easy

Is it possible to move through life with a sense of ease in this stressful world we inhabit? Can we embrace a way of being that is not forced and free from excessive striving, that is true to nature? There is a natural rhythm in nature that is in tune with the rhythm of ourContinue reading "easy"

Dec 2, 2024 - 16:38

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Is it possible to move through life with a sense of ease in this stressful world we inhabit? Can we embrace a way of being that is not forced and free from excessive striving, that is true to nature?

There is a natural rhythm in nature that is in tune with the rhythm of our being. There is a natural unfolding of existence, a choice-less-ness. Rivers flow without effort, tides rise and fall, plants grow toward the light. Nature manifests without effort, simply a result of cause and effect without any desire to unfold differently.

Although we cannot abandon all effort in life, we certainly can work to develop a trust in that there is nothing missing. Although we work to alleviate suffering, there is nothing to fix. The world we live in, even with all its suffering, is complete as it is. We are part of that completeness. Can we rest in that completeness? Is this an aspect of your Zen practice?

Acceptance of our completeness, with all its perceived lack and attendant stumbling is the challenge we face if we are to live with a natural sense of ease and authenticity. This acceptance does not mean that we live with abject passivity or indifference. If we cultivate our awareness, in this moment, we are able to see more clearly. Our desire to control outcomes becomes glaringly apparent. If we are able to momentarily set aside trying to force outcomes we alleviate our stress and create a space for the natural ease of living to arise. We can act more effortlessly with greater compassion towards ourselves and the world around us. As in nature, the leaf falls when it is time, without struggle or resistance or effort.

This way requires our deepest humility. We are part of of it all, Maha, the circle so big it has no edges. When we fall into the trap of thinking we are separate we become artificial; our actions manipulative, for better or worse. We find ourselves swimming upstream constantly, an exhausting effort and life feels unmanageable.

Letting go is necessary to regain our clear view and sense of comfort in life. Letting go is a process of remembering the simplicity of life, as in nature, as things unfold in-and-of themselves. The stream of life. Freeing ourselves from these attachments to outcomes and self-centered ideas we find ourselves willing participants in the natural order of life’s unfolding rather than acting as the struggling dictator at the control panel of the universe.

One lesson Zen practice teaches us is that without the constraints that we place upon ourselves of trying to control outcomes, we find ourselves in the natural flow of life. We regain the sense of being part-of rather than separate-from and we can relax. When we let life, our life, the lives of others and the mysteries of the world around us, unfold with trust in ourselves we recognize that unfolding as part of the natural order. Perhaps, it is there we find ease.

_{“When the mind is still, the whole universe surrenders”}

_{~Lao Tzu}