“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.” ― Dōgen

The quote above is the essence of Soto Zen--allowing awareness to unfold. In the movie the Black Stallion, the old jockey said a good jockey is always "studying" the horse when riding. She is not exactly studying as in a checklist of knowing a specific thing or another. Rather, she has to be less than a jockey and more of the horse. We "study" the essence of Being-breathing in and breathing out. It is the way to experience life that is The Way-more horse (10,000 things) less jockey (Ego). As the self recedes in its centeredness, more room is made for myriad things. We become, or realize we already are, the myriad things. As this unfolds our awareness pivots and thus-ness is less the trappings of body-differences, and mind-differences. Openness to the possibilities is the norm.

This actualization is awakening even as the clarity of the interconnectedness is also disappearing, revealing what is always there, which is never what we think...

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Many bows to the Rev, Carl Evans who spoke to the Sangha last Tuesday night. Carl's openness, how he is "Studying The Way," May all beings be happy...