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 Zen became Zen one night in the fifth century B.C. when, seeing the morning star rise in the Gayan sky, in Bodhgaya, India, the Buddha attained his supreme insight into the mystery of life. That moment of insight, of awakening or "enlightenment" was transmitted down a line of 28 patriarchs until it reached a man named Bodhidharma, who traveled to China in the sixth century A.D., and took up residence in a cave. Though legends abound, very little is known about the life and teaching of this man who had a profound impact on Eastern culture.The Zen which became Zen as a consequence of the experiences of the Buddha and Bodhidharma aims at a thoroughgoing rejection of all definitions, intellectual concepts and speculations, and insists on a direct experience of awakening. Enlightenment is alive, and the path of Zen is to go beyond words and ideas, so to keep it alive. Zen is a do-it-yourself spiritual path, a journey which each individual must make for him/herself in the silent stillness of meditation. When we sit down as Buddha did beneath the Bodhi tree, with the intention to come to full awakening, we do not do so with a book or manual in hand, nor with a good or wise teacher providing us with instructions and analysis. We sit down as a pot of rice might be set on a burner to cook. And we remain seated, "simmering gently until all liquid has evaporated." As we cook on the cushion, we allow whatever bubbles up to come to the surface, watching it closely, mindfully, adjusting the flame, until in the readiness of time, the fire is extinguished and the process ends in perfect doneness. This is one recipe for Enlightenment. Other styles of meditation are more like fast food. They call for firing up the pan, cooking at high heat, and eating on the run. Certainly, there are times when such fierceness and speed are necessary. Delusions and hindrances can be very stubborn and dense, and Zen practice ought not to be mistaken for some laissez-faire state of dreaminess or therapy for stress reduction. It is a demanding, disciplined, and rigorous path which sometimes requires tremendous energy, courage, and endurance. Zen jolts us out of our intellectual ruts and moral conventions; and yet full awakening is not to be found in some special, other-worldly state. It is here and now, in the ordinary movements and things of life. Just THIS! |
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