A BACKGROUND OF ZEN
How do we live right now? Much the same as always. So how do we experience the world, what's on our minds? The same old things.
.We are thinking of how to impress people, or how to seduce someone, or how to get more money or, well, how to be more
comfortable in every way.
All quite natural, but doesn't it limit the range and narrow the focus! We become mesmerized by self-indulgent desires in a constant
state of monkey mind. Even our care for others in the family and community has a large degree of ego-involvement. Sometimes this mental
chatter becomes obsessive and tedious. Is this all there is? We want to break free of it. Perhaps we dedicate ourselves to a 'worthy
cause' or a political or religious movement and may feel better for a while; in fact that seems to work well for some people as a life project.
What sort of solution is proposed by Zen? It offers a strange sort of freedom - freedom from ourselves. You need to do two things at once:
think of the hara, the 'one point' in the belly, and breathe. Breathing in should be spontaneous and natural; breathing out must be slow.
Slowness improves with practice. Don't count the breaths, just experience them one by one. Trivial thoughts will arise but they are not
to be censored or suppressed. Let them drift away after a casual look. Return to the one point. Try to keep at it for a few minutes;
there may be an occasional twinge of exultation afterwards.
Is it worth the bother? Try it out and see. We seldom realize how programmed we are, how set for habitual responses by our desires, by our
social interactions, by our evolution. We do need those unreflecting patterns of behaviour, in fact could not survive without them.
The individual must perform in the business of obtaining food and shelter and providing for the next generation, must perform in the various
systems of co-operation and competition, must acknowledge status and aspire to it, must be willing to be pressed by the right buttons. Yet
all of that merely keeps things ticking over while we, temporary actors on the changing stage; are largely reduced to automata no longer
seeing the brightness of the world.
This screed is merely the sketch of a personal background of Zen thought. I will not discuss 'enlightenment' or satori or any such
'spiritual experiences', especially as my own have been quite rudimentary and unworthy of notice. There is no gospel of Zen; one may
pick and choose elements to suit one's interests and moods; even Zen patriarchs had their favourite sutras. However, a certain discipline
is needed for significant results. Buddha's last words are reported to have meant: "Work out your own salvation with diligence".
That raises a classic paradox, for if we intend our own advantage that is already selfish and therefore futile. Let's leave that one aside
for the present, but there is another interesting paradox to the effect that there can be no system of thought valid beyond tautology; any
closed conceptual system is limited and directed by its own preconceptions. (This is reminiscent of Kurt Goedel's paper of 1932 on formally
indeterminable propositions.)
So we take nothing for granted. Maybe we try Zen out and if it is any use to us, fly with it. Trying it out, however, seems to be best done
by following an art which exercises both mind and body; some of the developed 'ways' are calligraphy, flower arrangement, tea ceremony, and
certain martial arts such as archery, kendo, and aikido. I myself have found aikido (the way of harmonizing body and mind) of the greatest
benefit.
The Griffith Aikido Institute practices aikido at Nathan, Southbank and Logan. If you would like to find out more about us, drop by to
watch a class, or checkout our website http://griffithaikido.com, email us info@griffithaikido, or a line to 38755036.
Click to find out more about Griffith university aikido and start aikido training today .
beginners, try an introductary class with our compliments.
Edwin Dowdy
(c)July 2003
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