Hold one present moment as the whole of time

Take a single activity and consider that it is not a stop on the way to the next thing but the time, for now, in which you are.

Por qué funciona

Roberts’s commentary on the Uji fascicle says Dōgen separates the two characters, u (being) and ji (time), and reassembles them as one word, uji, usually translated “being–time.” It notes that the everyday phrase they are usually read as, arutoki, means “for the time being” in conventional use, and that Dōgen’s use has a deeper meaning than “at this time.” The practice is a reflection on that phrase in a present moment. Whether it changes attention or mood is not studied, and the claim here is interpretive.

Cómo hacerlo

1. Before anything else, feel both feet on the floor and look slowly around the room.
2. Choose one present activity, such as drinking tea or walking to a door.
3. Silently say “for the time being” once as you begin it, and let the phrase point at this moment only.
4. Ask what this moment is doing if it is not on the way to the next thing.
5. Stay with the activity until it ends, and then notice where your attention went next.

Evidencia

The meaning of Uji and the arutoki reading are from Roberts’s commentary. The practice is a reflective exercise built on that commentary, and it has not been studied. (anecdotal)

Uji is philosophically dense and commentators read it differently. A short reflective exercise cannot show what Dōgen meant in full. This practice is drawn from one source, Roberts’s commentary.

Fuentes

• Roberts, S. Notes on Dōgen’s “Being–Time” (commentary on the Shōbōgenzō Uji fascicle). Lion’s Roar.

Error común

Treating Uji as a doctrine to understand before practising, and so postponing the moment while trying to grasp it. The text is meant to be tested in the moment it names.