Every-Minute Zen
Zen master Sengai was visited by a student who asked,
"
What is every-minute Zen?" Sengai replied,
"It is the Zen that is practiced in every minute, in every activity." The student was not satisfied. "That does not help me.
Please teach me concretely." Sengai asked,
"Are you hungry?" The student said he was.
Sengai said,
"Then go and eat your rice."
Reflection
Sengai's answer to the student asking for 'every-minute Zen' is simply to go eat when hungry. Zen is not a special practice added to life but the full participation in each activity. The student's dissatisfaction shows his expectation of a secret technique. Sengai cuts through by pointing to the most basic need: the sacred is found in the ordinary act of nourishing oneself.