Thursday, May 13, 2010

Normal State

The enso, a symbol of Zen BuddhismZen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance -- embracing all opposites.

-- Taisen Deshimaru (1914-1982), Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist teacher, quoted in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom (2000) by Gill Farrer Halls, p. 162

No comments: