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Read an article in Mind Your Body today, about this guy Paul Muenzen who found life's answers in Zen. The first Westerner to be ordained a monk in China since the Cultural Revolution, he revealed how he got associated with Zen in his life journey, and what Zen is all about..
He touches on pretty cheem stuff about “who I am” and being in the moment. All these, are abstract in nature, easy to know in theory; however deep understanding is required to get the full gist of what he is saying, and to apply it in life...
Here is the extract, though I know I cannot just quote from newspapers:
“Accordingly to the Venerable Hyon Gak, "Zen just means understanding my true nature. Zen means meditation, and meditation means finding my true self - finding my true nature."
To pierce the truth, one's mind must be unclouded by thoughts.
He said:" Being Zen about something means just being as it is. Seeing clearly, hearing clearly, smelling clearly, tasting clearly, touching clearly - that's Zen. So everything as it is, is truth. But when we add thinking, we don't see truth as it is. We see something that we like, or we don't like; we want or don't want; we accept or don't accept. That's not Zen."
In meditation, one returns to one’s breath......” Over time, you get to see that your thinking has no substance. Good thinking, bad thinking, has no substance. Then it can’t control you.”
Incorporate teachings of Zen in daily life...... when walking, just walk; when eating, just eat; when showering, just shower...We do those things but we're following our thinking the whole time. We're eating, but we're not really tasting the food. We're not fully living in the moment. Living in the moment - that's Zen.
If our heads are full of our own thoughts and problems, we cannot see other people or be fully with them.
“Zen means to return to this moment. Hear the bird, hear the rain, feel the air-conditioning sitting here. That's Zen. From that point I can function clearly, openly."
Can understand?! LOL
He touches on pretty cheem stuff about “who I am” and being in the moment. All these, are abstract in nature, easy to know in theory; however deep understanding is required to get the full gist of what he is saying, and to apply it in life...
Here is the extract, though I know I cannot just quote from newspapers:
“Accordingly to the Venerable Hyon Gak, "Zen just means understanding my true nature. Zen means meditation, and meditation means finding my true self - finding my true nature."
To pierce the truth, one's mind must be unclouded by thoughts.
He said:" Being Zen about something means just being as it is. Seeing clearly, hearing clearly, smelling clearly, tasting clearly, touching clearly - that's Zen. So everything as it is, is truth. But when we add thinking, we don't see truth as it is. We see something that we like, or we don't like; we want or don't want; we accept or don't accept. That's not Zen."
In meditation, one returns to one’s breath......” Over time, you get to see that your thinking has no substance. Good thinking, bad thinking, has no substance. Then it can’t control you.”
Incorporate teachings of Zen in daily life...... when walking, just walk; when eating, just eat; when showering, just shower...We do those things but we're following our thinking the whole time. We're eating, but we're not really tasting the food. We're not fully living in the moment. Living in the moment - that's Zen.
If our heads are full of our own thoughts and problems, we cannot see other people or be fully with them.
“Zen means to return to this moment. Hear the bird, hear the rain, feel the air-conditioning sitting here. That's Zen. From that point I can function clearly, openly."
Can understand?! LOL
1 comment:
He was ordained a monk in S Korea, not China
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