“Your deepest desire you long to know cannot be known by reading about it. There is nothing to know, nothing you need to know except, your deepest desire. To know your deepest desire you need to just sit, just look, just listen, to your deepest desire. This will be the most difficult thing you will ever try to do, not because it is difficult, but because some time ago you stopped listening to your deepest desire and for a while, at least in the beginning, it will appear like a stranger to you, a stranger you will need to learn to trust. What you don’t know is that the stranger is you. You, not the you, you call you. The you before you became you. The you, you call you, is the real stranger, not you. This is Zen. Learning to trust again your deepest desire. Learning to trust you. This is Zen Training. This is the real meaning of the word enlightenment. When you remember the you, you were before you became you, you are awake. What follows is what the ancients said, “Ten thousand more hours of just sitting, just looking, just listening”, but this time you’ll be sitting with, seeing and listening to, everything you need to know, and your deepest desire will be fulfilled, and you will fulfill everything, everywhere you go.”

Seijaku Roshi is the abbot of Jizoan Monastery at the Pine Wind Zen Community, located at 863 McKendimen Road, in Shamong. For more information, call 609-268-9151 or visit Jizo-an.org.