What’s the difference between a lunatic playing the piano and a concert pianist playing the piano? After all, they are both playing the same notes. The difference is the same as between Zen and organised religion. Like the concert pianist, the Zen person is in flow; everything is in order; there is acceptance of “what is”.  When a madman plays the piano, the notes may be the same, but they are bashed out at random; he is just playing fragments.  This is the same with organised religion; it is a fragmented series of stories that are someone else’s experience.  These stories have been packaged and pedaled to the masses in the hope that the masses will believe blindly.

To practise organised religion, you need the three Ds; doctrine, dogma and deity. All are creations of the mind and are therefore of the ego. The only purpose they serve is to keep the individual in ignorance. The religious person is constantly seeking the unseekable; something that is in the future, whereas the Zen person knows there is nothing to seek. The Zen person knows that spiritual awakening is the understanding that you are already awake.

Listen to the music of silence, it will tell you everything you need to know.