In September 2024 I wrote and published a poem on my blog. Even though another poem followed before the month was out, I had no idea what was to come. I suddenly experienced a light-bulb moment and before I knew what was happening, I found myself writing my first ever book of prose. I’ve always been fascinated by the work of Rumi and Rabindranath Tagore; how they write such beautifully enchanting, and seemingly other worldly, works. I’ve also been greatly touched by the writing of Marcus Aurelius, and now I find all these verses just flowing out from within me; it really is such a beautiful feeling. I shouldn’t be surprised at this phenomenon (although I am a bit) because ever since Zen entered my life several years ago, things just haven’t been the same.
Zen is one of those words that gets used a lot, mainly by people who don’t understand what it means. It has nothing to do with lighting candles and sitting cross-legged on the floor making funny noises, but of course, you can light as many candles as you want, sit where you want, how you want and make whatever noises you want; it makes no difference to Zen.
I don’t profess to be some sort of world authority, but in this introduction, I am simply expressing my view in accordance with my understanding, which is derived from my actual life experience and intuitive knowing. Zen is about unteaching what you have been taught, it is about dissolving away the chains of your conditioning, your old, stale beliefs that keep you in bondage.
Zen is not a religion as such because it is not a man-made egoic entity. It does not require anything from you; neither are you required to believe anything. It is simply the natural presence of consciousness, there is nothing to “do” except to allow that higher power within you to weave its magic. You don’t need to be Einstein to realise the danger posed by institutions that require you to blindly believe in a doctrine, with threats of punishment if you don’t. In Zen there are no Gods, no gurus, no messiahs, no churches, no temples, no scriptures, no teachers, no dogma and no doctrine. Zen cannot be taught because there is nothing to teach. Of course, there are people out there, especially on the internet, who for a price, will sell you their “Zen course.”
Zen does not threaten you with an angry, vindictive God, who will pass judgement on you and cast you into the fires of hell if you don’t love “him” in the way “he” demands to be loved. Indeed, Zen does not demand anything and judgementalism is an egoic human trait that has its roots in fear.
People who do their best to live a life in Zen don’t care what religion you are, or indeed if you have a religion at all. This is because they don’t treat spirituality as a competition and do not have anything to prove or preach and have no desire to impose a belief system on others or to convert.
Beliefs are nothing more than thoughts in the mind. What you believe will create your reality. But your reality may not necessarily be representative of truth. With this in mind, I would add that your truth is your own and you have your own journey, so don’t just blindly believe what I have written here. If, however, what I have written resonates with you and you can take something from it, then I’m really happy to have helped along the way.
Zen is very subtle and incredibly beautiful, and will just bubble up from within you when it is ready with all the nonchalance of a lazy domestic cat; it will reveal you to yourself.
Author - Richard F Holmes 