whole Oriental mysticism trip, with the I Ching, gurus, and whatnot. So
one day I'm thinking to myself, "Why not Zen too?" And that's how it
all began.
Tortoise: Oh, splendid. Then perhaps I can finally become enlightened.
Achilles: Whoa, now. Enlightenment is not the first step on the road to
Zen; if anything, it's the last one! Enlightenment is not for novices like
you, Mr. T!
Tortoise: I see we have had a misunderstanding. By "enlightenment", I
hardly meant something so weighty as is meant in Zen. All I meant is
that I can perhaps become enlightened as to what Zen is all about.
Achilles: For Pete's sake, why didn't you say so? Well, I'd be only too happy
to tell you what I know of Zen. Perhaps you might even be tempted to
become a student of it, like me.
Tortoise: Well, nothing's impossible.
Achilles: You could study with me under my master, Okanisama-the
seventh patriarch.
Tortoise: Now what in the world does that mean?
Achilles: You have to know the hi!'otory of Zen to understand that.
Tortoise: Would you tell me a little of the history of Zen, then?
Achilles: An excellent idea. Zen is a kind of Buddhism which was founded
by a monk named Bodhidharma, who left India and went to China
around the sixth century. Bodhidharma was the first patriarch. The
sixth one was Eno. (I've finally got it straight now!)
Tortoise: The sixth patriarch was Zeno, eh? I find it strange that he, of all
people, would get mixed up in this business.
Achilles: I daresay you underestimate the value of Zen. Listen just a little
more, and maybe you'll come to appreciate it. As I was saying, about
five hundred years later, Zen was brought to Japan, and it took hold
very well there. Since that time it has been one of the principal reli-
gions in Japan.
Tortoise: Who is this Okanisama, the "seventh patriarch"?
Achilles: He is my master, and his teachings descend directly from those of
the sixth patriarch. He has taught me that reality is one, immutable,
and unchanging; all plurality, change, and motion are mere illusions
of the senses.
Tortoise: Sure enough, that's Zeno, a mile away. But however did he come
to be tangled up in Zen? Poor fellow!
Achilles: Whaaat? I wouldn't put it that way. If ANYONE is tangled up, it's
... But that's another matter. Anyway, I don't know the answer to
your question. Instead, let me tell you something of the teachings of
my master. I have learned that in Zen, one seeks enlightenment, or
SATORI-the state of "No-mind". In this state, one does not think about
the world-one just IS. I have also learned that a student of Zen is not
supposed to "attach" to any object or thought or person-which is to
say, he must not believe in, or depend on, any absolute-not even this
philosophy of nonattachment.
232 A M u Offering