"My
Dojo is nature; it is the universe. This is truly a dwelling, a
practice hall and a temple built by the spirit. If you look with the eyes of
your heart, you will see that nature is the teacher that possesses all the
scientific and spiritual truth that will lead you to enlightenment. It is
imperative that those on the path practice with this knowledge held deeply
within their hearts."
To
only practice Zen in the confines of the Zendo is to be deceived by forms. The
Zendo walls are not the walls spoken of by Bodhidharma, nor are the walls of
any cave. The walls you must see and stare down are the obscurations that you
have created in your own mind.
Facing the wall means to face your own
barriers, your fears, your stories. Facing the wall means to focus your mind on
that which keeps you from seeing clearly. To awaken means to penetrate the wall
of your self-imposed ignorance and see the entire world exactly as it is!
Break free from your narrow views and
enter the Dojo of Nature. See that there are no boundaries and that every
limitation is something you have created or inherited from those of limited
understanding. Never pass an opportunity to sit and pierce the walls of
ignorance. Get outside, open your eyes and breathe!
Sit
in the forest, in the open prairie, on the mountain top; go where no walls
stand before you and stare deeply through any walls you yourself have created.
You don’t have to go far; the walls you must penetrate are right before your
eyes. On the porch, in the park, at the beach, look out! Look out beyond your
cave and look out into the limitless Dojo of Nature, beyond the trees, beyond
the clouds, beyond the stars.
Stare
intently into the infinity of the Boundless Mind; there you will realize the
Dojo of Nature, the temple of the spirit, your only true abode. You will see
that Nature is the root of your being, you are no stranger in the world, your
consciousness abounds!
When
you truly open your eyes, you will see right through everything, your awakened
mind will penetrate all obstructions and your mind will be free!
