Zen: The Happening

The Happening

The mind functions on reason. Reasonableness is the function of duality – opposites which attract, such as this-not this, good-bad, right-wrong, desirable-undesirable and so on.  The human  mind does not cause this to happen.  It is created from the essence, life, universal energy or could be called God  or any  number of many names.  And the way we know that we are reasoning is that have moved from a moment of non-reasonableness into reason.  But exactly how that has happened is not possible to know, for that would be more reasoning which will be the effect of asking the question of how we are reasoning.  Explain it we cannot – but we would possible believe that we could explain! ButZen is not philosophy.

In my posts here I often talk of zazen (Zen meditation) as being a way to have the answer to these questions resolved.  The paradox is that true zazen is not an action, but a state of being.  Zazen is a happening. It comes to us when we are passive, not in activity. Therefore it could be said that zazen is not considered meditation, it is just sitting.  There is nothing to 'do".

This can be fully realised by sitters who recognise that zazen itself, which is just sitting, is different with each sitting - imperceptibly perhaps, but over time it changes and we neither cause the changes neither can we stop the changes from happening It is just sitting contacting life as it is in the here-now. Being with whatever is so.  Life is alive and forever moving on – forever evolving. Zazen is part of that happening.

Don't have aims in zazen, be zazen itself, totally in the here-now, not seeking, not-doing, not following another's instructions, even these written here! There is no wrong or right way to meditate in this way. It is an occurrence – a happening. And there are no goals in meditation, and if it is seen clearly that meditation is absolute being(ness), that there are no goals, then this in itself leads to enlightenment – or perhaps it is enlightenment... most Zen masters and enlightened beings tell all of us that we are already enlightened!

It has been recorded by others so who have trodden the path to enlightenment that enlightenment can and often does happen when no formal meditation is happening. Indeed, enlightenment also happens during meditation. It is unpredictable and it is unknown and cannot be known, explained or predicted by the mind, but it is realised when it is so.

However, the moment we say,  "I think I became enlightened". That is not so. It has nothing to do with thinking, and thinking is a happening within the mind.  Enlightenment is a happening within the here-now, a place that the mind cannot enter, but it will remember that something happened perhaps, but it’s not happening here-now in the mind, it's remembered!

This all may sound so contradictory and paradoxical. Life is that way. North meets South, but where? No north, no south for each is the other, but appear as separate. What is north of north? And what happens to the first north? Has it really become south? South of what?

Duality does not really make for peace, it troubles the mind when the mind cannot know. Such is the way of Zen.

Judging: Three Questions and more... How long? But there are a lot more...

Today in zazen, came lots of thoughts - also known in Zen as makyo.   But should I judge and condemn makyo? Should I condemn the thinking mind?  I think to much.. Ah! Another judgement!  A neat trap.. Or is that a judgement?

We take other people (and situations) into our awareness. This is so. Can't get away from that statement. We can know others from our own awareness.. That must be so, as we cannot know them from their awareness!

We see something that we cannot agree with. We condemn it. We are aware of that thing we cannot agree with, therefore it is bound to be within us!  Another neat trap.  We condemn our Self!   The more we judge as liking this, disliking that, attracted to this, repelled by that,  the more disintegrated we become. Whether it is good or whether it is bad, makes no difference.


Zazen then, is the task of reconnected with those disintegrated parts of our Self (or self, there are some who say that Self should not be capitalized - just more judgement, just more makyo to get stuck in - but I don't care what they say - I forgive them! Do I really? ).  We reconnect to our fragments by forgiveness of Self which is forgiveness of others.


I think of all the incidents in my life when I must have judged and condemned in my mind. There are loads!  I probably think too much, I say again!  We walk along the Zen path (or some other labelled path) and we come to a space, to a situation, to the memory of a person, to.... whatever....  We are not happy with it, and we want to forgive for our own sakes,  but we don't know how to do it. We cannot do it! Of course we can't do it.. Because it isn't doing.. It is being. Being forgiving. We can only be willing, and then go within and wait in patience for the experience of forgiveness to come to us. Or if you prefer, the experience of closure; or the experience of completion.  If not, another part of us, greater or smaller, will get stuck in this space on our journey.  And we may find ourselves running around and around in this space. It could be temporary, but it can last... How long?  I don't know.. Best not to add another judgement! How long is a piece of Zen string?

Mind and Awareness

As I entered zazen today, I became aware of the here-now and my mind racing around with thoughts of what should and what should not be. How zazen should feel and how it should not feel..

Again came the judgements.  And then every now and then, for a split second, I was observing that I had plunged into the mind. It was so very subtle and I noticed that there were moments when I had lost the awareness of the mind, and had become the mind.  When the mind believes its the being, or the being believes it's its mind - works both ways, but awareness is the key here!

But what of here and now.. Now as I am writing this?   Am I really getting mindful of what is going on?  Am I detached and observing the mind.  Yes and no.. There are no answers that can be answered until I stop using my mind! 

One cannot get enlightened from the mind, only from awareness, and that awareness is tricky as we have to make the distinction of what is awareness and what is mind.. 


Or there again, if all is One....  See what I mean!?

Now is a New Moment

Now is always a time of completion. Each moment is a moment of completion. There are no answers in Zen, only questions that act as indicators for me to witness and observe. Take this into zazen and extend the mindfulness is produces it into daily activity

Now is a new moment… Now is a new moment.

There is no real need to do anything. Just trust. Just be.

Feeling Misunderstood by Others?

During zazen, lots of thoughts and ideas come up into the mind. There are times when I have felt a great loneliness on my path and a feeling that I am strongly misunderstood. This I recognize now is part of the journey. Many people back strongly away from the discipline of Zen practice that I represent.

Suddenly a new feeling can emerge from all this "loneliness" and I refer to this as my "aloneness" and it is a very fulfilling and comfortable feeling. I recognize that I have no need to surround myself with friends, family and people, and cherish my own space. It is at this point that I am misunderstood by others.

I need to take care not to judge myself on this, because judgement is a trick of the ego that seems to excel from such stress and conflict.

Further discussion on feeling misunderstood.... feel free to register and get involved..

A Higher Reality.. Life After Death?

I have a theory, that at this time in our evolution, we cannot 100% get to know what happens after death, only a belief. Maybe if we were to know, it would not be beneficial to us.

Through my zazen(meditation), I have noticed that I learn some really profound things during and just after periods of pain and stress.

It is not a knowledge that can be put into words, but more of an experience of a personal energy, and it has been discovered that energy can never be destroyed. Perhaps this sort of thing, gives us glimpses of a higher reality that is to come as we progress. more on this discussion...