zen is not an activity, it is a feeling. meditation is not an activity, it is a feeling. an important distinction, because to reduce a universal, perpetual feeling, to a singular activity, is to deny yourself the potential for beauty unimaginable, presence inconceivable. something which cannot be described, only felt.
i could wax poetic about wu wei, the feeling of oneness, the intimacy of moments when you realize you are not separate, from anyone or anything. but the words would mean nothing…. what are you going to do? that’s what matters. that’s what counts. you feeling your own feelings, not reading about mine.
how often do we truly stop, truly slow down, allow our mud to settle? how often do we ask ourselves how we feel and actually FEEL, rather than concoct some theory? one not based on acknowledging our body’s sensations, but based on those distorted feelings we call thoughts. maybe words work for some, helping them focus, but there is a place beyond words, an indescribable existence where you realize words are superfluous, where the essence of life reveals itself. to try and use words would only act as a separating factor, a barrier, a distraction.
how are we going to “make sense” of life, when everything in existence makes perfect sense? whatever exists makes sense purely as a function of existing. we must accept this as a fact of life. everything arises for a reason, its just a matter of whether we understand it or not, whether we recognize the conditions that led to something’s existence, and humble enough to recognize that accepting life does not require our understanding. and with our limited human perspective, how much can we understand anyways?
this is why the master observes without judgement, because to judge makes no sense. we could never have enough info to understand all the causes and conditions for what occurs outside of us. and the path of enlightenment, the way of self mastery, is to grow a thorough and complete understanding of the only person we feel the causes and conditions for, which is ourselves. Through this lens, with this mirror, we finally realize the truth. That we are nothing. That we are everything.