Life is unexpected. Everything that happens is unexpected, it never conforms to any idea, plan, notion, or sentiment we have about it. The reality that arises in the present moment is never our picture or movie, it is an unknown and immediate surprise. The thought that things are going are way is a veneer of comfort that can impede our direct perception and experience of the vibrant moment. Sometimes things go our way, sometimes they don't, sometimes they are very neutral, and Zen is a constant crash course in meeting things just the way they are without meddling. Are we continually willing to be surprised?
Throughout the day I am caught off guard by life's little surprises: an unplanned tax notice, a call from a distant friend, feedback that hits me in the gut, a touching moment of being loved, a newspaper article about genocide. Zen practice has helped me stop and open to these moments without resistance, to welcome them as life presenting itself to me, as the joy of an unfolding day. These moments are Buddha, they are the matrix of total engaged living. The quip 'Life is what is happening while you are making plans' is a fine teaching.
How do we meet the unexpected? This rich question can sit on our shoulder throughout the day and provide helpful information about where we are stuck in our conditioning, about how we hang onto our concepts of how life should be. A favorite story of mine is about the sage-fool Nasrudin. He watched a hawk for a long time, then cut off its beak and talons with a scissors and proclaimed 'This is what a bird should look like!'. If we can catch ourselves trying to impose on things as they are, we can then open to the wondrous dynamic of the present and let our boat float unimpeded down the river of life. I have found I need to use oars far less often than I believe.
A spider web
suddenly appears
in morning light
Welcoming the Unexpected
