Language Rocks!

It’s pointless me writing a treatise on Zen. There are plenty of ways for you to read up on it if you’re so inclined. However, I’m going to write about it anyway, and how its ethos can open up our ideas on how we can learn more about ourselves, life, and the marvelous way that ideas are communicated.

Zen Buddhism doesn’t have any formal sacred texts. It has no equivalent of the Bible or Qur’an. So how do Zen Buddhists learn? Well, Zen is about experience.

When ideas are written down, they immediately lose their power. That’s not to say that the written word isn’t powerful; it is. But the initial idea, the spoken word and hearing it is more powerful.

Traditionally, Zen monks travelled the countryside in search of masters. This was a main part of a Zen student’s path. Like a tumbleweed, once a source of nutrition (or wisdom in the case of the Zen monk) was found, he would put down roots and stay a while.

In modern society, this rustic, nomadic type of searching for knowledge is rarely possible. But, thanks to intuitive, resourceful people we now have the internet. I think the internet is a natural evolution for us homo sapiens, in that it is a device to compensate for means of learning, experience and communication we used to have in ages past, but are unable to use presently. We constantly adapt and find ways to push ourselves on in areas that need a bit of work. On the internet, we find websites that nourish us intellectually, add to our bookmarks, and peruse them as part of our daily routine.

The internet’s great! But there’s more to life than plugging ourselves into the Matrix. By all means, use it. You’ll learn a lot and it’s an exciting feeling being part of a global community.

But it is habit forming, and real life social networks, especially the family, can break down if surfing the web becomes a barrier to communication.

Yesterday evening my wife and I took our kids and the dog for a walk at a local beauty spot. Fatigue set in and I said “you walk ahead, I’ll wait here and catch you on your way back.” So, I sat by the river’s shoreline and enjoyed the peaceful ebbing sunlight reflecting off the flat calm salt water and listened to the newborn lambs bleating vociferously in the field behind me. It was a pleasant mix of rhythmic, lapping water and changing light, with commentary from little fluffy sheeplings.

I saw a couple walking towards me on the path. I continued to enjoy the tranquility. As they passed me, the fellow said “hello” so I returned the pleasantry, and sensed he was enjoying his walk, free for a while from mundane anxieties. I felt a warm feeling in me. That chap was relaxed and open enough to extend a greeting to a stranger, and I felt privileged that he should.

I’ve had this simple, spontaneous thing happen to me many times, but every time it happens, it reinforces to me the beauty of friendly connectivity and communication between people.

It’s makes me feel alive, free and happy.

This is what Zen is all about.

“See it all, till tomorrow”