No one has a monopoly on truth. It is available to any determined seeker, even a novice, who will not be discouraged by the height of the mountain and the difficulty of the climb.
I think man's indomitable spirit is best expressed by Erik Weihenmayer a 42 year old American who refused to be defeated by his physical handicap. Blind since age 13, Erick climbed seven - not one but SEVEN -- of the world's tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, armed only with his tremendous fighting heart.
True there was a team of men with normal sight to aid him. But Erik had to climb like the rest. As if he had sight!
It was an exhilarating triumph of will and hope that spread around the world like a refreshing wind.
Not content with scaling tall mountains, Erik is also an accomplished skydiver, skier, long distance biker, para glider, marathoner and rock climber. He is also the author of best selling books, a sought-after motivational speaker and film maker.
In a very real sense, Erik is BLIND TO FAILURE.
On a lesser scale, there are many people with handicaps like Erick who rise daily to engage in activities once reserved only for the physically-able; faceless, unsung individuals who silently and stoically faced life's challenges with strength and grace.
We see them occasionally in the course of our work and travels. Not asking for pity or patronizing dole outs but just the right to live like the rest of us.
Enlightenment is Up to Us
Those of us who are fazed by life's unfairness, unpredictability and danger would do well to remember the hurdles faced by Erik and his kind. That those hurdles begin and end in the mind. Without a strong mind, physical barriers would be insurmountable. Unscalable.
It is the same with Zen, where practitioners will have to discipline and fortify their minds in order to find true wisdom and enlightenment. Developing inner strength calls for unwavering commitment. A long term commitment based on the belief that only a disciplined life can cope with its adversities and challenges.
Zen, which comes from the Chinese word, Cha'n, meaning "meditation," teaches that enlightenment is gained through the profound realization that one is born an enlightened person. Survival instincts, genetic factors, social conditioning, stress, and the demands of life, however, prevent us from seeing this important and obvious fact.
This awakening can occur gradually in deep silent meditation, shikantaza-zazen, favored by the Soto Zen school or in a sudden burst of pure awareness (satori) induced by koans ( advocated by the Rinzai Zen school).Whichever the case, it is the outcome of one's own transformative action. There is no God and deities in Zen. Books, teachers and scriptures can only partially guide us by providing some light along the road to wisdom and enlightenment. The rest is really up to us. There is no room and tolerance for mimicking in Zen.
Shikantaza is the deepest form of zazen meditation, a bare-bones kind, eschewing mantras, breath counting and koans, to calm body and mind by sitting in an erect lotus position; an alert, non-attached, non-clinging and non-interactive condition aimed at ushering enlightenment.
It is a demanding discipline that calls for serious, long-term commitment, unsuitable for seekers who lack inordinate patience and will.
Today, moving variations of meditation for the average seeker include popular meditation exercises such as yoga, tai chi, and qigong that are gaining popularity world-wide. Even Zen masters of both persuasions practice (Hatha) yoga and tai chi (including calisthenics, jogging, ping pong and other exercises) to strengthen their minds and bodies.
Rinzai's koans are terse conundrums or paradoxical questions that are deliberately illogical and must be answered correctly to have the desired effect: liberate our inherent intuitive or spiritual power by assaulting and stunning briefly our hyper-intellectualizing part of the mind.
"What is the sound of one hand clapping? " goes one koan. "What would the Buddha have said if there was no one to hear, and no one to teach? " goes another.
Through long years of interaction between the two schools, a kind of synthesis has developed that permits practitioners to combine and integrate zazen, shikantaza, and koans for better results. It's really up to one's predisposition and temperament. Some practitioners are more comfortable with long, sitting meditation while others prefer the relatively shorter path to enlightenment.
Is the quest worth it? It depends on the seeker and how much he or she is willing to go the extra mile to possess Zen. Because when one possess Zen, everything looks different. To cite an ancient saying, "flowers that looked mundane become prettier and the ordinary mountain stream is suddenly clearer and cooler."
This new power of heightened awareness of everything around us makes the journey of the search worth it.
I think man's indomitable spirit is best expressed by Erik Weihenmayer a 42 year old American who refused to be defeated by his physical handicap. Blind since age 13, Erick climbed seven - not one but SEVEN -- of the world's tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, armed only with his tremendous fighting heart.
True there was a team of men with normal sight to aid him. But Erik had to climb like the rest. As if he had sight!
It was an exhilarating triumph of will and hope that spread around the world like a refreshing wind.
Not content with scaling tall mountains, Erik is also an accomplished skydiver, skier, long distance biker, para glider, marathoner and rock climber. He is also the author of best selling books, a sought-after motivational speaker and film maker.
In a very real sense, Erik is BLIND TO FAILURE.
On a lesser scale, there are many people with handicaps like Erick who rise daily to engage in activities once reserved only for the physically-able; faceless, unsung individuals who silently and stoically faced life's challenges with strength and grace.
We see them occasionally in the course of our work and travels. Not asking for pity or patronizing dole outs but just the right to live like the rest of us.
Enlightenment is Up to Us
Those of us who are fazed by life's unfairness, unpredictability and danger would do well to remember the hurdles faced by Erik and his kind. That those hurdles begin and end in the mind. Without a strong mind, physical barriers would be insurmountable. Unscalable.
It is the same with Zen, where practitioners will have to discipline and fortify their minds in order to find true wisdom and enlightenment. Developing inner strength calls for unwavering commitment. A long term commitment based on the belief that only a disciplined life can cope with its adversities and challenges.
Zen, which comes from the Chinese word, Cha'n, meaning "meditation," teaches that enlightenment is gained through the profound realization that one is born an enlightened person. Survival instincts, genetic factors, social conditioning, stress, and the demands of life, however, prevent us from seeing this important and obvious fact.
This awakening can occur gradually in deep silent meditation, shikantaza-zazen, favored by the Soto Zen school or in a sudden burst of pure awareness (satori) induced by koans ( advocated by the Rinzai Zen school).Whichever the case, it is the outcome of one's own transformative action. There is no God and deities in Zen. Books, teachers and scriptures can only partially guide us by providing some light along the road to wisdom and enlightenment. The rest is really up to us. There is no room and tolerance for mimicking in Zen.
Shikantaza is the deepest form of zazen meditation, a bare-bones kind, eschewing mantras, breath counting and koans, to calm body and mind by sitting in an erect lotus position; an alert, non-attached, non-clinging and non-interactive condition aimed at ushering enlightenment.
It is a demanding discipline that calls for serious, long-term commitment, unsuitable for seekers who lack inordinate patience and will.
Today, moving variations of meditation for the average seeker include popular meditation exercises such as yoga, tai chi, and qigong that are gaining popularity world-wide. Even Zen masters of both persuasions practice (Hatha) yoga and tai chi (including calisthenics, jogging, ping pong and other exercises) to strengthen their minds and bodies.
Rinzai's koans are terse conundrums or paradoxical questions that are deliberately illogical and must be answered correctly to have the desired effect: liberate our inherent intuitive or spiritual power by assaulting and stunning briefly our hyper-intellectualizing part of the mind.
"What is the sound of one hand clapping? " goes one koan. "What would the Buddha have said if there was no one to hear, and no one to teach? " goes another.
Through long years of interaction between the two schools, a kind of synthesis has developed that permits practitioners to combine and integrate zazen, shikantaza, and koans for better results. It's really up to one's predisposition and temperament. Some practitioners are more comfortable with long, sitting meditation while others prefer the relatively shorter path to enlightenment.
Is the quest worth it? It depends on the seeker and how much he or she is willing to go the extra mile to possess Zen. Because when one possess Zen, everything looks different. To cite an ancient saying, "flowers that looked mundane become prettier and the ordinary mountain stream is suddenly clearer and cooler."
This new power of heightened awareness of everything around us makes the journey of the search worth it.
| This and similar articles and insights are expanded and elaborated upon in my book, "The God in Einstein and Zen" now available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, E-book (nook and kindle), and Trafford Publishing |
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