I decide to go to a training monastery when I was 29. The reason wasn’t ideal, but since my grandfather passed his role to my father, and both had passed away, I needed the qualifications as a monk. So, I decided to undergo training.
Basically, I just wanted the qualification. So, I began my training.
The training, however, was rigorous.
I was a physics teacher living within a very logical world. But when I began training, I entered a world completely opposite to logic, a world where logic doesn’t exist, which made the training extremely difficult for me.
At that time, my master told me something. He said I was making a big mistake. The mistake was in trying to gain knowledge. Trying to gain knowledge, skills, and understanding as a Zen monk. That was a big mistake.
He told me that Zen was actually about letting go. And upon understanding this slightly, I decided to continue my training, which brings me to today.
Zen is everything.
Fundamentally it is about not dividing. Realizing this undivided nature is important, and once you recognize this, Zen becomes everything. It is the universe, the Earth, and nature; everything is Zen.
The key is how to live without worries within Zen.
Unlike other sects of Buddhism that study texts, sutras, and scriptures, Zen values experience more than anything else. During my training, I wasn’t allowed to read any books. Experience was the most important thing.
And after that, insights are what matter. Insights based upon experience. Insights from books are very different, and that’s what it’s about.
The key is to realize that suffering is something we create. Recognizing that it’s our mind or heart are creating it. Realizing that we are the creators of our suffering. And also realizing that we cannot control it.
You must be aware that we cannot control the suffering we create. So, because we cannot control it, we must let it go. We suffer because we try to control the uncontrollable. Realizing this is important.
In other words, we should let go because we cannot control it.
Letting go is both necessary and possible.
In fact, suffering is just an illusion. Recognizing that our minds have created it as an illusion brings relief.
Even when we’re not actually harmed, we might say our heart hurts. Japanese tend to say this, but in reality, we’re unharmed. It is something we created.
In other words, an illusion.
Realizing this is crucial.
Categories