Practice in Daily Life: Achieving the Way Amidst Firewood and Rice

Where is the Dojo?

A Zen master was asked: "Master, I have a family and a job, and I cannot get away. How can I practice?"

The Zen master asked back: "Do you eat? Do you sleep? Do you talk?"

"I do all of them."

The Zen master said: "Then you have the opportunity to practice."

We often mistakenly think that practice is something special that requires a special environment. But after the Buddha attained enlightenment, many of the people he taught were laypeople. Vimalakirti was a merchant, and Layman Pang's entire family were laypeople, yet they all attained enlightenment. "Carrying water and chopping wood is nothing but the Way; walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all the dojo."

Daily life is actually the best place for practice because it presents real tests. Not getting angry while sitting in a cave is only because no one is provoking you. But returning home and exploding in rage at a single word from your spouse—this shows that the mind of anger is still there. Practice is not about escaping situations, but transforming the mind within them.

Practice in Eating

Eating is the most daily of activities. In Buddhism, there are the "Five Contemplations": 1. Count the merits and measure the origin (be grateful for the effort behind the food); 2. Reflect on one's own virtue (consider if one is worthy of the offering); 3. Guard the mind against faults, greed being the principal one (avoid greed and aversion); 4. Treat food as medicine to cure the withering of the body (eat for survival, not pleasure); 5. Accept this food to achieve the Way (eat to support practice).

You don't need to do the full contemplation every time, but a simple thought of gratitude gives the meal a different meaning.

More importantly, eat with focus. Modern people often look at their phones while eating, finishing without knowing the taste or nourishing the mind. Putting down the phone, focusing on tasting, and chewing slowly—this itself is meditation, the practice of living in the present. A Zen master taught that when eating, one should only think "I am eating now." Simple, yet profound.

Practice at Work

Work takes up a large proportion of life. If work and practice are opposed, then we cannot practice for eight hours a day, which is a great pity.

Giving and Contribution—Work itself can be the "Giving of Fearlessness," using one's skills to serve society.

The Path of Patience—Criticism from bosses, misunderstandings from colleagues, and difficulties from clients are all opportunities to practice patience. Finding a "gap" when anger rises and choosing not to explode is the fruit of practice.

Effort and Diligence—Being responsible and not slacking off is diligence (Virya). This attitude can be carried over into spiritual practice.

Non-attachment—Do your best, but do not be overly attached to the result. The Diamond Sutra says, "Develop a mind that dwells nowhere." "Dwelling nowhere" means non-attachment; "develop a mind" means actively doing things. The two are not contradictory. Doing things with a mind of non-attachment makes one lighter and wiser.

Practice in the Family

Family members are so close that we easily reveal our true selves before them, and they are also the ones who most easily trigger our afflictions. Precisely because of this, the family is the most real dojo.

Treating a Spouse—Watch your language, speak gently, and affirm more than criticize. What hurts a relationship is often not big events, but the accumulation of daily attitudes. Understanding that a spouse is also a sentient being with afflictions and limitations makes it easier to be tolerant.

Filial Piety—Buddhist sutras say the kindness of parents is higher than heaven and thicker than earth. Filial piety is not just material support, but spiritual companionship—visiting often, listening to them, caring for their body and mind, and respecting their thoughts.

Raising Children—Treat them with love rather than control, respect their independent personalities, and guide them without rage when they make mistakes. This is the practice of compassion and patience.

The Four Methods of Guidance in Relationships

The Four Methods of Guidance (Sangraha-vastu) are ways Bodhisattvas guide sentient beings: Giving (showing care), Loving Speech (kind words), Beneficial Action (doing things that help others), and Identity Action (putting oneself in the other's shoes).

The hardest part is facing people who make us uncomfortable. But they show us our attachments and come to "deliver" us. Viewing them as "adverse conditions for growth," and practicing patience and compassion, our hearts will naturally expand. Of course, we must protect ourselves and set boundaries, but we handle problems with wisdom rather than emotion and without giving rise to hatred.

Practice in Walking, Standing, Sitting, and Lying

When walking, maintain mindfulness and feel the contact between your feet and the ground. When sitting, keep your posture upright; posture affects the state of mind. Before sleeping, review the day—did I say anything wrong? Do anything wrong? Have bad thoughts? If so, repent; if not, rejoice in the good, and then sleep peacefully.

"Life Zen" is infusing the spirit of Zen into every detail: washing dishes just to wash dishes, sweeping just to sweep, bringing awareness and focus to every action.

Practice in Adversity

Adversity allows us to deeply experience the "Truth of Suffering." We don't notice it when things are calm, but when difficulties come, we realize how fragile worldly happiness is.

Adversity makes us reflect on cause and effect. Where does this difficulty come from? This life or a past life? Accepting cause and effect, we don't blame heaven or others, but focus on the "now"—what can I do? What good causes can I plant?

Past karma must be repaid. Suffering in this life may be "paying off debts." Thinking this way, the heart is less bitter when suffering.

Adversity is also a catalyst for practice. People in favorable conditions tend to be lazy; those in adversity easily give rise to the mind of renunciation. For many, the trigger to learn Buddhism was a major life change. What seems like a bad thing can become the greatest good thing.

From Life to Liberation

Liberation is not a sudden leap, but a gradual process. First become a good person, then a practitioner. Only when afflictions are tamed in family and work can we talk about higher states.

True liberation is not leaving life, but attaining freedom within life. A liberated person still eats, works, and interacts, but their mind is free and unbound. This freedom is forged in life, not imagined in a cave.

Layman Vimalakirti lived in a bustling city, yet his enlightenment was higher than many monks. He said: "Just as lotus flowers do not grow on dry high ground, but bloom in the muddy wetlands." Wisdom and liberation bloom in the mud of afflictions, not in a vacuum.

Do not envy those with conditions for full-time practice. Your life is your dojo, your family and colleagues are your teachers, and every event, favorable or adverse, is your material.

Live with awareness, treat people with compassion, and handle affairs with wisdom. Day after day, year after year, the mind becomes purer, and wisdom grows. When conditions ripen, liberation will come naturally.

This path is neither particularly easy nor particularly hard. All it takes is a willing heart and a little bit of effort every day.

Firewood and rice, walking and sitting—all are practice.