“The only Zen you find at the top of the mountain is the Zen you bring with you.”
~ Zen Proverb
A reminder that there is nothing in the outside world that cannot be found within the inside world.
What is zen? In my experience and words, it is a path to conscious expansion and spiritual growth that uses unique techniques to help break through our human tendency to over-think, doubt, and over-complicate in order to see, experience and understand inner truths that are usually veiled by our over-thinking and over-complicating… For me, zen studies were particularly useful in shifting perspectives and understandings quickly and efficiently.
(For more reading on Zen Buddhism, check out “The Complete Book of Zen” by Wong Kiew Kit, or this link: http://www.zen-buddhism.net)
Retreats, temples, ashrams, peaceful parks… all of these locations provide an ideal environment for tuning inwards and quiet self-reflection.
But at the end of the day, even these outside environments are just tools that assist us in discovering our inner truths and inner peace – they are not the “sources” of the inner truth or wisdom we seek. It is already right there, inside of us all, waiting to be realized.
Any great teacher has always reinforced to let go of outside factors in order to discover the inner wisdom inherent in each of us.
(“Burn the scriptures” is a common thing said by many masters in various Buddhist and Zen stories – click here to read a little bit more about this saying.)
Light & love,