Once, when discussing shikantaza, the Zen Buddhist meditation practice that is sometimes translated as "just sitting," an instructor observed, "There is a difference between just sitting and just sitting."
Anyone who has tried this practice knows exactly what he meant.
I don't think Zen Buddhism has somehow cornered the market on such an understanding or that the understanding would somehow go missing if someone were a Christian or Jew or Muslim or stock broker or doctor or auto mechanic or artist or drug dealer.
There is a difference between just a kiss and just a kiss.
There is a difference between just a grain of sand and just a grain of sand.
There is a difference between just a sunset and just a sunset.
The understanding is clean and clear and no amount of verbiage can box it and put it up for sale as Zen Buddhist or atheist or humanist or ... or any other chosen format. There is a difference between what you just know and what you just know.
Clear as a bell. No problem. Instantaneous. Nothing special and yet quite compelling -- there is a difference between just a kiss and just a kiss.
But today I think that if there is a difference between just a kiss and just a kiss, just sitting and just sitting, then, no matter how clear the understanding...
You have missed the point.
Is there more than one way to fall out of bed?
No comments:
Post a Comment