WHATIS ZENr
Seir*;socalled,as Spinozawasintoxicatedin God?Though
Mr.Reischauerisnotquiteclearastothemeaningof"intoxi-cation",hemaythinkthatZenisundulyabsorbedinthethought
ofthe"GreaterSelf"asthefinalrealityinthisworldofparti-culars.Itisamazingtoseehowsuperficialsomeoftheuncritical
observersofZenare! Inpointoffact,Zenhasno"mind"to
murder;therefore,thereisno"mind-murdering"inZen.Zen
hasagainno "self"assomethingtowhich wecanclingasa
refuge;therefore,inZenagainthereisno"self"bywhichwe
maybecomeintoxicated.
Thetruthis,Zenisextremelyelusiveasfarasitsoutward
aspectsareconcerned;whenyouthinkyouhavecaughtaglimpse
ofit,itisnomorethere;fromafaritlookssoapproachable,butassoonasyoucomenearityouseeitevenfurtherawayfromyou
thanbefore.Unless,therefore,youdevotesomeyearsofearnest
studytotheunderstandingofits primaryprinciples,itis not
to be expected that youwill begin to have a fair graspof
Zen.
"ThewaytoascenduntoGodistodescendintoone'sselP';
—
theseareHugo'swords."Ifthouwishesttosearchoutthedeep
thingsofGod,searchoutthedepthsofthineownspirit";—thiscomesfromRichardofSt.Victor.Whenallthesedeepthings
aresearchedout thereisafterall no "self".Whereyou can
descend,thereisno"spirit",no"God"whosedepthsaretobe
fathomed.Why?BecauseZenisabottomlessabyss.Zendeclares,
thoughinasomewhatdifferentmanner:"Nothingreallyexiststhroughoutthetripleworld;wheredoyouwishtoseethemind
(orspirit = hsin)?Thefourelementsareall emptyintheir
ultimatenature;wherecouldtheBuddha'sabodebe?—butlo!
thetruthisunfoldingitselfrightbeforeyoureye.Thisisallthere
istoit—andindeednothingmore!"Aminute'shesitationand
Zenisirrevocablylost.AlltheBuddhasofthepast,present,and
futuremaytrytomakeyoucatchitoncemore,andyetitisa
thousand milesaway. "Mind-murder"and"self-intoxication",
forsooth!Zenhasnotimetobotheritselfwithsuchcriticisms.
ThecriticsmaymeanthatthemindishypnotizedbyZento
a state ofunconsciousness, and thatwhen this obtains, the
favourite Buddhistdoctrine ofemptiness {sunjata) is realized,
wherethesubjectisnotconsciousofanobjectiveworldorof