Some years ago, while I was adjusting to living and working in Manhattan, I was involved with a sect of Japanese Buddhism, whose mission was to bring its brand of world-peace-oriented practice to Western lives through direct person-to-person contact. During one of our meetings, I voiced my frustration with my own inability to perform my role in the group to my own perfectionist standards. The Japanese leader of the meeting smiled benignly as I ranted. When I stopped, he broke the ensuing silence by saying, "Relax, Paul. It's only practice."
I was stunned. Nothing about my experience with that Buddhist group seemed at all relaxing at the time. Each of us individually chanted sutra at home every morning before going to work and every evening. We attended group chanting twice a week. We spent weekend evenings on the streets of lower Manhattan talking with whomever would listen about Buddhism, happiness and world peace. We sometimes brought these people back to my apartment to chant and discuss Buddhism.
It has taken many years and a lot of hard-road mileage for me to catch up with my Japanese mentor. I smile now whenever I think of his kindness and my ignorance.
Now I see that practice is what I am doing right now. That's it. The quality of this practice, this moment, is dependent on how seriously I consciously fill each preceding and following moment with mindfulness, compassion and right action. My practice is the constant, unrelenting commitment to be fully at peace with all humanity, while acting in the world for justice and truth. My practice is practice, because it will never be perfect. It is the process of my life.
