The Appropriate Response
When a monk asked the 10th Century Zen master Yunmen, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yunmen replied, “An appropriate response.”
What is this appropriate response and how do we know we’re acting in alignment with it?
If we were able to ask Yunmen himself, he might respond with another elusive answer. The man was a master of koans - those riddles intended to exhaust the rational mind and provoke a deeper, intuitive intelligence to emerge. So let’s provoke.
When confronted with the question of action, it’s natural to turn to a formula. They reinforce a sense of safety, familiarity, and security. Just think of your meditation practice, and its methodology that guides step-by-step in what to do. In the face of our very human doubt, distraction and traumas, guidelines are helpful. But as philosopher Alfred Korzybski stated “the map is not the territory”.
If you’ve seen the Netflix show “Sex Education”, you’ll remember the iconic scene where the young protagonist nervously attempts to apply a ‘map’ to his first sexual experience, touching his girlfriend’s vagina like the dial of a clock. Hilarity, and some hard lessons, ensue. We all have our own version of the clock technique, whether in sex or life, don’t we?
The appropriate response calls for more than application of a map or formula, it’s an invitation for naturally spontaneous responsiveness. That’s the capacity to know what to do because we’ve cultivated the attention to tune in to ourselves, others, and life at large; and, from a place below the conscious mind, intuitively feel what’s being called for. It’s not unlike a koan; there is no fixed answer, but a process that puts us in touch with a deeper knowing. Here are some ways you can begin exploring it:
The moment you become aware that you need to go pee, go pee. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is a basic training in paying attention to the naturally intelligent cues of the body.
In meditation, pay attention to the subtle motions of your mind and body. The flickering thoughts, whispers of emotion, and minute stirrings of sensation. The more you attune to these in practice, the more you will be able to hear beneath the cacophony of habitual motion in everyday life.
Get to know your fear. Regular inquiry into fear will help you understand how it motivates your actions and restrains otherwise healthy responsiveness.
Take an improv class. It’s a brilliant practice of responding from a location beyond the rational mind.