Blog Swap, Part Deux Off the Cushion by Marcus

Thanks to Nate over at Precious Metal for putting this wonderful blog swap together, and as promised here is the post swapped to me from Marcus, from Marcus's Journal. Mine will be over at ZenDirt ZenDust, which I think you'll enjoy as much as this post here, as the are eerily similar!


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Title: Off the Cushion

Can you believe it? This is Marcus, given complete freedom on Kyle's blog! I could set a cat among the squirrels, clean the place up, make myself at home! I could empty out the beer bottles, chuck out those those nasty magazines under the bed, throw the steaks out of the fridge and into the bin, and start enjoying myself here! But, alas, this freedom is for one day only and I have a job to do, a topic to write about, no time today to reform the reformed Buddhist.

The subject, randomly assigned in this second round of the Great Buddhist Blog Swap, is how Dharma practice impacts the world "off the cushion", and for that I suppose I had better go back to a time before I would even have understood what the phrase meant. Much like Kyle I guess, cushions used to be just things I'd settle onto after a day at work, sometimes spew over after a Friday night out, and use as essential support on other nights if I got a bit luckier.

Most people grow out of this of course, so I can't put it all down to practice, but certainly what I find most startling is not so much how my practice (not necessarily one involving cushions, but more on that later) impacts the world around me but, rather, how my lack of practice does. When not practicing I tend to be more thoughtless, more hurried, quicker to defend myself, promote myself, look out for myself. Practice helps change this direction.

Take work for example. When I've not been practicing I am more likely to turn up wishing I didn't have to. I'll rush through the things I've got to do, and get out as soon as possible. When practicing I'm more likely to turn up and give my job some attention, look out for what needs to be done, do it well, and find pleasure in the process. The same with people. When not practicing I hardly pay any attention. When practicing, I'm more likely to listen to people.

The Internet is another good example. If I haven't been practicing I'll respond to comments I disagree with, get into pointless arguments, read other people's blogs in a mad hurry, and get angry and upset at things that really don't concern me or directly impact my life at all. When practicing I'm more likely to slow down on the computer, pay attention, respond less or not respond at all, and be much kinder and gentler when I do. And this feels good too.

Which brings me to what practice actually is. First off, though I do meditate, time on the cushion is not the most important thing. Not for me anyway. And not for most of my Buddhist friends. Here in Thailand, most Buddhists have some familiarity with meditation, almost everyone sat through it at school, cheekily opening their eyes to check on their friends or to see if the monk might have fallen asleep, but most Thai people put much greater emphasis on precepts and offerings and, from what I can see, their practice bears beautiful fruit.

Likewise in the Buddhist tradition into which I took refuge, Korean Seon (Zen). Most people think of Zen and instantly think of meditation. This is not wrong of course, but many monks, and most laypeople, do not do half as much sitting as you'd suppose. Rather, people choose to carry out prostrations, chant, make offerings, and, most of all, to follow the precepts. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that resolving to follow the precepts, taking refuge in the precepts, is in and of itself a complete practice.

Especially if it comes from a deeper, living, place. My root teacher, Seon Master Daehaeng Sunim, talks about this in her book 'No River to Cross': "If you let go of all things to your foundation, the precepts will be kept naturally, even though you don't constantly think about them. When this happens, precepts are the wings of freedom. Do not try to adapt yourself to the precepts. Rather, let the precepts, which are already within you, come out naturally."

It is, I'm sure, a circular process. Let go and entrust everything to your Buddha-nature and the precepts will naturally be kept, they will spring forth from you. Take refuge in the precepts, commit to live in their spirit, and you'll be living in touch with your foundation, the True Self from which all wisdom and compassion originates. As as I let go, and entrust with belief, my daily life itself will be meditation, I'll see what needs to be done and do it without thought or hesitation.

Of course this entrusting to Buddha-nature, the central teaching of Korean One-mind Buddhism, is itself a practice, and I find that a good place to start is, actually, on the cushion. Sitting meditation is a great time to try out this entrusting and see what happens when you do. But, eventually, as Deahaeng Sunim writes, "'siting' meditation is possible in any circumstances - it is the mind that sits, not the body. As long as you let go and entrust with belief, your daily life itself can be meditation."

So the cushion now, for me, has a whole new meaning. It is a place to practice this practice (if you know what I mean), just as chanting and prostrations are. My aim is to take this entrusting and use it, like mindfulness, in every moment of our daily life. And, again just like the mindfulness taught by Thich Nhat Hahn, it can bring one quickly to a place of peace and happiness and makes our minds and hearts, and the world around us, brighter and more in tune with our Buddha-nature.

So, right now, I stop. I breathe, I let go of anything in my body or mind and entrust it to the deepest part of myself, knowing that it is being fully taken care of and transformed. Knowing I can get in touch with the Buddha right now, and live as I was meant to.
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I suspect Kyle might have a bit of a sore head in the morning. Perhaps I'll make him a nice cup of tea.
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