Zen Calander

Today I was reading Zen 24/7 by Phillip Toshio Sudo, a deeply philosophical book that helps the reader incorporate basic Zen practices and meditative thoughts into modern life. I came across this one section called “Zen Calendar.” In this chapter, Sudo discusses the futility of measuring time and pleas for simplicity. “We rely on concepts such as ‘Monday’ and ‘February’ to organize our complex schedules and mark the passage of time. But we should remember the monk in the monastery, who regards the past and future as an illusion. To the monk, there is no yesterday or tomorrow; there is only the moment.”

When I read this passage, I think about the notion of the moment. The moment itself, as Sudo describes it, is the time we spend in this existence. This moment, in itself, is formed by a series of moments: the moments we wake up in the morning, the moments we eat breakfast, the moments we decide not to go to work and go back to bed. One may ask how we will organize ourselves in time without measuring it. Sudo says, “In the same ways as the ancients: Through the rise and fall of the sun each day, the cycle of the moon each month, the cycle of the seasons each year. The more we attune ourselves with that timeless rhythm, the closer we live to nature.”

This timeless rhythm is the primordial cycle that all natural things abide by. The human body itself is dependant on the sequence of cycles: the breathing in of air and the breathing out of air, the phases of the body as it wakes and sleeps, blood pumping in to the heart and blood pumping out. In each cycle, the first action is the catalyst for the next action. Hence, with every action there is an equal reaction.

This explains the Buddhist idea of rebirth. The physical body dies and, as part of the chain of causation, the mind-body is reborn in a new form. It is like the passing of a flame from one candle to the unlit wick of another in a long row of candles (the flame being the mind-body and the candle being the physical body); and the attainment of nirvana can be seen as the blowing out of the flame, as it is no longer part of the series of action/reaction in this existence, also known as the cycle of suffering of Samsara.

To appreciate fully the richness of life, I try not to let the man-made observance of time dominate my life. Oftentimes I see people constantly stressing and rushing to save time, constantly trying to complete as much as they can with little time that they can. I admit that I sometimes let it get to me as well, especially when deadlines are close, or when I forget to post a blog at a certain time. Even though this entity is deep-rooted in modern human society, I try not to make it apart of me. Besides, I never took time seriously in the first place.