SHIN JIN MEI | 信心銘- DAY FOUR

"If you wish to see it before your own eyes,
Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it.
To set up what you like against what you dislike-
This is the disease of the mind:"

If we want to see the Way clearly, it is important to drop all of our conceptions and expectations of it. We need to maintain what Suzuki Roshi refers to as our Beginner's Mind. This is the mind of limitless possibility, where we see this present moment with wonder - as through the eyes of a child. Sometimes, we feel our practice is going well, so we set a label on it that says "well". Then, when tomorrow's sit is not the same, we fail to see it for what it is. Instead, we label it otherwise. Other times, when we feel joy, we may get afraid. We try to somehow protect it and hold on to it tightly. We lose the present in pining for another place and time. But all we have is this present moment - and it is boundless and free.

When our mind creates these labels, the very act of so doing naturally creates its opposite. When you set out to like something, you also establish what you do not like. The same is true for love and hate, good and bad, plenty and scarcity. Being caught up in this is a disease of the mind. Through practice, we see the interconnectedness of all things and glimpse into our true nature. Then the Way manifests itself to us. When you think you have arrived, you are nowhere near it. Just be present.