What Is Zen?
Zen Master Seung Sahn has said that Zen is very simple. "What are you?" Zen
Master Dae Kwang, the Abbot
of the Kwan Um School, has described Zen as understanding yourself and helping
other people.
"Entering the gate of Zen
practice simply means returning to your mind as it naturally is
before thinking arises.
This point is universal substance and
your true nature. People sometimes call it true self, or nature,
or Buddha, or God, or energy, or mind, or consciousness, or
holiness, or the Absolute. People call it many, many things, but
originally this point has no name and no form...That is because this
point is already before thinking...
Your relationship to this world and
your relationship to yourself are not based on thinking. Your
correct relationship to this life does not come out of any kind of
understanding. You cannot reason life or death. So if you want to
pass the gate of Zen, first you must completely cut off all
attachment to thinking, and return to your mind before
thinking arises.
For teaching purposes, we sometimes call this point
don't-know mind. Attaining it is very simple, and not far away.
Simply ask yourself, very deeply, 'What am I?' What appears is
only 'Don't know...' This is already your true nature."
Zen Master Seung Sahn
The Compass of Zen
To more fully realize what Zen is, who
we are, and how to help other people, we practice. Practice is the heart
of Zen, and in the Kwan Um School, the ways we practice include sitting
meditation, walking meditation, chanting, and bowing. These form a path to
attaining a clear, compassionate mind that moment-to-moment is able to help
all beings.
The practice of Zen is both very simple and very rich. It is said that it
requires great faith, great doubt, and great courage. And as Zen Master Seung
Sahn often says, "Just do it." Whether doing the dishes or brushing your
teeth, just do it. Discover your true self, and discover what you can do
for this world.
