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One day, Huangbo went into the kitchen and asked the cook what he was doing, and the cook said he was sorting rice for the monks. Huangbo asked how much rice they were eating.

The cook replied, “Two-and-a-half measures.”
“Isn’t that too much?” asked Huangbo.
“I’m afraid it isn’t enough,” said the cook.
Huangbo struck him.

Later, the cook mentioned this to Linji, who said, “I’ll test the old fellow for you.” As soon as Linji came to attend Huangbo, Huangbo told the story and said that the cook didn’t understand.

Linji asked, “Isn’t that too much?” And then he said, “Teacher, kindly give a turning word in place of the cook.”
“Well, why not say, ‘We’ll eat a meal again tomorrow!’”
Linji slapped Huangbo and said, “Why talk about tomorrow—eat it right now!”
“This lunatic has come here again to pull the tiger’s whiskers,” said Huangbo.
Linji shouted and went out.

—The Record of Linji, Critical Examinations, I

Why wait until tomorrow? Why not have it now?

Upon entering practice, it is hard not to set targets and timelines. At least it has been hard for me. Fulfillment, awakening, recognition: these goals are hard, if not impossible, to resist. “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” says Alice’s White Rabbit. I notice in myself a constant urge to trade up for something better.

We sometimes forget there is nothing better than this moment, this place. The good news is we don’t have to wait around for “this.” We can enter the world of awakening right now. But it may not be what we anticipated, planned for, or scheduled. It may look a lot like our ordinary life, but also more mysterious, more wonderful, and more beautiful than we imagined.

In his introduction to Edward Espe Brown’s The Most Important Point, editor Danny Parker writes about his big hopes, and then his great disappointment, on entering the path.

“My experience with Zen practice during those months was surprising and largely disappointing—not at all what I imagined. Nothing in my life was solved. My problems loomed larger than when I first came. Far from reaching enlightenment, I experienced my life as patently mundane. The magic carpet of kensho was pulled out from under me. The great hope of a big transformative realization was gone.”  

After a time, Danny drifted away from the practice. A decade later, he was invited by a friend to do a one-day sitting with Ed Brown, and it became for him “one of the most powerful and pivotal” moments of his life.

“Old pinecones falling periodically on the metal roof thumped like a cheering section; outdoors jays wailed for me. Even my aching legs seemed to love me. I was home again in quiet simple kindness.”

Linji is the master of the “Don’t Wait” school, and some of his advice is exceedingly helpful, in the most simple, immediate manner: Forget the primi or secondi piatti, eat your dolce now.

We don’t have to believe the stories we cook up. We can be generous hosts and offer welcome. And we can do that right now.

—Jon Joseph

Art: A Dahlia from my garden, with photo assist from Stephen Gay

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Jon Joseph Roshi, Director of San Mateo Zen Community