I had felt confused and scattered for a few days.
In the afternoon I picked up a book and came across a quote by Alan Watts. It says:
“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”
I wondered for a moment and then decided to go for a walk on the beach.
What does it mean to just peel the potatoes? And how is that an act of spirituality?
I looked at the waves, walked and noticed my breathing – just looking, walking, breathing. There was a lightness, a calmness and openness, an awake-ness to this. It was like “just peeling the potatoes”. Simply just walking, looking, breathing. Suddenly in that place of just being creative words came to mind – not by thinking, more by receiving and certainly without trying The scatteredness had disappeared. I found myself smiling.
So “just peeling the potatoes” maybe really means to give all my attention to what I am doing in the present moment instead of thinking about this and that and making mental comments. In that way I become completely available to a simple yet sacred and infinite creativity. By giving all my attention, caring, love and presence into this very activity the activity itself is the spirituality. It is an expression of Spirit, of God.
I have noticed many times that when we are
completely with what we are doing (and also our inner experience)
without trying to get anywhere, then possibilities expand, action comes
to us spontaneously and often we find insights and ideas that our
rational mind would not have come up with. Sometimes this means we
remain silent when our mind wants to speak and debate, sometimes it
means we say something when mentally it doesn’t seem to make sense at
all. Maybe this is in some way the spontaneous aliveness of Zen in
action?
“Touching the Core” is about that. It is a space of meditation - or prayer - in action. It is noticing and being available to what is going on – inside and outside - thereby “touching the core” and allowing spontaneous action to manifest and healing to take place.
In the afternoon I picked up a book and came across a quote by Alan Watts. It says:
“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”
I wondered for a moment and then decided to go for a walk on the beach.
What does it mean to just peel the potatoes? And how is that an act of spirituality?
I looked at the waves, walked and noticed my breathing – just looking, walking, breathing. There was a lightness, a calmness and openness, an awake-ness to this. It was like “just peeling the potatoes”. Simply just walking, looking, breathing. Suddenly in that place of just being creative words came to mind – not by thinking, more by receiving and certainly without trying The scatteredness had disappeared. I found myself smiling.
So “just peeling the potatoes” maybe really means to give all my attention to what I am doing in the present moment instead of thinking about this and that and making mental comments. In that way I become completely available to a simple yet sacred and infinite creativity. By giving all my attention, caring, love and presence into this very activity the activity itself is the spirituality. It is an expression of Spirit, of God.
I have noticed many times that when we are
completely with what we are doing (and also our inner experience)
without trying to get anywhere, then possibilities expand, action comes
to us spontaneously and often we find insights and ideas that our
rational mind would not have come up with. Sometimes this means we
remain silent when our mind wants to speak and debate, sometimes it
means we say something when mentally it doesn’t seem to make sense at
all. Maybe this is in some way the spontaneous aliveness of Zen in
action?“Touching the Core” is about that. It is a space of meditation - or prayer - in action. It is noticing and being available to what is going on – inside and outside - thereby “touching the core” and allowing spontaneous action to manifest and healing to take place.
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