Sublime

Popularity almost invariably leads to a deterioration of quality, and as Zen became less of an informal spiritual movement and more of a settled institution, it underwent a curious change of character. It became necessary to “standardize” its methods and to find means for the masters to handle students in large numbers. There were also the special

Zen master Suzuki Roshi said, “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”

“The Dharma is an inner journey,” Geshe Wangpo said, touching his heart. “Not about saying you are Buddhist, or wearing clothes to show you are Buddhist, or even believing you are Buddhist. What is ‘Buddhist’?” He gestured with open hands. “Just a word. Just a label. What is the value of a label if the product inside isn’t authentic?

The human principle is known as simplicity: freedom from concepts, freedom from trappings.

Perhaps the koan “There is nothing I dislike,” which at first might seem unattainable, isn’t actually too much of a stretch. It might be just an observation of the natural state of the mind, the natural state of a man sitting on a bench, watching his children collecting Easter eggs, happy because he has given pleasure. In the Dhammapada, an ancient

One old koan tells the story of a student who asks his teacher for permission to leave the monastery. “Where do you want to go?” the teacher asks. “Around on pilgrimage,” replies the student. The teacher presses him, “What is the purpose of a pilgrimage?” After all, doesn’t practice teach us that everything we’re looking for is already right here?

This meditation didn’t seem to be a new direction but perhaps it was a condition for a new direction. She found a little more space between her thoughts, the trees began to step near again, and she calmed down for a while.

Alan Watts, Zen and the Beat Way. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle, 1997.

Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way. This is the mystery. When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everythin