"in accord with the Dharma"

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Elsewhere, I read: "nyohō – being in accord with the Dharma."

As someone who took his own inept swings at Zen practice, I sort of know what this is getting at. A less uncertain life requires a certain effort; a more truthful understanding requires a search, so to speak -- some cutting away of entangling habits and attitudes. OK. To accord with the Dharma (roughly meaning the truth) is happier and more sensible than not according with it. Blue sky is blue -- best to get with the program and accord with the facts.

I sort of know what nyoho is getting at and I have expended some energy in my life to do just that ... whatever that was, precisely. Mostly, the effort seemed geared towards revising old habits that made me less happy. If it hurts when you hit your thumb with a hammer, then don't hit your thumb with a hammer.

But being the age I am and lacking the energy I once had, I ask today without any animosity towards any effort: What would it be like or how would it be possible not to accord with the Dharma? I mean, how would anyone go about that? Is there really a difference between according with the Dharma and not according with the Dharma? How would anyone know and how would they know it?

As I say, I'm not posing the questions with any animosity. I don't expect some sure-fire response outside the average theological or earnest disquisitions.

If you can't be in accord and you can't not-be in accord ... what is that like, I wonder? When my clothes are wrinkled or I accidentally step on the cat or say "shit" in the wrong company or spit on the lawn or give a beggar some money or snore or accord with the Dharma or don't ... is that nyoho or is that no-nyoho?

Subtle or superficial, I don't care -- how is it possible not to accord with the Dharma ... or anything else for that matter?
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