©2005-2025 Mark A. Foote
On sitting the lotus, here are some instructions I find very useful, every day almost:
An empty hand grasps the hoe handle
Walking along, I ride the ox
The ox crosses the wooden bridge
The bridge is flowing, the water is still.
(“Zen’s Chinese Heritage”, Andy Ferguson, pg 2, copyright 2002 Andrew Ferguson)
So ...
I remember Blanche Hartman from S.F. Zen Center talking about one day when she was on her way to a day of mindfulness and she buttoned her shirt backwards or something. I do revere some of the teachers I met from Japan, whom I thought had a certain grace and poise, and sometimes I think I should be concerned to practice hard and be more like them; ...
It is possible to act without intent, and to do so in the course of daily life; this is wu wei to me. As soon as there’s intent, there’s discrimination of good and bad, and there’s nothing natural about that.
I think the best is to accept falling asleep with waking up, and waking up with falling asleep; too much emphasis on waking ...