What Is Zen?
What is zen? What is not zen? We can say everything is zen but it really is not. Zen is full of contradictions and can seem perplexing. If we are at the beach and I point out toward the ocean and say there is land there. You look and you see no land. You think I am seeing things. In a way, I am. I am seeing past the water. If we get in a boat and keep going toward the horizon, we will cover a great amount of water, but eventually we will find land. Now you see the land. Zen is about seeing what is there but not there. That is why there are so many contradictions. True is false and false is true you see. Of course there are many more things that are zen, but it is all zen in the end. If someone sees you meditating, they might think, “Look at that fellow sitting there doing nothing.” However, you are doing something. You are sitting down if nothing else. You are hopefully in deep meditation so there is much going on. Yet, to the untrained mind, you are doing nothing. You can describe zen in one word, ten words, or in a 500 page book, but please do not. Too many books already!
