A book report on zen

I read The Way of Zen.

The most fitting book report would be an empty page.

That would do it. But, I have to write something, so I’ll clutter it up with my take-away from this classic by Alan Watts. A vintage book from 1957. 

To talk about zen is like having two people sitting at a table, passing back and forth nothing, in a bowl. Each one takes turns defining what isn’t there. Just my interpretation. But, of course, it is deeper than this. 

The mind or heart spirit flies around in a panic sometimes, like a bird trapped in a house, running into things. I felt this way one morning, but once I settled into a page of the book, I felt collected, integrated. The bird stopped flying around.

The book is a letter from a collective of sages. I didn’t try to distinguish one from another. The best way to read the book is to be with it, feel it, let the energy of it sink in. I read up to 6 pages a day. That was enough.

The basic position of zen is that it has nothing to say, nothing to teach… the truth is self evident, obvious, and explaining it conceals it.

The book explains over and over, there is nothing to say, and yet it is 201 pages long. 

Helpful tips: less fussing and analysis, more channeling of grace and authenticity. The sages say, be natural. Be you. Stop striving for concrete answers and solutions; it’s a big universe with lots of options to fret about. 

Seeking the buddha nature, or zen itself, is like “riding an ox in search of an ox.” In our natural, original state, we are all the buddha (or fill in your designated holy person here).  Don’t try so hard. Once you find zen, you lose zen. Zen is being aligned with your nature, which is not your mind, it is your spirit. If you are aligned with your mind, you are probably confused. The mind is stuck in dualistic patterns. Zen is a liberation from these patterns. 

For me, the book brings up a favorite question of mine… are you vibing with spirit? Ways to know you are doing this is feeling lifted, lighter, refreshed, connected, with easier breathing, and less tension.

I was in a conversation with a ten-year-old about the importance of relaxation and body awareness. How does it feel to be relaxed, vibing with spirit for her? There was no hesitation, she immediately said, “it’s like when you are swinging in a swing, with the wind!”

When you vibe with spirit, homeostasis takes hold. When I push off land into water, to paddle, I switch realms. I don’t think about the craft, the equipment, safety, fear. I join the place; I merge. I’ve planned ahead on safety, and researched where I am. To leave behind the chattering, questioning, explaining mind, is to also leave the ego. To be able to merge into natural elements, including our own, is to be in sync with our aliveness, our original self. 

The book says that zen is not anti-intellectual, but it tires of analysis. It wants us to drop all of our props. We have learned to identify with symbols, constructs, and ideas… to the point where we know the idea of ourselves better than actually knowing ourselves. 

To calm the mind is to worry less about content and to create a place for contentment. The point of zen is not to eliminate reflective thought, but to eliminate “blocking” action and thought with layers of questions, arguments, and theories. 

We think of zen as meditation, which is true, though much of the book talked of action with less perseveration. Other points said it’s ok to be still. To act without wisdom is of no use. If the waters are muddied, let them settle. Watts wrote, “a zen thorn extracts people stuck in the tangles of their own minds because of confusing and conflicting words and ideas about reality.” 

I guess everything, including zen, is full of paradox. 

The answer, if there is an answer, comes near the end of the book, page 166. A “marvelous use” of the void is to become a bodhisattva for the benefit of all human beings. So, go ahead and do that to the best of your ability.

Try to reflect back to people their highest self, their best self. Mirror back the parts of them they need to see, to remember. Who is their original pure self? Can you shine it back so they can remember? Over time, this gets lost in the life shuffle or blocked by events and is forgotten about.

Can we do this for each other?