Ordinary Mind

Joshu earnestly asked Nansen, "What is the Way?"

Nansen answered, "Ordinary Mind is the Way."

Joshu asked, "Should I direct myself towards it, or not?"

Nansen said, "If you try to turn toward it, you go against it."

Joshu asked, "If I do not try to turn toward it, how can I know that it is the Way?"

Nansen answered, "The Way does not belong to knowing or not knowing. Knowing is delusion. Not knowing is blank consciousness. When you have really reached the Way beyond all doubt, you will find it is as vast and boundless as the great empty sky. How can it be talked about on the level of right and wrong?"

At these words, Joshu was suddenly enlightened.

This koan has been read to me many times during my Zen practice. Yesterday, Arthur gave a dharma talk in Chattanooga on "Ordinary Mind," and the Sunday before that, he gave more-or-less the same talk at the Atlanta Center. I'm not complaining - if he was giving it again next Sunday (and he well might - next Sunday is sesshin, and Arthur is doshi), I would gladly sit through it again.

So why is Ordinary Mind so hard to realize? It's like Viv Stanshall's question, "Why can't I be different and original, like everyone else?"

I have been staring at the computer screen for 20 minutes wondering how I can describe Ordinary Mind. Cutting and pasting from another web site certainly won't get me there. In fact, it is beyond words.

"The spring flowers, the moon in autumn.
The cool breezes of summer, the winter’s snow.
If idle concerns do not cloud the mind,
This is man’s happiest season."

Which is to say that I got back from yesterday's trip to Chattanooga and did my grocery shopping, paid my bills, blogged, showered and went to bed. This morning, I got up, went to work, opened the zendo in the evening, came home and blogged. Tomorrow, I'm likely to shower again, go back to work, sit through an NPU Meeting and probably even blog about all of that.

Happy March, y'all!