Zen Buddhist Concepts
THIRTY MINUTES TO ENLIGHTENMENT
**********
THE DEMYSTIFICATION OF ZEN
A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE REALIZATION OF NIRVANA.
A POST CULTURAL, POST EXISTENTIAL, ZEN ENCOUNTER.
THE FOLLOWING ZEN ENCOUNTER HAS BEEN WRITTEN TO ENLIGHTEN YOU TO THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT AND WILL EXPLAIN HOW YOU CAN ELIMINATE THAT CAUSE FROM THE MIND.
CHAPTER CONTENTS
- THE TAO
- ZEN
- ENLIGHTENMENT AND SATORI
- NIRVANA
- THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT
- THE EGO AND SUPER-EGO
- SENSUAL PERCEPTION
- LOVE AND HATE
- THE CENTERED MIND
- FREEDOM FROM DESIRE
- THE BOOK OF GENESIS
- THE CHRIST SPIRIT WITHIN
- THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
- THE AQUARIAN AGE AND THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM
- PERFECT-LESS-NESS
- THEREFORE
- IN CONCLUSION
ONE: THE "TAO"
THE CHINESE WORD TAO IS USED IN AN ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY BY NAME THAT NAMELESS ENERGY-SUBSTANCE WE CALL PHYSICAL AND NON-PHYSICAL REALITY IN ALL OF ITS MANIFESTATIONS, BOTH KNOWN AND UNKNOWN.
THAT WHICH WE CALL THE TAO EXISTS WITH OR WITHOUT OUR EXPERIENTIAL PERCEPTION, AFFIRMATION OR NEGATION OF IT AND EXISTS ASIDE FROM ANY CONCEPTUAL VOCABULARY DESCRIBING IT.
SEPARATED MENTALLY FROM IT, WE CALL IT THE TAO, EDEN OR REALITY. REUNITED WITH IT, THERE IS NO NEED.
THE WAY TO BEING PSYCHOLOGICALLY AT ONE WITH THE TAO CAN BE KNOWN AND STATED. THE TAO ITSELF CAN ONLY BE EXPERIENCED.
THE WAY FOR THE MIND TO BE ONCE AGAIN AT ONE WITH THE TAO IS NOT DIFFICULT. ONLY OUR LACK OF DESIRE FOR THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT AND HOW TO ELIMINATE THAT CAUSE FROM THE MIND, KEEPS US FROM IT.
THOSE WHO KNOW THE WAY, POINT DIRECTLY TO THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER AND DO SO NAMELESSLY.
TWO: ZEN
IT MUST FIRST BE UNDERSTOOD THAT ZEN IS A MEANS TO PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION AND NOT A RELIGION.
ZEN IS THE TEACHING THAT IDENTIFIES AND ELIMINATES THE "GATELESS" GATES THAT PSYCHOLOGICALLY EXIST BETWEEN THE SCHIZOPHRENIC, CULTURAL- EXISTENTIAL MIND, AND A STATE OF MIND AT ONE WITH THE TAO, CALLED NIRVANA.
ZEN DOES NOT REPRESENT NIRVANA, NOR THE TAO, BUT REPRESENTS THE MEANS TO BE AT ONE WITH THOSE ENDS. ZEN IS THE METHOD OF TRAVEL, NIRVANA THE DESTINATION.
ZEN CONSISTS OF TWO PARTS. THEY ARE "ENLIGHTENMENT" AND "SATORI", ENLIGHTENMENT BEING THE NECESSARY INGREDIENT FOR THE REALIZATION OF SATORI. IF THERE IS NO ENLIGHTENMENT, THERE CAN BE NO SATORI AND CONSEQUENTLY NO NIRVANA.
THREE: ENLIGHTENMENT AND SATORI
THE WORD "ENLIGHTENMENT", AS USED IN THIS TEXT, IS TO KNOW OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT, TO KNOW ITS CAUSE, AND HOW TO ELIMINATE THAT CAUSE FROM THE MIND.
THE WORD "SATORI, AS USED, IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF THIS ENLIGHTENMENT AND IS OUR AFFIRMATIVE COMMITMENT TO ELIMINATE FROM THE MIND, THE CAUSE OF CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY, ONCE KNOWN, AND THE RELATIVE TIME NECESSARY TO DO SO.
IF THE REASON FOR COMMITTING OURSELVES TO ELIMINATING THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING FROM THE MIND IS OUT OF COMPASSION FOR OUR OWN SUFFERING OR FOR OUR OWN GAINS, WE WILL EXPERIENCE A PSEUDO-SATORI, WHICH IS PRETENTIOUS AND NO SATORI AT ALL. IF THE REASON FOR OUR COMMITMENT IS OUT OF COMPASSION FOR ALL SUFFERING, OF WHICH OUR OWN SUFFERING IS BUT A PART, AND FOR NO PERSONAL GAINS, OUR SATORI IS.
"ELIMINATING THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING AND CONFLICT FROM THE MIND" IS ACCOMPLISHED THE SAME WAY WE WOULD ELIMINATE ANY UNWANTED HABITUAL ACTIVITY. WHEN THE HABITUAL RESPONSE OCCURS, WE MUST DISCIPLINE OURSELVES TO CORRECT THAT RESPONSE EACH TIME IT HAPPENS. IN TIME THERE WILL BE NO HABIT TO CORRECT.
IT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL INVOLVED IN ZEN, THAT SATORI IS A PRIVATE, PERSONAL MATTER AND MUST REMAIN SO. SATORI MUST NEVER BE BRAGGED ABOUT OR DEMANDED OF OTHERS. YOUR SATORI, OR LACK OF IT, IS NO ONES BUSINESS.
FOUR: NIRVANA
NIRVANA IS A STATE OF MIND FREE OF THE CAUSES OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT, IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND SATORI, AND IS MIND AT ONE WITH THE TAO. NIRVANA IS MIND UNENCUMBERED BY EVALUATION, COMPARISON AND DISCRIMINATION. IT IS A MIND PEACEFULLY AT ONE WITH ALL THINGS. THIS NON-JUDGEMENTAL MIND IS ONE OF SENSUAL EXPERIENCE OF, AND SPONTANEOUS PARTICIPATION IN THE TAO.
FIVE: THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT
THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT IS OUR COMMITMENT TO THE ILLUSIONS WE CALL VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS.
VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS DO NOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF OUR CULTURAL- EXISTENTIAL MINDS. THEY DO NOT EXIST IN REALITY AND ARE THEREFORE A FIGMENT OF OUR CULTURALLY AND EXISTENTIALLY INDOCTRINATED IMAGINATION. WE BELIEVE OR THINK VALUES EXIST WHEN IN FACT THEY DO NOT. THIS DESCRIBES THE SCHIZOPHRENIC MIND. THE SCHIZOPHRENIC MIND IS SEPARATED FROM REALITY AND CENTERED IN UNREALITY OR WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS CALL FANTASY, BELIEVING THIS FANTASY TO BE REAL. CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL HUMANITY EXISTS ENTIRELY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ILLUSIONARY VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS AND IS THEREFORE ABSOLUTELY SCHIZOPHRENIC.
WE ARE EITHER AFFIRMATIVELY COMMITTED TO THE EXISTENCE OF VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS OR WE ARE NOT. IF WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE EXISTENCE OF VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, WE ARE SCHIZOPHRENIC AND CONSEQUENTLY INSANE. IF WE ARE NOT COMMITTED TO VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, THEN CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY ARE NOT A PART OF OUR PSYCHOLOGICAL NATURE. THE TERM INSANE IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE PERSONAL AND SOCIAL ACTIONS OF THE SCHIZOPHRENIC PERSONALITY.
THERE CAN BE NO CONFLICT WITHOUT THE VALUES OF RIGHT OR WRONG BEING OFFENDED OR DEFENDED.
THERE CAN BE NO GUILT OR REPRESSION WITHOUT THE VALUES OF RIGHT OR WRONG, GOOD OR BAD HAVING BEEN APPLIED.
THERE CAN BE NO PSYCHOLOGICAL NEUROSIS OR PSYCHOSIS WITHOUT THE FEARS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOSS OR GAIN OF THAT VALUED.
THERE CAN BE NO ANXIETY WITHOUT THE ANTICIPATION OR EXPECTATION CONCERNING FUTURE UNCERTAINTIES ABOUT SUCCESS OR FAILURE.
THERE CAN BE NO FRUSTRATION WITHOUT A DESIRED GOAL BEING THWARTED.
THE ILLUSIONARY CONCEPTS OF VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS EXIST SO THAT WE MAY JUDGE, SEPARATE AND DIVIDE, AND THEN PIT THE ONE SIDE AGAINST THE OTHER. THIS ENABLES THE PERSONS INVOLVED TO FEEL EITHER SUPERIOR OR INFERIOR AS THE CASE MAY BE. THIS IS THE UNDERLYING MOTIVATION FOR ALL CULTURAL-EXISTENTIAL ACTIVITY.
DUE TO THE DIVISIVE AND CONFLICTING NATURE OF DUALITY, CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL HUMANITY CAN BE DESCRIBED AS BEING NOT ONLY SOCIOPATHIC (ANTI-SOCIAL) IN ITS ATTITUDE AND RESPONSE TO HUMANKIND, BUT ALSO PSYCHOPATHIC (AGGRESSIVELY ANTI-SOCIAL) MUCH OF THAT TIME.
SINCE CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY ARE THE CONSEQUENCE OF OUR COMMITMENT TO VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, AND PEACE EXISTS WHEN THERE IS NO CONFUSION, CONFLICT OR INSANITY PRESENT, IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT PEACE IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF HAVING NO VALUES, NO MORALS AND NO ETHICS.
IF VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS ARE THE DIRECT CAUSE OF ALL HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT AND DO NOT EXIST IN THE TAO/EDEN/REALITY, AND IF PEACE AND SANITY ARE TO BE REALIZED, WE MUST REFUSE TO TAKE PART IN THEIR USE.
SIX: THE EGO AND SUPER-EGO
THE EGO IS DEFINED AS A PRIMARY STATE OF MIND, AT ONE WITH REALITY, HAVING NO CONSCIENCE AND IS CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF "I AM" AND "IT IS".
THE "SUPER-EGO" IS A SECONDARY STATE OF MIND, NOT EXISTING AT BIRTH, BUT ORIGINATING AT THE MOMENT OF OUR AFFIRMATIVE COMMITMENT TO VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS AND ONLY THEN AFTER INTENSIVE CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL INDOCTRINATION, CREATES EGO CONSCIENCE, AND IS MIND SELF-CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF "I AM MORE OR LESS THAN" AND "IT IS MORE OR LESS THAN".
THE "EGO" PERCEIVES REALITY AS IT IS. THE SUPER-EGO PLACES VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS ON THAT PERCEPTION.
THE "SUPER-EGO" IS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL JUDGE, JURY AND KEEPER OF PRISON OF THE CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL MIND.
THE CULTURAL MIND AND THE EXISTENTIAL MIND ARE BOTH ROOTED IN SUPER-EGO FUNCTION, STATED BY THEIR VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS. THE DIFFERENCE BEING, THE CULTURAL MIND SPEAKS OF "OUR" VALUES AND THE EXISTENTIAL MIND SPEAKS OF "MY" VALUES.
THE POST CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL, REALITY CENTERED MIND SPEAKS OF "NO" VALUES.
ZEN, AS REPRESENTED BY ENLIGHTENMENT AND SATORI, IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION OF THE FASCISTIC/DICTATORIAL CONTROL THE SUPER-EGO HAS OVER THE MIND OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND OVER THE CULTURAL PATTERN.
ZEN, AS PRESENTED, IS THE MORTAL ENEMY OF THE CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL SUPER-EGO.
ZEN, IS THE MORTAL ENEMY OF ANY INDIVIDUAL, ORGANIZATION OR RELIGION COMMITTED TO THE ILLUSION THAT IS VALUES, MORALS OR ETHICS.
SEVEN: SENSUAL
OUR SENSES ARE PERCEIVING REALITY WITH MINDLESS PERFECTION. DO NOT MISS THIS SENSUAL EXCITEMENT BY PLACING VALUE, MORAL OR ETHICAL MINDFULNESS IN THE PATH OF THIS NON-DUALISTIC EXPERIENCE.
SEE WITH YOUR EYES, NOT WITH YOUR DUALISTIC MIND'S EYE. WHEN OUR ILLUSIONARY DUALISTIC MIND ENTERS, WE NO LONGER SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE BUT AS OUR CULTURALLY AND EXISTENTIALLY INDOCTRINATED, PREJUDICIAL MIND'S EYE WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE.
EIGHT: LOVE AND HATE
LOVE AND HATE ARE THE EMOTIONAL, MENTAL/VERBAL RESPONSES TO VALUABLENESS. FIRST WE VALUE, THEN WE LOVE OR HATE ACCORDINGLY. WITHOUT VALUE THERE CAN BE NO LOVE OR HATE. NO DESIRE FOR IT. NO ANXIETY, FRUSTRATION OR ANGER BECAUSE OF IT.
LOVE IS INHERENTLY HATEFUL.
THE REALITY CENTERED MIND IS NEITHER LOVING NOR HATEFUL BUT IS TO THE CONTRARY, COMPASSIONATELY UNDERSTANDING OF AND TOWARDS ALL THINGS.
NINE: THE CENTERED MIND
BEING NEITHER FOR THIS NOR AGAINST THAT, THE BUDDHA/CHRIST/REALITY MIND IS ABSOLUTELY CENTERED AND BEING NO LONGER INNOCENT TO THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT, CANNOT BE TAKEN FROM THAT CENTER.
THE ILLUSIONARY, DUALISTIC, VALUISTIC, CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL MIND, BEING FOR THIS AND AGAINST THAT, IS ABSOLUTELY OFF CENTER AT ALL TIMES.
SINCE THE CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL MIND IS OFF CENTER, THE BODY, CONSEQUENTLY, IS ALSO OFF CENTER. THIS IS DUE TO THE STRESS CREATED BY NEUROSIS, PSYCHOSIS, GUILT, REPRESSION, ANXIETY, FRUSTRATION AND DEPRESSION, WHICH ARE THE BY-PRODUCTS OF OUR VALUE, MORAL AND ETHICAL SYSTEM.
AS THE NON-CENTERED MIND CENTERS, STRESS IS ELIMINATED, THEREBY CENTERING THE BODY AND ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT.
THEREFORE, DO NO BE CONCERNED WITH CENTERING THE BODY; BE CONCERNED WITH CENTERING THE MIND. BY CENTERING THE MIND, BIOLOGICAL AND MENTAL TRANQUILITY WILL FOLLOW.
TEN: FREEDOM FROM DESIRE
WE CANNOT HAVE FREEDOM FROM THE IMAGINARY PRISON OF THE CULTURAL- EXISTENTIAL MIND WITHOUT DESIRING IT, ALTHOUGH, PARADOXICALLY, THE ACT OF "DESIRING" FREEDOM WILL KEEP US FROM BEING FREE.
FIRST WE VALUE, THEN WE DESIRE THAT WHICH WE VALUE. TO ELIMINATE DESIRE, WE MUST ELIMINATE FROM THE MIND THE NEED TO VALUE.
IF WE DESIRE TO BE FREE FROM THE PRISON OF THE CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL MIND, WE MUST NOT PLACE ANY IMPORTANCE ON THE MEANS OR THE END, FOR TO VALUE THE MEANS (ZEN) OR THE END (NIRVANA) IS TO IMPRISON OURSELVES HOPELESSLY IN DESIRE.
ZEN, BY ELIMINATING VALUE, CONSEQUENTLY ELIMINATES DESIRE.
ELEVEN: THE MESSAGE IN THE BIBLICAL "BOOK OF GENESIS" AS THE KEY TO INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL SALVATION.
IT STATES, "DO AS YOU WILL IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, BUT DO NOT EAT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL." IF WE DO EAT AND THEREBY POSSESS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, WE WILL CONSEQUENTLY PSYCHOLOGICALLY SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM EDEN, TO SUFFER AND TO CAUSE SUFFERING TO OTHERS UNTIL WE REALIZE THE ERROR WE HAVE MADE. ONCE REALIZED, WE MUST REFUSE TO PARTAKE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH IS THE DIRECT AND ONLY CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT, THEREBY REALIZING EDEN ONCE AGAIN.
THIS SO CALLED "BANISHMENT FROM EDEN" OR "FALL FROM EDEN THROUGH THE "GATELESS" GATES OF HELL," IS IN ACTUALITY, A PSYCHOLOGICAL BREAK WITH REALITY, WITH ALL OF THE CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY, CLINICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SCHIZOPHRENIC PERSONALITY.
TWELVE: THE CHRIST SPIRIT WITHIN
THE "SECOND COMING OF CHRIST" IS OURSELVES AS NON-DUALISTIC, NON- JUDGEMENTAL, REALITY CENTERED MINDS.
THE SO CALLED "ANTI-CHRIST" IS NONE OTHER THAN CHRISTIANITY ITSELF, AS EXPRESSED THROUGH ITS COMMITMENT TO ILLUSIONARY VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS AND ANY PRACTITIONER THEREOF.
CHRISTIANS, BY VIRTUE OF THEIR COMMITMENT TO ILLUSIONARY VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, WHICH ARE THE CAUSE OF ALL HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT, ARE EITHER INNOCENTLY OR KNOWINGLY DOING THE WORK OF THE "SATANISTIC" SUPER-EGO MIND.
BELIEF IN CHRIST IS IRRELEVANT. THAT BELIEF ONLY BLINDS US TO THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER, WHICH IS, "THAT WE ARE TO BE THE CHRIST WHICH IN ESSENCE WE ALREADY ARE."
FREE THE CHRIST MIND IMPRISONED WITHIN BY THE "SATANISTIC" SUPER- EGO.
THIRTEEN: THE ZEN TEACHINGS OF GUATAMA SIDDHARTHA-BUDDHA. (THE SO CALLED "FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS").
- TO KNOW THAT CULTURAL/EXISTENTIAL HUMANITY SUFFERS AND TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THAT SUFFERING. SUFFERING IS DEFINED AS CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY, WHICH IS NEUROSIS, PSYCHOSIS, GUILT, REPRESSION, ANXIETY, FRUSTRATION, DEPRESSION, AND THE BIOLOGICAL STRESS CREATED BY THEM.
- TO KNOW ITS CAUSE. THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING IS OUR AFFIRMATIVE COMMITMENT TO ILLUSIONARY DUALITY, WHICH IS VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, WHICH IS GOOD AND BAD, RIGHT AND WRONG, UGLY AND BEAUTIFUL, GREAT AND INFERIOR, ETC.
- TO KNOW OF ITS ENDING. THE END OF SUFFERING AND CONFLICT IS CALLED NIRVANA, WHICH IS MIND AT ONE WITH THE TAO/EDEN/REALITY, WHICH IS MIND FREE FROM THE NEED FOR VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS AND THE CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY CREATED BY THEM.
- TO KNOW THE WAY THERETO. TO KNOW THAT CULTURAL HUMANITY SUFFERS, TO KNOW THE CAUSE OF THAT SUFFERING AND THEREBY VIGOROUSLY COMMITTING OURSELVES TO ELIMINATE FROM THE MIND, THE CAUSE OF THAT SUFFERING, WHICH IS OUR COMMITMENT TO ILLUSIONARY DUALITY, WHICH IS VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS.
BUDDHISM, AS REPRESENTED BY ITS COMMITMENT TO VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, IS ANTI-BUDDHA MIND.
FOURTEEN: THE "AQUARIAN AGE" AND THE "BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM"
THE AQUARIAN AGE IS A TERM USED TO SIGNIFY A TIME OF ABSOLUTE PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE WITH SELF, OTHERS AND NATURE.
THE MILLENNIUM IS DEFINED AS AN "AGE OF PEACE" DURING WHICH THE "CHRIST MIND" IS TO INHABIT THE EARTH.
THE DEFINITIONS FOR THE AQUARIAN AGE AND THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM, ARE IN ESSENCE THE SAME.
WHEN THE NON-DUALISTIC BUDDHA/CHRIST/REALITY MIND IS REALIZED, THE AQUARIAN AGE AND MILLENNIUM WILL BE REALIZED, NOT BEFORE.
FIFTEEN: PERFECT-LESS-NESS
THE "PERFECT" NON-DUALISTIC MIND IS NEITHER PERFECT NOR IMPERFECT.
THE "PERFECT" MIND IS PERFECTLY INDIFFERENT, BEING NEITHER FOR NOR AGAINST.
THIS MIND IS NEITHER PROUD NOR HUMBLE, PURE OR IMPURE.
THE "PERFECT" MIND HAS NOTHING TO GAIN, NOTHING TO LOSE, NEEDS NOTHING ADDED, NOTHING SUBTRACTED.
IN REALITY, NOT A THING IS MORE OR LESS THAN PERFECT.
THE BUDDHA MIND AND THE CHRIST MIND ARE "PERFECT" MINDS CENTERED IN REALITY, NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS.
SIXTEEN: THEREFORE
AS THE FOREGOING FACTS ARE FULLY UNDERSTOOD, WE ARE ENLIGHTENED.
IF WE AFFIMATIVELY AND AGGRESSIVELY COMMIT OURSELVES TO THIS KNOWLEDGE, WE HAVE EXPERIENCED SATORI. SATORI IS THE TIME SPENT FROM THE MOMENT OF OUR COMMITMENT TO THE ELIMINATION OF ALL VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS FROM THE MIND.
CONSEQUENTLY, WE ARE ON THE PATH TO A MIND AT ONE WITH THE TAO, WHICH IS THE MIND OF BUDDHA.
CONSEQUENTLY, WE ARE ON THE PATH TO A MIND AT ONE WITH EDEN, WHICH IS THE MIND OF A CHRIST.
CONSEQUENTLY, WE ARE ON THE PATH TO A MIND AT ONE WITH REALITY, FREE OF SCHIZOPHRENIC ILLUSIONS AND THE CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY CREATED BY THEM.
ALL THREE MINDS DESCRIBED, BEING ONE AND THE SAME MIND.
SEVENTEEN: IN CONCLUSION
THE WAY TO INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL SANITY IS NOT DIFFICULT.
ONLY OUR LACK OF DESIRE FOR THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT AND HOW TO ELIMINATE THAT CAUSE FROM THE MIND, KEEPS US FROM IT.
THERE IS BUT ONE PATH. ALL OTHERS LEAD TO FURTHER CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY.
WE MUST ELIMINATE FROM THE MIND THE CULTURALLY AND EXISTENTIALLY INDOCTRINATED, ILLUSIONARY CONCEPTS OF GOOD AND BAD, RIGHT AND WRONG, UGLY AND BEAUTIFUL, GREAT AND INFERIOR, ETC.
WE MUST ELIMINATE FROM THE MIND ALL VALUE, MORAL AND ETHICAL JUDGEMENTS.
IN TIME OUR ENTIRE BEING WILL BE AT ONE WITH REALITY.
THE NEED WILL NO LONGER EXIST TO DIFFERENTIATE JUDGEMENTALLY BETWEEN THIS AND THAT.
VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS DO NOT EXIST IN THE TAO/EDEN/REALITY, SO REFUSE TO TAKE PART IN THEIR USE.
FOLLOW THIS PATH AND YOU WALK IN ABSOLUTE PEACE, THE SEEDS OF CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY HAVING BEEN ELIMINATED.
THIS IS THE WAY AND THE TEACHING OF ZEN, WHICH IS THE WAY AND THE TEACHING OF THE BUDDHAS, THE CHRISTS, AND IN TIME THE TEACHING OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS FOR THE PREVENTION OF FUTURE SCHIZOPHRENIC INSANITY.
SO THAT OTHERS MAY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS WORK, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COPY AND PASS ALONG THIS INFORMATION. YOUR COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED. THANK YOU.
FOR FURTHER COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION CONTACT
ZEN ENCOUNTERS
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PHONE: 509-649-2360
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304-456-4200
NOTZEN
I am not an authority on Zen. In fact, I'm not an authority on anything. But I am somewhat familiar with Taoism and the spirit of Zen, and I have found the document ZEN.TXT to be somewhat inaccurate and/or misleading. What follows are some excerpts and rebuttals. The original quotes are in all caps, my replies are in upper/lower case.
ZEN DOES NOT REPRESENT NIRVANA, NOR THE TAO, BUT REPRESENTS THE MEANS TO BE AT ONE WITH THOSE ENDS. ZEN IS THE METHOD OF TRAVEL, NIRVANA THE DESTINATION.
Zen may be the method of travel, but nirvana is not the destination. Nirvana is a side-effect produced by Zen, and only exists while Zen is being practiced. If nirvana is being at one with the Tao, it must also be a nameless condition... beyond definition. Therefore, believing you have achieved nirvana is deceiving yourself. Ultimately, nirvana cannot be consciously experienced at all.
VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS DO NOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF OUR CULTURAL- EXISTENTIAL MINDS. THEY DO NOT EXIST IN REALITY AND ARE THEREFORE A FIGMENT OF OUR CULTURALLY AND EXISTENTIALLY INDOCTRINATED IMAGINATION. WE BELIEVE OR THINK VALUES EXIST WHEN IN FACT THEY DO NOT. THIS DESCRIBES THE SCHIZOPHRENIC MIND.
Sentence one: true. Sentence two: false. Values are very much a part of reality. They exist in the reality of our minds. People die for them every day.
If values were not real, we would all experience nirvana and satori without effort. (And it is as "schizophrenic" to believe real things don't exist as it is to believe imaginary things are real.)
The danger of values lies ONLY in believing that they exist anywhere OUTSIDE of your mind. You must own your values before you are free to change them.
SINCE CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY ARE THE CONSEQUENCE OF OUR COMMITMENT TO VALUES, MORALS AND ETHICS, AND PEACE EXISTS WHEN THERE IS NO CONFUSION, CONFLICT OR INSANITY PRESENT, IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT PEACE IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF HAVING NO VALUES, NO MORALS AND NO ETHICS.
Impossible. The author has already decided that he/she values the removal of conflict and suffering from his/her life (and/or the lives of others), and is using Zen to remove them. If one has no values, there is no reason to remove suffering and conflict from their life. Also, satori and nirvana would have no value, so there would be no reason to pursue them.
Peace comes from living your life in harmony with your values, morals and ethics... by studying them in an enlightened way and eliminating those that do not stand the test of reason. To throw away your values is to throw away the baby with the bathwater.
ZEN, AS REPRESENTED BY ENLIGHTENMENT AND SATORI, IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION OF THE FASCISTIC/DICTATORIAL CONTROL THE SUPER-EGO HAS OVER THE MIND OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND OVER THE CULTURAL PATTERN.
How can someone who has no values define their opposite as fascistic and dictatorial? Do I hear the faint stirrings of hypocrisy here?
ZEN, BY ELIMINATING VALUE, CONSEQUENTLY ELIMINATES DESIRE.
If one pursues Zen, it is because he/she desires it. There is no other reason to pursue Zen. If one lives their life in the illusion that they have no values and desires, it is because this illusion is important to them. There is no such thing as a "desireless" existence.
"Zen"... as described in this text... only serves as a brainwashing function whose ultimate end is to convince someone that they aren't desiring and valuing the things they desire and value.
To achieve peace, one must live in harmony with ones' desires as well as their values and ethics, etc. To pretend that you can or have eliminated them from your life is schizophrenic.
THE MESSAGE IN THE BIBLICAL "BOOK OF GENESIS" AS THE KEY TO INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL SALVATION.
IT STATES, "DO AS YOU WILL IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, BUT DO NOT EAT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL." IF WE DO EAT AND THEREBY POSSESS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, WE WILL CONSEQUENTLY PSYCHOLOGICALLY SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM EDEN, TO SUFFER AND TO CAUSE SUFFERING TO OTHERS UNTIL WE REALIZE THE ERROR WE HAVE MADE. ONCE REALIZED, WE MUST REFUSE TO PARTAKE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH IS THE DIRECT AND ONLY CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND CONFLICT, THEREBY REALIZING EDEN ONCE AGAIN.
So... we are being told that discriminating between good and evil is an evil thing to do.
Discrimination between "good" and "evil" is not inherently wrong... it is the belief that good and evil can be defined by objective standards (i.e. from somewhere other than our own minds) that leads to a fall from nirvana.
THERE IS BUT ONE PATH. ALL OTHERS LEAD TO FURTHER CONFUSION, CONFLICT AND INSANITY.
The above message, brought to us by an anonymous author, has also been brought to us (in one form or another) by Jim and Tammy Bakker, the Ayatollah Khomeni, Ronald Reagan, Mahatma Ghandi, and hundreds of other prophets and wise men. Will the REAL "One Way" please stand up?
