While meditation practice is sometimes described in terms of a mind-training, perfected through effort and diligence, it is equally spoken of in terms of natural ease and effortless awareness, a process of relaxing into a ’natural great perfection’.
Take this poem by the notorious Zen scallywag, Ryokan:
Too lazy to be ambitious
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days worth of rice in my bag
A bundle of twigs by the fireplace
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment
Listening to the night rain on my roof
I sit comfortably
With both legs stretched out
Or the opening lines from Lama Gendun’s famous vajra song, “Free and Easy”:
Happiness cannot be found
Through great effort and willpower
But is already present
In open relaxation and letting go.
This Day of Practice will be an invitation into these qualities of natural ease. We will explore dimensions of relaxation and their profoundly healing qualities, as well as that which inhibits or prevents us from truly being at ease.
