Oneness
I have been reading Kido Inoue’s For Those Who Want to Practice Zazen, Coppell, TX, 2026. Rev. Inoue says, “We practice zazen so as to liberate ourselves from our excessive self-awareness” (p. 131). A practitioner tries to stay in the Now, the Reverend says, continuing, “If something pops up in your mind, you should cut it off right away and get back to the now” (p. 138). In time, the practitioner achieves “You, emptied of your self . . . . A no-self you” (p. 128).
The process of staying in the Now can be practiced in daily life. In fact I think practicing in daily life is what Rev. Inoue mostly had in mind. Such practice is accomplished by putting thinking and a sense of self aside when feasible in daily functioning. In pursuing this faithfully, eventually a person comes to an ultimate state in Zen practice.
Rev. Inoue says, “There is only one truth. Everything is one, one is everything” (p. 73). Pursuing the practice of staying in the Now, the Reverend says, in time, “your everyday life will become the state of oneness” (p. 189).
Many years ago, I attended a talk that Reb Anderson gave to a large audience at Green Gulch Farm. A bold member of the audience challenged him to explain enlightenment in one sentence. Thinking for a moment, Reb said just one word: “non-separateness.”
Oneness and enlightenment – same thing.