I recall the first time I read a similar thought in one of Roshi Steve Hagen’s books that profoundly shaped my love for the Dharma and affinity with the Zen tradition. Just as birds do not seek the sky, and fish do not seek the water, all of our seeking is in vane.
My seeking behavior (even seeking enlightenment/full awakening) is another form of attachment to something outside of myself. The Buddha taught that I am already complete, and as Shunryu Suzuki Roshi characterized it, I still need a little improvement.
Regarding my Buddhist practice, I find it increasingly difficult to label it as aligned with any single tradition or school. Having been raised in the deep south (thank you, Dad, for moving us to California in 1970 💙) within a conservative Protestant denomination (LOL…, twice, I just typed demonization… 😆), I am no stranger to dogmatic thinking and enforced rule-following.
One of the most common misconceptions about Buddhist meditation is that it is a practice designed to seek and attain enlightenment. However, seeking anything, even a higher awareness, is another form of craving and attachment. The Buddha taught that both were sources of our dissatisfaction or suffering.
There is nothing to be attained in meditation practice.
Those in Monday evening’s meditation session discussed our fascination with the ‘I, Me, and My’ delusion.
I shared this:
Waking up fully is a daily moment-by-moment practice. There is no Santa moment when we’re rewarded with the shiny bauble of enlightenment from another dimension or a higher being. When we consider it carefully, seeking enlightenment is yet another form of attachment or clinging — wanting things to be different than they are.
I recall the first time I read a similar thought in one of Roshi Steve Hagen’s books that profoundly shaped my love for the Dharma and affinity with the Zen tradition. Just as birds do not seek the sky, and fish do not seek the water, all of our seeking is in vane.
My seeking behavior (even seeking enlightenment/full awakening) is another form of attachment to something outside of myself. The Buddha taught that I am already complete, and as Shunryu Suzuki Roshi characterized it, I still need a little improvement.
