Genjo Koan 10 - Doing one practice...

Doing one practice... Now if a bird or a fish tries to reach the end of its element before moving in it, this bird or this fish will not find its way or its place. When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. When you find you way at this moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point; for the place, the way, is neither large nor small, neither yours nor others'. The place, the way, has not carried over from the past and it is not merely arising now. Accordingly, in the practice-enlightenment of the buddha way, meeting one thing is mastering it--doing one practice is practicing completely. Here is the place; here the way unfolds. The boundary of realization is not distinct, for the realization comes forth simultaneously with the mastery of buddha-dharma. There is no need to hurry and nowhere to go. As soon as one practices fully, this place is the whole full blown moon. The self changes, everything changes, so movement occurs. But although movement occurs, we never leave this place. The time of practice is not even taking place now. So mindfullness is extra. The time and space that Dogen is talking about are different from the ideas we have about time and space, now is not distant from past and future but totally embrace them. Here is not opposed to there, here includes all places. In other words, past and future are just taking place within the sphere of now ; room, streets, forests, seas are displayed within the one big space without edges or bounds, with no within and without. Meanwhile, we operate and need the dualistic consciousness that rises boundaries and thresholds everywhere and everytime. As we sit the body-mind and drop the body-mind, time and space realize themselves. No special awareness of this One taste is needed. It just takes place naturally. So we can let go of the chase and the search. So to practice one thing is to practice everything, to know one thing is enough. Each step contains the whole journey. Please visit the forum thread here!