Beggars Banquet
All that continues to obstruct you revolves around thought.
Both acceptance and faith are active states of unobstructed being. Letting go of thought is how acceptance and faith are made actual. Acceptance and faith are essentially two sides of the same coin, which is worth reflecting on, I think. Both reveal the immeasurable depth and breadth of yourself and of existence.
Letting go of thought was described by Kōshō Uchiyama Roshi (1912-1998) as, “Opening the hand of thought”. This excellent expression points to the vitality of letting go of thought, we might call this activity, ‘practice’. “Opening the hand of thought”, paints a picture of offering and in an offering, nothing is squashed, all is allowed. You shouldn’t get caught by excellent words though, you need to let go of words to realize what they mean and only you can do that, neither Uchiyama or anyone else can do it for you. Opening the hand of thought actively involves the whole of you, it’s not just a nice idea, it means – actually let go of thought and experience the immediate result. Offering means, giving yourself appropriately.
Letting go of thought is simply direct immersion in the dharma of what you are and what comes back to you is the inexhaustible trustworthiness of the dharma. Included in this direct engagement of being, is the rich dynamic detail of everything where nothing can be pinned down. When practice becomes well-rounded and vivid, nothing at all is excluded from awareness. All is washed clean in the direct participation of just living. Washed clean of what? – you answer that in the doing.
In the moments of encountering appearances of difficulties, you’re getting free of them. In moments of avoiding facing habitual difficulties, you’re half alive, hiding yourself in thought.
Faith, acceptance, offering, there is never a time when these activities of your true self cannot prove their vital effectiveness. In an instant, the way is realized, in an instant it is lost, and in an instant the way is found.
Trying to rely on thought is like tying yourself up in ropes of your own making, restricting body and mind in the process. It isn’t something that is happening to you, you are involved in the rope making. In exerting their nature, experienced meditators must continue to apply themselves as much as beginners. Though over time, it may become as natural and easy as taking a nap, there’s always some effort required to meet where thought is let go of and you can’t fake this. Whatever amount of effort is asked for, big or small, it is always the direct gateway to no restriction. When it’s time to think, just think, this is also the life of letting go of thought, it would be a daft mistake to try and become thoughtless.
You might think that it is obvious that all of this is without beginning or end, yet immersive experience will show that it isn’t ever what you think. You have to apply yourself to see where ever present practice and intrinsic freedom cannot be thought up, we might call this effort, ‘faith in practice’. When teachers say, “Just look!”, they mean, ‘let go of thought’. Do you then want them to keep telling you what you’ll find there too?
If you wonder whether there are potential pitfalls and ways to get this wrong, you bet there are! Take a step, risk getting it wrong, and be taught. In making mistakes you may see that all pitfalls involve misusing thought. If you decide not to start because of potential dangers or stubbornly choose oblivious opinion, then you get what you pay for – your self, bound up in thought, like someone starving yet unable to eat at an open banquet. You might even be unaware that you are hungry, let alone that sustenance is at close at hand, just as you might remain outside the door of meditation by thinking that you are meditating. The Buddhadharma says – come, eat, there’s never a time when anything is denied to you.