Monday, May 14, 2007

Believing in nothing

I was just reading "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki and came across this, which I now share with you:

Believing in Nothing "In our everyday life our thinking is ninety-nine percent self-centered. ' Why do I have suffering? Why do I have trouble?'"

I discovered that is is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color -- something which exists before all forms and colors appear. This is a very important point. No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea. You strive for a perfect faith in order to save yourself. But it will take time to attain such a perfect faith. You will be involved in an idealistic practice. In constantly seeking to actualize your ideal, you will have no time for composure. But if you are always prepared for accepting everything we see as something appearing from nothing, knowing that there is some reason why a phenomenal existence of such and such form or color appears, then at that moment you will have perfect composure.





3 comments:

Lally said...

thanks bro

-K- said...

Between this quote and the "I Like You" video of your more recent post, I'm reminded of this by Wendell Berry:

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

AlamedaTom said...

-k- That is so right on. Thanks.

~ Tom