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{"id":701,"date":"2011-12-04T15:29:37","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T21:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?p=701"},"modified":"2011-12-04T15:29:37","modified_gmt":"2011-12-04T21:29:37","slug":"the-truth-for-truths-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/12\/the-truth-for-truths-sake.html","title":{"rendered":"The Truth for Truth’s Sake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>At my new job I\u2019ve been getting more questions about Zen practice than I expected. One young man asked, \u201cOh, don\u2019t people who meditate get like weird powers or something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot me,\u201d I said, \u201cbut sometimes I get weirdly ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

He liked that.<\/p>\n

Many people seem to think that Zen is about wiping out thoughts in order to attain peace. James over at Monkey Mind <\/a>has a recent post offering a different perspective.<\/p>\n

It is possible to not-think, entering the dark-dark fully (and only knowing it afterwards as there is no witness there), but that one experience is not the point of Zen. It can be a profoundly turning moment (embodying the timeless), but if afterwards it becomes the object of craving, well, then it is the cause of sickness.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve recently been explaining Zen by saying, \u201cIt\u2019s about understanding life deeply and living accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

That often seems to work.<\/p>\n

In \u201cNegotiating the Way,\u201d Dogen writes, \u201cThe endeavor to negotiate the Way, as I teach now, consists in discerning all things in view of enlightenment, and putting such a unitive awareness into practice in the midst of the revaluated world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several Zen teachers I know emphasize that American Zen is characterized by zazen, daily life, and precepts. Kinda nice, imv, but something seems to be missing \u2013 the unitive view.<\/p>\n

The comments by these teachers \u2013 and the questions I\u2019ve been getting about Zen \u2013 got me to thinking again about how we communicate what we\u2019re about in Zen. A facilitator once challenged a group I was leading with the \u201cOprah test.\u201d If you\u2019re in an elevator with Oprah and have thirty seconds to express your mission, what would you say?<\/p>\n

Brought me back to Simon Sinek and his \u201c start with why<\/a>\u201d approach. Mostly, says Sinek, when asked to express what we\u2019re about, we give the \u201cwhat\u201d or the \u201chow.\u201d And that\u2019s pretty cerebral or technical but not that interesting.<\/p>\n

Zazen, daily life, and precepts (deeply understanding life too) are all about \u201cwhat\u201d and \u201chow\u201d and not about \u201cwhy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With \u201cwhy\u201d we express our passion. I believe that if we expressed our passion more fully and unapologetically, we\u2019d be clearer about what Zen really is and make the dharma<\/a> more accessible for those who are ready to practice.<\/p>\n

Think of the power in Martin Luther King\u2019s Noble Peace Prize acceptance speech, \u201cI believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

I believe that living truth for the sake of truth is a dynamic and challenging way to live in peace and harmony with self and others.<\/p>\n

I believe that this little dumpling planet desperately requires an abundance of people practicing truth for the sake of truth in all the many traditions.<\/p>\n

What do you believe?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"