Thought

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Today I do some housekeeping details in order to leave early in the morning Tuesday for the Omega Institute. There I will meet up with friend, Rev. Claude Anshin Thomas, and will practice with him for five days working with veterans within whom the thought of enlightenment has arisen.

This thought is not a bad thing; thoughts are directions from our mind’s working. Often in Zen we say, “well, it’s just a thought and thoughts have no substance.” Some take this idea to mean we should dismiss thoughts altogether. Nonsense.

What is a challenge is to mistake a thought for more than it is and at the same time hold on to it as if it is truth itself. A thought is an element of mental process, no more or less.

The thought of enlightenment is the thought of resolution to our suffering: such a thing is a motivation for practice, but not the practice. If we want to run a marathon, for example, we must have more than a thought about it, but the thought is an essential first step in this very long process.

So, tomorrow I fly to assist all beings in the next step.

Be well.