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Filed in Zen (Chan)

No Need to Do Zazen, Therefore Must Do Zazen

If we practice with an idea of gain, we’re on the wrong path.Elihu Genmyo Smith

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No need to do zazen. No need to practice. Therefore, we must do zazen, must practice. Do you see this? Do you see this no-need? Unfortunately, much of the time many of us live in a world of needing and not needing. I need this, I don’t need that. And we believe this viscerally as the truth of who we are and what the world is. All sorts of consequences come from this: consequences of suffering, stress, and harm. This is not something new. Many of you are familiar with the exchange between Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu, in the commentary to the first case in the Blue Cliff Record. The Emperor asks Bodhidharma, “I supported the ordination of monks, built and supported temples. What merit is there from this?” Bodhidharma answers, “No merit.”

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