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Mr. Charlie · 11-25-2015, 02:11 PM

So what is Zen?

(Note: we are looking at traditional Zen Buddhism, sometimes called Chan or Chinese Buddhism - not Japanese Zen Buddhism which came later and is very different in practise)

One answer is Zen is the fusion of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism.

Another answer is Zen is: “A special transmission outside the scriptures; no dependence on words and letters; direct pointing to the mind of man; seeing into one's nature and attaining Buddhahood.”

But neither of those answers are particularly useful or satisfying. Neither give us a flavour for what Zen really is. So, again, what is Zen?

Zen is the game of insight, the game of discovering who you are beneath the social masks. It is not a philosophy, it is poetry. It does not propose, it simply persuades. It does not argue, it simply sings its own song. It is not morality, it is aesthetics. It does not impose a code of morality. It does not give you commandments: do this, don't do that.

It is all-inclusive. It never denies, it never says no to anything; it accepts everything and transforms it. It has no theory. It is a non-theoretical approach into reality. It has no doctrine and no dogma - hence it has no church, no priest, no pope. If you want to call it a religion then it is a totally different kind of religion. It brings humanness to religion. It is not bothered about anything superhuman; its whole concern is how to make ordinary life a blessing.

In essence, Zen is the art of seeing into the nature of one's being. One has to reach the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it every morning for a few minutes or for half an hour here and there and then forget about it. It has to become like your heartbeat. You have to sit in it, you have to walk in it. Yes, you even have to sleep in it. But when you see for the first time, a great laughter will arise in you - the laughter about the whole ridiculousness of your misery, the laughter about the whole foolishness of your problems, the laughter about the whole absurdity of your suffering.

Zen is everything and it is nothing. As the ancient Zen proverb goes, “Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold and dung. Before you understand it, it's like gold; after you understand it, it's like dung."

Or, as Bodhidharma put it, “Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the Buddha...Using the mind to look for reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.”

Zen is a realisation, a way of life, a state of being, and, ultimately, an experience.

So there we are. We’ve looked into why someone might want to adopt Zen and we’ve looked at what it is, well… an approximation of what it is, for in the same way a menu can never tell you what food tastes like, so words can never really communicate what anything really is. They can point to things at best, and so we have at least pointed to Zen.

I’ve purposely not talked about the zenith of Zen - enlightenment – as that’s something far beyond my experience and my knowledge, but is said to involve completely transcending the ego. Now doesn’t that sound nice? Oh yes. Very nice indeed.

So how does one experience Zen?

Meditation. Meditation. Meditation. Ingesting enough psychedelics to get to the point where the ego dissolves is another, indeed this is an extremely popular method of experiencing temporary Oneness. But it's fleeting. Unreliable. Dangerous. But usually fun. Haha.

But, no, meditation is better. Meditate. Meditate. Meditate. Do this enough and separation occurs, the space between the thinking mind and the awareness behind the mind is established. Furthermore it is immediately clear on which side of the space the real us reside. And having made the realisation and established this new identity, ignoring thoughts in everyday life gets easier. You no longer associate thoughts as your thoughts. They're just thoughts. And the opinions you feel are just opinions. They're not your opinions anymore. And so those become easier to ditch too. And therein begins the life of Zen.

Nothing mystical about it. No Gods. No mantras. No sutras. No prayers. Merely experience.

Now convert!

11-25-2015, 02:11 PM	#138 (permalink)
Mr. Charlie Shoo Thoughts Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: These Mountains Posts: 2,308	So what is Zen? (Note: we are looking at traditional Zen Buddhism, sometimes called Chan or Chinese Buddhism - not Japanese Zen Buddhism which came later and is very different in practise) One answer is Zen is the fusion of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Another answer is Zen is: “A special transmission outside the scriptures; no dependence on words and letters; direct pointing to the mind of man; seeing into one's nature and attaining Buddhahood.” But neither of those answers are particularly useful or satisfying. Neither give us a flavour for what Zen really is. So, again, what is Zen? Zen is the game of insight, the game of discovering who you are beneath the social masks. It is not a philosophy, it is poetry. It does not propose, it simply persuades. It does not argue, it simply sings its own song. It is not morality, it is aesthetics. It does not impose a code of morality. It does not give you commandments: do this, don't do that. It is all-inclusive. It never denies, it never says no to anything; it accepts everything and transforms it. It has no theory. It is a non-theoretical approach into reality. It has no doctrine and no dogma - hence it has no church, no priest, no pope. If you want to call it a religion then it is a totally different kind of religion. It brings humanness to religion. It is not bothered about anything superhuman; its whole concern is how to make ordinary life a blessing. In essence, Zen is the art of seeing into the nature of one's being. One has to reach the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it every morning for a few minutes or for half an hour here and there and then forget about it. It has to become like your heartbeat. You have to sit in it, you have to walk in it. Yes, you even have to sleep in it. But when you see for the first time, a great laughter will arise in you - the laughter about the whole ridiculousness of your misery, the laughter about the whole foolishness of your problems, the laughter about the whole absurdity of your suffering. Zen is everything and it is nothing. As the ancient Zen proverb goes, “Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold and dung. Before you understand it, it's like gold; after you understand it, it's like dung." Or, as Bodhidharma put it, “Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the Buddha...Using the mind to look for reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.” Zen is a realisation, a way of life, a state of being, and, ultimately, an experience. So there we are. We’ve looked into why someone might want to adopt Zen and we’ve looked at what it is, well… an approximation of what it is, for in the same way a menu can never tell you what food tastes like, so words can never really communicate what anything really is. They can point to things at best, and so we have at least pointed to Zen. I’ve purposely not talked about the zenith of Zen - enlightenment – as that’s something far beyond my experience and my knowledge, but is said to involve completely transcending the ego. Now doesn’t that sound nice? Oh yes. Very nice indeed. So how does one experience Zen? Meditation. Meditation. Meditation. Ingesting enough psychedelics to get to the point where the ego dissolves is another, indeed this is an extremely popular method of experiencing temporary Oneness. But it's fleeting. Unreliable. Dangerous. But usually fun. Haha. But, no, meditation is better. Meditate. Meditate. Meditate. Do this enough and separation occurs, the space between the thinking mind and the awareness behind the mind is established. Furthermore it is immediately clear on which side of the space the real us reside. And having made the realisation and established this new identity, ignoring thoughts in everyday life gets easier. You no longer associate thoughts as your thoughts. They're just thoughts. And the opinions you feel are just opinions. They're not your opinions anymore. And so those become easier to ditch too. And therein begins the life of Zen. Nothing mystical about it. No Gods. No mantras. No sutras. No prayers. Merely experience. Now convert! Last edited by Mr. Charlie; 11-25-2015 at 02:24 PM.