Gary: Its very tempting when you start though to say Right, Im going to sit every day for forty minutes. Then about four days later youve missed one day and you say I must sit tomorrow. You begin to feel guilty. Then tomorrow comes and you dont sit and the whole thing snowballs
Ekai: [laughter] The point is how to generate your interest in sitting, and then to sort out and arrange your life so that you are able to provide some space and structure. How much to sit is about how to structure your life. So the basic thing is first to generate interest, reading a book, listening to a dharma talk Then you need to work upon a structure that allows the space. If there is too much that is demanding in your life then you are not ready to structure. The real work is how to arrange. Already then, in a broader sense, the practice of zazen has begun. You have started to engage in the process of zazen. Its almost a planning or preparatory state. This is not separate from actually doing zazen. We need to be aware of how to take care of our own daily life outside of the sitting place. So the person who is able to sit more than others has done a lot of these things. They have simplified their life. Because their interest is strong they have made an effort to structure their life in such a way. So first we have to look around our own feet [laughter] and allocate time For me I have a family and kids so I am not like a single monk, alone in a monastery. So I structure my time. My structured time is pretty much the structured time of Jikishoan Zen Community. So I enjoy the retreats, and sitting in Sunday Sanzen-kai [laughter]. I dont have much luxury myself. Although the zendo is nearly attached to the house, it doesnt mean that I am always coming here [laughter].

Gary: Its a long way [laughter]
Ekai: [laughter] Yes In other words, taking care of the family is not separate. There is no contradiction. Taking care of ones life so that one can meditate correlates with the maintenance of the precepts.

Gary: It seems to be that when you are working, or doing things around the house, then zazen can be easily shuffled down the list of priorities
Ekai: [laughter] Yes, exactly

Gary: But when you actually get around to sitting you say Why didnt I do this before?
Ekai: [laughter] Its a strange thing isnt it. You are so eager after you meditate. You think I have to do this for two hours everyday or something. You have to go through those periods, bouncing back and forth. Its a process. But the most important thing is just to generate interest, to maintain interest. If interest is maintained then when the chance to sit comes, you dont miss the chance, you just jump in. Just because the condition is not there doesnt mean that there isnt interest. Once the condition is there, then you sit spontaneous [laughter]. It doesnt happen by accident, it has to come from your own desire or intention.

Gary: But sometimes it is a real effort to sit. When you havent sat for a long time you have to say No, Im going to go and do it.
Ekai: Yes, yes. Sometimes we need to make a deliberate effort. That is also because you are interested. Your interest is there under the surface and suddenly it comes to a point where it breaks the surface (laughter). Hopefully this doesnt happen in a devastating way and cause a problem in your relationship and in your own self [laughter].

Gary: Yes, its a difficult task to balance your normal life and setting aside time to sit.
Ekai: Zen appears to be a very special activity to begin with, but as we practice more it becomes a very ordinary activity, and everybody accepts that it is something that you do, and you just do it [laughter].

Gary: [laughter] It seems a little anti-social at times: Im going off to sit by myself.
Ekai: [laughter] Yes. Yes. This kind of transition, as you begin to relate to the practice and other people see you relate to the practice, is work. The preliminary work or groundwork takes three years. If you are consistent and maintain interest then people say Oh, he is serious and start to accept it [laughter]. Three years is a good chunk of time and it shows some kind of commitment and seriousness. During that period if you continue to practice you become more familiar with your own body, the physical side, and the psychology associated with it. So you become pretty much stable. When you speak to others you are not fluctuating too much. What you said and felt yesterday is not a totally different thing to today. Gary, you said yesterday that you dont like sitting, but today you say sitting is great and that you want to do more. How does that work? I cant trust you. [laughter]. Three years is a good time. It is required for us to know our own self, our body, breath and consciousness, and their relationship especially. Even the pain, at the beginning it is an energy we dont like and we want to remove it. If we continue the face of the pain starts to change. We begin to understand the quality of the pain. Some pain is okay and we know the consequences. You cant do anything about it. More intimacy comes. So keeping the interest in the practice is important. In the beginning we have a kind of map so that you have some direction to go. You can try out, and then return. So this practice is in a way endless. It becomes more refined. We spend less time wondering about this or that, to do or not to do. We usually spend an awful lot of time thinking about doing or not doing [laughter]. Only thinking time, wasting time. Time is up!! [laughter].

Gary: [laughter] And you didnt do anything
Ekai: [laughter] Try to analyse: I have to understand first in order to do. [laughter]. Zazen has the effect of computer scanning process. If the computer stuffs up then you go to Tools and it begins scanning

Gary: But then it asks you, Do you want to delete the bad files or do you want to save them?! [laughter].
Ekai: [laughter] If you are not quite sure then leave it alone. To leave it alone is the practice [laughter]. To be safe, leave it alone, dont delete the broken file [laughter]

Gary: [laughter] You might realise you needed it!
Ekai: [laughter]

Gary: Thank you Ekai.
Ekai: Thank you.

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