i don't have time to cultivate peace (Practice is Medicine)

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I understand the importance of wisdom, of peace, of mediation, but I have no time. I am busy, and I have work to do. I can only sit and practice peace for a moment, love for a short while.

the Zen understanding.

A Zen Buddhist understands that our practice is not separate from our life. Although meditation is a great thing, "meditation time" is not the only time we practice peace and letting go. This can be done every moment.

When you speak to someone, you have ample opportunity to practice compassion. When you think to buy something extra, you have the opportunity to practice letting go of your craving.

the Zen application.

The cultivation of peace is to live life in Compassion, to live life Wisely, and to live life in Freedom. These are the three Powers of spiritual prosperity.

The three powers

1. Compassion (loving others and caring for all things)
2. Wisdom (understanding the nature of reality, which can be explored through the close reading of the sutras, which ultimately explain why we practice Compassion)
3. Freedom (being free of the notion that you want things, that ultimately you need things)

These things can be cultivated all the time. Note the word "can," though. It is not a "must."

Apply your practice like you would apply medicine: not all at once or so often you become addicted to it. Apply it when it is beneficial, and then let it dissolve away. A Zen Buddhist does not even hold to their practice as dogma. Medicine passes through you, as do all things. We cannot swallow the Buddha no more than we can swallow and hold onto anything.

Sometimes you need one thing (such as a swift kick to get you practicing) and sometimes you need another thing (a calming hand that allows you the time to rest). This is what a Zen Buddhist means by calling practice medicine. You use it for each new and present moment. It is not a collection of something to keep inside you forever.

If you treat your practice as an obligation, you cannot be Truly Free.

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