![]() Through this continuous practice, each Buddha and Ancestor abides as a
Buddha, transcends being Buddha, realizes the mind as Buddha, and is
perfected as a Buddha, endlessly.
It is because of this continuous practice, that there are sun, moon, and
stars. Because of this continuous practice, there are earth and open sky.
Through this continuous practice there is inside and outside and body and
mind. Through this continuous practice there are the four elements and the
five skandhas.
We could see what happens when we substitute some of the other
translations of gyoji for the words continuous practice.
The merit of such upholding activity upholds oneself and others. In a
moment of my endless activity, the whole earth, the whole sky, the ten
directions are all pervaded by it. Although you may not be aware of it and
others might not be aware of it, that is the way it is. Through the endless
activity of all the Buddhas and Ancestors, our own continuous practice thus
becomes actualized and the Way of the Buddhas is opened for us. Through
our own continuous practice, the endless activity of all the Buddhas and
Ancestors is manifested, and the Way of the Buddhas is opened. Through our
own endless activity, the merit of the Way turns without beginning. Through
this continuous practice, each Buddha and Ancestor abides as a Buddha,
transcends being Buddha, realizes the mind as Buddha, and is perfected as a
Buddha, endlessly.
It is because of this endless activity, that there are sun, moon, and
stars. Because of this actively upholding, there are earth and open sky.
Through this endless activity there is inside and outside and body and mind.
Through this endless activity there are the four elements and the five
skandhas.
So then, our continuous practice is alignment with coming and going, with the
activity which presences as sun, moon, and stars, as sounds, as trees and falling
rain. The ceaseless cascade of experiences is the stream of continuous practice, the
ceaseless activity which actively upholds or makes manifest a tongue, a tooth, a
Buddha, the earth and the open sky.
The ten directions are endlessly active as your own continuous practice. The
body and mind, the four elements of earth, fire, water, and air and the five skandhas
of form, reactivity, symbolization, patterning and consciousness are all
manifestations of endless activity. Aligning yourself with what manifests rather than
merely what is manifest, with the coming and going rather than with the coming and
going of any particular thing, is continuous practice.
Whether you are aware or not of this active upholding which pervades the ten
directions when you yourself uphold activity, the Way of the Buddhas opens for you
as you open to it. Whether any one else notices it or not, your continuous practice
pervades and upholds you and they.
This is very difficult to understand but this is the way things are and it is the
Way of the Buddhas. The way that things are is that they are each and all endless
activity, pervading and upholding you and you are pervading and upholding them in
continuous practice.
To return to the text:
While continuous practice is not something that usual people have any
fondness for, nevertheless, it is everyones true refuge. Through this
continuous practice of the Buddhas of past, present, and future, the Buddhas
of past, present, and future are manifested. The merits of this continuous
practice are sometimes evident, and so beings arouse themselves and begin
to practice. Sometimes these merits of continuous practice are not evident,
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