The truth of cause and effect is not hidden

During this Practice Period we examined the koan of Baizhang and the Fox, exploring our literature as a vehicle for understanding the body-mind of practice and ultimately, transmuting the tendency to believe in punishment and reward.

Drawing from the works of Heine, Keown and Bai, we inquired into our Practice as essentially moral education. Based on the experience of seated meditation, we gradually come to know our true nature. According to the conditions in which we live, both internal and external, we cultivate an expression of our true nature that is in accord with each circumstance and situation we meet. Fundamentally then, we experience 500 lifetimes of grace – without relying upon zazen, rituals and precepts as a set of rules, but rather as the expression of living by vow.

When the bell rings to end a period of zazen we get up, clean our cushions and prepare to begin service. The cleaning and preparing of the cushions serves as a liaison activity, bringing the awareness of zazen into gentle activity. In the same way, ritual serves as a liaison activity between temple practices and daily life. “How you do anything is how you do everything,” says Cheri Huber. Bringing this level of awareness to daily activity is itself the heart of practice.

Quoting Suzuki Roshi from a talk in 1970, “Zazen Rituals and Precepts Cannot be Separated” in an SFZC 2000 Windbell: “Precepts for me includes rituals. And when we say “precepts” it is another name for our zazen practice. For us, zazen practice and observation of rituals are not two different things. How to observe the rituals is how to observe the precepts. Our practice, especially in the Soto school, puts emphasis on everyday life, including rituals, eating and going to the restroom. All those things are included in our practice.

So the way we practice zazen, the way we practice rituals, and the way of life of a Buddhist or Zen student is fundamentally the same.”