|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Japan and the profound respect of all levels of philosophical thought in the Orient. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zen has been described as a teaching without scriptures, beyond words and letters, that points to the essence of one's highest mind and a seeing directly into one's truest nature. That is why Zen masters often answer questions with silence or simple acts, pointing to something ineffable. That said, there are indeed scriptures and plenty of books that have tried to capture the flavor of Zen thinking and practice. But most of these materials point the reader toward meditation practice as the doorway to experiential understanding. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zen spirit has come to mean not only peace and understanding, but devotion to art and work. To begin to understand the meaning of Zen, according to teachers, is to begin a rich unfolding of contentment and insight in our lives. It is to appreciate the expression of innate beauty and the intangible charm of incompleteness. And it is to understand the meaning of the present moment in our lives and how we may sink deeply into this moment in all its richness and simplicity, even when faced with unpleasant emotions such as fear. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Buddha told a parable in a story: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, started to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zen carries many meanings, none of them entirely definable. If they are defined, they are not truly Zen. This is what confounds the Western mind, looking, as it does, for a neat and packaged definition to pin down the meaning. "Just tell me the real meaning of Zen." But Zen refuses to do this. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related to this, for over a decade I have had personalized license plates that read: zen mind. Quite often, someone will see the plates, be curious, and come up to me and ask, "What does this mean? What is Zen mind?" And I will usually say something like: "It means the universal mind that is all minds, the highest nature of |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, compiled by Paul Reps, New York: Doubleday, 1958. |
|
|
|
|
|