The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:25-26I wait. I seek. I am quiet. As for salvation, I am quiet...
I sit zazen. Shikantaza.
For a long time, I did not sit zazen or sat only occasionally with no particular regularity. Then, in trying to follow Jesus, I tried praying (and still try) but there is a lot of noise and distraction in Christianity! Singing. Preaching. Prayers. Twitter. Facebook. Hard to hear or sense God sometimes. Plus I never know what to say and besides I'm probably interrupting something Very Important.
So, I have returned to zazen.
Not because I'm trying to work out my own salvation as Paul discussed in Philippians 2:12: "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" nor as the Buddha stressed in his final words before his final nirvana: "work out your own salvation with diligence" (Though other translations read: "Work hard to gain your own salvation." (wait...Paul and Buddha?)), but because I need the silence. The awareness of shikantaza. God seems to be in the spaces between my thoughts. Or maybe more accurately, in the simple awareness between my thoughts.
When I pray or think about God I put myself in the way. When I sit zazen, I get out the way. I don't know that I hear God, but at least I stop talking to myself.
As the Buddha said: "You cannot travel the path until you become the path itself."
Or, to put it another way, you cannot hear God until you shut up.
Namaste.
1 comment:
LOL, you know, I distinctly heard God today saying, in the midst of all my noise, "Daughter, I KNOW you're in a lot of pain. Would you please shut up so I can work on it?"
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