Zen is a basically radical sect within Buddhism, which is itself a radical metaphysical quest, as opposed to a standard faith-based religion. All of which makes Zen something of an extreme approach to the big questions of life. Zen has come about as the result of the application of no-nonsense Chinese and Japanese thinking to Buddhism, after a long history in India.
Although Zen is a very radical and elemental version of Buddhism, it is surprisingly little understood. It ought to be the easiest teaching to grasp, but it has turned out to be the hardest. There are many hundreds of books in English on Zen, yet they present a grotesque picture as to what Zen is supposed to be all about. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, Zen lacks a context in the West, because it presupposes a thorough knowledge of Buddhism as its starting point, and it cannot be appreciated without that. You can’t possibly appreciate a radical, pared-down version of something unless you know what the full bells, knobs and whistles version looks like. Most educated westerners have only vague idea what Buddhism-in-general is trying to do, and so Zen is beyond them. Secondly, and much more alarmingly, many famous exponents of Zen – both Asian and Western – clearly have no idea what they are talking about, and in the process have reduced Zen to a refuge for idiots and meditative catatonics. And instead of being an inspiration to us all, Zen has become a madhouse, a worthless dead-end, and a magnet for a strange variety of religious charlatans, pretending to knowledge they do not possess. This is bad news for anyone with a serious interest in metaphysics .
Buddhism begins with the story of the Buddha, which is basically a metaphysical parable. It is an illustrative device, to help focus your thoughts. It tells the story of a person deeply troubled by the big questions in life – what’s it all about ? what’s it for ? why ? – who gives up everything – his family, his material wealth, his position in society – to see if he can find an answer. He tries all the usual methods – yoga, fasting, prayer, meditation, contemplation – but finds them wanting. In the end, he has to abandon everything, even his thoughts of himself, and his quest. He had reached the limits of his human capacity. But, miraculously, at that very point, a flash of insight came to him, and he was granted a transcendental understanding, or awakening. His questions were answered, and he was no longer subject to the same lack of inner knowledge all normal humans are condemned to.
The story of the Buddha’s life is absurdly simple, and can be grasped by anyone. He was serious about answering the big questions in life. He gave up everything to do so. Every form of religious practice, and thinking, proved useless. But he himself did not give up, and he kept struggling with the problems in his mind, turning them over and over, trying to solve them from every angle. Somehow, miraculously, an ultimate awakening was achieved, and he found what he had been looking for. That’s what the story is all about, in essence.
Zen has turned this pared-down, fundamental approach to the search for the meaning of life into a school of its own. It rejects every form of religious practice and thinking, and anything that would get in the way of the clearest possible grasp of what you are trying to do. Zen detests philosophising, tradition, and any form of mystification. Keep to the facts, and keep it simple. Don’t pretend you know something, if you don’t. Zen wants you to keep struggling, keep thinking, and keep working at the deepest questions of life, and not to give in to belief, and pretence. Zen is all about clarity of thought, clarity of expression, and clarity of purpose. But you wouldn’t think so, from reading popular books about it.
Introduction to Zen
Introduction to Zen
Zen is a basically radical sect within Buddhism, which is itself a radical metaphysical quest, as opposed to a standard faith-based religion. All of which makes Zen something of an extreme approach to the big questions of life. Zen has come about as the result of the application of no-nonsense Chinese and Japanese thinking to Buddhism, after a long history in India.
Although Zen is a very radical and elemental version of Buddhism, it is surprisingly little understood. It ought to be the easiest teaching to grasp, but it has turned out to be the hardest. There are many hundreds of books in English on Zen, yet they present a grotesque picture as to what Zen is supposed to be all about. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, Zen lacks a context in the West, because it presupposes a thorough knowledge of Buddhism as its starting point, and it cannot be appreciated without that. You can’t possibly appreciate a radical, pared-down version of something unless you know what the full bells, knobs and whistles version looks like. Most educated westerners have only vague idea what Buddhism-in-general is trying to do, and so Zen is beyond them. Secondly, and much more alarmingly, many famous exponents of Zen – both Asian and Western – clearly have no idea what they are talking about, and in the process have reduced Zen to a refuge for idiots and meditative catatonics. And instead of being an inspiration to us all, Zen has become a madhouse, a worthless dead-end, and a magnet for a strange variety of religious charlatans, pretending to knowledge they do not possess. This is bad news for anyone with a serious interest in metaphysics .
Buddhism begins with the story of the Buddha, which is basically a metaphysical parable. It is an illustrative device, to help focus your thoughts. It tells the story of a person deeply troubled by the big questions in life – what’s it all about ? what’s it for ? why ? – who gives up everything – his family, his material wealth, his position in society – to see if he can find an answer. He tries all the usual methods – yoga, fasting, prayer, meditation, contemplation – but finds them wanting. In the end, he has to abandon everything, even his thoughts of himself, and his quest. He had reached the limits of his human capacity. But, miraculously, at that very point, a flash of insight came to him, and he was granted a transcendental understanding, or awakening. His questions were answered, and he was no longer subject to the same lack of inner knowledge all normal humans are condemned to.
The story of the Buddha’s life is absurdly simple, and can be grasped by anyone. He was serious about answering the big questions in life. He gave up everything to do so. Every form of religious practice, and thinking, proved useless. But he himself did not give up, and he kept struggling with the problems in his mind, turning them over and over, trying to solve them from every angle. Somehow, miraculously, an ultimate awakening was achieved, and he found what he had been looking for. That’s what the story is all about, in essence.
Zen has turned this pared-down, fundamental approach to the search for the meaning of life into a school of its own. It rejects every form of religious practice and thinking, and anything that would get in the way of the clearest possible grasp of what you are trying to do. Zen detests philosophising, tradition, and any form of mystification. Keep to the facts, and keep it simple. Don’t pretend you know something, if you don’t. Zen wants you to keep struggling, keep thinking, and keep working at the deepest questions of life, and not to give in to belief, and pretence. Zen is all about clarity of thought, clarity of expression, and clarity of purpose. But you wouldn’t think so, from reading popular books about it.