Question
I can’t accept submitting to rituals. (I tell myself that if Buddha saw us, he would find it hilarious, or else his anger would be terrible.) I know all of this has meaning: honoring the master, showing humility, helping meditation, and so on. But I can’t do it. Yet I feel deeply Buddhist, but because of this difficulty I struggle to join a sangha, whether Tibetan, Theravada, or Zen. To me, what matters is behaving well at every moment, trying to have right thought, right action, and right speech, meditating, and being in the present moment. Is that what being Buddhist means?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
For an awakened being, every act and every thought can be a ritual.
A true ritual is a magical act that brings about a remarkable reality.
Master Deshimaru transmitted its simple, clear, and obvious essence to us.
It has nothing to do with venerating a god, worshiping a statue, or all that psychological or superstitious bullshit.
Kosen