Zen Secret_ Emptiness of Mind (MUST WATCH)<br />:-1 THE PAST FEW DECADES THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASING INTEREST<br />in Zen, not confined only to students of Asian philosophy. The peculiar<br />fascination for minds of Zen lies in the fact that it is markedly different<br />from any other form of Buddhism, one might even say from any other form<br />of conventional religion or philosophy.<br />In its methods of instruction Zen is unique. It di:;penses with all<br />forms of theorizing, doctrinal instruction and strict formality; these arc<br />treated as mere symbols of wisdom. There is a radiCal departure from the<br />old pattern of monkish brotherhood, whether Christian or anything else,<br />in that the Zen monks have not always engaged in ofiering prayers, doing<br />acts of penance or performing other so-called deeds of piety nor in studying<br />canonical books. For Zen is founded on practice and on an intimate, per-<br />sonal experience of reality, a vigorous attempt to come into direct contact<br />with the truth itself without allowing theories and symbols to stand between<br />th knower and the known.<br />This paper is concerned only with the concept of emptiness (Sanskrit,<br />sunyata) in Zen Buddhism. The interest is based on the belief that only<br />an understanding of this doctrine will give a clue as to what Zen itself is.<br />Although there are many schools of Buddhism, each with something<br />different to otTer, all generally agree on a few general concepts deemed<br />fundamental to Buddhism.! These include belief in the theory of Karma<br />translated to mean not only action but also includes what all that an indi-<br />vidual being speaks and thinks. According to this theory all the phenomena<br />of the universe or of the universe of an individual sentient being arc the<br />manifestations of his mind. Whenever he acts, speaks or even thinks, his<br />mind is doing something. and that something must produce results, no matter<br />how far in the future. Belief in this theory is the basis for belief in another<br />..!octrinc -the doctrine of reincarnation, according to which past Karma<br />will determine the form of future existence. The present life of a sentient<br />'='eing is only one aspect in this whole process. Death is not the end of his<br />being. It is only another aspect of the process. What an individual is in this<br />;J
