I agree with previous posts about this essay--I just didn't get it. I like that he emphasized the pursuit of knowledge and the exploration of other religions (for knowledge, not to denounce our own beliefs), but Zen is a topic I cannot understand.
He references the book "Zen in the Art of Archery." I was in a coffee shop once, and picked this book up. I must have been really bored, because I read through quite a bit of it. The concept was interesting, but not only do I not understand Zen, but I also feel like everything about it is a stretch. The author of "Zen in the Art of Archery" was truly trying to come to a universal understanding of the world and God through archery.
Again, the idea of thought and of meditation that Zen exemplifies appeals to me. Other than that, I just don't get it.
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Yes, this is a difficult essay to fully understand with our Judeo- Christian world view. This semester I have been in the class World Religions and have been afforded the opportunity to not only look at Zen, but lots of other religious sects.
Highet is right to say that Zen is not the only mystical religion in the East and that it is the most developed. It is also the most widely practiced. Zen is simply trying to find the inner peace of dwelling in a right relationship with the world around and the higher power of the Buddha.
I thought the essay was too long, and kind of boring, especially if the reader isn't interested in World Religions. But overall it wasn't awful.
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