Reddit reviews The Way of Zen

My mistake. I took an excerpt from a book through which the author tries to do something nearly impossible — talk about Zen — and I didn't think about possible misunderstandings. So, I'll try to explain the point, although it's really difficult.

The whole point of Zen is to uncover reality through direct experience of the world we inhabit; to be able to do so, we have to let go of our preconceived ideas about it, we have to approach reality with a beginner's mind. The mean to this purpose is mainly a form of meditation called zazen.

What is zazen? From the Zen point of view is really nothing special, is just sitting: when a Buddha sits, he sits, he's the whole act of sitting. A Buddha is constantly immersed into reality, is one with his actions, is one with the whole world. In common speech we could say that he's always in the zone, no matter what he does.

An enlightenment being knows by direct experience that words are only fingers pointing at reality, he also knows that our image of reality doesn't corresponds to reality itself. For this reason Buddhism always stress the importance of experience and therefore of the present moment, the here and now.

> The way I interpreted the OP is this: Stop assigning meaning to fleeting and ultimately inconsequential things and start focusing on what really matters. The way it also can be interpreted: Don't assign meaning, it doesn't matter in the end anyway.

Both interpretations are acceptable: what matters is the very moment you're living and since your thoughts — when not used as tools — are nothing but illusions, even your meaning of life is an illusion.

Please note that this is an oversimplification of the Zen core: the philosophy behind Buddhism is really profound, but also useless without the practice. Every precept is not a dogma, but the open step of a dialog between the master and the disciple that is meant to be a guide for the only thing really important: the experience.

In the excerpt I shared (from the book “Nothing Special” by Charlotte Joko Beck), the author was stressing once more the importance of the present moment, which is our life, regardless of the content: nirvana could be even a terminal cancer.

Is it bad? No: it is It. If you're sick, you have to find a way to stay better, but above all you have to accept the reality you're in. You're going through a breakup and you say your ex-girlfriend is a bitch? Bullshit! The breakup is real, your judgement is not! To live a Zen life is to live outside our heads, but it's difficult because we like our personal drama, we're addicted to suffering at some degree.

I'm not sure I've been successful in explaining well the core of Zen Buddhism and I'm sure your mind is now full of doubts and questions; I know the feeling, ahaha. Unfortunately is really hard to talk about this stuff and I have to make a double effort, since I'm not a native speaker. By the way, if you're interested, I could suggest you some books on the subject. Above all, since you're not familiar (I guess), you should read “The Way of Zen”: this book explains really well the basics.

Then read something by DT Suzuki.

Then you'll be ready for serious deep shit, a book so good Aldous Huxley made the foreword to the English version.

Again, I'm sorry for the mess.

A little Alan Watts would be lovely.

Thank you for the contest!!

This is a basic principle of Zen. If you are unfamiliar with Zen I recommend reading The Way of Zen. I'm a beginner so I would do a poor job of explaining it.

The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Zen-Vintage-Spiritual-Classics-ebook/dp/B004J4X76M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397354589&sr=8-1&keywords=the+way+of+zen

thats The Way of Zen on Amazon.uk howd you not find it? lol

anyway yea anything he writes is great, but I really think that is the best one. better yet, look up a youtube video where he is talking, those are pretty great if you've never heard any of them before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_wiaTe5ug

You're welcome, and thank you!

You make a good point. If your life ends up in a direction that leads to believing the sorts of things Watts talked about, which is no small 'if' in itself, then it will still take some time to process those ideas. I'm in my 40s and only starting to understand some of the things I read in my late teens.

My understanding of formal philosophy comes from books and conversations. ;) I was an art student. Watts is one of the more down-to-earth of the, uh, alternative thinkers/authors/speakers I spend a little time with once in a while. I do read more academic and/or formal stuff, but I tend more toward the mystical (spiritual but not religious) side of things. But I also read popularized physics and stuff like art theory books and the occasional programming manual. I tell you this so you don't go thinking I'm some kind of academic philosophy major before I recommend any books.

Here are the three books I've read from Watts, as Amazon links just because it's easy that way... no marketing here.

The Way of Zen - I read this mostly on the train back and forth to school each day when I was 18. It made some sense, but mostly introduced a lot of ideas I needed to examine and explore for years thereafter. I am not a Buddhist, but I really appreciated the ideas I picked up from this little book. It is on my list for re-reading in the near future.

Tao: The Watercourse Way - I don't think I recall much from this. I read it when I was in my 20s. I picked it up at a used bookstore, mostly because it was "by the guy that wrote that Zen book," and because I had heard of the Tao. I don't recall much of it, probably because I was a raging drunk at the time. I think I came to understand the futility of fighting against what you can't fight from this book, but I can't really say off the top of my head.

The Book - I just finished this last week. It's hard to describe, but it is very accessible, as are the other two, and sums up most of what Watts wanted to tell the world. I recommend it highly. Most of that thing I wrote before is from there, and from recordings of him speaking about it.

Search for Alan Watts on Youtube. There are many recordings of him. Most are just bits and pieces of talks he gave, but some are longer. I do this every once in a while (and other names, Ram Dass, Robert Anton Wilson, Terrence McKenna, etc.. Mostly kind of out-there people but I enjoy having different thoughts thrown at me. Watts is quite a bit more grounded compared to a lot of them.) Along the way Youtube recommends other videos from people who fall along that vein. I think you will find a lot there of interest.

Prickles and goo.