With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
I have not posted for a few days. Sometimes a break is an important part of the process. Time for reflection and decision (see below). In the meantime, I would like to explore some issues regarding monotheism and Zen.
One issue that stands out in my mind is that of duality. In monotheistic faiths there is a tendency to separate God from the rest of the world. God is transcendent, though occasionally immanant. He/She/It is wholly different from the rest of creation, yet from (at least) a Jewish perspective is still part of it. The mystical and contemplative practitioners of the faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) each have teachers who teach from a non-dualistic perspective, that is a perspective that does not adhere to a separation at all, but experiences God, the universe and all that is in it, as one. These practitioners place experience above thought and reason in terms of connecting with and understanding the Absolute.
Monotheism has its contemplative practices and Judaism has a long history of meditative practices. The bible is replete with references to going out alone in the desert, being still, reflection, introspection, and the like. We are to put our faith in the Absolute. We are to be still:
In the Prophets, Isaiah reports God as saying,
"You shall triumph by stillness and quiet;
Your victory shall come about
Through calm and confidence." Isa. 30:15
This whole chapter seems to point out the tension between a need to do and the value of simply being. The need to do suggests a lack of trust in the Universal, and Isaiah is suggesting that God wants us to be still and have faith.
So, on the one hand, as Isaiah points out, we should be still and Isaiah goes on to say, "Then your Guide will no more be ignored, but your eyes will watch your Guide; and whenever you deviate to the right or to the left, your ears will heed the command from behind you: "This is the road; follow it!" (Isa 30:20-21). We in Zen would say you are manifesting your true nature.
On the other hand, as in parasha Kedoshim (Lev.19), the problem is that it presents the way to holiness is through a rule based model, as if following the rules is the summum bonum of spiritual life.
One possible resolution is to try to keep in mind that the rules are a guide, a path to awakening, to becoming one with the Infinite. They, with being still, are our avenue to "holiness".
That said, mainstream monotheism seems to create and maintain liturgical and theological references to God as if He were apart from us. As I said, in the parasha Kedoshim, we are commanded to be holy and this holiness is to be accomplished through living the correct way. If we are not careful in going through such texts, as well as say, the morning or evening services (within Judaism), we are likely to understand God (and our behavior) in ways that are quite dualistic.
Zen Buddhism, on the other hand, bypasses the theological issues pretty much altogether, choosing instead to focus on practices to gain the experience of non-duality which it calls awakening or enlightenment. Belief in God, the location of God or even the nature of God, are not practical and therefore unhelpful questions.
Zen says once we are awake, we have work to do. Yet, once awake, work is not opposed to us, not a burden, it is what we do naturally. Conceptualization is not only contrary to, but an impediment to, enlightenment.
Still, Zen Buddhism talks about those pesky two truths, the Absolute and the Relative, often referred to as Big Mind and Small Mind. Big Mind is Buddha Mind: it is the Universal, the Infinite, or the Absolute. Small Mind is the mind of relative, regular, existence; the mind involved in eating, walking, sleeping, conversing, etc. Big Mind is non-dualistic; Small Mind is dualistic. From a Zen point of view, these are always subsumed into one another and understood as one thing.
We say the wave is a wave, but it is also water. They are both one and the same.
But, in monotheism, in particular, Judaism, we say God is a part of us, but we are not God.
Frankly, I see that latter as quite challenging. Its almost as if we monotheists (again, in particular, Jews) cannot take that last step to true awakening.
A Zen point of view is that we should be both simultaneously. Doing and Being, just like Space and Time, are one: it is our practice to experience this truth, then manifest it as our True Nature.
We make things holy by being still, by resting. This rest is not the typically understood notion, however. This is active rest, this is oneness with the Universe rest. You see, when we are one, there is nothing to be opposed to. Hence, nothing is "work" in the commonly understood sense.
Zen teaches us to eat when hungry, sleep when sleepy. Zen teaches us that when we are in touch with inner and outer needs, we see there are no inner and outer, above or below, there is just this that is before us.
What do you think?
Be well,
Decision: I have decided to stop offering meditation at Temple Beth El and begin meditation at Clear Mind Zendo on Monday evenings. The most deciding factor in this is balancing my time. I have been very involved in Temple activities and need to establish a public time for Zazen other than the daily early morning time. I struggled to find one evening of the week that wasn't vulnerable to intrusion. In the end, I determined it was Monday evening. So, those of you who attended meditation at Temple Beth El have the option of continuing to practice at home or joining me at the Zendo in my residence on Monday evenings at 7:00 PM. There is a link to a map to the Zendo attached below.
