Edgar,
And a good morning from "the West Side". ;-)
Merle asked me about this mudra.
And I've taken the Precept of not being stingy with the Dharma Assets.
I hope Merle's Zen-in-a-Chair organizer or teacher will teach these practical
things in-person. That's the best way to learn, and to knit the group
together. Once we learn, and practice, there's no checking. We fall right in
with the comfortable and familiar form. And yet, it continues to do its work
upon us!, and upon the atmosphere and setting of our communal practice-place.
This is one thing that is meant by "training": the falling right in
spontaneously, without a hitch.
Yes, it's like learning the t'ai chi form. We practice a long time at this.
The very practice itself makes us and the form more natural. Eventually, we're
so changed from the ground up that we can use the forms at any speed and for
self-defense, and with no hesitation, nor any telegraphing of movements.
We might say that "the form" teaches itself. A little as Aitken Roshi used to
say, "Zazen teaches Zazen". And, as I say: "The Buddhists Precepts are the
BEHAVIOR of a Buddha".
Not proscriptive or prescriptive, but, "The full and complete presentation of
the Whole".
The form of Shashu hand-position is nothing to withhold information about. It
goes with the territory that compassionate geniuses train us upon, and within.
Of course there are physical reasons for it also, and physical reasons are the
most important and influential on us ...in our practice as Zen people.
To realize Buddha Nature, there are ways of settling down and settling into It.
In our tradition, there are traditional ways.
Details matter, because they help, not hinder, to establish these ways in us,
and to benefit from them.
Once we've awoken, we sense what to dispense with, if anything. And we know
what continues to support us and our practice, which, yes, never ends.
--Joe
> Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote:
>
> Joe,
>
> Again all these details only distract from the real point. Buddha is Buddha,
> no matter what his posture, whether his hands are closed or open, his eyes
> open, closed or half closed.
>
> Zen is realizing your inner Buddha, not getting mired in interminable
> details...
>
> You'll never realize Buddha if you are always checking your hands, your
> posture and whatever...
>
> Edgar
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