The sixth paramita, prajna, the “final” point of training, of a life of practice: naturally, whatever it connotes, it couldn’t be less final…
It’s the start of everything.
Zen is not about Zen. It doesn’t ask us to be interested in Zen. It doesn’t say: hey, we are all about our beliefs, and these are the ideas you have to be interested in – this person, for example, this savior, this way of thinking, this form of prayer, this manner of worship, this way of doing things, or whatever.
Rather, Zen says: you’re a human being. What is a human being, and what are some ways to live more helpfully and happily, that arise from the bare fact of our being? How can we be fulfilled as just what we are?
If Zen is a religion then it is the original religion of humanity – of a human being alive on this earth. Its teaching is simply what is: human body, human mind, and the things of this world, and the experiences humans have. What is, is exactly what exists – and is therefore the one constant teaching. Beyond this, no other teaching.
Message from Henry is from our September 11, 2017 Newsletter
Image: Lotus Flower by DocChewbacca, CC by-SA 2.0 from Flickr.com