Everyday Life Is Practice
Everyday life gives us countless opportunities to practise. We do not have to be sitting in meditation or attending a retreat. We can bring attention and curiosity to the ordinary activities of the day: working, cooking, cleaning, walking, talking to people or simply spending time on our own.
One useful place to begin is with resistance. What do we resist? What do we find difficult to accept? And why? Perhaps there is someone we find difficult to be around. Perhaps there is a task we dislike because it seems boring, difficult or even too easy. Perhaps something simply does not happen the way we wanted it to happen. These moments can become interesting.
Instead of immediately trying to change the situation, we can notice our response to it. What is happening? What am I feeling? What am I resisting? We do not necessarily need to find an answer. Sometimes it is enough to become curious about what is happening.
There is a Japanese expression I find useful in this context: Nari Kiru. It can be translated in different ways, but one meaning is “to become completely” or “to become cut off.” When cooking, just cook. When walking, just walk. When working, just work. When listening to somebody, just listen. Even when hoovering, just hoover.
This sounds simple, but often our experience is very different. I can be passing the hoover across the floor while thinking about the film I am going to watch later. I can be cooking while replaying a conversation from yesterday. I can be listening to somebody while preparing my answer before they have finished speaking. The activity is happening here, while the mind is somewhere else.
Nari Kiru can become a simple experiment. What happens if, for a moment, I simply do what I am doing? The sound of the hoover. The movement of the body. The food being prepared. The person speaking. Nothing special needs to happen. We simply return to what is here.
This can also connect with what in Zen is sometimes called Great Doubt. Who is doing this? Who is working? Who is cooking? Who is listening? Who is relaxing? Who is having fun? Who is doing nothing?
Again, we do not have to rush towards an answer. Perhaps the question itself is enough. We can take it into the activities of the day and see what happens. Who is walking? Who is eating? Who is thinking? Who is passing the hoover?
Everyday life gives us plenty of material for practice. We do not need to wait for a special situation or create a particular state of mind. We can begin with whatever we are already doing. Pay attention. Be curious. And simply have fun exploring.
