CYP

Have I told this story, here, before? The one about the Zen practitioner wanting to advance to the ‘next level'?  No? Cool. Here goes:

Once there lived a very successful young man in Boise, Idaho. He was about ready to retire from a PR firm where he directed creative services. He loved his work, the people he worked with, his clients and the daily challenges of being on the cutting edge of creativity and commerce. The girls all wondered why he had never married for he was handsome and took exceptionally good care of his body. His passions outside of work were cycling, yoga, the martial arts and the study of Zen Buddhism. As a cycling instructor his no-nonsense approach incorporated several of the best training elements from each; Endurance and power from cycling, flexibility and movement from yoga, focused strength and awareness from the martial arts and mind/body control from Zen. He was fond of saying that practice alone was not enough, that the relentless search for perfect practice was our true goal. He was famous for his intense sessions and consistent flowing training intervals. 

One day after a particularly satisfying session he sat in Zazen counting breaths. Oddly he was struggling to keep his mind from wandering, something that was usually routine. This began to bother him and the more he tried to calm his mind the more it wanted to go elsewhere. Finally he ended the session deciding to take a walk in the forest and consider other things. 

As he slowly walked through the woods, hands clasped behind his back, he heard a strange voice suggesting that the time was ripe to move his practice onward and upward, to a new level. He decided to act upon this random input and so the next day he booked a trip to Tibet to go and seek a mountaintop guru who might be able to instruct him. 

Leaving all worldly possessions, his work and his hobbies behind he set out on his trip that he felt would surely end with his enlightenment. His path was long, dangerous and challenging but after two years he finally made it to the mountain cave where he was advised lived the holiest of gurus, a Zen master of the highest order. 

After a week of climbing at last he found the cave and, bowing, entered. There in deep meditation sat the guru who could answer all his questions and instruct him on how to best advance along his noble path.

Without opening his eyes the guru asked him to sit and tell his story. Upon completion, the man asked simply and sincerely how to proceed.

The guru opened his eyes and caught the innocent gaze of the man as he sat opposite and said simply,

“Continue your Practice.”

And so it is for us. Our mountaintop is every day, our challenge monumental. We continue our practice with the goal of gracefully flowing through our daily lives with focused relaxation, awareness and gratitude. We commit to continual improvement, forgive our errors and omissions and without seeking compensation, help others as best we can. 

It applies to indoor cycling, racing, yoga, weight lifting, Tae-Kwon-Do, football, music, art and every philosophic and religious tradition. It is everything and everywhere. It is eternal, a never-ending labyrinth of work. The labour is the practice as the road is the goal.  

Continue your practice.