In the Zen Zone

I had been thinking of penning an article on Zen Buddhism, but that is probably the worst way of going about it. When you look for Zen, you will not find it - you need to approach it in an oblique "wu wei" manner. Try finding out what it is, and you will be disappointed. The documentation is very limited and almost every article references the (obviously seminal) book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, by Paul Reps and/or Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Sunryu Suzuki.

Essentially Zen is about enlightenment, usually through meditation or (as is probably better known), by sudden awakening. Zen is regarded as an offshoot of Mahayana Buddhism and was introduced to China about 500 AD by Bodhidarma. It is a blend of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism and is known in China as Ch´an.

It is practised mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam and was brought to the western (read Californian) attention mainly by Suzuki . His Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a collection based on his lectures and showing the path of Right practice; Right attitude and Right understanding.

To quote Suzuki “The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind”

Personally I prefer Alan Watts “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes”.

So be "in the zone", whatever you are doing - and most of us have experienced that at some stage or other in a sporting-type of endeavour, when you do particularly well, but can´t remember what was in your mind as it all seemed so natural and easy at the time.

Rep´s book is actually four books in one. There are 101 Zen stories about Zen teachers and their method; a copy of the Gateless Gate, John Murray´s translation of 49 Koans; 10 bulls - woodprints and poems suggesting a journey to enlightenment; and Centreing - which is an extract from ancient Sanskrit texts which Reps suggests may be the origin of Zen and has 112 "one-liner"answers to Devi´s question of Shiva about reality. His final section is a single page entitled What is Zen? which he suggests is Consciousness - which I take as Awareness.

I personally love one of his final comments in his introduction to Centreing wherein he writes "Surely men as inspirators,.., shared a common uncommon discovery. The Tao of Lao-Tse, Nirvana of Buddha, Jehova of Moses, the Father of Jesus, the Allah of Mohammed - all point to the experience. no-thing-ness, spirit - once touched, the whole life clears."

I agree that the truth is in them all, but the teachers frequently obscure the message, so you need to find it for yourself