I have just involved myself in an on-line discussion on why people lie. It will be interesting to see what reponses I get, but being a very Zen answer. What I have written can be quite challenging to some, so there may not be any responses at all.
As a Zen practitioner and therapist, I have studied the tendency to lie. In Zen I aim to deal in absolutes, that is, we are either lying or telling the truth. Lying is usually done out of some sort of fear. The fear could be great or small. For instance if you see someone who is wearing what you believe to be an awful outfit, but they seem very proud of it, it may difficult to tell absolute truth because there is a fear. Not a big-deal fear, but a fear of offending them. It is easier to say that it's nice, than to say it is hideous and doesn't suite them at all. So, it is not easy to tell the absolute truth all of the time.
Another part of this equation is that the mind exists on a lie, meaning that what we may totally believe is a lie.
For instance, in Zen, the truth is that whenever we judge another person, we are judging our self. But we totally believe that we are judging and perhaps blaming another person for something that upsets us. This is not so.
We can only perceive the other person as part of our own awareness, which we consider to be our self and then we create our ideas of what they are like, but thos ideas still isn't truth. It is only our ideas about what may be truth.
So judging others is judging our own awareness which we believe to be our self! It's a neat trap, if you can understand what I'm saying here. Most of life, we are strongly identified with our self as being separate from others in the world, This is another lie. But no-one will believe you if you were to realize this, because believing is not truth either, only realization and experiencing is! Only now is true as the past or future which we may think of as being real, is not truth.
As a Zen practitioner, I am as honest as living in this world permits me to be, and to tell absolute truth is a great challenge whilst the mind keeps interfering!
Nothing wrong or right about that, so it's best not to worry about it.
Can we really say that there is truth in the world everywhere we look? I think there may be more untruth than truth in the world. That's is a mystery that I love about Zen practice!
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Judgement: Memoirs of an Encounter Group: A Zen Challenge
My challenge as a Zen practitioner and group therapist was not to judge. And I found it to be a great challenge as judgements came up, In fact judgement still arises - for its roots seem ancient - imbedded in my mind as in the society I belong to.
In my encounter groups, I used profanity a lot to "shock" people into awareness. Bashing people with a Zen stick, wouldn't have made me very popular and would probably have got me arrested!
Yes, the judging mind raised its objection and considered such ways of communicating as bad, so I had to get past my judgemental considerations because I wanted to cause a stir in my groups.
Once past that first hurdle of my judgemental mind, the space in the group room became what I can best describe as light and free as the language amongst the participants got to be more expressive and although encounter groups are based more on spiritual development than therapy, such expression provided the space for some very rapid and therapeutic effects to take place.
In my encounter groups, I used profanity a lot to "shock" people into awareness. Bashing people with a Zen stick, wouldn't have made me very popular and would probably have got me arrested!
Yes, the judging mind raised its objection and considered such ways of communicating as bad, so I had to get past my judgemental considerations because I wanted to cause a stir in my groups.
Once past that first hurdle of my judgemental mind, the space in the group room became what I can best describe as light and free as the language amongst the participants got to be more expressive and although encounter groups are based more on spiritual development than therapy, such expression provided the space for some very rapid and therapeutic effects to take place.
Getting Better, Getting Real.
In Zen, some of us look to get better. Others look to get real. Can there be an "better" without "reality"? If we can drop the struggle to get better and focus on the task of getting real, will we not then get better anyway?
The Lesson in Zen
Do we ever learn our lesson?
I don't think so...
The lesson is life.
The lesson is ongoing.
Life is not something be be learned.
Life is learning. Life is to be lived.
In Zen... Or not in Zen...
For Zen is, and non-Zen is...
Zen...
The lesson is living-learning... Forever?
Zen Books in the UK
Zen Books in the USA
I don't think so...
The lesson is life.
The lesson is ongoing.
Life is not something be be learned.
Life is learning. Life is to be lived.
In Zen... Or not in Zen...
For Zen is, and non-Zen is...
Zen...
The lesson is living-learning... Forever?
Zen Books in the UK
Zen Books in the USA
Judgment: Is that So?
I need to be aware of how I allow the external world to influence my mind and consciousness. I am seeing how I am facing the challenge of the way society through the media, continues to indoctrinate my mind. Just being aware of that is all that is necessary, as there is no need to go off at a tangent trying to discover some secret antidote, because awareness is the antidote. That is pure awareness without judgment or making comparison.
It is not that society it doing this deliberately, because all people are in the same boat here with the exception of enlightened Zen masters who have transcended worldly affairs and no longer make judgments and comparisons. I need to stop judging society too.
I am reminded of the story of a Zen master who was wrongly accused of making a local girl pregnant. When her parents accused him he just responded, "Is that so?". The parents of the young girl brought the child to him when it was born and he cared for the child for many years until the child’s mother had a pang of conscience and admitted to her parents that she had lied about the Zen master being the father. The parents then went to the Zen master and told them their story. They apologized and as they walked away with the child, the Zen master again responded, "Is that so?"
It is not that society it doing this deliberately, because all people are in the same boat here with the exception of enlightened Zen masters who have transcended worldly affairs and no longer make judgments and comparisons. I need to stop judging society too.
I am reminded of the story of a Zen master who was wrongly accused of making a local girl pregnant. When her parents accused him he just responded, "Is that so?". The parents of the young girl brought the child to him when it was born and he cared for the child for many years until the child’s mother had a pang of conscience and admitted to her parents that she had lied about the Zen master being the father. The parents then went to the Zen master and told them their story. They apologized and as they walked away with the child, the Zen master again responded, "Is that so?"
Zen for 1000 Years?
It has been said by many a Zen master that a Zen practitioner needs to be willing to practice zazen for 1000 in search of enlightenment.
Being mindful of all my activity during the day, is the extension of my Zen into daily activity, yet there is a lot of past conditioning to bring up into my awareness. It is in the last 10 years or so that I have recognized the wisdom of the "1000 years" of zazen statement. And now that my Zen practice has reached the 30-year mark it continues. It is the journey, not the destination, so I really need to learn to stop counting the years. That time is an illusion!
Being mindful of all my activity during the day, is the extension of my Zen into daily activity, yet there is a lot of past conditioning to bring up into my awareness. It is in the last 10 years or so that I have recognized the wisdom of the "1000 years" of zazen statement. And now that my Zen practice has reached the 30-year mark it continues. It is the journey, not the destination, so I really need to learn to stop counting the years. That time is an illusion!
Lies and Truths in Zen
The lie cannot exist, because only truth exists. In Zen the truth is whatever is so right now. Trees are trees, grass is grass, earth is earth.
So in Zen, it is not a case of pursuing or seeking truth as this will just create more confusion. What is the point of seeking something that already is!
In Zen, it is really to be OK to be OK to be whatever way I am. I don't see the trees, the grass and the earth seeking anything.
In Zen, it is a case of looking deep into the lies as seeing the lies, will evaporate them and expose the truth.
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