Description: This talk explores the three fruits of Zen practice. The first is concentration. The second is kensho, “seeing reality” or “seeing true nature.” The third is embodying this experience in everyday life. Concentration, or con-centration, is the process of continuously coming back to the present moment, where our lives are happening, in the center of our being. Kensho is a moment when everything falls away and we glimpse our “true nature,” as Zen calls it. We discover that the reality the great masters experience, where nothing is separate from anything else, is real in our lives, here and now. Kensho is the source of an endless, infinite unfolding—one moment generates all moments thereafter. To embody this experience in our everyday life is a process whereby we forget about awakening or realization, and, with ongoing practice and training, become of service in ways that are most natural to each of us, as we allow life to unfold.
Post image: Dry Garden in Ryoanji (Kyoto, Japan) by Stephane D’Alu, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Featured image: Three by Klaise, CCO Public Domain.