versus everyday situations

- Psychological: Shikantaza versus ordinary attention

The comparison of monastic and householder lifestyles, for example, revolves around the common conception, or misconception, that it provides a contrast between the ideal and the practical, respectively. In other words, anything less than a monk-like existence is an undesirable compromise. Mythology surrounding the mysterious and mystical aura of the life of the monk or nun is pervasive in a culture in which its reality is exceedingly rare. How many of us actually opt for that alternative in real life, however compelling its fantasy? How many Zen followers are living an “as if” lifestyle, picturing themselves as monastics when, in reality, they are householders in monk’s clothing?

Note: Buddhism’s historical attitude toward the householder-practitioner has always held that option in high regard, precisely because of the difficulty of maintaining balance in the everyday world of responsibilities and distractions. From the vantage point of those who have actually lived in a monastery and seen through its imaginary differences, life is mainly the same, on either side of the wall. In whatever path one chooses to walk, one will inevitably find that there are “circumstances beyond our control.”

Further, we can extend the discussion to a more granular breakdown of time and action, such as:

- Daypart: Morning; Afternoon; Evening; Nighttime (Routines)

Daily: Meals; Shopping; Hygiene; Housekeeping; Livelihood; the Commute

- Calendar Events: Weekly; Monthly; Seasonal; Annual (Weekend, Holiday, Vacation)

- Time of Life: Infancy; Preteen; Adolescence; Young Adult; Adult; Family; Middle Age; Empty Nester; Pensioner, Retiree; Survivor; Extended Care; Hospice

- Roles & Relationships: Child; Partner; Householder; Parent; Mentor; Caregiver; Leader;

- Lifetime: Aging; Sickness; Death

Aha – you see what I just did there? Sneaking in that quintessential Buddhist teaching, the Three Marks of dukkha, “suffering,” at the last moment, when your head was already going up and down in agreement. But after all, this whole question goes to the original teaching of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, Buddha’s prescription for carrying out the principles of Right Wisdom in the context of Right Conduct and Right Discipline. So perhaps our analysis will shed new light on the relevance and meaning of these ancient teachings in the context of today’s more complex social realities. Speaking of social, other dimensions for the discussion open up:

- Loved Ones & Partners; Family; Parents; Children; In-Laws; Friends; Colleagues; Associates; Strangers; Enemies

- Home; Neighborhood; Village, Town, City; State; Country; International; Global

- Media: Social; News; Infotainment; Literature

- Technology: High, Middle & Low-tech; Home & Office; Personal & Social

Beginning with the instructions for zazen inherited from Master Dogen’s Fukanzazengi—Principles of Seated Meditation, we break them down into three areas of focus: posture, breath, and attention, or mind.

- Posture: We can relate the upright, rigorous posture to other situations in which we “assume the posture” — at work, at rest, while driving in traffic, sitting or waiting in line, etc. Details of the posture, such as the fixed gaze, half-open eyes downcast, hands in the cosmic mudra, etc. can be resorted to in an instant. ‘Every minute Zen” becomes “Zen any minute.”

- Breath: Consider the full breathing cycle of the natural breath, followed in zazen, with techniques of counting, etc. We can do this anytime, anywhere.

- Attention: We can turn our attention to anything we wish, and away from distractions and annoyances. To our senses, for example: seeing, hearing, and feeling, altogether or independently, one at a time.

- Bowing: We can practice an internal bow, with no outer signs visible, when feeling grateful, for example. Or when dealing with the “negative bodhisattvas” in our lives, bowing in their direction, thanking them for teaching us the Dharma, in a way that we do not particularly appreciate, but recognize it as the dharma, or truth, of this relationship, even though they are blissfully unaware of it. The “bad boss syndrome” is one salient example.

These are just a few of the dimensions of everyday life where our practice-experience in Zen and zazen can have a halo effect on the difficulties that arise, and a positive effect on how we handle them. Managing difficult transitions, such as changing jobs, moving our home to another location, contemplating and going through divorce, as well as losing loved ones as we age, are all sources of additional stress, on top of the wear and tear of everyday aggravations.

In Buddha’s time, life was surely simpler, compared to the complexity of modern society. But of course the fundamental problems of life, described in his Four Noble Truths, were still the same as we find them today. Some things don’t change. And unfortunately, with all our much-vaunted advances in science and technology, developed in the interim of two-and-a-half millennia, some things have only gotten worse. We will take these issues on one at a time, and hopefully develop some skillful means for dealing with them more effectively, efficiently, and compassionately.

This introduction to the new series has amounted to a kind of survey of where we might go with this direction. If you have any suggestions for widening the scope please send them to my email address: [e-mail]

For more on Soto Zen, its meaning and application to our modern life and practice, please check out our online and in-person schedules, and register for my Master Class at www.aszc.org.