Zen teacher Chao Chu liked saying "Avoid picking and choosing", which was a modification of Seng-T'san's (3rd Zen patriarch) " The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences". Is this an invitation to be irresponsible, to not make choices, and to give up sound judgment? How do you not pick and choose and how do you learn about how you pick and choose? And what is the Way? This koan is Zen as dense as a bamboo grove hiding the moon. How can one not have a life of difficulty, especially when Suzuki Roshi says 'Welcome your problems?".
The way, or the Tao, is the path of harmony and accord with all things, which requests us to put aside our egoism and self centered nature. Zazen is sitting in accord with all things, so when we pay attention to our posture and breathing we are avoiding picking and choosing, we are just awake to things as they are, to experience without commentary or judgment, and in terms of this koan, without making distinctions between things such as inside/outside, past/present, me/you. Chao Chu invites us to our universal nature where all things are Mind.
Zen practice makes you aware of your choices and habits, and how they might keep you from noticing and flowing with the whole context of reality as you move through the day. As you study your own habitual choices, you begin to learn about the hold they have on you. As you let them go, which is a way of not picking and choosing, you may find yourself carried on the wave of the moment in harmony with the ocean of things. As you begin to see that much of your suffering is an outgrowth of conditioned decision making and choices, the way of the unfolding present moment, of dynamic and intuitive responsiveness, and of awakening living and intimacy becomes possible.
To be or not to be,
Choices wax and wane,
Just this flow, Awake!
Case 2: Avoid Choosing
