Limitless Dimension Human Being |
This morning I was up at 5:00 AM doing some paperwork. I was in the living room, the window blinds were open, and it was dark outside. Up the road the streetlight was on. Time passed, the sun rose, day broke, and the streetlight shut off automatically. The light of the sun was now everywhere. There was no need for any artificial light! This made me think of Soen Roshi’s phrase, “Limitless dimension human being.” Here at New River Zen Community we don’t use the term “enlightenment” very often. We talk about seeing into our essential nature or original nature. But tonight I want to use the term enlightenment. For me the experience of enlightenment means to see radiant light everywhere, to realize that there is no need for artificial light. It is to open your Zen eye and look! It is to open your Zen body and feel! To see radiant light is to see the trees and mountains as if for the first time. To feel with a body that is open is to experience the clear and subtle touch of a summer breeze on the skin or the warmth of a human hug in greeting or farewell. With the bodymind open we hear celestial hymns in a birdsong, the chirping of crickets, or the silence of clouds. It is also to see, hear, and feel the pain and longing of people who have been neglected and forgotten and to respond from a heart that is open. You are not separate from the universe. You are not separate from the sacred. You are limitless dimension human being! Don’t think that Zen is just the ending of thought or simply the deconstruction of thought. This is Zen blankness- it is to have a dragon’s head and a snake’s tail! It is not the real thing. Zen is opening the bodymind to an experience of cosmic proportions. It is limitless dimension human being! Ellen often reminds us that among human beings there are wise ones and fools and that to do Zen we must be willing to be the fool. Zen is not for those who think they have everything figured out. I remember years ago going to dokusan with Roshi Bernie Glassman. He often told me, “Go deeper.” Again and again I went back to him and he simply said, “Go deeper.” To do Zen you must be willing to learn (and unlearn!). You must be teachable. You must acknowledge that there are more possibilities in life then what you’ve experienced. You must be willing to go deeper. To go deeper you need to bring energy to your sitting. You need to bring great attention and awareness. Roshi Janet Richardson often encourages her students to, “Sit strongly!” Sit straight and tall, silent and still, like a great oak tree or Mt. Fuji. When you sit like this energy naturally gathers- energy needed to push open the doors and windows of perception, to soften our hardness of heart, to peel off layer after layer of our thick skin. This energy allows us to go deeper- see deeper, feel deeper, hear deeper. This energy nourishes limitless dimension human being! If you are working on MU go deeper. Dig deeper and deeper into MU until you come out the other side into the light of day where no artificial light is needed! If you are attending to breathing go deeper. This means come closer and closer to the breath until there is only breathing. This breathing is subtle and refined, moving deeply in and out, intimate life creating breathing- the universe breathing. This is limitless dimension human being. If you are just sitting then be absolutely still, absolutely silent, rock solid. Sit with confidence and joy completely open to the boundless world of possibilities. With this depth of sitting energy gathers, the sun rises, day breaks, and there is no need for any artificial light! You realize that you have always been limitless dimension human being. (Charles Birx, Sensei) |
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