https://youtu.be/JYKIVl1qWdI?si=9rbu6as2tKBBGobU
Zen is a practice of reflection and intuitive reaction. Seung Sahn would use “situation, relationship, function.” When we are in contact with a situation—reality as-it-is—we react to it appropriately given the set of circumstances. Questions arise, however. How do we accurately perceive the situation? Do we correctly understand the relationships among the people, places, and things present and interconnected? Do we understand what our correct function is—what do we do—given the situation and relationships?
When we calm our minds through meditation, our minds become clear. When our minds become clear, the world becomes clear. Our direction becomes clear. When our direction is clear, correct action is clear. “How may I help you” is reflexive, requiring nothing—no thinking, no additional pondering, no second-guessing. It’s the unquestionably the obvious course of action. We react reflexively.
Our direct experience of reality as it happens and changes from moment to moment is honed through our ability to pay attention to it. What once may have taken much thought and time becomes intuitive, before thought. Our direct experience of reality becomes our meditation, and correct action just happens.
