On Activity, from Suzuki Roshi: “When we practice zazen, we limit our activity to the smallest extent. Just keeping the right posture and concentrating on sitting is how we express the universal nature. Then we become Buddha and express Buddha nature…we just concentrate on the activity we do in each moment. When you bow, you should just bow; when you eat, you should just eat. If you do this, the universal nature is there. In Japanese, we call it ichigyo zammai or ‘one-act samadhi.‘ “
Despite our society’s love of “multi-tasking,” science is discovering that we really can only do one thing at a time. Our attempts at multi-tasking are actually our brains serially monotasking. This fragmented attention is the opposite of what the Buddha taught and of what Suzuki Roshi tried to remind us. Do you notice a difference in your mental state when you focus on one thing at a time and when you try to multi-task? Which one feels better?
This Dharma Thought is brought to you by the Bozeman Zen Group.