living as a buddha

There is an art to living as a buddha

This is really the art of living. If one really masters the art of living, then one will be living as a buddha, in one's buddha nature, dwelling here. And like all great arts, this art of living is deceptively simple.

The key, the key to life is to stay present, in this moment, and enjoy it whatever is happening, even if there are flies buzzing around one, their dance can also be enjoyed. Gazing at the large dragonfly that has landed on a bush in front of me, this is also to be enjoyed. Watching the grass, as it sways gently in the breeze, one can quite readily begin to sense the suchness in the moment. It's as if the moment is poised, not in a threatening way, but in an elegant way.

So this art of living as a buddha involves staying in the present moment. And by that we mean not being drawn into thoughts of what has gone before, the past, nor of what is to come, the future. And without the past and future, thoughts have very little to offer us, and they can melt away, allowing this tremendous empty presence. And this is the suchness on the inside as well as the out.

In this way, we truly meet the rest of existence and the I simply disappears. There is no need for me, the concept of me. And living without me, without that strange obsession with the self, living without that is also part of this art, the art of being a buddha. And allowing a tremendous stillness to enter one is a part of this art. Ordinarily most people are rushing hither and thither, just as the mind is busy rushing back and forth. With the mind becoming silent, stillness can enter one. And this stillness and silence is a tremendous part of the art of being a buddha. And with it, with these two – the silence and the stillness – there comes a great spaciousness. And this too can only be lived when one is no longer bound up with this little idea of the self, I, me. That concept cannot allow the spaciousness to enter one.

So this being a buddha is a tremendously simple way of being. It is not easy to be this simple. Our conditioning, our past, our habits, have all led us into a different way of being in the world. And letting go of all that, one can return to this simple way of being, the simple art of living as a buddha.