Monday, October 29, 2007
The Mystery of Zen
Can someone tell me the mystery of understanding the Mystery of Zen. I'm not going to lie to you: I do not read something, where the reader does not catch my attention. I stopped reading half-way through it with the question: Did Herrigel join the Zen religion or what? From my understanding of the essay, from what I have read of it, I think I received this thought: "For one to understand something fully (or better), one must experience it." Could this be a good observation from the essay or am I just a crazy guy who read to much into it?
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2 comments:
I think that's a pretty good observation. This essay reminded me of C.S. Lewis' "The Rival Conceptions of God" because I think that there are disciplines in the religion of Zen that would be good to apply to Christianity. It doesn't make sense to just not think about things; I do not feel like this is how Christ has called us to live, but I also feel as though LIVING might be something we should spend more time thinking about...
He has come so that we might have LIFE. These were the words that were ringing in my ears as I read this. I was also pretty impressed by the patience of Herrigel as he stepped into another culture and refused to quit until he understood their ways. This religion seems a bit strange to me, but also one that takes much patience and time to master.
I consider this one of those things that makes you go "hmmmm".
This essay points to philosophy and the good in understanding other cultures and religions. He questioned, and then stepped right into the life to experience it fully for a better understanding. This is what we need to do to understand and appreciate philosophy more. Maybe some day, I will apply more thought to philosophy. We do have to question many things in order to obtain understanding, so I see what was meant by the statement that we are all philosophers.
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