“Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense.” — Shunryu Suzuki
This is the whole point of true Zen.
It’s nothing special. Not a religion, not a doctrine, although these can be found, and practiced, but they are not it. They are just garments that some of the different modes of Zen wear. They are not it.
At heart, True Zen is very simple. It is just to live in the reality of your true nature.
Buddha knew this. Dõgen knew this. Bankei knew this. All realised beings in history discovered it.
I’m nothing special, you’re nothing special, our lives are nothing special, and there is nothing special to discover.
Let go of your concepts and you will discover in crystal clarity, that this ordinary thing, this nothing special, that you have overlooked your whole life, is who you are. What might happen if right now, you stop trying, stop doing, and simply look clearly without the filter of beliefs, thoughts, fears, memories and other untruths?
Nothing special will be found in Zen.
words : Bhagavati image : Dustin Heerkens