“How do you practice not wasting time?”
Stories have impact. Our thoughts and beliefs can take over our minds and actually take us out of relationship. Koshin Sensei reminds us, “We waste a lot of time indulging our thoughts.”
In this recent dharma talk, Koshin draws on the myths and narrative resonances of easter to shed light on our tendency to treat what we think and believe as most important. “What actions are we cultivating?” Koshin asks. We are invited again and again to come back to the practice of zazen, to ‘think non-thinking.’ Dogen Zenji and Sawaki Kodo Roshi are clear: seated meditation is central and “Non thinking is the art of seated meditation.” This is Zen’s ‘primary ceremony’ and where we practice cultivating being no where else but where we are. When we cultivate actions that keep us attuned to the here and now, we waste less time waiting for things to happen, for life to begin. Instead, show up and we enliven the capacity to avail ourselves of buddha nature in everyone and everything.
ZENTALK NOTES
Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety. The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.
MUSIC
Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji – Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.
NYZC PUBLICATIONS
- Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book
- Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t
- Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL
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