Words of Encouragement for Zazen Practice

“I don’t really, really know what happens at the end of the road” is one of my favorite lines in a song I currently enjoy listening to.

Often in life, we try to come up with explanations or ideas about why things happen to us.

When we get sick, we ask, “Why me?” When we think of dying, we contemplate how it will be, and what happens afterwards. However, in life, things happen in unpredictable ways, and the way things evolve is also unforeseeable.

Developing a mindset acknowledging what we cannot know, opens us to the possibility of experiencing whatever is happening right now more fully.

And the more we experience fully, the more we come to trust living with the unknown.

Being with one’s thoughts and feelings, realizing that there are not necessarily answers, and staying with our discomfort and insecurities, is the practice and superpower of Zazen.

Taking into account how things really are, with nothing excluded - our egos, wishes, and preferences set aside - allows us to act more adequately, appropriately, swiftly, elegantly, and with less effort, flexibly, and lightheartedly in every situation arising.

All things that can make a huge difference in our lives and the lives of others, and a great reason to continue practicing Zazen amid everything that is happening right now.