Circle of the Way and Inner Most Request

A nasty spring snow storm here in White Bear has slushed up the passage through the woods but dog Bodhi meets the moment with wild abandon. I looked at the semi-frozen knee-deep mess and decided on a different route.

In our Monday night study group, we also recently went as far as we could for now with “The Meaning of Bodhidharma Coming from the West” and changed direction, beginning Dogen’s “Continuous Practice.”

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“Aspiration” (or “inner-most request” in Katagiri Roshi’s vernacular) is included in the circle of the way and is an important fulcrum for practice. What is your aspiration for your practice? Do you think it wrong to be a Zen student and have an aspiration?

Think again. Without being vividly in touch with your aspiration – at least from time to time – you might be just wandering a snow storm or bogged down in slush.

One helpful parlor game for unearthing your inner-most request comes from George Bowman, long-time Sasaki Roshi student and successor of Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim.

Sit calmly and ask yourself, “What is the most important thing?”

Let the conditioned responses roll through you without attaching to any of them. When you hit on something that seems true, then ask yourself, “What about this is the most important thing?”

Continue to refine your intention, distilling your response until your inner-most request is clarified. 

Then get off your fat aspiration and practice it (thanks to Mark for this line).