Zen answers
I threw my cup away
when I saw a child
drinking from his hands at the trough.
(Diogenes)
Questions
It is common in
zen stories for the disciple to ask a
question
such as, "What is the meaning of life?" and the teacher to reply, "A pint of
milk costs 37p."
The teacher may seem very
awkward
and obtuse at first.
Consider it further.
The question was wildly speculative.
The answer was not.
Could any answer truly be considered an 'answer'?
Words
Reality
is too immense to be rendered using thought,
words
and concepts.
Seeing the limitations of language enables you to become
aware
of your own conditioning.
Language is a
convention; the way in which words are built, connected and employed is an
artificial construct.
The word for 'chair' will never be a chair; you cannot sit on the word or
the
idea.
Answers
In the given example, the teacher gives an answer that is real: "A
pint of milk costs 37p."
Rather than engage in a potentially pointless debate, the teacher has made a
factual statement.
Opinion, conditioning, perspective, politics, religion have no bearing on
his answer.
It was a pure statement of fact, untarnished by 'self'.
Seeing
The zen answer actually tells you everything you
need
to know.
It points the questioner directly to reality; to substance, to the
tangible.
You cannot understand
reality
by analysing its parts; the answer to anything is everything.
Page created 5 July 2004