Case 6: A Good Day

In response to a question about the before and after of today, Yun Men said "every day is a good day". This wonderful saying can give both hope and perspective, which we all need, but that is the tip of this ancient iceberg. Yun Men was espousing his understanding of time and space, the ontological twins of Zen and spiritual inquiry. What place do we inhabit? When do we live? Are we awake to it?

"Every day is a good day" gathers together all time and space into the present moment, into the luminosity of now. It gathers together all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, ancestors, teachers, families, friends, beings, animals, rocks, tiles, and trees, and sets them on top of Mt. Sumuru, the sacred mountain. Where you stand and breathe right now is "It". There is no place apart from where you are now. Yun Men was asked a clever question to test his understanding of the here and now, and to expose how he included all life into his own sense of being. He revealed his understanding that there is nothing existent outside this moment nor separate from him, that we are all 'time-beings', to borrow from Dogen's understanding of Uji (His writing on time-being).

So, what do we do when we wake up grumpy and realize we are late getting to work? What do we do when we get behind? What do we do when our living becomes a 'to do' list? What do we do when 'there isn't enough time', when we feel crowded by others, when the clock is ticking out the seconds of mortality, when the race to get ahead has us galloping through the day?! Can we stop? Can we sit still? Can we return to this good day? Can we return to this wondrous moment of being? Can we find the still center out of which life arises? Can we bow to Yun Men and recollect ourselves so that our lives are centered in the present moment and place we find ourselves? Practice is making an effort to return to the peace of every day.

Lost in the woods
Take a breath
The jewel uncovers