5
RELAXATION
TO RELAX IS the beginning of Chan. To relax your body and mind. Relaxation is the goal and the main purpose of Chan practice. Please do not misunderstand me. To be relaxed is not to be lazy. To be relaxed simply means there is no tension, stress, or pressure.
 
THERE IS A Chinese story about a man, a retiree, who went fishing. A young man sat down next to him and was also fishing.
“Hey, young man. What are you doing here?” the old man said.
“Same as you,” the young man replied.
“Really!” said the old man. “I’m enjoying myself. I’m relaxing! I’ve finished school. I’ve finished my career and raising my children. They have grown up and become independent. I am finished with all the responsibilities of my life. As a result, now I can relax and enjoy myself.”
The young man laughed. “I’m also enjoying myself. I’m also relaxed.”
“Are you?” said the old man. “I don’t think so.”
This story points to the true nature of relaxation. In order to truly relax, you need to work hard and fulfill your responsibilities. After the young man has finished fishing, he has to go back to his life. Perhaps he has to look for a job, go to school, or return to his family. He still has problems. But the old man? There is nothing he needs to worry about. This is what the Chan Master Zhaozhou Congshen (778–897) meant when he said: “When I’m hungry I eat; when I’m thirsty I drink; when I’m tired I sleep.”
So easy, we think: I know how to eat, drink, and sleep. It is true that relaxation may appear to be simple. But it is not necessarily easy. How do we relax? By coming back to the breath. By coming back to the present moment. Stop brooding over the past and worrying about the future. The past is gone and the future is always unknown and uncertain. Breathe. One breath at a time. Relax.
To relax means to be receptive. If you are able to relax, you will absorb things easily and your memory will be sharp and clear.
As you relax, you develop tolerance and endurance and enlarge the capacity of your heart and mind. You open up. You are able to receive more. Relaxation creates space. You become more accommodating. You no longer feel cramped and tight. A small heart has no room. Buddha heart is as big as the universe. Limitless.
By learning how to relax, we increase our ability to take pain and cushion ourselves against the inevitable problems and suffering that comes from living.
Painful emotions and thoughts are like naughty, mischievous children. They pull your shirt, climb all over you, tug your ears, and beat on you with their little fists. The more you shoo them away, the more they pester you. When you don’t react and just relax, after a short time they see that you are no fun and let you be.
When you react, the emotion says, “Great! He wants to play with me. Let’s play together.” So the emotion comes back for more.
Each time you relax, the energy or strength of what’s bothering you will weaken. In Chinese Buddhism, we have the image of Maitreya, the fat, smiling, happy Buddha. Children sit on his head and shoulders and crawl all over him. And the Buddha is still laughing because he is very friendly and relaxed.
With any weighty problem, our tendency is to chew it with our minds, looking for a solution. Our minds probe, search, analyze, and run here and there. We think that when we relax we’re not being proactive or productive. But this is not necessarily the case. Thinking crowds the mind. It becomes like a sky full of clouds. As a result, the sun cannot shine. There is no brightness or light.
If you clear up your mind, you may actually make a discovery and find something you’ve missed. Or you may be able to see what has been troubling you from a different perspective. All great scientific discoveries came when they were least expected. Suddenly, out of the blue, a solution appeared!
Relax, calm down, clear the mind, breathe, come back into the present moment. Then you are able to see a way through. When you relax, everything becomes clear. Your senses sharpen and your mind becomes bright.