This is the Practice

The First Thing

Méditation by Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin

Practice is difficult, for it is only here and now. It is easier to plan a retreat or pore over ancient texts. It is easier to study and debate technique, tradition, and meaning. It is easier to write about practice—as I do—and to read about it, as you do. Easier to seek as a pilgrim for miles, or for years of sitting in silence. But practice is difficult, for it is only here and now.

Practice abides not on the cushion, in the rosary, incense, or candle. It is not found in books or relics, and no guru has ever possessed it. It does not roam the wilderness, it dwells in no temple, and you will not find it on the street. Of words thought, written, and spoken, not one has come close to it.

The practice is not outside or inside us; we can’t reach it in any direction, but we can cease departing from it. When the search ends, it is the first thing we see. If we see that first thing as practice, we will not be far from the truth.

May we remain with the first thing,

Simeon

“The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the dharma-gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment.”

— Dōgen, Fukanzazengi

Suggested Reading

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Brother Lawrence offers one of the most radical articulations of practice as ordinary, immediate, and unlocatable. The Practice of the Presence of God records a life lived in continuous attention, where the here and now becomes prayer without words.

Order here to support SEEKER TO SEEKER at no extra cost. You can also browse my personal list of favourite books here.

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