Why Zen?

An Invitation into Mystery

How strange, how strange!

The sermon of the non-sentient is miraculous.

If we try to hear it with ears, it is impossible to hear;

But when we hear it with eyes, all things find their place.[1]

There’s a social media meme that makes the rounds every once in a while. There are a couple of versions. The one I most like has two images. In the first there are three people in a car. The one at the driver’s wheel is a man in a suit, looking annoyed. He’s labeled “Theravada”. Which is a type of Buddhism.

Next to him is a woman nicely dressed. She’s labeled “Mahayana,” another type of Buddhism. She’s trying to push away the third figure, leaning over from the back seat. He’s wearing glittery glasses and a giant feather boa. Who is labeled “Vajrayana,” which is basically the Buddhism of Tibet.

The second picture shows James Dean leaning on his motorcycle, with a cigarette hanging from his lip. He’s labeled “Zen.” When I hear the word Zen used in conversation, the word is usually meant to mean cool. For many Zen is the essence of the spiritual but not religious.

Zen is in fact a lot of things.

But most of all it is about that noticing and waking. It is an expression of the intimate way. Zen is a form of Buddhism that arose in China and has traveled to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. And then from there has come West.