Five Insight Thinkers on the Zen of Living
Zen Buddhist practice is designed to focus us on the here and now and to help us understand that there is nothing separate from anything else. All is connected. You pass your hand through warm air. Where does the hand end and the air begin?
When we understand this interconnectedness, compassion must arise as we understand all are part of a fabric. There is a tradition of joking pranks in Zen, pranks designed to make fun of our attachment to things and ourselves. When you read of those stern Zen masters, remember a lot of them were famous jokers.
“God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through.” Paul Valéry
Though it references God, a deity (Buddhism is a nontheistic religion- no gods), Valéry’s quote hits at the essence of Buddhism, that everything is illusory. I find that when I have those rare moments while meditating when the world stops for a millisecond, I can imagine seeing the nothingness behind everything.
“The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.” Chinese Proverb
Miracles are considered powers, a kind of showing off, that are nothing more than acts learned to…
