Zen

I'm very new to Zen, so what follows is an account of my personal search for what Zen is all about. I am not alone in using the term "Zen" rather loosely to refer to an aesthetic outlook and a constellation of related ideas that include "Mindfulness". As it happens, Mindfulness itself is a rather fuzzy concept, more or less identical to Zen in some minds (such as Siegel, see below), but used in such a wide context for so many different "therapies" and mental disciplines as to be almost meaningless. Everybody seems to think of themselves as "mindful", rendering discussion of the subject pointless. I, therefore, prefer to use the term "Zen", which is also fuzzy but tends to produce more interesting discussions. In passing, it should be noted that no term is fuzzier than "Christianity", but Zen followers do not go to war to defend their own definitions. 

It turns out to be tricky to define Zen. Wikipedia gives the "official" definition and history, which describe a religion/philosophy with roots in Buddhism and Taoism. What is missing from such definitions is the total transformation of Zen once it arrived in the "West". Such treatments also tend to portray Zen as a collection of doctrines, like Christianity or Islam. Zen's emphasis on actual minute-by-minute experience and the widespread effort to marry Zen theory to Brain Science makes Zen a completely different animal from the "religions". Zen is characterized by an intense interest in what is real, whereas "religion" tends to bury reality in interpretation and sponsor "suspension of disbelief".

Respecting its Taoist roots, Zen places little trust in doctrine or philosophy, yet you could fill a library with commentary on Zen philosophy. Respecting its Buddhist roots, Zen emphasizes that suffering is often (if not always) self-inflicted. Also from Buddhism, we see an emphasis on compassion and acceptance.  This aspect of Zen accounts for the acceptance of Zen theory of mind as the ground of "Mindfulness" therapies, which target a very broad range of self-inflicted suffering.

Zen takes strong steps to make "Christian" ideas of self-forgiveness, lack of judgment, personal responsibility a matter of constant daily experience, but has little to say about Christian theology except for its general skepticism of theory and philosophy in general. For a Christian audience, it is important to note that Jesus was not one to accept the prevailing circumstances. Jesus was not a Zen master and Zen masters are not inclined to be part of vigorous social movements (much less wars). In my mind, this represents a fundamental tension between the two outlooks. Zen does not preach, does not dispute, does not "convert".

For a Christian who is drawn to Zen perhaps the most eloquent bridge between Zen and Christian "activism" can be found in the Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is discord, harmony;

Where there is error, truth;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

or ..

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Stripped of its reference to divine beings (the "spooky stuff"), the sentiment in both of these prayers is 100% zen. The key is "balance", which is a key in both Buddhism and Taoism. In Zen it symbolized this way:

As a meditative practice, Zen is a discipline that seeks self-awareness as a stepping stone (a big one) to wider awareness, especially of the present moment, pushing away thoughts of the past (regrets, blaming, self-justification, ...) and the future (plans, fears ..) as well as all "my" concerns (how "I" was treated, how others see "me", what to do with "my" stuff).  

"Orthodox" Zen writers ("masters") tend to hold out the promise of enlightenment, sometimes only after years of practice. More modern writers (Western) tend to hold out the short-range benefits: peace of mind, focus, relief from self-inflicted mental anguish of all types. Western "scientific" discussion places emphasis on relief from stress. It is increasingly common to see Zen doctrine and brain scans discussed in the same document.

Zen seems to be compatible with my other "baked in" prejudice - Skepticism. Skepticism basically formalizes and promulgates what you might call the "Scientific Mind-Set" -- evidence-based theory about the way the world works. In a way, Zen is even more skeptical than the Skeptics, since it regards human ideas and theories as themselves rather ephemeral in nature, as compared to direct experience of reality. However, it's easy to over-emphasize the difference. To get along in the world, the Zen practitioner needs to accept pretty much the same world we all live in. Even so, in his deepest heart, he suspects that we know nothing at all about the "real" world.

My own introduction to Zen came from the following sources in roughly the following order:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - a best-selling novel that actually describes little of Zen. What I got out of it was the fact that a machine is actually an idea made concrete. In fact, Zen would say the whole world (as experienced) is an idea made concrete. Even harder to grasp is the idea that the mind is a creation of the world and has no independent existence.

Creativity, Unleashing the Forces Within, my first taste of full-strength "real" Zen and my first experience of how a few Zen ideas can make a huge difference to creative tasks.

Zen and the Brain, an in-depth introduction to Zen theory of the self, laid against detailed results of brain research. Bottom line: the "self" is constructed by identifiable processes in the brain which seem to exist for the very purpose. For example, the feeling you have of being an object in the world, our sense of time or the feeling you are the same person you were yesterday.

Science of Minfulness course from The Great Courses, my first serious attempt to formally take up Zen. Ronald D. Siegel is the instructor and it's "real Zen". Siegel goes a long way to solving one of the huge problems I have with Zen: "Why bother?" He connects Zen theory (often presented by the "masters" as revealed truth) in the light of experience and Scientific research. The effect is to marry Skepticism, Mindfulness and Zen into a single outlook and a daily practice.

There are many great sources for Skepticism. To get started, Google the father of modern Skepticism, Michael Shermer. Other great Skeptics include Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins.

The Great Courses includes an excellent course in Skepticism by Michael Shermer.