Zen?

9/18/05
Once again I will commit the error of thinking I understand something about Zen. This time at least I know I'm probably in error, or at the very least lacking in my understanding. I'm reading "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki. Enough said? ;-)

It seems that true Zen practice is anything done sincerely and without pretense. Anything you do purely just to do it, for itself, with no thought of doing it for the benefit of anyone, or so that anyone else can see you doing it -- the secret hope being that they will then think more highly of you. Completely without pretense. Completely sincerely. A few examples I can think of off the top of my head of things I think most people do with complete sincerity and completely without pretense:

• Sleeping. Complete sincerity here. All pretense drops away with consciousness.
• Sneezing. A mostly involuntary act.
• Breathing. Also involuntary. Not undertaken to impress anyone. Only realized as of benefit to ourselves when we stop and think about it. So, until the day in grade school that you were taught the biological importance of breathing to the body, every single breath you took was completely sincere. And most after that point as well.
• Being struck by beauty. Struck speechless. Jaw on the floor. Regardless of whether it is the beauty of nature, a stunningly beautiful person, or a work of art or music. Or poetry -- any of the arts really. Could be architecture or automotive design too for that matter. When you are so struck you forget yourself, and if in the presence of other people, also forget, no matter how momentarily, your concern for what they think of you. Struck dumb so that you forget everything else, regardless of however short a time this lasts.
• Anything that strikes you speechless in this way. So I suppose that includes September 11, for many.

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