During my dharma talks over a period of years, I am famously known for ending each of them with the following sentence:
“Our true legacy to this world is not measured in our social status, education degrees, material wealth or peer recognition. Our true legacy to this world is in how we live our life and keep our mind moment by moment.”
Lately I’ve been considering this comment in a new light.
If we are not careful, the ever present ego can find it’s way into the fabric of the above stated comment. Acquired beliefs and assumptions are always subtly working their way into our consciousness. Thoughts and feelings enter and exit our minds and start to take root. They determine the roles we adapt in social situations and the expressions we convey throughout our day in various social circumstances. It can be said that we are oftentimes on automatic pilot in both our speech and behavior. Acquired values take root and contribute to a self image that subconsciously serves as a “guide” or mental monitor weaving us in and out of our day to day encounters. Much of this behavior is pre-determined by energy sources that are vague and ofttimes undefinable. Our personal arsenal of ready to use modes of handling different social environments as they occur emanates from a complex process. Descartes said “I think therefore I am.” Zen Master Seung Sahn often used this quote but would immediately follow up by offering the following to his listeners: “No thinking, then what?”
A very simple yet profound principle is revealed here. When you think and I think, our minds are different. Your before thinking mind and my before thinking mind are the same. This substance is true not only for human beings. The whole universe responds to this glorious dance of impermanence, characterized by the free flowing energy that is before thought.
Ji Haeng Zen Master – The Desert Dragon