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Seeing Zen undo Zen does not mean not playing along with Zen, which is Zen playing with you. You realize Zen is a fantastic joke and that it works. It is a big joke, and a wise one. So, it would help if you lived with the prank. You want to live with it. So, you keep moving with the moving floor; that is part of the fun - and the challenge. You keep learning how to move with the wind through the woodland.
We could say a path transcends itself. But when you say "Zen," "Christian," "Sufi," or "donut" and look closely, you cannot find it anywhere. You can find something, but it is not what you were looking for.
You can eat what you call a donut and call it a donut, a brick, or an oak tree; regardless, it tastes like what you call a donut and has a hole in the center. And the only reason you call it a donut is someone told you it was a donut, because someone told someone it was a donut. The joke is on you - us. But a tasty joke. So, why not enjoy it?
You can still enjoy donuts, Zen, Hinduism, love, and many other things not out there somewhere. You can wisely act like they are out somewhere, somethings floating about in space. But when you realize the trick, you have a different relationship with it. Where is love? Nowhere. Still, there is something there, and it is more than you can say. When it captures you, it might take love out of your mouth for at least a few moments or more.
Hindus use the word "Maya" to say, "It's all a trick." Another way of saying this is, "Everything you see and name that appears out there is inside your head." And Hindus use the word "Lilla" to say, "Everything is the God-dance." See, something is there; it is just never what you think it is. So, you learn to take what you think with less seriousness. You lighten up on all the spirituality stuff while being faithful to practicing your particular flavor of it.
So, if Zen is anything, it is a practice, but we cannot say that, and it be something. Still, if you want to go into a shop and order a donut, you cannot make sense saying, "Please give me one of those hubcaps" or "I'll take one of those plane tickets." But you cannot make donut a donut, either.
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Part of what makes Zen, for example, potentially transformative is going along with the trickery, allowing yourself to be seduced by the appearance. The trickery is real trickery. It is not a lie; that is why it works when consenting to it. You act like you can put your finger on it and say, for instance, "Hey! Look! This is Zen." Like, "Hey! Look! That is Brian." I did not decide to appear that way. I agreed later. Others agreed, too. So, Brian - what a joke! Someone says, "Are you Brian?" "Sure, yes, that's who I am," playing along with the joke. "Are you a chaplain?" "Sure." What a trick! - but a real one.
Donut, tasty magic! For the magic to occur for you, you must be involved with the scene. You eat the donut. You must show up, again and again and ... at the donut shop. You do Zen, and Zen does you. Otherwise, it will flop, and you will flop. You will be a Zen, Christian, Hindu, Sufi, or donut dropout. You can not stand off in some intellectualism and say, "Well, why get involved? After all, it's a trick." Instead, you get involved precisely because you have no other choice for it to work. Donuts are made to eat, not simply be admired on a plate.
The magic includes you, or you miss out on the performance - the trip. You are part of the show and the set-up. You cannot be a spectator and enjoy the show. You say "Yes" wholeheartedly. You involve yourself intimately and, simultaneously, come to see the energy of it all pulled you into it, casting a spell on you. A wonderful enchantment!
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2024
