PRACTICAL ZEN
ThisbroughtoutKyozan'scomment,"Thenyouhavenot
wastedyoursummer."A Confucianscholar writes,"They seekthetruth toofar
awayfromthemselves,whileitisrightnearthem."Thesame
thingmaybesaidofZen.Welookforitssecretswheretheyare
mostunlikelytobefound, thatis, inverbalabstractionsand
metaphysicalsubdeties,whereasthetruthofZenreallyliesin
theconcretethingsofourdailylife.Amonkaskedthemaster
:"ItissometimesinceIcametoyoutobeinstructedintheholy
path ofthe Buddha, butyouhave never givenme even an
inklingofit.Iprayyoutobemoresympathetic."Tothisthe
followinganswer wasgiven: "What doyoumean, myson?
Everymorningyousaluteme,anddoInotreturnit?Whenyou
bringmeacupoftea,doInotacceptitandenjoydrinkingit?
Besidesthis,whatmoreinstructionsdoyoudesirefromme?"
IsthisZen?Isthisthekindoflifc-cxpericnccZenwantsus
tohave?AZenpoetsings:
Howwondrouslystrange,andhowmiraculousthis
!Idrawwater,Icarryfuel.WhenZenissaidtobeillogicalandirrational,timidreaders
arcfrightenedandmayvsishtohavenothingtodowithit,but
IamconfidentthatthepresentchapterdevotedtopracticalZen
willmitigatewhateverharshnessanduncouthnesstheremayhave
beeninitwhenitwasintellectuallytreated.Insofarasthetruth
ofZenisonitspracticalsideandnotinitsirrationality,wemust
notputtoomuchemphasisonitsirrationality.Thismaytend
onlytomakeZenmoreinaccessibletoordinaryintellects,but
in order to show further what a simple and matter-of-fact
businessZenis,andatthesametimetoemphasizethepractical
sideofZen,I willcitesomemoreoftheso-called "cases" in
whichapf>ealismadetothemostnaiveexperienceonemayhave
inlife.Naivetheyare,indeed,inthesenseofbeingfreefrom
conceptualdemonstrationorfromintellectualanalysis.Yousee
astickraised, oryouare ziskedtopass apiece ofhousehold
furniture,oraresimplyaddressedbyyourname.Suchasthese
arethesimplestincidentsofUfeoccurringeverydayandbeing
passedwithoutanyjjarticularnotice,andyetZenisthere—the
as