Chattanooga

And now, as it's been said, for your moment of Zen.

Up in Chattanooga today, we revisited Yasutani Roshi's commentary on the koan Mu as presented in the classic 1965 book, The Three Pillars of Zen. I was particularly moved by the passage that states, "Being attentive in the details of your daily life is also training in Zen. When your life and Zen are one you are truly living Zen. Unless it accords with your everyday activities Zen is merely an embellishment. You must be careful not to flaunt Zen but to blend it unpretentiously into your life."

Whether I consciously realized it or not, blending Zen unpretentiously into my daily life has been my goal for the past year or so. Last year may have been characterized by a letting go of inhibitions and self-consciousness, but this year the pendulum has swung a little the other way, toward a less flamboyant but more comprehensive mindfulness of everyday activity.