If you’re just joining us for this month’s theme, please read the earlier posts:
→ Introduction
→ Week 1 Instructions
→ Week 2 Instructions
Some of you might hesitate to enjoy your life because you feel guilty that other people are suffering, or because you know that happiness is fleeting and don’t want to get too attached to it. Sometimes I feel this way too, especially when my life is unsettled, sad, or difficult. Then I don’t enjoy my life because it doesn’t feel like there’s anything to enjoy at all.
You probably have these moments too. Times when you might feel that everything sucks; the world is hopeless, you’re alone and unsupported, or you and your family’s health or finances are not good and you believe there is nothing to celebrate. But even though these challenges are real and painful, there are always other conditions — meaningful ones — that are valuable and worth enjoying too.
That’s why, in our first week’s recording, we practiced recognizing what we do have—our resources and blessings. And this week, we’ll turn our attention to what we don’t have—the difficulties, discomforts, or hardships that, when absent, often go unnoticed. I was reminded of this recently when a student who’d been struggling with illness told me that, during meditation, she realized she was momentarily free from pain—and felt deeply grateful.
What don’t you have right now? Make a list, and remember that it can and will change—because that’s the nature of life! Which is what makes it all the more valuable to appreciate and enjoy the absence of suffering while you have it.
Here’s what I don’t have right now:
serious illness, pain, or disease
life in a war or disaster area
family members who are sick, struggling, or dying
financial hardship
hunger
strife and struggle with people close to me
heartbreak and grief
In today’s meditation, we’ll get in touch with the spacious and sky-like quality of the mind with a traditional wall-watching practice. This will help you open to what you have and what you don’t have, and to relate to it all with kindness, wisdom, and ease.
Meditation practice never excludes or rejects any experience. Instead, it includes all of our blessings and struggles. So don’t try to focus only on the so-called positive, and don’t try to get rid of the so-called negative. Let yourself make room for both.
“Even though you are practicing zazen [meditation], you know, counting your breath like a snail [laughs] — you can enjoy your life maybe much better than if you make a trip to the moon.
That is why we practice. And whatever kind of life you may have is not important. The most important thing is to be able to enjoy your life, without being fooled by things.”
— Shunryū Suzuki-rōshi, transcript from a lecture, “Enjoy Your Life”
May we live with integrity in our words and behaviors. May every action we take contribute to the conditions for an equitable, harmonious, and compassionate world for all beings. Sabbe satta sukhi hontu.
May it be so!
Metta+++,
Kim✨
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