It is "high time," when we realize that in times before, we should have been aware of something only now apparent. My Mother would say something like"...it is high time you got home young man do you realize what time it is?" This of course was code for you've gone overboard on your curfew for a school night-beware!
This time thing is rather spongy as ticking clocks don't alert us to something being low or high. We foster awareness to do that.
Today most people are creating some form of sanctuary, It is done with masks, gloves, spatial distancing, selecting time to go shopping, and most importantly adjusting our concept of time as a marker. Usually, we have a way of apologizing for time-"sorry I'm late, hope I'm not too early, sorry I got the time mixed-up, or I just want you to know I must leave early."
Without parsing, we think, we will lose too much time, or be unable to schedule our life more perfectly. We are now in a time warp. What we do, when we do it, how we do, and with whom, and why, has shifted. We trade space for time.
One archetypal fantasy is, if we had enough time we would do those thing we always wanted to do. How is this working out for us? Or, with this time warp, are we doing more new things? The latter is the case with FSZS as our services, teaching, and meditation, has shifted to full online-mode. If someone had suggested in January we create online Zazen each morning via ZOOM, I would have argued that no one would think they had time. Now I argue less about time. I am spending more time with members of the Sangha (and others) through ZOOM, including Dokusan, training three members of the Sangha taking initial vows (1) and becoming Disciples (2). Next month we will add Koan Discussion as a new Online Practice.
This closeness, mined from spatial distancing, will become a factor in how our Sangha will operate after we are safe to return to gathering spots. Time is realizing that now
is always the right occasion for our true being.
Moving forward, we must not be tempted to look for certainty, but to see more clearly what we can offer as a Sangha...
108 bows
Sangaku