“It is not enough to have good intensions. It really matters what you do. It really matters what you say.”

Our human ancestors have been caring for one another for at least 75,000 years. We survive, carry on, thrive, and even flourish when we show compassion.  It is not about what we think, or what we intend to do. Compassion is action. Can we step into every situation, at any moment, and ask: What is important now? How do I get clear now? What can it do? 

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei continues his series of teachings on the “eight understandings of the great person” as explored within the most recent translation of Dogen Zenji’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. Some have claimed that these eight qualities are among Shakyamuni Buddha’s final teachings. For Koshin, they illustrate the Buddha’s freshness and capacity to remain attentive to whatever is arising in the moment.  Koshin explores the quality of “diligent exertion” and encourages us to ask what it would look like for us to exert ourselves in the way Dogen describes: “Concentrated without adulteration, advancing, and without regressing.”  What would it be like to meet things as they are? To do good with things as they are? And to keep moving? The Buddha is clear on this point: “If you diligently exert yourself, things will not be difficult.” Challenges will come, of course, and the need for rest remains. But diligent exertion is about the unceasing practice of attending to each moment as it is, not as you think it should be or what you hope to get out it. Too often we are trying to orchestrate outcomes and make transactions. Diligent exertion is not a this-for-that situation, but rather a more humane way to live. We are invited to constantly practice caring for others and ourselves so that all of us may be more loving, compassionate, and free.    

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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• Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book
  
• Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t
  
• Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL
  

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The post Just Do. Without Regressing, Without Adulteration | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.