It’s Anzac Day today as I write, a day set aside to remember those who have fought and died in wars, wars engendered by the three poisonous human delusions of greed, hatred and ignorance, wars that perpetuate suffering.  Throughout history conflict has arisen out of desire for possession of territory and power, out of aversion towards the “other” who does not look or think as I do, out of profound ignorance of the truth that we share one mind. I feel the weight of despair, considering that seemingly endless wars continue to be waged around the world—in Sudan, in Syria, in Ukraine, in Gaza and elsewhere—with deadly contemporary technologies that kill military and innocent civilians alike.

An old song comes to mind: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Ah, of course….that is where it must begin. And then comes to mind Thich Nhat Hahn’s wonderful articulation of what peace looks like. He offers the example of the people who fled Vietnam in small boats and encountered perilous seas. If everyone panics, the boat may sink. But if even one person can remain steady, knowing what to do and what not to do, he or she can help the boat survive. Communicating calmness, that person can inspire trust in others and save the lives of many. “We need people who can sit still and be able to smile, who can walk peacefully,” he goes on to say. “We need people like that in order to save us. Mahayana Buddhism says that you are that person, that each of you is that person.”[1]

Dogen’s lines from his Genjo Koan present the Way of practice, which is none other than the Way of peace. “To study the Way is to study the self.” Who am I? What is this “self” really?

“To study the self is to forget the self.” Yasutani roshi said “Zen practice is a matter of forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.”[2] Zazen means forgetting in the way of not-knowing, again and again relinquishing self-referential thoughts, ceasing to  believe them, returning to the single point of practice. We sit because we sit and there’s peace in the not choosing. Just this. Just here. Moreover, there’s practice beyond the cushion: with each breath-moment, being one with the circumstances of your life. Just this. Just here.

“To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things of the universe.” Glory be, when the doors swing wide open and the world comes in. The joy we know with release from the prison of the imagined separate self. (Be careful of “enlightenment” cautions Aitken Roshi, “give it no more than provisional status.”[3] Okay, Roshi. But a message from the universe is a message from the universe.)

Dogen continues “To be enlightened by all things of the universe is to cast off the body and mind of self as well as those of others. Even the traces of enlightenment are wiped out and life with traceless enlightenment is continued forever and ever.” So be it.

Again and again in zazen we practice laying our burdens down, resting in the mind of emptiness, returning to the heart at peace. Most importantly then, our responsibility is our ability to respond, to extend that peace to everyone we meet, blessing the world, turning the old Dharma wheel so that all beings can live in harmony.

Wise people remind us that it helps to slow down. When I live at the behest of a busy, even racing, mind, peace becomes elusive. Thich Nhat Hahn’s gentle prescription for mindful walking, mindful action–one step, one movement at a time—is restorative.

Remembering the Buddha’s words on loving kindness, we wish “in gladness and in safety, may all beings be at ease.”

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[1] Thich Nhat Hahn, Being Peace (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1987), 11-12

[2] Robert Aitken, “The Way of Dogen Zenji” in Original Dwelling Place, 81.

[3] Ibid., 82

This essay was written by Maggie Gluek, roshi for the Encouraging Words in SZC’s Newsletter June/ July 2025.