The Secret to Understanding Zen Meditation
The key to understanding Zen Buddhism is to understand the phrase “I don’t know.” In this phrase is hidden the secrets of Zen and Zen Meditation. At first glance this may seem counter intuitive or just a play on words, but I assure you that is not the case. This is really the essence of Zen and once you grasp what is being implied here, all the Zen teachings will start to make sense.
The problem, according to Zen is not “not-knowing”, it is in fact knowing too much. What needs to be qualified here is the type of knowledge that is being referred to. There is knowledge that is factual, such as the distance to the moon or the elemental makeup of water, but the knowledge that is being indicated here, is the knowledge having to do with our security and happiness. In other words, all that we know about what we ought to be doing to get out of life maximum happiness, is the knowledge that we need to purge ourselves of.
For ease of communication I will call this knowledge “Emotional Knowledge”, as it relates to how we need to go about increasing pleasure/happiness and decreasing pain/sorrow. This Emotional Knowledge, Zen is saying, is what drives us to endlessly seek and endlessly be restless. In other words, having accepted innumerable theories on how we need our life to be in order to be happy, we are caught in a cycle of endless desire chasing these goals. Zen says, drop Emotional Knowledge or at least don’t emphasize it and instead just be open to the moment and meet the challenge of life which is right under your nose.
It is very hard to really say “I Don’t Know.” All kinds of theories, beliefs, ideologies, philosophies have been forced into us since we were impressionable children, which now dominate our mind and lives. We feel we need to do this or that in order to get this or that, which at the end will make us happy. Unfortunately, this approach has failed. Human beings always get used to what they have and then inevitably start to demand more. It just does not matter what it is or how much you have. You will eventually get used to having it and then will want more. The only way out of this endless cycle of desire is to surrender to the sate of “I Don’t Know.”
When you can really say “I Don’t Know”, then there is little for the mind to chase and pursue. Then you just look at life and do what is necessary and as you continue on in this way of living in the moment, desire starts to lose its grip on you. In Zen this is called mindful living. Real freedom then makes its welcome appearance as awareness, free now from outward seeking, moves inward and reveals the secrets hidden deep within us.
To work towards this state of “I Don’t Know”, you need to question all your desires. Too often, in this atmosphere of commercialism, we have been seduced by clever advertisement and social propaganda. Corporations and those in power need you to buy into the happy, pleasurable future they are promising, else they will either lose their sale or your vote. So you need to see if you can remain untouched by this atmosphere of endless consumption. Once you buy in, then you are in the rat race, because now you think you know what you need to get to be happy and so you are off and running, if you don’t buy in you stand apart and are free.
So next time someone asks you, What is it that you want in life? Look at them and just smile. Welcome to the wonderful world of Zen.
Anmol Mehta is a Yoga & Zen expert. For Free Meditation Techniques visit http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/11/18/free-online-guided-meditation-techniques-e-book hosted on http://www.anmolmehta.com. For more insights & discussions on Meditation, Yoga & Zen visit http://www.anmolmehta.com/blog.
The World As Experience And Idea
The world is an illusion. This is a view held by Vedanta, Sikhism, Buddhism, Plato, Arthur Schopenhauer, Christian Science, and A Course In Miracles.
Contradicting this view is your own sense experience of realness, the constancy of stimulus, the enduring nature of time and events.
Which view is correct? The idea of the illusion or your experience of the realness?
This answer proposes an objective observer, one who is not part of the system that is being observed. Newton held that time is absolute. Einstein held that it is relative to the observer. Perhaps that same paradigm shift can be applied to answering the question of what is real and what is not.
Those who propose that the world is an illusion are correct.
Those who propose that the world is real are also correct.
The idea that the world is an illusion can be argued in the following way.
1. You do not see the world as it is.
You see the world as you are.
This happens in two ways:
One, you can never escape your subjectivity. You may claim that the world is objective, but this is a claim made from the subjective state. Hence, if you were to lose your mind, you would also lose the world. Without an observer, there is no world. With your disappearance, the universe disappears. Does it exist despite you? If you are not there to ask or hear the answer to the question, it has no meaning.
Two, the world that you see is a direct result of your experiences in it. A rock is not just a rock; it is also your memory of all rocks seen by you. When what you see is more complex and engaging, you experience more emotions, sensations, and ideas about it. Thus, you never really see anything as it is. You only see it through the lens of your own thoughts about it.
2. All forms will pass away.
Entropy is built into the system. Nothing can escape this iron law of nature. Neither beauty nor truth, wealth nor power, genius nor intent ever last. Death and decay is the lot of everything, from atoms to stars, from our own sun to the universe itself. However, this collapse is a dissipation of energy, not an absence of it. According to the law of conservation of energy, which has never been refuted, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. What dies, then, is the form of things, the structure the energy was supporting.
3. The microscopic.
On the level of atoms, a vast space exists between the electrons and the nucleus, and even the subatomic particles are not solid bits of matter but transient energy forms that appear and disappear and reappear again. It is mainly empty space.
4. The macroscopic.
On the level of the cosmos, a vast space exists between stars and moons and planets, gas clouds and nebulas and galaxies. The universe, too, is mainly empty space.
5. The field of all possibilities.
On the level of the consciousness that organizes all things, this world is only another possibility out of an infinite choice. How many worlds with sentient beings exist? Is our universe only an electron in a cosmic atom? Given a field of infinite choices, how much weight does one choice hold?
The idea that the world is real can be argued in the following way.
1. What you are experiencing is real to you.
When you think of the world as an illusion, a sense of despair arises because it slights the beauty of your realness. It is pleasurable to touch and hold, to see and hear, to act and change things. It is ennobling to see the vast sky above your head and feel the wind in your hair and hear the squawk of a passing bird. It means much for us to be here and to be alive in this moment.
Neither science nor philosophy can deny the realness of your experience.
And in this context, even your dreams are real enough, because while you are in them, your entire experience is authentic enough for you. If you are being chased by a lion in your dream, it will feel as real to you as if you were being chased by one in the waking state.
2. Who you are is important to you.
Your life is important. You desire to be more than you currently are because you can feel the vast throb of life within you expanding ever forward to know more, experience more, and touch a fullness not yet known.
Your past is not just useless memory but a scrapbook of struggle and change, triumph and adversity, risk and new learning. Your present is the vividness of your current experience. Your future is your promise, to yourself and to the world.
Reality, then, is not fixed. It is an interpretation of consciousness and how it is interpreted depends on the inner and outer experiences of the observer. The world you live in is real enough to you as you live it. If this world is an illusion, does it mean that there is a really real world, as Plato conjectured. Probably not. If this world is an illusion, then so, too, are all worlds. And if this world is real, so, too, are all worlds.
Appreciating the miracle of having a consciousness to live in a world may be all we need to know to live happy, fulfilling lives, whether in this world or in other worlds which we will transition into after this one.
Consciousness, like the law of conservation of energy, can neither be created nor destroyed. Where you find consciousness, you will also find energy structured into the form of a world. And since consciousness never dies but appears to only grow increasingly more refined and sophisticated, worlds, too, probably evolve along similar lines. Are these worlds illusory or real? They are real enough to those who live in them.
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html
Meditation: The Art Of Self-Recovery
What you focus on determines your reality because your mind becomes active in acquiring and bringing into your reality the things that you focus on.
You bring into your experience what you focus on.
If you focus on lack, limitation, negativity, and scarcity, then that is what you bring into your experience.
If you focus on abundance, expansion, positive things, and plenty, then that is what you bring into your experience.
A moment of introspection will make this obvious.
Why, then, if it is that easy to switch our reality, from one of suffering to one of joyful experience, do we persist in injuring ourselves?
It is because we are not in charge of our minds. Rather our minds are in charge of us. We, a conscious being, are dominated by our conditioning.
This is why the practice of meditation is important.
Every time we meditate, we dissolve more and more conditioning. We get off autopilot and take over the path our ship is cruising on.
As we let go of more and more of our reflexive thinking, we start to take charge of our own minds, and our reality, slowly, creakingly, turns around for us.
Of course, this is not easy.
Yet, it’s not much fun living a scattered and chaotic life either.
Until our awareness comes to the surface, we can’t really expect to improve our health, boost our finances, or be able to calm the storms of a relationship. Our dreams are always one step ahead of us, lost in the mist of “someday I will…”
The path is simple. Learn a method of meditation and practice it.
The path is also difficult. You have to learn and you have to practice.
The reward, however, is immense. Increased self-awareness, increased control of your mind, and increased appreciation and meaning of your own self and life.
In many religious traditions, we are often said to be asleep.
What exactly does this mean?
It means that we are almost wholly unconscious. We think and act in ways that are not in our best interests.
A conscious person is an aware person and awareness is something that comes when we release the subconscious programs that run our lives.
A brief review of yesterday will show you how your notion of self-control and inner mastery is pretty much an illusion.
If meditation is not your thing, then try contemplation, sitting in silence, quietly reflecting on who you are and what it is that is important to you.
A daily routine where you work on raising your awareness will do you a world of good. It will, in fact, change your world, placing you in one more favorable to your interests.
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His F.R.E.E book tells you how. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html
An Evening With An Enlightened Man
It was a quiet night by the Ganges as the young man sat on the steps and watched the sun set over the holy waters.
Despite the beauty of the scene, he did not appreciate it.
The lilting cadence of the bathers chatting loudly seemed far away, and even their playful splashing of each other did not amuse him.
Someone started chanting a bhajan about Krishna and the gopis and others soon joined him until their happy voices slapped on the shores of the river and made the mosquitoes pause in midair.
This only irritated the young man more. He was worried about his job how little it paid and how he was going to pay for the rent for his 250 rupee room.
He was also lonely and wanted to get married, but what good family would accept someone who spent most of his time serving in a tea stall.
A holy man came and sat by him. He was only wearing sacred ash from head to toe.
“You seem troubled, young man,” said the man, almost jovially.
Soon they began talking and the young man poured out his heart. He learned that the holy man, who spoke very well, had once been a college professor at the University of Allahabad. Then, one day, after he had given a lecture on the philosophy of renunciation he had decided to pursue what he most desired, the quest for enlightenment.
After many years, one night, as he was stroking a stray cat and the two had been sitting for hours under a banyan tree, he understood his true nature and an immense peace filled his life and miracles happened to him spontaneously from then on.
The young man listened impatiently, feeling increasingly irritated.
Finally, in exasperation, the young man said, “I don’t understand how you can be either enlightened or happy. You have even less than I. You don’t even have any clothes and you don’t even know where your next meal is going to come from.”
Suddenly serious, the sadhu said:
“It’s tempting to believe that your problems are real and that your life is hard and that things are simply not going your way.
“After all, isn’t that what everybody else thinks, too?
“It’s a great temptation to believe in yourself as a limited being.
“And everyone will back you up. The newspapers will. The TV will. Your neighbors will.
“How long are you going to let this painful delusion continue?
“You’ve read the great books. You’ve heard the avatars. You’ve walked on the path yourself. You know.
“You know that you’re pure energy.
“You also know that your reach is infinite. You can be, have, and do anything that you choose. You have the power. Right now its turned back on itself and being used to create limitations for yourself.
“Your imaging power is how you express your infinite power.
“All ideas of limitations are an illusion fostered by the mind.
“And you can’t fall back on science either to confirm your limitation.
“Because what physicists say is that there is nothing but energy everywhere and that matter only seems solid but isn’t really. It’s just that the atoms clump together and the electrons spin so fast that even I look like a real thing.
“Of course, it’s fine to keep seeing yourself as “just human” but it’s not going to last for very long. Sooner or later, you’ll drop your body and be faced with your energy form. I just think it’s easier to admit it now and see how you can go around expressing your spiritual power while you’re still in this dimension.”
“Yes,” said the young man, “I think I understand.”
“What do you understand?” challenged the sadhu.
“I understand that I can be, have, and do anything that I choose because I have the power. The only reason that I don’t recognize it is because I misuse it to limit myself to the extreme.”
“Yes,” said the holy man, pleased. “The world for you is only the images you hold in your mind; change your images and you change the world for you.”
“One thing I don’t understand, though,” said the young man. “Why did you give up everything a fine education, an excellent job, and a devoted family? Why? Was it worth such a heavy price for enlightenment?”
“Yes, because it led up to that moment under the banyan tree with the cat that I mentioned earlier.”
“What is this enlightenment? What happened?”
“I caught a glimpse of the infinite.”
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html