Suzuki tells a story:
A monk once asked one of the old Chinese Masters: What is the way?
The Master replied:The natural one, the ordinary one, is the way.
How, continued the monk, am I to be in accord with it? Asked the monk.
When you try to be in accord with it, said the Master, then you deviate from it.
Does this mean that one should not try?
No, because that too is a way of trying. Of course, indirect, but still intentional; that too will not help. But just see the dilemma clearly and you are out of it.
A monk once asked one of the old Chinese Masters: What is the way?
The Master replied:The natural one, the ordinary one, is the way.
How, continued the monk, am I to be in accord with it? Asked the monk.
When you try to be in accord with it, said the Master, then you deviate from it.
Does this mean that one should not try?
No, because that too is a way of trying. Of course, indirect, but still intentional; that too will not help. But just see the dilemma clearly and you are out of it.
ARE YOU, NOT?
Meditation requires understanding and not effort, understanding is essential, not effort, and remember always that you cannot substitute understanding with any effort whatsoever. But what do I mean by understanding? By understanding I mean - living a natural life. Of course, you cannot try to be natural, that is self-contradictory!
You can BE natural but you cannot try to be natural.
