In the Library

A man sitting in his library reading a book comes upon a passage such as: “The Zen Experience Of ‘Satori.’” It can be seen to differ truly from say, Christian ideas of “God’s Grace,” or from “Divine Love,” in that Satori lacks any such sentimental trappings or emotional inferences.  And the man felt so struck by these words that he lowered the book to his lap and looked out a window into the far distance, as his mind was bathed in a sense of the supreme significance of what he’d just read.  And as he sat, he even repeated it to himself, and yet – regardless of his sincerity or intelligence, and notwithstanding the pleasure his cortex derived from it – the words have revealed nothing whatsoever about Zen, Christianity, Satori or God.

As long as a man – no matter his sincerity or sophistication – does not – cannot – through his personal experiences, continually distinguish between reading about, thinking about, and talking about “being enlightened,” and actually being so, he remains confused and ill informed as to what’s actually going on in Life.  Anyone who can explain any of the “human problems” to their satisfaction, does not understand the problem.

J.