Doing One Thing at One Time

  During Chang Zhai Fashi's introduction to the practice of Counting the Breath, she mentioned that the practice of Chan involves walking when we walk, eating when we eat, sleeping when we sleep, sitting when we sit. In other words, Chan is about being present with the mind in this moment. And as I was setting up for the following day, it struck me how challenging it is to truly be present in the moment and do one thing at a time. I might be placing the towel on the cushion and cleaning the sitting mats, but, truly, where is my mind at that point? Is it really on the activity that needs doing, or is it perhaps somewhere else? It challenged me to realize that my mind is often jumping across many situations and scenarios. To live in the moment is to let go of these extraneous thoughts and emotions.
     What's the motivation, then? If it's all just sitting when we sit, eating when we eat, etc., how is this different from an animal or a plant, which might be inclined to do much the same? From what I heard in the teachings today, I believe that the answer is: being present with what we do is the source of bliss and joy, because it is reflecting the way mind really is. It's not about 'here is something I need to do in order to become this'. That is more like a striving which is based on a view that the self is an enduring and fixed thing. It's more about: in this moment, the mind is already clear, already perfect nature, and already whole. There is no action in the world that needs doing to 'fill' the mind, just as there are no forms that define the mind's existence. Tending wholly to the present task is a kind of reflection of the mind's nature. When I do something wholeheartedly without wanting something else to happen, I am reflecting and expressing mind's true nature, which is never lacking in anything.
     An example: have you ever had to do something that felt gruelling or painful (like a chore) and then found yourself enjoying it in spite of yourself? What happens between finding something painful to do and enjoying it? Scientists have studied this experience and they define  it as 'flow', after the findings of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. In flow experiences, the sense of self and time are no longer distinct: I am no longer projecting myself into a fictitious stream of past/present/future and looking for the fruition of my efforts. Instead, I do something for the sake of the experience of unity that the doing provides.  If even for a moment I let go of the concept of existing in time, and see the present experience as it is, the present no longer seems a burden. It is no longer just 'adding to the future' or subservient to a future state of being or result. The action just is, and it unfolds according to an internal necessity of the doing itself. It's self-evident why we eat (to sustain the body), why we rest (to repair body and mind) and why we even read. But if I am operating from a strong attachment to self, everything will seem burdensome and unreal, because it often has no direct impact on the sense of self. But when I let  go of all the planning I do for the sake of upholding a false sense of self, I am suddenly free to engage the environment naturally. I don't think of what needs doing as an obstacle to self. Conversely, I don't do things to uphold the self (which ends up in disappointment)