Questions to Master Deshimaru

Question

How can one help others concretely?

Answer

What does "help " mean? Having no object, no goal is better. If you think, during zazen, "I must help So-and-So and practice zazen now for that purpose," your zazen is not good. To practice zazen with a mushotoku-mind, "no profit," that is what is most important; beyond any goal, the highest zazen. It's not worth telling yourself, "My zazen must be profound so that I can help other people." Shikantaza means just sitting, without any object. Practice zazen automatically, naturally, unconsciously, and its influence will become infinite. Dogen wrote that if one person practices zazen only one hour, that person influences all the people in the whole world. It is not easy to help other people. Giving them money is not enough. What matters most is always to remain beyond categories, otherwise one becomes narrow, narrower and narrower. Hishiryo consciousness is infinite.