VI
PRACTICAL Z^N
OoFARZenhasbeendiscussedfromtheintellectualpointof
view,inordertoseethatitisimpossibletocomprehendZen
throughthischannel;infactitisnotdoingjusticetoZentotreat
itthusphilosophically.Zenabhorsmedia,eventheintellectualmedium; it is primarily and ultimately adiscipline and an
experience,whichisdependentonnoexplanation;foranex-
planationwastestimeandenergyandisnevertothepoint;all
thatyougetoutofitisamisunderstandingandatwistedviewof
thething.WTienZenwantsyoutotastethesweetnessofsugar,it
willputtherequiredarticlerightintoyourmouthandnofurtherwordsaresaid.ThefollowersofZenwouldsay,Afingerisneeded
topointatthemoon,butwhatacalamityitwouldbeifonetookthefingerforthemoon!Thisseemsimprobable,buthowmany
timeswe arecommittingthisformoferrorwedonotknow.
Ignorancealoneoftensavesusfrombeingdisturbedinourself-complacency.ThebusinessofawriteronZen,however,cannotgo
beyondthepointingatthemoon,asthisistheonlymeansper-mittedtohiminthecircumstances;andeverythingthatiswithin
hispowerwillbedonetomakethesubjectinhandasthoroughly
comprehensibleasitiscapableofbeingsomade.VVTaenZenismetaphysically treated, the reader may get somewhat dis-
couragedaboutitsbeingatallintelligible,sincemostpeoplearenotgenerallyaddictedtospeculationorintrospection.Letmeap-
proachitfromquiteadifferentp>oint,whichisperhapsmore
genuinelyZen-like.WhenJoshu(Chao-chou) wasaskedwhattheTao(orthe
truthofZen)was,heanswered,"Yourever^'daylife,thatisthe
Tao." In other words, a quiet, self-confident, and trustful
existenceofyourowm—thisisthetruthofZen,andwhatImean
whenIsaythatZenispre-eminendypractical.Itappealsdirectly
tolife,notevenmakingreferencetoasoulortoGod,orto