SACRED CONTRACT
by Sensei Robert Joshin Althouse (c) 2005

"Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans;
That the moment one definitely commits oneself, the Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt would have come his way
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it . . ."
Goethe

I have noticed from years of working with students, that until they have made a commitment to their spiritual practice, nothing seems to happen. People come to see me in daisan and we talk about their practice, about their life and problems. I see them again, and we're still talking about the same things. But their practice doesn't ever seem to get off the ground. This has become so clear to me that when people first come to the Zen Community, I talk about this right away. I want people to know they are always welcome to join us for meditation, but if they want to do Zen training with me and with our sangha community, it will not happen unless they make a commitment.

Americans can be so naive about spirituality. They have fantastic notions of what it entails. They think that if they sit meditation, chant a beautiful mantra, listen to mellow music, buy malas and burn incense, that somehow, magically they will become enlightened. This approach never builds a strong, genuine spiritual foundation because it is fundamentally flawed. Without commitment, no spiritual path is possible. Half-hearted practice always has an unspoken escape clause that says, if this way or this person or this community doesn't meet all my expectations, I'm jumping ship. If you appreciate the true nature and significance of your life, you will realize there really is no escape.

Commitment is one of those big adult words we don't like to hear. So what is commitment? Commitment is about honoring and keeping contracts. So first, we need to appreciate what a contract is. We are seldom clear about this. Unless we become more conscious about this in every aspect of our life, our spiritual journey will never have a solid footing.

Contracts begin as promises we make to ourselves to perform some activity or accomplish a task. If you resolve to sit meditation each morning, you've just made a contract with yourself. If you decide to workout at the gym three times a week, that's a contract. If you say to yourself the garage needs to be cleaned, that's a contract. How about all those loose papers floating around your office and the stack of them piling up on the floor. Why do you feel burdened by them? Because they are all unfinished contracts you've made with yourself. Until you've completed them by filing them, acting on them or throwing them away, you will carry around the weight of all that unfinished business. Notice how much more creative and better you feel, once you take care of them.

We also make contracts with others. If you tell someone you will meet them at a certain time and place, you've made a contract with that person. If you tell your spouse you will take out the garbage, you've made a contract with her to perform that action. When you buy a house or rent an apartment, you make many contracts. You make contracts with the electric company, water company, phone company, mortgage company, your landlord and even your neighbors. You can't live an effective life without making and keeping all kinds of contracts.

When a student tells me, "I'll see you at meditation next Tuesday morning", they've just made a contract with me. I don't personally care which morning they come to sit. But I notice if they don't show up Tuesday morning because they've just broken a contract with me. I'm less likely to rely on them for anything important in the future. If they show up, my trust in them grows and if they continually and consistently demonstrate integrity around their contracts, I'm more and more likely to rely on them for important tasks in the future. Keeping contracts builds trust. It's what makes things happen in the world. The universe seems to notice and respond. Things open up for us. The world becomes more workable and our capacity for collaborating and working with others increases.

There are three possible ways of dealing with a contract. 1) You keep it. 2) You break it. 3) You re-negotiate it. If you've just told me you will be at meditation on Tuesday morning, but you decide not to come, you can re-negotiate the contract by calling me on the phone or dropping me an email. I don't need to hear an excuse. Once you say "I'm not coming on Tuesday morning" you've re-negoiated the contract.

People are also afraid of commitments, mostly because they are afraid that they won't keep them. People have little faith in themselves. There is some wisdom in not making contracts if you think you can't keep them. But people still can't avoid making contracts. There's no escaping this. So Zen training already requires some trust and confidence to begin with. One might need to meditate and work on oneself before being ready to make the kind of commitment Zen training requires.

So what's the contract in Zen? Liberate all sentient beings from suffering. Another contract is taking the precepts where you vow to take refuge in the Three Treasures of the Buddha (awakening), Dharma (the teachings of this awakening), and Sangha (those who practice these teachings). This contract includes participating with, supporting and nurturing the growth and health of the sangha community. No wonder, people are reluctant to walk through the front door. These are big and sacred contracts, not to be taken lightly!

Zen training relies on the student-teacher relationship. This mentoring tradition is a beautiful and powerful aspect of Zen training and one reason it is so effective. But for this to work, both the student and the teacher make a clear contract that must be kept. Listen to the wise words of C.J Jung on this:

"Whatever does not touch us in our depth, has no effect. In order to have an effect, a practice or truth has to affect the unconscious too, otherwise it does not touch us. It is never the technique which heals us, it is the contact with the person teaching it and the wholehearted application we can do."

If you want to enter the way of Zen, be prepared for keeping your contracts. But no one is perfect. We all break contracts. That's why we acknowledge this in our fusatsu, precept atonement ceremony, by renewing our vow to be one with the Three Treasures. Life is precious; the dharma even more so. Please don't procrastinate. Be bold and the universe will respond. "A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." Commitment looks much harder when we haven't yet made it. Once we surrender to our deeper aspirations and vows, making commitments and keeping contracts becomes a whole-hearted, joyful way of really appreciating our life.