Punt IV – maak je hele leven tot oefening 

Punt IV Maak je hele leven tot oefening

Punt IV. Make practice your whole life.

Maak je hele leven tot oefening 

Probably the biggest challenge is simply that we don’t take ourselves seriously enough.

With this, we are ready for point four, Make practice your whole life.This point is both an effort that we make going forward and a result of what we have already done.

Beschouw jezelf als een kind dat je wil onderwijzen: je hebt geduld en compassie voor het onvermogen, de ongeleerdheid die nog moet groeien. it is okay to be not okay.

People often complain to me that they don’t have time for spiritual practice. In today’s busy world, it seems that we can barely cover the basics, let alone refine our lives further with spirituality. When spiritual practice is an item at the bottom of our long to-do lists (which are these days embedded in task-accomplishment apps on our smartphones), it is very hard to get to it, and usually we don’t. My answer to this is simple: spiritual practice is not an item on the list. It is not a task we do. It is how we do what we do. It’s a spirit, an attitude. You are breathing all day long. It doesn’t take any more time to be conscious, let’s say, of three breaths in a row. Your mind is thinking distractedly all day long. It doesn’t take any more time to intentionally think of a slogan you are working with. Even meditation practice, which seems to take time you ordinarily would be filling with some other activity, actually takes much less time when you realize how much time you save when your mind is a bit calmer and more focused and when your day begins with processing and settling with your life rather than rushing headlong into today with yesterday as yet undigested. Practice, in the light of this point, is not something we are doing over and above our life. It is our life. It is the way we live.In Zen, traditional training expresses and extends this point. The template of the Zen life is the monastery, where you meditate when it’s time to do that, eat when it’s time to eat, walk when walking, talk when talking, sleep when sleeping. In other words, you do what you are doing fully, wholeheartedly, constantly trying to pay attention and be present. You use the task at hand as the meditation object, just coming back over and over again to where you are and to what is going on, just as, in meditation, you come back over and over again to the breath breathing all day long. It doesn’t take any more time to be conscious, let’s say, of three breaths in a row. Your mind is thinking distractedly all day long. It doesn’t take any more time to intentionally think of a slogan you are working with. Even meditation practice, which seems to take time you ordinarily would be filling with some other activity, actually takes much less time when you realize how much time you save when your mind is a bit calmer and more focused and when your day begins with processing and settling with your life rather than rushing headlong into today with yesterday as yet undigested. Practice, in the light of this point, is not something we are doing over and above our life. It is our life. It is the way we live.In Zen, traditional training expresses and extends this point. The template of the Zen life is the monastery, where you meditate when it’s time to do that, eat when it’s time to eat, walk when walking, talk when talking, sleep when sleeping. In other words, you do what you are doing fully, wholeheartedly, constantly trying to pay attention and be present. You use the task at hand as the meditation object, just coming back over and over again to where you are and to what is going on, just as, in meditation, you come back over and over again to the breath, without worry or fuss. As the great master Zhaozhou answered when asked about the process and meaning of spiritual practice, “Have you eaten? Then wash your bowls!”For contemporary Zen practitioners, the template of the monastery can be applied in the tasks of daily living. We all eat, sleep, walk, work, and so on. It doesn’t take extra time to do these things in the spirit of spiritual practice. Making practice your whole life can be seen as a simple matter of mindfulness. Simply doing whatever you are doing with awareness, carefulness, and love. And when you notice you are not doing this, coming back to it. Theoretically, there is no reason why anyone can’t do this, all of the time. Realistically, our habits are strong, and we probably need as much support as we can get to encourage us and keep us on the beam. (I hope this book is one such support.)There are two slogans under this point. The first is

17. Cultivate a serious attitude (traditionally: Practice the five strengths).

1.   Strong determination
2.   Familiarization
3.   Seed of virtue
4.   Reproach
5.   Aspiration

D. Maak je hele leven tot oefening 

1. 17. Ontwikkel een serieuze houding door: a. Vastberaden te zijn in je intentie 

1. b. Je bewust nieuwe gewoontes eigen te maken 

1. c. Je eigen potentie te herkennen in mensen die je inspireren 

1. d. Je tekortkomingen volledig te erkennen zonder je ermee te identificeren 

Over het algemeen beoordelen wij onszelf en anderen op hun wezenlijke karakter. Daarom voelen we ons zo schuldig of zo vol veroordeling en verachting als we oordelen. Maar in de praktijk van Reproach is het alsof we de slechte gewoonte, de hebzucht of de woede of het egoïsme, tot een persoon op zich maken. En het is die persoon, niet onszelf of iemand anders, die we verwijten.

Maar als je Sterke Vastberadenheid beoefend hebt, als je Vertrouwdheid beoefend hebt, als je het Zaad der Deugd gecultiveerd hebt, kun je een veel aangenamer relatie hebben met je onvolmaakte zelf. En je kunt jezelf met veel meer vrijgevigheid bekijken, zoals je dat zou doen met een kind dat je probeert te onderwijzen

1. e. Te verlangen om bij te dragen aan een betere wereld 
3. 18. Oefen zowel om te leven als om te sterven 

18. Practice for death as well as for life.

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Reflecteer op de volgende 2 slogans van punt IV: