P.2 Zen and the Art of the Joke

Sinning Against the Load

Last weekend I took my son and daughter to Dairy Queen. For the record my son is 5, or will be 5 at the end of the month here, and my daughter 8. We sitting in the back eating, and in comes this huge guy; by huge I mean fat. I didn’t really pay a whole lot of mind to it, but as he was approaching the register my daughter leans forward and says quietly to me, “That guy must come here a lot.” At the moment I honestly didn’t know what she was talking about until she pointed it out. Then of course I laughed and said, “Kylie, that’s not nice. Just because he’s overweight doesn’t mean he eats here a lot.” Then I said something along the lines of, “You never know, maybe he’s eating off the low fat menu.”


I’ve been thinking about that incident with my daughter on and off for the last week now. Did I say the right thing? I don’t want her laughing at overweight people everywhere she goes, pointing and snickering. Should I have told her that it wasn’t funny at all? Then what? Should I be telling what’s funny and what’s not funny? Somewhere mid week the words of Joseph Campbell rang in the form of a musing on Nietzsche’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra”. I went as follows:

In a kind of parable, Nietzsche describes what he calls the three transformations of the spirit. The first is that of the camel, of childhood and youth. The camel gets down on his knees and says, "Put a load on me." This is the season for obedience, receiving instruction and the information your society requires of you in order to live a responsible life. But when the camel is well loaded, it struggles to its feet and runs out into the desert, where it is transformed into a lion -- the heavier the load that had been carried, the stronger the lion will be. Now, the task of the lion is to kill a dragon, and the name of the dragon is "Thou shalt." On every scale of this scaly beast, a "thou shalt" is imprinted: some from four thousand years ago; others from this morning's headlines. Whereas the camel, the child, had to submit to the "thou shalts," the lion, the youth, is to throw them off and come to his own realization.
And so, when the dragon is thoroughly dead, with all its "thou shalts" overcome, the lion is transformed into a child moving out of its own nature, like a wheel impelled from its own hub. No more rules to obey. No more rules derived from the historical needs and tasks of the local society, but the pure impulse to living of a life in flower.

I imagine many people in that situation would have just said, “That’s not funny!”. Then add something along the lines of, “It’s not nice to make fun of people that way.”. Now we’ve just packed a load on our child’s back, without even knowing we did it. It seems to me there’s a fine line between packing such a load and allowing them to be themselves. But of course in this instance (and others like it) Nietzsche’s reflection shines through with a blinding light. He’s quite right, and perhaps the line isn’t so thin after all.

We don’t even realize that we’re essentially conditioning our children to find certain things funny, while at the same time find others not so funny. By the time they’re adults they’ll be walking around with so much baggage we’ll be unable to tell the difference between their social laugh and their real one, and neither will they. As a sort of example; every so often it’ll happen that I tell a joke (suppose it’s at work) and there’s always one individual who will instinctively give an initial half chuckle, then immediately there after regain control and finish with a sort scoff and departure that says, “That’s not funny. How dare you deceive me like that.”. In effect they’re mad at me because I brought to the surface their true laughter. More importantly it was revealed to me, and anyone else present, that they find something funny which represents a load they’ve been carrying around, something they’ve been told by parents, teachers, clergy, etc. not to laugh at, and now I’ve just caused them to “sin against the load”. Hm, it’s not me keeping you from yourself. If they just would have laughed maybe they would have seen a little glimmer of something.

So therein lies the paradox; to find oneself, or to stay true to convention. It’s interesting that that which leads to knowledge of oneself also stands as a sin against god, or a sin against convention. It’s not enough to understand Zen by just laughing at the joke, you have to at the time be laughing at yourself, and indeed ourselves… The very thing we’ve been told not to all these years….

P.1 Zen and the Art of the Joke

There’s a saying out there somewhere that I haven’t bother to look up, nevertheless it sticks in my head as it sort of catches me for one reason or another. It goes something along the lines of, “The world is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel.” I’m definitely on the comedic side of that spectrum, which isn’t to say that I’m funny (maybe I am), only that I find humor in most things as apposed to tragedy.

I have a tendency of overusing sayings such as a particular Koan, or some other seemingly ambiguous statement that contains obvious signs of mysticism, whether it be from the bible, Buddhism, Hinduism, or just some random yokel. Then it occurred to me, “You know what, Andy, a joke is only funny the first time around. Sooner or later people are going to stop giving you the curtsy laugh and just tell you they’ve herd that one before…” Quite right, Andy, quite right.

So with that in mind I’m going to start off with something I’ve use before:

The Zen master Mu-nan had only one successor. His name was Shoju. After Shoju had completed his study of Zen, Mu-nan called him into his room. "I am getting old," he said, "and as far as I know, Shoju, you are the only one who will carry on this teaching. Here is a book. It has been passed down from master to master for seven generations. I also have added many points according to my understanding. The book is very valuable, and I am giving it to you to represent your successorship."

"If the book is such an important thing, you had better keep it," Shoju replied. "I received your Zen without writing and am satisfied with it as it is."

"I know that," said Mu-nan. "Even so, this work has been carried from master to master for seven generations, so you may keep it as a symbol of having received the teaching. Here."

The two happened to be talking before a brazier. The instant Shoju felt the book in his hands he thrust it into the flaming coals. He had no lust for possessions.

Mu-nan, who never had been angry before, yelled: "What are you doing!"

Shoju shouted back: "What are you saying!"

I feel your pain, Shoju… Somewhere in a box in my basement under the stairs there is a “Yo Mamma” snaps book. You know, “Your mammas so dumb she took a donut back because it had a hole in it” type of shit. It’s probably 10 years old and in like new condition. I mean come on, I was 24 years old, still a bit confused. I’m pretty sure I bought it along with Brian Greene’s “The Elegent Universe” when I was going through my layman’s physics stage. Sure, Brian did a pretty good job, but does anyone really understand any of that shit? Anyway, the reason that book sits packed away is for two reasons. 1.) I’ve already had my laughs, and 2.) let’s face it, it’s just plain embarrassing. “Gee Andy, I can’t help but notice that tucked between Nietzsche and Quine on the shelf here is, well let me see, oh it’s James Percelay’s best seller “Double Snaps”.” Some conversations just aren’t worth having, I mean maybe I’m not really embarrassed about it, but it’s not as though I’m going to be using it as a reference any time soon, so let’s just leave it in the box shall we.

I digress... Let’s imagine someone tells a joke – my guess is one of four things happen:

A.) It immediately grabs you and you laugh uncontrollably.
B.) You’ve heard it before, and give your best courtesy laugh. Or maybe you just come out with it and say, “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”
C.) You just plain don’t find it funny.
D.) You don’t get it at all, but laugh like you do. I mean, everyone else seems to be laughing.

Let’s consider “D” for a moment. Suppose you go away thinking about the joke and what it means, and where you became lost in the whole thing. You spend some part of your day thinking about it, and finally get the mechanics of the joke. i.e. you understand the underlying metaphor/analogy that gave the joke it’s comedic appeal. Unfortunately at this point, whatever initial humor there was to be had has been exhausted in your search for the underlying meaning of the joke. Maybe it’s no worse for you though, because now you can retell it and perhaps enjoy it vicariously through others; it’s always good to have new material.

Still though, if you don’t understand a joke, no amount of thinking about it is going to give you that initial pleasure that is the point of the joke in the first place. In this way you have to consider that “thinking” about a joke and its meaning sort of misses the point. If you didn’t get it strait away, you’re never going to capture that which everyone else did. In essence, eventually “getting it”, isn’t anything like immediately “getting it”. To put it another way, trying to comprehend the underlying form of a joke, as apposed to immediately grasping its surface appeal, never makes it funny.

How about “B”? Suppose you hear a joke and you’ve heard it before. Do you laugh? Perhaps you do, but it’s not the same as the first time around. What was initially funny about the joke has become not so much lost on you, but more importantly, it’s now become some intellectual piece of mumbo jumbo that resides in your mind somewhere. It’s a piece of information that perhaps you can use on others, but it’s no longer useful for the purposes of arousing a sense of your own personal laughter.

“A” and “C” we can take together. If you get the joke and immediately find it funny, your disposition is instantly transformed. It’s like suddenly being punched in the face and taken from one state (being comfortable) to another (extreme pain) in the snap of a finger. You can’t control it, you can’t stop, it has suddenly and from nowhere consumed you. If you don’t find it funny, well, what the heck, you don’t find it funny.

I find that understanding Zen is much like the Art of the Joke. There’s nothing intellectually [per se] to be grasped about Zen, and if at once one try’s to grasp it as such, it immediately slips away. What was there to be gained is lost in your thoughts on the matter, in much the same way your ponderings over a joke never brings about the laughter. To be more specific, Zen is not philosophy, nor is any mystical tradition. (Let me make a special note here to say that when I use the word “Zen”, I’m using it in a rather generic way to refer to that which lies at the foundation of any mystical tradition, whether Christianity in the west or Buddhism in the east.) To at once ask what the sound of one hand clapping is, is to tell a joke. However, these words don’t contain the essence of understanding or the path to a solution any more then a joke contains within it, and at its foundation, the essence of humor.

The words and patterns of a joke, along with the sayings of mysticism are a catalyst, a path that can only be traveled down once. Again, as Zen is not a philosophy, neither does it, or the comedian for that matter, claim to have some secret formula that aims to tap into some eternal fountain of laughter and enlightenment. Quite naturally one doesn’t expect to be able to carry around an old joke to maintain one’s laughter any more then Shoju could be further enlightened by his master’s old book of sayings – that’s dogma. It’s akin to a comedian hopelessly repeating his routine to the same crowd over and over again. If the humor was in the words, the crowd would forever laugh, although I think the poor comedian will find that soon enough the crowd will be leaving.

The path to enlightenment is like the path to laughter. It’s never anything we arrive at, rather it’s something that comes upon us when we’re willing to be amused.

The Knight, the Buddha and the Dragon

Another tale from Campbell:

“…The old English tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a famous one. One day a green giant came riding on a great green horse into King Arthur's dining hall. "I challenge anyone here," he cried, "to take this great battle-ax that I carry and cut off my head, and then, one year from today, meet me at the Green Chapel, where I shall cut off his head." The only knight in the hall who had the courage to accept this incongruous invitation was Gawain. He arose from the table, the Green Knight got off his horse, handed Gawain the ax, stuck out his neck, and Gawain with a single stroke chopped off his head. The Green Knight stood up, picked up his head, took back the ax, climbed onto his horse, and as he rode away called back to the astonished Gawain, "I'll see you in a year."

That year everybody was very kind to Gawain. A fortnight or so before the term of the adventure, he rode off to search for the Green Chapel and keep faith with the giant Green Knight. As the date approached, with about three days to go, Gawain found himself before a hunter's cabin, where he asked the way to the Green Chapel. The hunter, a pleasant, genial fellow, met him at the door and replied, "Well, the Chapel is just down the way, a few hundred yards. Why not spend your next three days here with us? We'd love to have you. And when your time comes, your green friend is just down the way." So Gawain says okay. And the hunter that evening says to him, "Now, early tomorrow I'm going off hunting, but I'll be back in the evening, when we shall exchange our winnings of the day. I'll give you everything I get on the hunt, and you give me whatever will have come to you." They laugh, and that was fine with Gawain. So they all retire to bed. In the morning, early, the hunter rides off while Gawain is still asleep. Presently, in comes the hunter's extraordinarily beautiful wife, who tickles Gawain under the chin, and wakes him, and passionately invites him to a morning of love. Well, he is a knight of King Arthur's court, and to betray his host is the last thing such a knight can stoop to, so Gawain sternly resists. However, she is insistent and makes more and more of an issue of this thing, until finally she says to him, "Well then, let me give you just one kiss!" So she gives him one large smack. And that was that. That evening, the hunter arrives with a great haul of all kinds of small game, throws it on the floor, and Gawain gives him one large kiss. They laugh, and that, too, was that. The second morning, the wife again comes into the room, more passionate than ever, and the fruit of that encounter is two kisses. The hunter in the evening returns with about half as much game as before and receives two kisses, and again they laugh. On the third morning, the wife is glorious, and Gawain, a young man about to meet his death, has all he can do to keep his head and retain his knightly honor, with this last gift before him of the luxury of life. This time, he accepts three kisses. And when she has delivered these, she begs him, as a token of her love, to accept her garter. "It is charmed," she says, "and will protect you against every danger." So Gawain accepts the garter. And when the hunter returns with just one silly, smelly fox, which he tosses onto the floor, he receives in exchange three kisses from Gawain -- but no garter.” “Do we not see what the tests are of this young knight Gawain? They are the same as the first two of Buddha. One is of desire, lust. The other is of the fear of death. Gawain had proved courage enough in just keeping his faith with this adventure. However, the garter was just one temptation too many. So when Gawain is approaching the Green Chapel, he hears the Green Knight there, whetting the great ax-whiff, whiff, whiff, whiff. Gawain arrives, and the giant simply says to him, "Stretch your neck out here on this block." Gawain does so, and the Green Knight lifts the ax, but then pauses. "No, stretch it out -- a little more," he says. Gawain does so, and again the giant elevates the great ax. "A little more," he says once again. Gawain does the best he can and then whiffff -- only giving Gawain's neck one little scratch. Then the Green Knight, who is in fact the hunter himself transfigured, explains, "That's for the garter." This, they say, is the origin legend of the order of the Knights of the Garter.”

“The moral, I suppose, would be that the first requirements for a heroic career are the knightly virtues of loyalty, temperance, and courage. The loyalty in this case is of two degrees or commitments: first, to the chosen adventure, but then, also, to the ideals of the order of knighthood. Now, this second commitment seems to put Gawain's way in opposition to the way of the Buddha, who when ordered by the Lord of Duty to perform the social duties proper to his caste, simply ignored the command, and that night achieved illumination as well as release from rebirth. Gawain is a European and, like Odysseus, who remained true to the earth and returned from the Island of the Sun to his marriage with Penelope, he has accepted, as the commitment of his life, not release from but loyalty to the values of life in this world. And yet, as we have just seen, whether following the middle way of the Buddha or the middle way of Gawain, the passage to fulfillment lies between the perils of desire and fear.”

“A third position, closer than Gawain's to that of the Buddha, yet loyal still to the values of life on this earth, is that of Nietzsche, in Thus Spake Zarathustra. In a kind of parable, Nietzsche describes what he calls the three transformations of the spirit. The first is that of the camel, of childhood and youth. The camel gets down on his knees and says, "Put a load on me." This is the season for obedience, receiving instruction and the information your society requires of you in order to live a responsible life. But when the camel is well loaded, it struggles to its feet and runs out into the desert, where it is transformed into a lion -- the heavier the load that had been carried, the stronger the lion will be. Now, the task of the lion is to kill a dragon, and the name of the dragon is "Thou shalt." On every scale of this scaly beast, a "thou shalt" is imprinted: some from four thousand years ago; others from this morning's headlines. Whereas the camel, the child, had to submit to the "thou shalts," the lion, the youth, is to throw them off and come to his own realization. And so, when the dragon is thoroughly dead, with all its "thou shalts" overcome, the lion is transformed into a child moving out of its own nature, like a wheel impelled from its own hub. No more rules to obey. No more rules derived from the historical needs and tasks of the local society, but the pure impulse to living of a life in flower.”

Saying "YES" to Life

The following is a clip from Joseph Campbell's, "The Power of Myth":

.. So Jesus says, "Judge not that you may not be judged." That is to say, put yourself back in the position of Paradise before you thought in terms of good and evil. You don't hear this much from the pulpits. But one of the great challenges of life is to say "yea" to that person or that act or that condition which in your mind is most abominable.

… There are two aspects to a thing of this kind. One is your judgment in the field of action, and the other is your judgment as a metaphysical observer. You can't say there shouldn't be poisonous serpents -- that's the way life is. But in the field of action, if you see a poisonous serpent about to bite somebody, you kill it. That's not saying no to the serpent, that's saying no to that situation.

There's a wonderful verse in the Rig Veda that says, "On the tree" -- that's the tree of life, the tree of your own life -- "there are two birds, fast friends. One eats the fruit of the tree, and the other, not eating, watches." Now, the one eating the fruit of the tree is killing the fruit. Life lives on life, that's what it's all about. A little myth from India tells the story of the great god Shiva, the lord whose dance is the universe. He had as his consort the goddess Parvathi, daughter of the mountain king. A monster came to him and said, "I want your wife as my mistress.'' Shiva was indignant, so he simply opened his third eye, and lightning bolts struck the earth, there was smoke and fire, and when the smoke cleared, there was another monster, lean, with hair like the hair of a lion flying to the four directions. The first monster saw that the lean monster was about to eat him up. Now, what do you do when you're in a situation like that? Traditional advice says to throw yourself on the mercy of the deity. So the monster said, "Shiva, I throw myself on your mercy." Now, there are rules for this god game. When someone throws himself on your mercy, then you yield mercy. So Shiva said, "I yield my mercy. Lean monster, don't eat him." "Well," said the lean monster, "what do I do? I'm hungry. You made me hungry, to eat this guy up." "Well," said Shiva, "eat yourself." So the lean monster started on his feet and came chomping up, chomping up -- this is an image of life living on life. Finally, there was nothing left of the lean monster but a face. Shiva looked at the face and said, "I've never seen a greater demonstration of what life's all about than this. I will call you Kirtimukha -- face of glory." And you will see that mask, that face of glory, at the portals to Shiva shrines and also to Buddha shrines. Shiva said to the face, "He who will not bow to you is unworthy to come to me." You've got to say yes to this miracle of life as it is, not on the condition that it follow your rules. Otherwise, you'll never get through to the metaphysical dimension.

Once in India I thought I would like to meet a major guru or teacher face to face. So I went to see a celebrated teacher named Sri Krishna Menon, and the first thing he said to me was, "Do you have a question?" The teacher in this tradition always answers questions. He doesn't tell you anything you are not yet ready to hear. So I said, "Yes, I have a question. Since in Hindu thinking everything in the universe is a manifestation of divinity itself, how should we say no to anything in the world? How should we say no to brutality, to stupidity, to vulgarity, to thoughtlessness?" And he answered, "For you and for me -- the way is to say yes." We then had a wonderful talk on this theme of the affirmation of all things. And it confirmed me in the feeling I had had that who are we to judge? It seems to me that this is one of the great teachings, also, of Jesus.

Maya / Sunyata

Somewhere along the line I had stated that I would post something on the Maya concept, which I aim to do here by making a comparison, and talking more directly about the Zen Buddhist concept of Sunyata. Whereas these two concepts are derived from different schools of thought, one Hindu, the other again Buddhism, I believe most certainly that both share the same underlying essence and use and thus I will talk about the one and infer onto the other – not to mention I’m no follower of Hindu.

The school of Buddhism associated with Zen was derived quite simply for the purposes of experiencing the enlightenment of Sakyamuni; which is in turn expressed through the doctrine of Sunyata. Of course the term Sunyata being one of those wonderful oriental terms that’s difficult to translate into English, it can be said to mean something along the lines of “emptiness”, or “void”, and directs ones attention to the essential character of being. By doing this though, it gives sunyata somewhat of a negative character, and thus a sense that it exists within the usual dualistic concepts of mind, where further we have the ability to apply our logic and generalizations over it, and/or the notion that it arises as a result of these tools. It should not be looked at then, as something one asserts, or as something that one has/had once asserted. Certainly it could be argued that no doubt the term was brought into light through human utterance, however it should not be considered that through this utterance a form of inquiry was born into the spirits of mans intellect, or that attention to some empirical insight was born such that through a philosophical dialogue we could come to know something once hidden behind a veil.

Sunyata, we can say, is simply that which makes everything possible, but it is not once a pre-supposition, or a fairy we can discover buzzing around the lilies; quite simply put, it has no individual existence, and/or should hold within the mind no conception of a dualistic existence whereby on the one hand it is this, while on the other it is that. To have a dialogue on the matter, to bring sunyata into the world of philosophical discourse and thus apply the forms of logic and analytic upon it is to then cease to talk about it, or anything at all. The doctrine of sunyata, again, is the means through which we experience enlightenment of Sakyamuni. To make a simple comparison, surely one can speak and talk of love, even apply logic to the experience, but within this dialogue we cannot at once capture the essence of what love is – one must experience it for himself, thus at this point the dialogue becomes meaningless and it is well understood by those who are in love that no such dialogue can ever hope to pass on meaning and understanding to those who have not experience being in love.

We should then consider sunyata as enveloping the world of dualism, of subjects and objects; it is both immanent, and transcendent, non-contradictory and absolutely one. For Zen then, to know sunyata is to experience it, as once it is conceptualized it is lost. Like love, to experience love is to know it and/or be aware of it; however in the case of sunyata, we are not to be seen as becoming aware of the world of sensation and intellection. Again, the world of sense and intellect is a world which pits a dichotomy between subject and object – of a subject at first sensing, an object being sensed, and then the subject creating differentiations between object X and object Y vs. subject A. Transcendence of this dualism then, is to have awareness of sunyata – this is the essence of Zen and Zen practice.

Sunyata then, is experienced only as both subject and object and is not felt within the world of everyday experience. This is because our experience of the everyday is a conceptualized experience, one where we apply the forms of our thought through a reconstruction of reality; in some cases a reality that is said to be that which is in itself, others simply the forms and tools of thought to serve needs and interests. In either case there is a clear sense of dualism which takes either a classic form, or a binary form. In a philosophical sense we aim to reconstruct the world via a starting point from empiricism (for example), thus creating a dualism which destroys the concept of sunyata. Certainly mans power of reason is a wonderful tool at predicting and controlling phenomenon, and improving the quality of life, however the foundation of sunyata is not this sort of cold hard intellection, but an experience in and of itself. One must cast aside his reason, and his desire to differentiate to first begin to enter into such an experience.

It is said that “Knowing and seeing” sunyata is sunyata knowing and seeing itself – in other words there is no outside knower, no man at the machine, it is its own knower and it’s own seer. Although our experience is condition and relative to certain contingencies, it should be seen that WE ARE sunyata; our capacity to reason arises out of it, however is not the path that leads back to it. As sunyata is part of reason itself and leaves its mark in the wake of reason, to all together engulf oneself in the enterprise of reason in an effort to discover truth is akin to rigorously applying geology to discover the secrets of the objective world.

The essence of Zen, of sunyata, of maya, is the unconditioned experienced of life itself – it’s the zone of the athlete, the middle stage of the act of shoveling ones driveway, being in the midst of battle with the enemy, or being within the act of a crime. It knows no morally right or wrong, evils or goodness, it is not held high and felt only by the righteous, but is woven into the lives of everyone; it permeates, it is here, it is not here, it is everywhere, it is everything, it is….

Afterwards:
There is the idea that maya simply means illusion, and directs ones attention to the idea that the world of dualism we live in is unreal, that (for example, as in ZMM) the millions of people who perished as a result of the Hiroshima bomb, was merely illusory. But this represents a certain shallowness to the idea of maya. To see maya as an illusion is not to disregard life per se, be to direct one to a path of enlightenment which circumvents the use of reasoning for such a task.

From Pirsig’s ZMM:
“In all of the Oriental religions great value is placed on the Sanskrit doctrine of Tat tvam asi, "Thou art that," which asserts that everything you think you are and everything you think you perceive are undivided. To realize fully this lack of division is to become enlightened.

Logic presumes a separation of subject from object; therefore logic is not final wisdom. The illusion of separation of subject from object is best removed by the elimination of physical activity, mental activity and emotional activity. There are many disciplines for this. One of the most important is the Sanskrit dhyna, mispronounced in Chinese as "Chan" and again mispronounced in Japanese as "Zen." (there’s a bit of ignorance in this statement I won’t here point out, but the inference is clear enough) Phædrus never got involved in meditation because it made no sense to him. In his entire time in India "sense" was always logical consistency and he couldn't find any honest way to abandon this belief. That, I think, was creditable on his part.

But one day in the classroom the professor of philosophy was blithely expounding on the illusory nature of the world for what seemed the fiftieth time and Phædrus raised his hand and asked coldly if it was believed that the atomic bombs that had dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were illusory. The professor smiled and said yes. That was the end of the exchange.

Within the traditions of Indian philosophy that answer may have been correct, but for Phædrus and for anyone else who reads newspapers regularly and is concerned with such things as mass destruction of human beings that answer was hopelessly inadequate. He left the classroom, left India and gave up.”

It’s obvious from this passage that Pirsig was looking for the sort of enlightenment found through connection with the universe by means of pure reason (he was a Kantian slob was he not), and as a result failed to see the point of what was being conveyed, which resulted in years later going nuts. I suppose it’s difficult to get away from the idea that one can paste they’re conditioned forms and ideas onto the world, call it what it is and move on. That the world is illusion is not a plea to see it as such, and thus ignore it, it is nothing more then a warning of the ills which arise when applying logic to its discovery as a means of ultimate Truth - it is forever an empty cup. Could one live life with only the reasoning of love, and not love itself? If we once called love an illusion, does this negate what one reads in the paper or sees on the street? No – it says that love on sight, sound and intellect is an illusion as there is no experience there to be had, only the illusion of an experience that is not understood; one could at first be pretending, could be acting, so on. Is the love one is seeing between two people on a street corner illusory? Yes, and in the same way the Hiroshima bomb was.

The illusion of these concepts arises as the result of a particular form of inquiry that would limit them to the world of site, or of sense in general – that is the illusion…

A redundant after-thought:
The Illusion, Maya, and love is like a card trick. What makes the card trick illusiory is the fact that within the experience of the trick an essential component is missing, and thus an experience of illusion is had, which of course we call magic. What one sees when he uses reason to contemplate maya, or views love from a coffee shop window, is an illusion in the same way as an essential component of the experience is missing, and that is of course, the experience itself. Only upon plunging oneself into the act of living can he grasp what he sees, and only in this instance do the words he speaks make any sense. Once the illusion of the card trick is revealed, and one can directly experience the slight of hand, does one understand that through the illusion there is really no illusion at all…

Pirsig: The Buddha within Analytic Thought

An interesting note to make; I was looking for a quote for another post when my eyes trolled across this in ZMM (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance):

“But about the Buddha that exists within analytic thought, and gives that analytic thought its direction, virtually nothing has been said, and there are historic reasons for this.”

Given Pirsig’s supposed experience with Buddhism I’m not sure how he can actually make this comment…

Up until the time of about the 6th century, the mirror idea of the mind prevailed in Chinese Buddhism; the basic idea of Zen meditation was to essentially wipe the dust from the mirror such that the Buddha and one’s self nature could be seen clearly. Zen at this time would spilt between two schools of thought; one school, that of Shen-hsiu’s which taught dust-wiping, and the other Hui.neg’s who taught that the Buddha exists in everything. If from the mind the world arises, why not let the latter rise as it pleases.
Hui-neng states:

There is no Bodhi-tree,
Nor stand of mirror bright.
Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight?

If this isn’t a rejection of the mirror of nature, I don’t know what is (I should note here that the mirror analogy is not one borrowed from Rorty in this instance, but strait from Buddhism at the time of the 6th century and prior). Again, the dominate idea prevailing in Buddhism up until the time of Hui-neng was that the Buddha-nature which is contained within all things is completely pure and undefiled in it’s self being. The idea of Zen meditation then, was to bring out the self-nature and restore it to it’s original purity. This sort of meditation, however, or better put this sort of conception often lead to the thinking that, by meditating as such one can clear the mirror of consciousness and thereby see the underlying form of his self-nature. Hui-neng’s protest was strongly against this view as he believed it had a suicidal effect on life – let the world arise as it arises. It is completely against the idea of Zen to have such a conception that one is restoring purity, that one is seeing past appearance to reveal the true reality of oneself.
Hui-neng proclaimed, “From the first not a thing is.” And this would stand as a cap stone to his Zen teaching and is meant to do away with the idea of attaining, or seeing purity, an underlying form.

Hui-neng rather, focuses on the world, of seeing and being. There is the seeing as one conceives objects as separate from himself, as recognizing two separate entities; and there is the seeing into the ultimate nature of things. The sort of seeing that can be aligned with “ultimate nature” is the sort which does away with notions of separate entities (subject object views), and rather insists that one see the seer and the object together, as becoming indentified with each other.

When one takes Hui-neng’s statement “From the first not a thing is” in substitution of previous Zen thinking as with the statement, “The self-nature of the Mind is pure and undefiled”, it's meant that all notions of the appearance/reality distinction disappear and one has nowhere to stand. It is this experience that is central to Zen Buddhism, the whole notion of seeing, yet having nothing to stand upon; under one’s feet is not the notion that something underlying is being represented, or that the Buddha is being revealed, the Buddha exists in everything.

So then, if we knife through Pirsig’s statement above and consider what Hui-neng is saying, I believe he would rightly agree that analytic thought, as a tool and manner of seeing and being in the world, vary much contains the Buddha. To say that analytic thought is not part of a Buddhist conception is (from the Buddhist perspective) simply to say that such conceptualizing, in terms of specificities, is not a necessity. When one blurs distinctions about purity and underlying form and focuses upon seeing and being within the world yet having nothing to stand upon, there’s no reason to develop philosophies around certain sorts of discourses, whether rhetoric, dialectic, analytic, so on, as this conception arises prior to the analytic. To put it another way, once one does away with appearence/reality distictions, one can let the discourse fall where it may, again, there's no reason to conceptualize about it. Pirsig seems to zero in on this point not due to the absence of a discussion considering a certain sort of discourse in Buddhism, but to reconcile his own specific thought process with one he seems to lean towards.

Buddhism, Non-realism & Christianity

I'm going to make this short and follow up on it later (this is not necessarily meant as a response to the last post, just a thread of some thinking, a sort of purge if you will)...

I’d like to bring Buddhism into this post as I’ve been sort of getting off topic from what this blog is all about, which I would consider to simply be “Religious Language” (well that’s not exactly true, I took a lateral move to define some things). What’s interesting to note strait off is the view of language held by people like Rorty, Wittgenstein and Davidson, and that is the notion that words are tools. I say interesting because this is a view that’s been held by Buddhists for eons, consider the following Buddhist phrase:

”You can use your finger to point at the moon, but don’t mistake your finger for the moon.”

From this I can make the following statement:
One can say “There’s Rover the Big Red Dog” to call attention to Rover the Big Red Dog, but don’t mistake “Rover the Big Red Dog” for Rover the Big Red Dog.

Of course this is exactly what the realist does; he thinks that he’s somehow captured the essence of thing in “Rove the Big Red Dog”, that he’s represented reality somehow, and that his statement corresponds to reality in some manner or another. But he’s not looking at Rover in this instance, he’s looking at “Rover”, he’s looking at his finger. He may even tell you otherwise, or even that you’re nuts, “There’s Rover right there!!!” And I would respond, “Yes, I know what you mean, Rover is a good dog indeed.”

One of my favorite lines from Robert Pirsig’s book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, for its shear poignancy, is the following where he states (and I paraphrase): “The only Zen that exists on the top of mountains is the Zen you bring with you.” In the same way, the only representation, the only essence, which exists in Rover the Dog is the essence you bring with you; for there is no more essence to a thing then there is Zen on the tops of mountains. When you make the statement, “There’s Rover the Dog”, you’ve conveyed a contingent truth and meaning, however there exists no Rover in your words, no underlying representation or correspondence one can clasp onto.

So what should we do in this instance? Consider another verse from Buddhism:
“The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?”

Once one has the meaning, one can forget about the words. Meaning is temporary, and like a finger, it calls simple attention. One has not represented for me Rover by saying “Rover”, ones words are not a correspondence but a meaning and a truth existing in words. As said in the past, what Rover is outside ones needs and intentions is not something to be known and as such you have not defined an underlying reality by differentiating so called objective reality by cutting it with words, you have merely identified meaning; stated a contingent truth in language; and pointed ones attention to a view of quality. Consider the following question and answer between Ta-chu Hui-hai and Ma-tsu):

Question (Ta-chu Hui-hai): “When there is no word, no discourse, this is Dhyana (Zazen, meditation); but when there are words and discourses, can this be called Dhyana?”

Answer (Ma-tsu): “When I speak of Dhyana, it has no relationship to discoursing or not discoursing; my Dhyana is ever-abiding Dhyana. Why? Because Dhyana is all the while in Use (use represents what an object stands for, it’s value, utility and function). Even when words are uttered, discoursing goes on, or when discriminative reasoning prevails, there is Dhyana in it, for all is Dhyana.“When a mind, thoroughly understanding the emptiness of all things, faces forms, it at once realizes their emptiness. With it emptiness is there all the time, whether it faces forms or not, whether it discourses or not, whether it discriminates or not. This applies to everything which belongs to out site, hearing, memory, and consciousness generally. Why is it so? Because all things in their self-nature (self-knowledge; not being, but knowing, as knowing IS being) are empty; and wherever we go we find this emptiness. As all is empty, no attachment takes place; and on account of this non-attachment there is a simultaneous Use (of Dhyana and Prajna/Wisdom). The bodhisattva always knows how to make Use of emptiness, and thereby he attains the Ultimate. Therefore it is said that by the oneness of Dhyana and Prajna is meant Emancipation.”

So what should one make of this question and answer? It is often thought by the Buddhist understudy (monk) that the practice of Dhyana/Zazen (meditation) is the art of breaking past appearance to get to reality, which is where true enlightenment exists. Ma-tsu’s response then is quite clear in this context as he is merely saying there is no appearance reality distinction to be made; whether discoursing or not discoursing Dhyana is always prevailing. Once again the only essence that exists in one discourse or another is the essence you bring with you, the essence you apply. To think that one has discovered the essence of a thing in his words, to believe that one has found a commensurable dialoged with which to represent the world, is to apply the meaninglessness of meanings onto another. We may both agree to the moon at the end of your finger, but in such instance we have not captured its beauty; in the least you have captured a man’s attention.

The issue with the realist is his dogma, and just like the Liberal Ironist, the Buddhist rejects such things. Dogma is merely the notion of commensurability, the idea that we’ve reached a point where language gives us certainty about the world, and that we have adequately represented it. I'd like to note an interesting point; here in the west we have the dogma that essence can be made clear through language and the discovery of truth, where in the east there is the dogma that we can reach essence through the absence of discourse - however again, both are ideas that there exists an appearence/reality distiction and furthermore that there's a way get beyond this appearence to reality. But I follow from above, that words are tools, they’re for meaning and once one has the meaning he can forget about the words. He can forget about them not insofar as they are of little use in directing further attention, but only insofar as it isn’t representative of anything which can be considered an underlying reality. “Rover the Dog” is not Rover the Dog, he is many things relatively, and nothing ultimately. At this point I can call attention to the quote from Rorty in the sidebar.

On to Christianity:
My issues with Christianity have always surrounded its existence, teaching, and practice as a literal dogma, which now I’ll merely call the natural tendency to view it from the perspective of philosophical realism. My instincts have always told me that there was something suspicious going on behind the curtain of Christian belief, which is why I got into comparative religion and Buddhism in the first place; they simply made more sense. Today I realize that (or tend to believe) it isn’t the fault of Christianity itself per se, but the influences that Plutonic metaphysics has had on modern day Christian thinking which has left it in a dogmatic state of slumber and suspicion. Today I tend to think, as with most of eastern philosophy, that a non-realist approach simply makes more sense, and not just towards religion, but life in general. Of course, the east wasn’t as heavily influence (if at all) by Plutonic metaphysics and thus to high degree has maintained its purity – whereas Christianity becomes more cracked by the minute, more nonsensical in the face of a correspondence view of essence/reality. Although a correspondence view of reality has yet to even be shown outside of arguments that beg the essential questions.

It was asked of me, “how can a non-realist have a theology?”, and in an off-hand way, “What is non-realism anyway?” I’ll belabor the non-realism talk later as I think I’ve said enough on that for now (considering the above in this post and below) what I’d really like to address here is the theology, the belief in God and what it means. I could make the statement “God exists.” And the realist would likely respond, “Prove it.” Here I can simply say, “God exists in the same way ‘Rover the Big Red Dog’ exists.” Ah yes, and the realist may say, “Well show me God then.”

There exists a key element here which needs to be understood, and that is, what is God? God is (as I’ve said), “All Loving” and “All Good”. Shall I show you these things then? Shall I wash your feet, and give you a hug? Will you respond to me in this instance, “That is not God, you’re just washing my feet.” And I will say, “No doubt this is true, or so your finger says.” One might simply respond that I have not shown them an object, but such is the same response when one points me in the direction of Rover; am I seeing “Object”? Or am I recognizing a truth and meaning which is all too quickly forgotten upon my wet face?

(speaking rhetorically)
So tell me, Mr. Realist, if a dog represents something which has existence in reality, perhaps you can prove such a thing. Is it true simply because we can point to it? Is that what it is? Is all it’s existence wrapped up in “Rover the Big Red Dog”? What is Rover the Big Red Dog outside of “Rove the Big Red Dog”? If there is no answer to this, then emptiness is the right response from you. Or perhaps “Rover the Big Red Dog” simply is Rover the Big Red Dog? If that’s all that it is, then for certain God is not love, but if it is something else you know not, then surely God is Love.


I'll follow up on the Christianity portion of this at a later date - again, I just needed to get this out... P.S. - no spell or grammer check on this one, sorry.

On Discourse and no Discourse

For those who noticed, I've deleted this post - there was something vary unsatisfactory about it.... Not sure, perhaps I'll repost it at a later date.....

Bottom Line:
It repeated things I've already stated in my Religious Language posts (although it had some further spins) and I didn't like the way it hung together...

Nature and Christianity

Nature with regard to Christianity:
Thought on Sam's post HERE:

The first thing is that nature is contrasted with God; the natural stands on the one hand against the divine. Nature is something working against what is Godly, and in this sense often means “creation” or “the earth”. God created the world, but strangely the world goes against him, and God is found fighting against his own creation.

The adjective “natural”, while in one sense standing in contrast to the divine, in another sense accords with it. When “naturalness” is used in contrast to artificiality it acquires something of the divine.

When we contrast nature with man, we emphasize the physical, material aspect of Nature rather then it’s moral or spiritual aspect, which is pre-eminently involved when we contrast it with God. Nature has thus two aspects as we humans view it. Inasmuch as it is “natural”, it is Godly; but when it is material it functions against human spirituality or godliness, whatever that may mean. As long as nature is regarded as the material world, as our senses perceive it, it is something we want to conquer. Nature here faces us a kind of power, and wherever there is a notion of power it is connected with that of conquest. For man, therefore, Nature is to be conquered and made use of for his own material welfare and comfort. Nature affords him a variety of opportunities to develop his powers, but at the same time there is always on the part of man the tendency to exploit and abuse it for his own selfish ends.

The bible, as a western creation, does not cope well with the place of nature; and I’m not sure I see Hosea 4 as dealing directly with this problem (but I'm lekely wrong in that). No doubt none of this reflects your sentiments, I’m simply suggesting that Christians as a whole do not share your views, but more generally view nature as separate, not divine; also brutal, and running against the current of God.

I tend to think that the issue between man and nature exist as a result of a God who gave man dominion over the earth. Because of this we have a man who continually talks about conquering nature. Man is rational, nature is brutal, and nature should stand in accord with mans rationality.

I do most certainly agree though, that nature can turn into an idiol when standing on it's own. My argument would be, however, that it doesn't stand on it's own, and neither does man.
Chief Seattle

Suzuki / Pirsig, an Interesting Comparison

Updated 9/10:
D.T. SUZUKI (on the original Mind / Prajna):
"....When we have an experience, for exmaple, of seeing a tree, all that takes place at the time is the percieving of something. We do not know whether this perception belongs to us, nor do we recognize the object which is percieved to be outside ourselves. The cognition of an external object already presupposes the distiction of outside and inside, subject and object, the perceiving and the perceived. When this seperation takes place, and is recognized as such, and clung to, the primary nature of the experience is forgotten, and from this an endless series of entanglements, intellectual and emotional, takes its rise.
The state of no-mind-ness refers to the time prior to the speration of mind and world, when there is yet no mind standing against an external world and receiving its impressions through the various sense-channels. Not only a mind, but a world, has not yet come into existence."

Later Susuki writes:
"Zen is always practical, and lives with the events of daily occurence. The past is gone and the present is here, but this present will also soon be gone, indeed it is gone; time is a succesion of these two contradicting ideas, and everything which takes place in this life of ours bestrides the past and the present. It cannot be said to belong to either of the two, for it cannot be cut in peices."


ROBERT PIRSIG (on Quality):
"...before an object can be distinguished, there must be a kind of nonintellectual awareness, which he [Phaedrus/Pirsig] called awareness of Quality. You can't be aware that you've seen a tree until after you've seen the tree, and between the instant of vision and instant of awareness there must be a time lag. We sometimes think of that time lag as unimportant, But there's no justification for thinking that the time lag is unimportant...none whatsoever.
The past exists only in our memories, the future only in our plans. The present is our only reality. The tree that you are aware of intellectually, because of that small time lag, is always in the past and therefore is always unreal. Any intellectually conceived object is always in the past and therefore unreal. Reality is always the moment of vision before the intellectualization takes place. There is no other reality."

The beauty of Pirsig is, even though the MOQ is simply repackaged Buddhism for the west, it doesn’t come off that way. We could say, Pirsig took the ideas of Buddhism, changed the words around and made millions. He even makes it a point to suggest that, while in India, he didn’t get anything out of the experience as if to down play the impact of eastern philosophy and make a case for his own originality. And clearly, as he references in ZMM a copy of the Tao Te Ching (which he copied himself) he is vary familiar with and fond of the philosophy.
NOTE: In ZMM Pirsig pulls out his copy of the Tao Te Ching, reads it, but replaces “Quality” with “Tao” and it fits all the way through. Pirsig, however, would have you believe this is mere coincidence, that he realized after the fact he was actually talking about the Tao even though (having copied it down) he would have been well aware of it before hand.

While in some sense Pirsig may not be completely original in meaning, he is original in his display. In the west, Buddhism has always had a sort of pop-religious existence, coming in and out of popularity like brand name jeans. Let’s face it, religion is religion (to the west). Pirsig, on the other hand, displays all the depth you typically find in philosophy and spins a tale with such finesse that you can’t help but be trapped in the idea of quality in the end. In other words, Pirsig’s MOQ does the job of not smelling like religion even though it really is. If your philosophy is ultimately ineffable, it’s definitely religion, or in the least mystical.

None the worse for Pirsig though. The first time I read Pirsig (many many moons ago) I had told my wife to pick the book up for me (in this case ZMM). After reading it, I went to pick up Lila so of course went right to the philosophy section; no luck. So, on to the fiction section; no luck again. Turns out it’s in the religion section under Buddhism, which of course, is where it belongs. I'm not sure whether Mr. Pirsig would see this as an insult or not as it's always seemed to me he wants the respect of a great philosopher. But in actuality, he's a theologian.

As an after thought, some time ago I came upon a site, MOQ.org, that’s dedicated to Pirsig’s philosophy (brand of Buddhist thought) and came to find there’s actually an individual (Anthony McWatt) who holds a PhD on the MOQ. Can you get a PhD in the Buddha-nature? Is this good news, or just more western intellectualizing and differentiation on the principles of Zen? And for that matter the undercurrent of every religion. Perhaps our understanding in the west of how we came to hold Dialectic above Excellence needs to be shown? Perhaps we need the intellect to purge out the old forms of Platonic idealism we have, and for this we need the university? Perhaps individuals like Pirsig are the bridge? Perhpas Pirsig's thought (in the west) is much more important then anybody knows? I don’t know? I’ll have to think about it for a while…..

Religious Language / Form, Use & Body

There are 3 concepts in Buddhism (specifically Mahayana philosophy) used to describe the relation between substance and it’s function. They are tai (body), hsiang (form), and yung (use). Body corresponds to substance, Form to appearance, and Use to function.

FORM:
In this way we can say an apple is reddish and round shaped; this is it’s Form and further how it appeals to the senses. So Form belongs to the world of the senses; or the world or appearance.

USE:
Use represents what an object stands for, it’s value, utility and function.

BODY:
Lastly, the Body is what constitutes the apples apple-ship, without which it looses it’s being; no apple, even with all of it’s appearances and functions is an apple without it.

To be a real object then, all three of these concepts must be accounted for. Sounds a bit like Subject, Object, Quality, doesn't it?

Following this then, and applying these concepts to ones self-nature and wisdom; Self-nature (self-knowledge; not being, but knowing, as knowing IS being) is the body, and wisdom (prajna) it’s use. In this case there is nothing corresponding to form because the subject does not belong to the world of form.

I'd like to further discuss these concepts while moving forward in my Religious Language posts (as these become key).

Prayer and Meditation

Perhaps because it’s Sunday today I have Prayer and Meditation on my mind, who knows. I’ve never been a fan of either of them; I find both meaningless, pointless, and an overall fruitless exercise.

When I speak to other followers of Buddhism they often talk about they’re Zazen (dhyana, meditation), and it always makes me think they’re missing the point. I'm reminded of the post below, "Buddha, on Belief". I can't escape the idea that people are just doing it out of tradition, or because it's "pop-religious" to do so. Going through the motions of religious tradition isn't what opens one's mind to the truth. Then again, perhaps I'm being a bit solipsistic, to each they're own right.

So as I was reading from Suzuki today and came upon something that led to me feel a bit justified in it, not that I needed the justification at all. Zen, God, (Quality if you will) exists in everyday life, not in sitting with your legs crossed or feeling guilty in prayer. Sure, meditation is a part of Buddhist practice, but it should never be separated from, or be seen as a different discipline from Prajna (wisdom, the power to penetrate into the nature of one’s own being, as well as the truth itself thus intuited). It shouldn’t be separated from everyday living….

In the eleventh year of Kai-yuan (723 C.E.) there was a Zen master in T’an-chou known as Chih-huang, who once studied under Jen, the great master. Later, he returned to Lushan monastery at Chang-sha, where he was devoted to the practice of meditation (tso-chan / dhyana), and frequently entered into a Samadhi (ting = inward meditation, not to be disturbed). His reputation reached far and wide.

At the time there was another Zen master whose name was Tai-yung. He went to Ts’ao-ch’i and studied under the great master for thirty years. The master used to call him: “You are equipped for missionary work.” Yung at last bade farewell to his master and returned north. On the way, passing by Huang’s retreat, Yung paid a visit to him and respectfully inquired: “I am told that your reverence frequently enters into a Samadhi. At the time of such entrances, is it supposed that your consciousness still continues, or that you are in a state of unconsciousness? If your consciousness still continues, all sentient beings are endowed with the consciousness and can enter into a Samadhi like yourself. If, on the other hand, you are in a state of unconsciousness, plants and rocks can enter into a Samadhi.”

Huang replied: “When I enter into a Samadhi, I am not conscious of either condition.”

Yung said: “If you are not conscious of either condition, this is abiding in eternal Samadhi, and there can neither be entering into a Samadhi nor rising out of it.”

Huang made no reply. He asked: “you say you come from Neng, the great master. What instruction did you have under him?”

Yung answered: “According to his instruction, no-tranquillization (ting-samadhi), no-disturbance, no-sitting (tso), no-meditation (ch’an) – this is the Tathagata’s Dhyana. The five Skandhas are not realities; the six objects of sense are by nature empty. It is neither quiet nor illuminating; it is neither real nor empty; it does not abide in the middle way; it is not doing, it is no-effect-producing, and yet it functions with the utmost freedom: the Buddha-nature is all-inclusive.”

This said, Huang at once realized the meaning of it and sighed: “These thirty years I have sat to no purpose!”

This then, reminded me of another such instance:

Observing how assiduously Ma-tsu was engaged in practicing tso-ch’an (meditation) everyday, Yuan Huai-Jang said: “Friend, what is your intention is practicing tso-ch’an?”

Mat-tsu said: “I wish to attain Buddhahood.”

Thereupon Huai-jang took up a brick and began to polish it.

Mat-tsu asked: “What are you engaged in?”

Said Huai-jang: “I want to make a mirror of it.”

Mat-tsu: “No amount of polishing makes a mirror out of a brick.”

Huai-jang at once retorted: “No amount of practicing tso-ch’an will make you attain Buddahood.”

Mat-tsu: “What do I have to do then?”

Huai-jang: “It is like driving a cart, when it stops, what is the driver to do? To whip the cart, or to whip the ox.”

Mat-tsu remained silent.

Seeing into Nothingness

Chang-yen King asked [Shen-hui]:
“You discourse ordinarily on the subject of Wu-nien (‘no-thought’ or ‘no-consciousness’), and make people discipline themselves in it. I wonder if there is a reality corresponding to the notion of Wu-nien, or not?”

Shen-hui answered:
“I would not say that Wu-nien is a reality , nor that it is not.”

"Why?"

“Because if I say it is a reality, it is not in the sense in which people generally speak of reality; if I say it is a non-reality, it is not in the sense in which people generally speak of non-reality. Hence Wu-nien is neither real nor unreal.”

"What would you call it then?”

“I would not call it anything.”

“If so, what could it be?”

“No designation whatever is possible. Therefore I say that Wu-nien is beyond the range of worldly discourse. The reason we talk about it at all is because questions are raised concerning it. If no questions are raised about it, there would be no discourse. It is like a bright mirror. If no objects appear before it, nothing is to be seen in it. When you say that you see something in it, it is because something stands against it.”

“When the mirror has nothing to illuminate, the illumination itself looses it’s meaning, does it not?”

“When I talk about objects presented and their illumination, the fact is that this illumination is something eternal belonging to the nature of the mirror, and has no reference to the presence or absence of objects before it.”

“You say that it has no form, it is beyond the range of worldly discourse, the notion of reality or non-reality is not applicable to it; why then do you talk of illumination? What illumination is it?”

“We talk of illumination because the mirror is bright and its self nature is illumination. The mind which is present in all things being pure, there is in it the light of Prajna [wisdom/intuitive knowlege], which illuminates the entire world-system to it’s furthest end.”

“This being so, when is it attained?”

“Just see into nothingness (tan chien wu).”

“Even if it is nothingness, it is seeing something.”

“Though it is seeing, it is not to be called something.”

“If it is not to be called something, how can there be the seeing?”

“Seeing into nothingness – this is true seeing and eternal seeing.”

Buddha, on Belief

Believe nothing on the faith of traditions,even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.

Seeing, Thinking & Feeling

In fact, everything we encounter in this world with our six senses is an inkblot test.
You see what you are thinking and feeling, seldom what you are looking at.

Daulity, Love & Philosophy

The Buddha taught some people the teachings of duality that help them avoid sin and acquire spiritual merit.
To others he taught non-duality, that some find profoundly frightening.

Even offering three hundred bowls of food three times a day does not match the spiritual merit gained in one moment of love.

All philosophies are mental fabrications.
There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things.

Wittgenstein and Zen Buddhism

Here's an interesting link I came accross at Anderson Brown's:

Wittgenstein and Zen Buddhism

Relative or Absolute

Joshu addressed an assembly of monks:

"The Real Way is not difficult;, but it dislikes the Relative. If there is but little speech, it is about the Relative or it is about the Absolute. This old monk is not within the Absolute. Do you value this or not?"

A monk said to him,
"If you are not within the Absolute, how can you judge its value?"

Joshu said,
"Neither do I know that."

The monk argued,
"Your Reverence, if you do not yet know, how is it that you say you are not within the Absolute?"

Joshu said,
"Your questioning is effective. Finish your worship and leave."

Everyday Life

Joshu asked Nansen: `What is the path?'

Nansen said: `Everyday life is the path.'

Joshu asked: `Can it be studied?'

Nansen said: `If you try to study, you will be far away from it.'

Joshu asked: `If I do not study, how can I know it is the path?'

Nansen said: `The path does not belong to the perception world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world. Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor not-good.'

At these words Joshu was enlightened.

And My Heart-Truth Is Obvious

This was sent to me via e-mail, so I'm posting it here for now. I shall like to comment on it in another post to come.

And My Heart-Truth Is Obvious, If The Heart Itself Is Seen With Open Eyes
Chapter 7, The Dawn Horse Testament

"Consider This. True Religion, or The Real Spiritual, Transcendental, and Divine Way Of Life, Begins With The Transcendence Of Awe and Wonder. Conditional Existence Naturally Evokes Awe and Wonder (and Even Terrible Fear and Stark Bewilderment), but True Religion, or The Real Spiritual, Transcendental, and Divine Way Of Life, Begins With The Free Heart-Response To What Is (Otherwise) Awesome and Wonderful.
Therefore, True Religion Does Not Begin With a belief About God. It Begins When You Truly (and Most Fundamentally) Understand (and Feel Beyond) The Contraction Of The Heart (or The self-Protective, self-Defining, and self-limiting Recoil Of the body-mind From the Apparently Impersonal and Loveless forces Of conditional Nature).
God Is Obvious To The Free (or selfless) Heart. Only The Heart (Free Of self-Contraction) Can "Locate" (or See) and Realize The Divine Person.
The conditional (or self-Contracted) Heart Does Not Realize God In the present, and So the Heartless body and the Heartless mind Become Preoccupied With Seeking For self-Fulfillment, self-Release, and self-Consolation, Through every kind of conditionally Attainable experience, knowledge, and belief.
God Is Not The "Ultimate Cause" (The Solitary and Interested, or Even Deluded, First Doer Of conditional events). God (As God) Does Not Make effects (or Even Stand Apart From them, By Causing them). God (As God) Is Inherently Indifferent (and Perfectly Prior) To cause and effect (or every Apparent, and Apparently conditional, event).
Every Apparent event (or every Apparently caused effect), Once it has appeared, Becomes itself a cause of subsequent effects. Even every conditional being, with all of its limitations, is a cause, and the effect of causes of all kinds. This Is Why the conditional (or phenomenal) worlds Are A Struggle With Negativity and limitation. And God (As God) Is Eternally Prior (and Indifferent) To Struggle, Negativity, and limitation.
God Is Not The Maker Of conditional Nature.
God Is The Unconditional Nature (or Most Prior Condition) Of conditional Nature.
God Is Not Merely The Cause Of all causes and all effects.
God Is The Source and The Source-Condition Of all causes and all effects.
God Is Not The Objective Source and Source-Condition Of all causes and all effects.
God Is The (Perfectly) Subjective Source and Source-Condition Of all causes and all effects.
God Is Not Outside You.
God Is Not Within You.
God Is You (Perfectly Prior To Your Apparently objective conditional self, and Perfectly Prior To Your Apparently subjective conditional self, and, Therefore, Perfectly Prior To Your Total, Complex, and Merely Apparent conditional self).
The conditional self and the worlds of the conditional self Are Not Created By God, Nor Were (or Are) the conditional self (itself) and the worlds of the conditional self (themselves) Perfect Originally, Nor Will (or Can) It Ever Be The Case That God (or, Otherwise, the conditional self, itself, or the worlds of the conditional self, themselves) Will Perfect the conditional self (itself) or the worlds of tILe conditional self (themselves). But Only God Is Perfect, and God Is Perfection (or The Perfect Itself). Therefore, the conditional self and the worlds of the conditional self May Evolve conditionally, but Only To Possible conditional Degrees (Forever Less Than Perfection Itself, Which Is The Condition Only Of God), and This Through The Struggle Made By The Submission Of the lesser (or the lower) imperfect (or the lesser, or the lower, conditional) To the greater (or the higher)imperfect (or the greater, or the higher, conditional). And the conditional self and the worlds of the conditional self May, Otherwise, Devolve conditionally, but Also Only To Possible conditional Degrees (and Never To The Degree Of Absolute, or Irreversible, or More Than Illusory Separation From God, or From The Perfect Itself, Which Is God), and This Through The Struggle Made By The Submission Of the greater (or the higher) or the lesser (or the lower) imperfect (or the greater, or the higher, or the lesser, or the lower, conditional) To the even lesser (or the even lower) forms of the imperfect (or the conditional) itself. Nevertheless, and Whatever The (Relatively Evolved, or Relatively Devolved) Case May Be, The Only Way To Realize God (or The Inherently Perfect, and Perfectly Subjective, Self-Condition Itself) Is To progressively (or, However, Utterly) Surrender the imperfect itself (or the conditional self, and the worlds of the conditional self) To and Into God (or The Very, and Only, and Perfectly Subjective, and Inherently Perfect Person, or Self-Condition, That Is God), and, Ultimately (and Inherently, and Inherently Perfectly), To Transcend the imperfect (or the conditional self and the worlds of the conditional self) In (and By Inherent, and Inherently Perfect, and perfectly Subjective Identification With) The Very, and Only, and Perfectly Subjective, and Inherently Perfect Person, or Self-Condition, That Is God.
Even So, human beings whose Hearts Are self-Contracted Try To Argue For belief In God By Appealing To The Logic Of cause and effect. They Propose That God Is The Cause Of everything, but, Even Though they believe, these believing egos Do Not Stand Free. They Only Cling To the (Necessarily, imperfect) conditional self and the (Necessarily, imperfect) worlds of the conditional self, and they Do Not Realize God (or The Perfect Itself) By Heart Through self-Transcending Love-Communion, To The Inherently Perfect Degree Of Inherently Perfect Love-Bliss (Beyond All "Difference").
God Is The God (or The Truth and The Reality) Of Consciousness Itself.
God Is The God (or The Truth and The Reality) Of Inherently Perfect Subjectivity.
God Is Not The God (or The Implicated Maker) Of conditional Nature, Separate self, and All Objectivity.
God Is The God (or The Truth and The Reality) Of Consciousness, Freedom, Love-Bliss, Being, and Oneness.
God Is Not The God (The Cause, The Doer, or Even The Victim) Of Un-Consciousness (or mere causes and effects).
Therefore, God Is Not The God Of Bondage, Un-Happiness, Death (or Separation), and "Difference".
God Is The Subject, Not The Object. God Is The Inherent Unity Of Being.
God Is The Integrity, Not The Cause, Of the world.
God Is The True Source, The Very Context, The Real Substance, The Very Reality, The Most Native Condition, and The Ultimate Self-Domain Of all conditions, all causes, and all effects, For all that appears Comes From God (but In God, and Only As God).
All "things" Are the media of all "things", but God Is Not The Maker, For God Is Like A Hidden Spring Within the water's world, and God Is Prior Even To Cause (and every cause), and God Is The Self-Domain Of Even every effect, and God Is The Being (Itself) Of all that appears.
Therefore, God Merely Is, and Is Is What Grants every appearance (every being, every thing, every condition, and every conditional process) The Sign Of Mystery, Love, Bliss, and Joy.
Yes, God Is The Deep Of the world, and The Heart Of every Would-Be "I".
The Way Of The Heart Is A Call To Spiritual, Transcendental, and Divine Self-Realization, Not To conventional God-Religion. Conventional God-Religion Is A Search Founded On An Illusion. That Illusion Is the ego, the Independent "I" in the Apparent circumstance of the body-mind. Conventional God-Religion Is An Adventure Of Confrontation With all that Is Not The Divine Self (or Real God), but The Way Of The Heart Is A Call To Realize Direct and self-Transcending Communion (and Ultimate Identification) With The Spiritual, Transcendental, and Divine Person, Self, or Condition, and That Process (Whether It Is Developed In The Manner Of The Devotional Way Of Insight Or In The Manner Of The Devotional Way Of Faith) Is Continuously Generated In Response To My Attractive and egoUndermining Word, and My Storied Leelas, and My Bodily (Human) Sign, and My Spiritual (and Always Blessing) Presence, and My Very (and Inherently Perfect) State, For I Am The Realizer, The Revealer, and The Revelation Of The Divine Person and Self-Condition, Which Is The Perfectly Subjective Heart Itself.
Therefore, I Call You To Listen To Me and To Hear Me, and Thus To Thoroughly Observe, Most Fundamentally Understand, and Effectively Transcend self-Contraction. And When You Hear Me (and Hearing Has Accomplished Its First Work In You), I Call You To (Fully) Receive My Baptismal Blessing, and To See Me From The Heart, and Thus To Enter Into The Spontaneous and Inevitable Process Of Always Present God-Communion.
If You Hear Me (or Most Fundamentally Understand Your conditional self) and See Me (or Feel and Acknowledge My Mere and Blessing Presence, From The Heart), Then The Simple Awareness Of any conditional or phenomenal being, thing, thought, form, event, cause, or effect Will Awaken You To Love-Bliss and Fearless Praise, In The Mood Of Divine Ignorance—Not Because You believe God Made that condition, but Because that condition Is.
Therefore, If You Hear Me and See Me, Then My Heart-Blessing Will Attract You Beyond Every Trace Of self-Contraction (Even In The Deepest Places Of The Heart and the body-mind), and You Will (By Submission To The Process Of That Attraction) Realize and Be One With The Only One Who Is.
I Ask The Heart In The Whirl Of events: "Not By What Cause, but By What Nature or Condition, Is conditional Nature Allowed To Be?" And The Heart, Hearing Me and Seeing Me, Replies: "Self-Existing and Self-Radiant Being (Itself) Is That Nature Of Nature. It Is Love-Bliss, or, Simply, Love. That One Is God, The 'Bright' Divine Person, Who I Am."