The Four Foundations: Dharma is—Immediate
From “The Four Foundations” by Venerable Samu Sunim
Dharma is
Intimate,
Immediate,
Spontaneous,
Obvious
How often do I find myself questioning a first decision? Casting doubt only to be left for hours, days even in mental contemplation? Overly concerning myself with making the “right decision” creates a barrier to action. Choosing the difficult task of resting in confusion has lead me time and time again back to the initial decision and the courage to take a step forward.
How many of us find ourselves here? Unsure or unwilling to trust what is immediately before us? Oh it can’t be that easy, we say, trained to want for a challenge. And yet, the Dharma of Immediacy says that it is, it is that easy. What naturally arises in the moment is an answer meeting a question. Maybe we don’t prefer the answer we receive, so we mull around our living room thinking up grander schemes. But the purpose we’re here seeking is right here, right now.
The Dharma is Immediate, the late Buddhist Zen Master The Venerable Samu Sunim says. What is Immediate is the beautiful arising of the now. What hinderances do we shroud ourselves, covering up from experiencing the beauty arising of the now?
I posed this inquiry to my practitioners one Saturday, and in beginning discussion we shared these things—perfectionism, anxiety, self-doubt, societal expectation, fear of the unknown, old age. We then took to the mat aware of these things, and offered unto our practice an invitation.
What would happen if I just let this moment be? Without changing, fixing, or willing it different, what can I immediately notice arising through me? Arrive as you are, and observe what is here.
What becomes accessible is the moment as it is, beyond our conceptions of it. This is how our body’s seek to resolve through us. The body functions rather mechanically, and beautifully so. There is an order and perfection with its operating system, and our own ignorance keeps us from knowing our human organism in this way. The moment asks for our earnest hearts and curious minds to strip away all that gets in the way from knowing ourselves as the beautiful, highly intelligent, highly evolved species that we are.
If the Dharma is Immediate and the moment arises a symptom of pain, can we seek the beauty in that connection? Can we deepen our listening and soften our beliefs around whatever we are experiencing? This method of somatics that I teach is meant to deliver us to the truth of our being, held within the wisdom of these bodies that have spent millennia developing. Thus, if we can learn to meet suffering with the same equanimity we give our freedom, it is not something seen to be believed, but felt to rest in the trusted folds of the emerging Soul.
