Journal 14 to 15

Journal 14
Mu Shin… To transcend motion is the highest meditation. Chuang Tzu contends that we can appear to be still but aren’t really still. Zen practices is doing the not doing, in other words it is Wei Wu Wei. The goal of Zen is to see one’s own nature. It is not to create disillusions. This is enlightenment. Not engaging in appearance is wisdom. To look on life is different than death. “Nirvana is an empty mind.” Nirvana is emptiness. Zen is commited to the descendant that transcends. The Self is a conceptual fiction. Using the mind to study reality will not allow you to understand reality or the mind. This is understanding the not understanding. The absence of understanding is not true understanding. When reality depends on you that which is fake becomes real. When you depend on reality that which is real becomes fake. To see form or hear corruption is liberation. Mahayana Zen is social. Zen teaches living in enlightenment in social paths. Be in harmony of what we do. Form and mind are both pure. Zen says that there is no heaven or hell.

Schubert argues that Zen is not a religion it is a philosophy. Zen practice is a form of psychotherapy. A book to read based on Zen is Alice in Wonderland.

When we fail to see clearly we need to practice itelligence za’zen. We can love and enjoy. We can be liberated. It is okay for someone to be okay when they are enlightened.

Journal 15
We want to be somewhere else or something else sometimes. This is called unenlightenment. A man who lacked compassion once said, “Do I need my material covered?” He was not wanting to be at the place he was at the moment. During Zen meditation practice, the meditation can not be bothered. Sharp experience is okayness. Thich Nhat Hanh who was a Vietnamese monk wrote a book on Zen. He dwelled in awareness. He could smile and breathe in awareness.

In a cold classroom, do you feel cold? You have a choice to choose if it is or not. Choices are problematic. There is also the choice of emotions. Anger can be transformed into something else. Internal formation that depend on reality are unenlightened. Those who are afraid to bring in conscience mind practice breathing and smiling. To feel suffering we must understand it. There are steps to becoming one with feeling. First you need to recognize each feeling as it arises. Second, you must best to become friends with your fear. Don’t feel fear. The problem most time is drowning in your own fear. Lastly, calm your feelings. Become one with the feelings.

Extra Journal (Reflection of the Class)
I think this class was really great. From start to finish, I learned a lot in the class. Even though I won’t be in Schubert’s class anymore, during free time I may want to gather some more information on what I had studied in his class and learn more. Schubert was a great teacher and I am glad that I took his course.

Sources of Reference:
In my journal entries, I included passages from:
a) The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal by Swami Prabhavananda and Fredrick Manchester
b) Confucius: The Analects translated by D.C. Lau
c) The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha by E.A. Burtt
d) Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings translated by Burton Watson
e) Tao Te Ching translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English
f) The Book of Five Rings translated by Thomas Cleary