Day and Night

Even when there is nothing worth living for, you will find something worth doing.

To try to fathom the true meaning of any aspect of the Buddha’s teaching is going to be difficult without full realization of the transcendent truth. These teachings then, remain signposts to help us along the way, as I suspect they were meant to. With the revelation of transcendent knowing and the wisdom that abides with it, then these matters suddenly fall into place. Without this we are just probing in the dark hoping to strike virtue.

When this most intimate knowing of the basic truth is realized, then in that moment this teaching suddenly becomes clear (clear as a shining bright light). And in that illumination the way is clear to fully grasp the teachings while “holding onto” emptiness.

I have been through the same experience myself. And fortunately, I was able to go 24/7 at the time. (This was some time ago.) Currently though, I have been exploring “deeper terrain,” as it were, and not 24/7.

Back then, I didn’t use quite the same methodology that some describe. Although I must admit that for several years prior to “awakening”, as part of my training in the field of the graphic arts, I did routinely stop “thinking” and just look at what I was drawing or painting in order to see the thing as it really was.

However, when I started practicing Zen, I just stopped holding onto the tensions that some describe as preceding a thought. (And I did this continuously, till I was doing it 24/7, as it were. (I did take time to sleep.))

The nice thing about the 24/7 is that once you are there, your whole perspective about reality changes, so that you see life from the standpoint of emptiness. And all things become not just the appearance of themselves, but are seen more in their fundamental nature.

And yes, it can be very easy.

By the way, once you are 24/7, you can still read, reflect, and think. But, the experience of thinking becomes one that, when you have a thought, (but before you (your body) takes the time to think it,) you have already let it go.

It becomes then, more like you “knew” what the thought was (just like you know what a car is, although you don’t name it) about whatever idea was before you. Thinking, then, happens on a transcendental level. It is a very interesting experience. (I just wanted to mention this so some don’t worry that they must give up all intellectualizations in order to do 24/7. Though it may seem, temporarily, that you are doing so, until you get settled in with it, as it were.)

Alas, over the decades I have found it frustrating to try to communicate ideas, similar to these, to an unreceptive audience. After a roundly rejected manuscript, and articles rejected by Tricycle Magazine (The incredible thing is that the editor wrote in the rejection notice that my article was passed around the office and read with great interest by everyone -- but they did not want to publish it.), thankfully we at last have the internet where these topics can be discussed more freely.