Saying For Today: Though you have traveled far, you stand where you began.
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In An Ache For Union, I used "Here" for that place of no place. The same placeless place goes by many names in spiritual paths.
Here invites us to step outside the cage of time, of space. Master Sheng Yen, in Song of Mind, shares ...
On a twenty-three-hour flight from New York to Taiwan, we had stopovers in Alaska and Korea. The man next to me complained, "I should have used the other airline. Its flight was only sixteen hours."
"Fine," I said, "go back to New York and take that other flight."
"I can't do that, it's too late, and it would take even more time."
So I said, "In that case, there's no point discussing it any further."
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The above story reminds me of one about Nasruddin. He is riding backward on his ass through the marketplace. He is looking for something as the animal dashes onward. This is quite a spectacle to everyone. A man calls, "Nasruddin, what are you looking for?!" Nasruddin, holding on for dear life, yells, "I'm looking for my ass!"
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The following humorous story depicts the challenge of trusting that Here is always here, no other time or place. Larry-san, the author, was a student of Kyudo Roshi. Kyudo, a Japanese Zen Master, spoke little English.
When I tell Kyudo that I am studying to become a monk, a look of incredulity crosses his face. Then he explodes with laughter, "You monk? Larry-san a monk? Ha! Ha! Ha!"
For a moment, I think he'll never again regain control of himself, but then suddenly his laughter stops and he fixes me with a stare. "No, Larry-san, you not monk. You instant monk! Understand? Instant monk! Listen: I monk. Become monk six years old. Four years temple, fifteen years monastery. Why you want to monk?"
Stammering slightly, I tell him I want to "take my practice to a deeper level." "Deeper level?" He laughs again, "What you mean 'deeper'? Zen practice only one level. No deep, understand? No shallow."
*Lawrence Shainberg. Ambivalent Zen.
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We speak in paradoxes when speaking of life, of Here. This is neither this nor that, here nor there. We alternate speaking from the absolute perspective to the relative one and back again.
Wherever we think we are trying to get to through our spiritual path, we are trying to get Here. We must try to get Here to realize we are Here.
When awake, we realize there is no where to come from and no where to go, only to be fully in the depth of what is, so Here. Thus, we are not arriving anywhere - it is like exploring the ground where you stand. You are not moving toward a destination; you are growing into the depth of where you already are. This means your receptivity to what is, not simply what appears to be, expands with increased capacity to receive. The more receptivity, the more life gives itself to and through you. Though you have traveled far, you stand where you began.
Imagine two glasses. One can receive eight ounces of fluid and another twelve. We have differing capacities for receiving. We can, unlike the glass, choose to allow more receptivity. This requires work. There is nothing magical about spiritual growth. As Rebecca Nottingham writes, in The Work: Esotericism and Christian Psychology, "You cannot gain consciousness or awaken through proximity or imitation or osmosis."
So, also unlike the glass, if we can now receive twelve ounces, we can grow to receive more. This happens when we are willing to engage in a consistent discipline of self-cultivation. Persons who do this self-nurture see it as a necessity, not an option. You will not keep doing the work if you see your spiritual evolution as an option.
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The Teacher says there are no levels. There are not. Life has no surface or depth absolutely, but relatively it appears to. Hence, to go deeper means to experience more fully. The exact meaning applies if the metaphor is of height - to go higher is to experience more thoroughly.
In silence, ideas drop. You sit in one place and one time, each place and time. Silent sitting is to acclimate to more of what life is. Life does not increase, our availability does.
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When planting a garden, it is not wise to go every day to see how it is growing. Growth is slow and oft unobservable but sure in the right conditions. So with us. Do not keep inspecting yourself.
Trust the wisdom of the Way. Let the Way work for you... It will. The Way working for you means the way working with you.
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and title and place of photographs.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
