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Disclaimer: the following post is not a teaching and does not pretend to be. It's just something that came to this fool mind I got.
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In this life I have seen a lot of people who have an odd concept of the word zen. Not that I know what it means or anything, but I think I can feel what it means, even if I can't define it with exactitude.
I can't blame people for having a misconception. Marketing has transformed the concept of zen and keeps on twisting it. We have teas, shapoos, massage parlors, pills, gadgets, gyms, clothing and even soaps with the zen word in one way or another. And for some reason it has come to be analog to peace and calm. But it isn't.
I have been thinking about this because a few days ago someone, when he learned I am a priest, he instantly challenged me and asked me as if looking for evidence of my beliefs: "Are you really a zen guy? For real?"
After thinking a few seconds, I said: "I am as zen as anybody else". I forgot about that and kept about my day.
Next morning while on zazen a fetid smell caught my attention. I was so foul a stench I lost concentration.
One of my feline masters who lives here at home was using the litter box. O merciless incense of processed cat food!
It was bad. So bad I could see my small Buddha figure wrinkling his nose.
Without coming out of zazen, I acknowledge what was happening and didn't move. Like everything in the universe, the smell was to fade eventually.
And then it hit me.
This IS zen!
Zen is not a perfect state of tranquility. It's not calmness or inaction. It's not a beauty product either.
Zen is life complete, as a whole concept. It is to find beauty in the worst part of town. It is to perceive the enormity of the universe in a grain of salt. It is to accept that ugliness is also part of us humans.
Zen is vomit, jelousy, greed, politicians, despair and war.
Zen is the miracle of a new born baby, the innocence of the first kiss, the improvised harmony of jazz, professional success and the unstoppable laughter that comes in an afternoon with friends.
Zen is not a product with the word zen on it. It is also not buying such a product.
Zen is the smell of cat poop at dawn while I sit zazen. But at the same time, zen is the happiness your cat or dog bring to your home as your best friend.
Zen is to know that all of that is part of a package called life and to accept it as it is, without judgement or labels. It is to be at peace with things as they are, so we can walk one step at a time.
So yeah, I'm as zen as anybody else.
Nothing special, really.
Gassho,
Kyonin
Disclaimer: the following post is not a teaching and does not pretend to be. It's just something that came to this fool mind I got.
************
In this life I have seen a lot of people who have an odd concept of the word zen. Not that I know what it means or anything, but I think I can feel what it means, even if I can't define it with exactitude.
I can't blame people for having a misconception. Marketing has transformed the concept of zen and keeps on twisting it. We have teas, shapoos, massage parlors, pills, gadgets, gyms, clothing and even soaps with the zen word in one way or another. And for some reason it has come to be analog to peace and calm. But it isn't.
I have been thinking about this because a few days ago someone, when he learned I am a priest, he instantly challenged me and asked me as if looking for evidence of my beliefs: "Are you really a zen guy? For real?"
After thinking a few seconds, I said: "I am as zen as anybody else". I forgot about that and kept about my day.
Next morning while on zazen a fetid smell caught my attention. I was so foul a stench I lost concentration.
One of my feline masters who lives here at home was using the litter box. O merciless incense of processed cat food!
It was bad. So bad I could see my small Buddha figure wrinkling his nose.
Without coming out of zazen, I acknowledge what was happening and didn't move. Like everything in the universe, the smell was to fade eventually.
And then it hit me.
This IS zen!
Zen is not a perfect state of tranquility. It's not calmness or inaction. It's not a beauty product either.
Zen is life complete, as a whole concept. It is to find beauty in the worst part of town. It is to perceive the enormity of the universe in a grain of salt. It is to accept that ugliness is also part of us humans.
Zen is vomit, jelousy, greed, politicians, despair and war.
Zen is the miracle of a new born baby, the innocence of the first kiss, the improvised harmony of jazz, professional success and the unstoppable laughter that comes in an afternoon with friends.
Zen is not a product with the word zen on it. It is also not buying such a product.
Zen is the smell of cat poop at dawn while I sit zazen. But at the same time, zen is the happiness your cat or dog bring to your home as your best friend.
Zen is to know that all of that is part of a package called life and to accept it as it is, without judgement or labels. It is to be at peace with things as they are, so we can walk one step at a time.
So yeah, I'm as zen as anybody else.
Nothing special, really.
Gassho,
Kyonin
...kitty testing zazen. I love it ! Thank you Thank you Kyonin, you made my day
, nandi
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