The autumn wind is blowing away the last dead leaves and the trees will be bare this winter. When spring comes life will burst out in every bud and the trees will be covered with leaves. There is no living tree that does not produce leaves, that does not bloom. All living trees bloom and they all have roots. There is no living tree that does not have roots, and it is because they have roots that they bloom. A rootless tree does not produce flowers. Some trees have deep roots and others have small superficial roots. Some produce magnificent flowers and others produce small, nearly invisible flowers. They all exist.
Some people say, “I prefer zazen” while others say, “I prefer the ceremonies”. But there are no ceremonies without zazen. Zazen is the root, awakening is the root. Ceremonies are but the flowers of zazen, the expression of awakening.
A living tree expresses its flowers from the root. A human being expresses gratitude from awakening. No human being is without Buddha nature. There is no Buddha nature that does not express itself. At every instant the universe expresses an infinite number of forms. That is nothing other than Buddha nature expressing itself.
So, please, do not emphasize one aspect rather than another. Buddha nature that does not express itself is not Buddha nature. Flowers that have no roots are artificial flowers. A life without gratitude is not the life of a real human being.
Anyway, you cannot separate flowers and roots. You cannot choose one or the other. Chronologically the roots come before the flowers. That’s why we start the day with zazen. Awakening is the root of all our actions.
The expression of our Buddha nature begins with the expression of the ceremony. Then there is the expression of the genmai ceremony and, after that, the expression of samu - peeling vegetables, tidying and cleaning our rooms.
Flowers are beautiful if the roots are deep and strong. Flowers are real and their scent sweetens the universe only if they are alive and not artificial, only if they have deep roots.
Understand that once and for all.
