Realization Is Here and Now

When we are living together on a retreat, gathered as a human community for a period of time, life is extraordinarily simple. The bell wakes us up in the morning, we gather in the shrine room, chant, sit, meet for breakfast, do the washing-up, go about our chores, sit, walk, eat, do not have to talk to anybody, do not have to make any decisions. Everything is provided for us—shelter, food, good company, safe situation, and even gloriously beautiful weather. This is about as simple as human life can get—benign, peaceful, and repetitive. Just about as uncomplicated as life can be. And we arrange it this way to create the most supportive conditions for us to be able to see clearly, for us to be able to understand how the mind and how the world work. …