Why Do I Practice Zen?

by Derek Ayre Writer - Zen practitioner So Why Zen?

Religious education (RE) was compulsory when I was at school, but I never formed any beliefs.  I do not judge or criticize my RE, because it inspired to look deeper and question what I was being taught. After a few decades through studying various spiritual disciplines, I came to Zen practice, where I could "look" and not "believe".

So it could be said that I discovered Zen about 30 years ago and entered its practice. It is experiential and not based on belief or faith in anything, so it made total sense to me.  It was Buddha who first sat in zazen (meditation of just sitting) under the Bodhi tree. He then shared his enlightenment and invited others to do the same and discover it for themselves.

Zen is a living practice and not for "believers". It is about aspiring to bring the mind to the present moment, living mindfully of what is so. What was so is the past, therefore no longer existent. What will be so, is the future, and not yet existent. What is so right now, is right now, but cannot be clung to because it is immediately gone.  In this way it can be realized that time is an illusion. This is a realization that comes as a result of practicing zazen (Zen meditation).

Zen is not a religion, but a way of life that I practice. It is about a search for truth that is not a search for truth, for the journey is the destination as there cannot be in existence… past, present or future only now... And "now" is in a state of flux. So to search won't get you anywhere. Just sit and be.  This is the search-less search. 

Due so such paradox, Zen is not easy to practice, because the rational mind seeks permanence and nothing is permanent. Zen can encompass any religion though, but I chose to be without a religion. Pure Zen is the way of non-judgment. It is a discipline and like all disciplines, it is a challenge.

At the core of Zen practice is tolerance for all and non-interference with the beliefs of others, for in reality all is one. As I said before, this is a practice and not a belief-system, so it is the responsibility for each practitioner in Zen to discover the way of Zen for him/herself and not believe in it or what another has said or written.

For instance, something that I can experience is that there is an energy or life force, and each of us is an expression of that [one] life force. That may have been said or written before, but I have discovered it's reality for myself by experiencing it - I do not believe it!  Zen goes beyond who/what is right or wrong, and points to the core creation or universal force. 

As a Zen practitioner, I have no answers, only questions and then more questions.  Good and bad exist in this material, relative world and that provides many questions. Experience of being here now, is a lesson.. A lesson in what? Another question. Exactly!

And so it will go on..  Regarding life in this relative world, the key word here I feel is "relative", meaning to relate.. Opposites relate. This can be seen in the interaction all around us and that seems to be the core of it. But all is one, so how can the One relate to the One? Does that make the world an illusion like so many spiritual masters have said?

So are we  here to relate? Are we here to find our way back to the non-relative because we have found ourselves trapped in the relative?  Did we choose to come into the relative world? What else is there?  More questions.. According to Zen, the answer is in the question.. Experientially, not intellectually.. Zen invites us to drop judgment..

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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