Zen enriches no one

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CobblersApprentice

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Zen enriches no one. There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while in the place where it is thought to be. But they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey.

(Thomas Merton, from the "Author's Note" to his collection of essays, "Zen and the Birds of Appetite")
 
CobblersApprentice said:
Zen enriches no one. There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while in the place where it is thought to be. But they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey.

(Thomas Merton, from the "Author's Note" to his collection of essays, "Zen and the Birds of Appetite")
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Ha! Man is it no wonder Zen is so fascinating?! I hadn't heard this one before...

One that struck me once, went something like this.
A guru was asked what is the actual meaning of Zen? I don't want a stupid answer, just keep it succinct and get to the bottom of it, just what does Zen mean?
Answer: The brook is babbling, burbling down the hill water filtering through the rocks.

The idea was, what is happening right now in the moment, right beneath our noses and we ignore it constantly looking instead off ahead into an imagined future or dwelling in the past is all a waste of time. Be here. Be now. Right here right now here is where you are. Live it. The Guru was saying what he was seeing as the questioner asked him for the reality of Zen. The reality is right here, right now. What you see is. that's Zen. Nothing intellectual, nothing over the top flowery or difficult. Whatever it is you are experiencing right now is Zen.
 
I read somewhere that a 'Zen Master' was quite critical of other Zen Masters :)rolleyes:). The point he was trying to make is that Zen was in danger of becoming an elitist enterprise. He argued that if you wanted a true lesson of being 'in the moment', of 'no-mind', etc., etc, then look at that basket weaver over there. He sits all day, weaving baskets. He doesn't think about what he's doing, he is what he's doing. He's right in the moment.

I wish I could recall where I read it.
 
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