The famous abbot of a large monastery, master Hakuin, would give talks on Zen practice every evening. Hundreds of his disciples would come to listen, and then file out at the end of the talk. Among them appeared an old man who sat at the back of the hall, and would leave with the rest.
One night he remained in the hall after all the other monks had left. Master Hakuin called him over, remarking that he had seen him attending the talks, and wanted to know where he came from.
The old man responded, "In truth, I am not a man, but I am a fox spirit. Once, many eons ago, I was the abbot of a great monastery. At that time a disciple came to me and asked the question, 'Is an enlightened person free of karma?' I immediately answered yes. For that answer I was cursed to be reborn as a fox until I heard the answer that would free my mind. So I ask you now to answer the question, is an enlightened person free of karma?"
Hakuin answered him, "The enlightened person does not ignore his or her karma." At that the old man's mind was freed, and he was released from his curse.
He told Hakuin to go to the cave in the mountain behind the monastery, and there he would find a dead fox. He asked Hakuin to give the fox a monk's burial, which was done.
At the outset, this is a very strange story. It is used as a koan, a teaching which presents a kind of paradox for the sake of shaking the listener out of her habitual way of thinking about things. The story presumes the hearer already has certain ideas about the spiritual life, about what enlightenment is, and what karma is all about. Those very ideas need shaking up.
The old man thought he knew all about the spiritual life when he answered the monk who came to him with an earnest question. The monk really wanted to know what the spiritual life is about, what are they doing in the monastery and how can this become a path.
Karma and enlightenment were his vocabulary, but if we understand 'karma' as the events of our lives which make a meaningful whole, then what he really was asking was: does enlightenment take us out of life? Is the enlightened person free of the trials and needs of this mortal coil? The old man, as abbot, gave a unequivocal ‘yes,' and was turned into a fox.
The essence of Zen is everyday life, and how we can live with a clear awareness that does not reject anything as outside of my spiritual practice.
As the Zen saying goes, when hungry, eat; when tired, sleep. The practice is to act naturally and appropriately, with wisdom and clarity, to every situation. This is why there can be such things as the Zen of archery, the Zen of tea drinking, the Zen of writing, Zen at work, the Zen of cutting vegetables, and even the Zen of changing diapers.
What makes each practice part of Zen is the consciousness we bring into it, of wanting to be fully present with the activity, and viewing that activity, and each specific moment , as a complete spiritual practice. It is an opportunity to watch our inner reactions, and bring more care and concentration into everything we do.
Each moment, and each activity, as a Zen practice, becomes an act of love. There's nowhere else we'd rather be than exactly where we are, doing what we're doing.
The old abbot gave the monk who came to him a glib and summary answer to the great question of the meaning of our spiritual lives. Yes, he said, when you are enlightened you won't have to deal with the world anymore. Dirty laundry? Forget about it, you'll be above that. The winter flu? Don't worry about it, you can't get sick when you're enlightened. A fight with your best friend, or your boss? Don't even think about it, you'll be way beyond any conflicts.
Well, we saw what that attitude did to him - countless lives as a scurrying fox. A fox has a reputation as a deceptive creature, "wily as a fox." The old abbot may not have meant to, but he deceived the monk who came to him for advice, and set him on the wrong path.
The path of enlightenment is not away from life, but through it. Master Hakuin heard the story and set him straight, saying the enlightened person does not ignore his or her life. Every single moment counts, and the while we don't want to hold on to the past, we in no way seek to reject it.
Another Zen master, Baso, was asked when he was very ill, how he keeps a spiritual practice. He answered famously, "Sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha."
He meant that when things were sunny and well in his life, he saw it as his enlightened path, and when they were dark and faintly-lit that was also his enlightened path.
The point is not to ignore a single moment as not part of your spiritual life, but to weave together a whole life of sun, rain, thunder, sleep, work, arguments, illness, health, debts, parties, births, and of course, deaths, into your path of wisdom and compassion.
When nothing is ignored, then everything becomes a meaningful part of the path of enlightenment. It is not a path that leads to some enlightened place or state of mind separate from the world, but is it a path that leads directly to the enlightened nature of your very life here and now.