Those who donated to our crowdfunding Indiegogo campaign last fall are getting daily e-mails this month as a thank-you and part of the May Sit. We wanted to share these with everyone, though they are a day or so later. This was the May 14 offering.

The first text in italics is from Cultivating the Empty Field by Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu. The commentary following it is from one of the teachers at Dharma Rain Zen Center.

The matter of oneness cannot be learned at all. The essence is to empty and open out body and mind, as expansive as the great emptiness of space. Only do not let yourself interfere with things, and certainly nothing will interfere with you. Body and mind are one suchness; outside this body there is nothing else. So it is said, the sage is without self and yet nothing is not himself.

We can delude ourselves into thinking that enlightenment is something that can be gained, and wisdom is something that can be learned. In fact, we only learn not to grasp after enlightenment. We learn to get out of our own way. We are not competing for wisdom; we are not grabbing from a limited bag of understanding. Nothing is begrudged, because there is nothing to be gained. Just for today, notice the small thoughts of grasping that arise. Notice if you experience jealousy of another’s understanding, and know that this is a delusion. There is no end to understanding.