The Way is not difficult, although at times it can be. We often feel as though we have to be like Buddha or Jesus or our rabbi’s of old, yet that attempt will fail as we would be pretending. Our true face, the face we sometimes hide, the face we are afraid to show, that is our being. It is also our teacher. Anytime we step away from it, try to turn it into something it is not, we are disingenuous.
While we ought not seek out struggle, life is what it is, and conflicts will arise. We may wish they wouldn’t. We may desire a life of serenity and ease, but that is not living, that feels to me like vegetating.
For some of us, we believe all we each need do is smile and walk slowly and softly and everything will be peaceful. Perhaps for you, but the world around us is often on fire and no amount of smiling and soft walking will put it out.
As the fueko suggests, we do not practice Zen for ourselves, but rather for those who cannot practice with us. We practice to re-discover or, perhaps, uncover, that true face for the sake of all beings. This takes strength and commitment, what we in Zen refer to as “joriki.”
Such strength doesn’t come easy or without cost. While the Way itself is not difficult, our willingness to live it is. The struggles in life are ours, no one else's. They are for us to engage, work through, and resolve. In doing so we move from the “weak,” the “victim,” to the strength of a survivor and in doing so we have the potential to inspire.
Gassho
