The Compass of Zazen

A frequent visitor to our Sangha gifted us with a lovely post ... on Zazen and choices ... on "sitting with" questions ... Zazen is compass-ionate Yes, folks, indeed it is. Take what is tumultuous, sit it down in zazen Like a true compass, zazen points And in that pointing, all directions thereby are known Take what is submerged, sit it down in zazen Like a bubble of air, tugging toward ‘up’ No amount of being rolled around by life’s undertow Can mask the fact ‘Up’ is ‘up’ zazen, if not now, in this lifetime, then when? I do not feel that Zazen will always allow us to know the "one correct choice" to make at a life crossroads, the "one right answer" to every life problem. But it sure will point us in the right direction of good answers and choices ... toward more helpful, healthful, more peaceful, wise and compassionate choices free of anger, greed, selfishness. The silence and open space of Zazen allows our heart a moment of calm in which to settle on a course, free of self destructive impulses and biases. Visit the forum thread here!