If there is a worldview that appreciates the futility of using the intellect to answer profound questions, it is Zen. “Zen masters sternly reject all the speculation, ratiocination, and verbalism so dear to the intellectual Westerner.” A 1959 article “The Square Roots of Zen” in Horizon magazine reveals how recently Americans were introduced to this exotic arrival from Japan. “During the last few years in America a small Japanese word, with a not inappropriate buzzing and stinging sound, has begun to be heard in casual or earnest reference in very unlikely places: at ladies’ luncheons, on serious academic platforms, at cocktail parties, and in campus hangouts.”
What was Zen understood to be over 50 years ago other than “exotic.” “Sometimes called a religion, sometimes referred to as ‘the religion of no-religion,’ sometimes identified simply as a ‘way of life,’ Zen’s origins are extremely ancient and its modern Western blooming as a phenomenon with both positive and negative sides.” We will find that Zen is nothing more than Simple Reality wearing a monk’s robe and having a good time celebrating the joy of life. For Westerners this is all more than a little confusing. We can straighten it out because after all, it’s really very simple.
Daisetz Teitara Suzuki first came to the U.S. in 1897, has taught at many universities here and authored more than a score of books about Zen. The name Daisetz, given to him by a Zen master—means “great stupidity”—but the true meaning is “great simplicity.” Here is our first Simple Reality principle which, along with the rest of the formula, when translated into Algebra reads:
S + S + S = S
Simplicity + Solitude + Silence = Serenity
This foundation is one that we will all want to put in place before we begin our process of self-transformation.
We said that Zen and Simple Reality are simple, but we didn’t say they are easy. The reason that both the practice of Zen and The Point of Power Practice attract so few adherents is that the barriers created during our years of behavioral conditioning are formidable. The narrative in which we are contained and our resulting identity, our beliefs, attitudes and values are like a vast landscape of stubborn and burgeoning weeds with deep roots in the subterranean subconscious.
Don’t lose heart, we can do this. More Simple Reality principles found in Zen teachings: “By definite methods of instruction Zen strives to bring about direct intuitive perception [by-passing the intellect] on the part of each individual seeker.” Self–transformation is accomplished by insights with Oneness being the prerequisite realization. “There is now deeply sensed that secret ‘rhythm of life’ flowing eternally through all things and creatures, that immanent spirit or essence …”
Meditation plays a central role in the practice of Zen and as we say in Simple Reality “our life becomes a meditation.” “The duties and enjoyments of ordinary human existence are carried on quite as usual, only now there is evident a new serenity and balance, more simplicity about one’s mode of living, and above all, more ‘detachment’ from the strains, annoyances, and anxieties of everyday affairs.”
We should not be surprised to see that the word experience looms large in the tenets of Zen. After all it was Buddha who said that the purpose of meditation was to experience reality as it really is. “The key to realization lies in the words ‘direct immediate experience,’ or ‘direct seeing into reality [insight].’ The condition of enlightenment [waking up] itself and not words about that condition are what truly matter in Zen.” How do we do that?
First of all, we must re-direct our energy and that is done by making different choices. Secondly, we must commit whatever energy is necessary to overcome the inertia of our reactive false self. One must work out one’s own salvation “with diligence,” as Buddha said. And finally, one must attain satori, the present moment, by choosing not to react all day long, day in and day out. “The truth should be understood through sudden enlightenment but the fact is that the complete realization must be cultivated step by step.”
If we continue to choose money (a reaction) instead of compassion (a response), fear instead of joy, then we will continue to move in the direction of doom engaging in diversion, denial, and distraction resulting in despair. The continuum of human behavior is Utopia to Dystopia. In which direction are you headed?
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References and notes are available for this essay.
Find a much more in-depth discussion in the Simple Reality books:
Where Am I? Story – The First Great Question
Who Am I? Identity – The Second Great Question
Why Am I Here? Behavior – The Third Great Question
Science & Philosophy: The Failure of Reason in the Human Community
