Have you ever had one of those dreams where You just can't do something,
Or you just can't figure something out,
Or there's a problem that you can't solve.
And it feels quite distressing,
Frustrating,
Scary.
And then you wake up.
And it's such a relief.
What a feeling of relief,
None of that is really here.
Well,
You can also have that feeling in waking consciousness.
The mind tends to find itself in the dream world of the future and the past.
And in any moment,
You can potentially wake back up.
To reality.
And the practice of Zen is essentially waking back up again and again and again.
One way to do that is through the experience of a Zen story.
So I'll share a Zen story with you here.
And see maybe if you get a little bit of that feeling.
Of waking back up to reality.
Possibly having some of that sensation of total and utter relief.
Even if for only a few seconds.
So here's the story.
There was an old Zen master.
And he was just about at the point of dying.
And he knew this,
And his students knew this.
And so students were attempting to make him comfortable and take care of him,
And they asked him.
Is there anything we can do for you?
And he said,
Well,
Yeah,
You know that.
Cake shop in the village,
Could you go there and get that cake that I really like?
So they go get the cake and bring it back.
And at this point,
The teacher is just about to die.
He's in his last moments,
And he's having his cake.
And the students ask him,
Or one of the students asks him.
Teacher,
Are there any last words that you have for us?
What's maybe the last message that you have to give us before you go.
And then the teacher says.
.
.
This is really good cake.
It's really good cake.
So without analyzing it.
Talking about it too much,
Maybe just see if you could feel it.
Maybe replay this again if you want to.
There is the feeling of relief.
What's the big thing?
Please tell us,
What's the answer,
What's the deepest wisdom that you have?
It was a good cake.
