Lots of people say the queen or maybe the rook is their favorite piece. Children like the knight because it looks like a horse and because it can jump. Sometimes people say the king is their favorite. But my favorite piece is the pawn. The pawn in chess is like the breath in Zen. Very basic. Essential, actually. In Zen, the entire cosmos hinges on each breath. In chess, the entire game hinges on the deployment of pawns. It's easy to think that the pawn is the least important piece (maybe because there are eight of them) but sometimes it is the crucial piece. Many, many games are won or lost because of pawns.

In the English language, being a pawn is a bad thing. It means you are being used by someone else or perhaps a corporation or a government. This is too bad because a pawn is really very beautiful, very elegant, even delicate. Again, like the breath. To be deeply aware of the breath is to be deeply aware of the intimacy of self and cosmos. To be deeply aware of all pawns on the board is to be deeply aware of all pieces, and thus the whole board. Next time you play chess pay extra attention to all pawns and see if this is true. Next time you meditate, pay extra attention to the breath (even more than usual) and see if you find any separation between you and cosmos.