Zen And The Art Of Watching The Grass Grow

 Cha or Zen meditation as it is called in Japan involves concentrating on the breath, in the nose and out the mouth, and focusing on a Mantra or Kaon, either a repeated short phrase in which to focus the mental energies, or a paradoxical riddle to prove the inadequacy of logical reasoning and promote enlightenment.  The actual definition of enlightenment is fluid as is the actual understanding of Zen.  

There is an old song about, "Watching the Grass Grow", by an obscure British band from the 80's called, "Hawkwind".  The lyrics of the song are very Zen like, however the bands performance of their music isn't up to my standards, they suck.  Here are the lyrics of the first stanza:  

We are the survivors

The eternal survivors

Androgynous energies 

Traveling through time...

Zen Meditation involves focusing on the breath, and giving your mind a puzzle or question to ponder as you breath.  The combination of the breathing and the riddle can lead the meditator to an enlightened state freeing the mind from the body allowing the practitioner to separate the delusion from reality.  

The old adage about moving slow enough to watch the grass grow is itself a riddle and gives the Zen kaon purpose.  Sitting and Breathing in the nose, out the mouth, deeply and rhythmically, while pondering the Mantra, "We are the survivors, The eternal survivors, Androgynous energies, Traveling through time, while gazing about 45 degrees downwardly at the lawn with the intention of actually watching the grass grow.  Breath, repeat, and Gaze, do you see it moving?

Peace and Balance,

John

Delusion or Reality?

 What is reality?  We're taught that reality has to do with the ability to touch, smell, hear, taste, and see something.  Our senses are supposed to be the predeterminer of what is real or not real.  But, what is reality, really?  

A scientist is going to tell you something is real if there in empirical evidence that it exists, and if that evidence exists can it be tested and retested to make the realness concrete.  Assuming the test passes and your existence becomes real, what about the things you, "think" are real verses what you have just tested?  Let's say you have a memory of something that happened in childhood.  It happened you remember it.  It's formed the synapsis in your brain that tell you it was real, but it doesn't fit the perimeters we learned as we grew up.  You just, "know" it was real because you remember the experience, you have that tactile recall that say's Its real.  Can it be tested scientifically?  I'm not so sure it would pass the scientific method.  After all, it's all in your head.

We have the ability to create things.  We are artists, engineers, and a multitude of others,  Who's to say we can't create with our mind the perimeters for the memories stored there.  Wouldn't that make us gods?

I recently watched a Ted Talk with a philosopher that has determined that our realities are our own self created perception of the universe around us.  We create reality as we see fit to fit the mold that we have programed into our own process.  He was saying that we are all hallucinating to a certain extent, that reality was a self created delusion from our mind to make sense of the stimulus we are receiving from outside our perception.   Boy that's a scary thought.  That would make us all 100% responsible for everything we do, and or anything that is done to us.  Therefor Karma is not what comes around, but the energy we actually put into the event causing the Karma.  Karma is the reflection of our self created realities.  Could be...

So, what is reality, really?  I guess in order to truthfully and completely answer that question an amount of concentrated practice in the art of thinking is in order.

Peace and Balance,

John