Wish I didn’t have to write these posts first thing in the morning. I’d love to sit back and let the day unfold, then reflect on it all in the evening. But I need to let that go. It’s more important that I put something here to get our new retreat day started.

Today, I’m again filled with all that you’ve written these past two days, with the joy of sharing our lives, and I’m also filled with sadness after the deadly attack in New York yesterday. What does our practice mean amid it all?

I like Gary Snyder’s version of what Zen « practice » is: just sit down somewhere and really get to know the territory, become familiar with it, become intimate with it.  That place to sit down is right here; that territory is you, your whole life.

The point of this « practice, » Maezumi Roshi said, is intimacy.  « Appreciate your life, » he said. He didn’t say « like » your life (it’s not a Facebook post).  He said appreciate it. And to appreciate it, you have to know it. To know it, you have to study it.

Have a look today. How familiar are you with your life?