Even When You are Uncertain.
Updated: Sep 4, 2020
Dogen says in The Shobogenzo:
"Even when you are uncertain, do not use this one day wastefully. It is a rare treasure to value. Do not compare it with an enormous jewel. Do not compare it with a dragon’s bright pearl. Old sages valued this one day more than their own living bodies. Reflect on
this quietly. A dragon’s pearl may be found. An enormous jewel may be
acquired. But this one day out of a hundred years cannot be retrieved once
it is lost. What skillful means can retrieve a day that is passed? No
historical documents have recorded any such means. Not to waste time is to
contain the passage of days and months within your skin bag, without
leaking. Thus, sages and wise ones in olden times valued each moment, day,
and month more than their own eyeballs or the nation’s land. To waste the
passage of time is to be confused and stained in the floating world of name
and gain. Not to miss the passage of time is to be in the way for the way".
How often do you use uncertainty to not commit?
What would it be like to practice wholeheartedly with not-knowing?
Using every ingredient of your life is a place of practice.

Reverend Helen
Redding Zen Buddhist Priory.