Zen koans and prayer

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1. Zen koans and prayer

Do you sometimes feel like a boat adrift without a mooring, and no place to call your home? Or perhaps at times you feel like a rudderless ship, incapable of steering your life on a specific course. I certainly feel like this at times, and it's my guess that such feelings are part of the human condition. Hopefully, what I write here today can help you to feel more at peace in the world.

Have you heard about Zen koans, or perhaps even attempted to answer one? Here is what the dictionary has to say in regard to "koan".

Koan (noun)
A paradoxical anecdote or riddle that has no apparent solution. Koans are used in Zen Buddhism to show the inadequacy of logical reasoning. Koans are absorbing paradoxes meant to be meditated on, in order to temporarily render useless one's cognitive mode of processing information, so that an "alternative truth" can emerge.

If you are reading this newsletter, no doubt you have heard of "praying" and perhaps you have offered up your own prayers from time to time. Here is what the dictionary has to say in regard to "prayer."

Prayer (noun)
The act of communicating with a deity (especially as a request for help, or in adoration, contrition, or thanksgiving.)

So far so good?
Are you wondering why I'm talking about koans and prayers in the same conversation? Here is a story that will hopefully make the direction of my thinking clearer:

Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who gave her life to helping the sick and poor of the world. Here is an account of what she supposedly said when questioned about how she prayed.

The interviewer asked, "When you pray, what do you say to God?"

Mother Teresa replied, "I don't talk, I simply listen."

Believing he understood what she had just said, the interviewer next asked, "Ah, then what is it that God says to you when you pray?"

Mother Teresa replied, "He also doesn't talk. He also simply listens."

There was a long silence, with the interviewer seeming a bit confused and not knowing what to ask next.

Finally Mother Teresa breaks the silence by saying, "If you can't understand the meaning of what I've just said, I'm sorry but there's no way I can explain it any better."

To me, this story sounds much like a Zen koan.

A Zen master might create two koans from the wisdom of the Mother Teresa story. His first koan could be:

"How can you offer up a prayer to your concept of a "higher power" (especially as a request for help, or an expression of appreciation) without talking?"

As a second koan he might ask:
"What does one listen for when praying, when God does not speak?"

If you immediately come up with answers for these two koans, you will likely not have found answers that will satisfy the Zen master, and you will be asked to ponder these questions once again.

But, if you temporarily render useless your cognitive mode of processing information, I am sure meaningful answers to these two koans will emerge for you!

2. Commentary

Most every morning and evening, I take some time to communicate with my concept of "God". I ask for help for myself and others, give thanks for my life, and acknowledge my many shortcomings and my inability to understand the true meaning of my life. In doing so I concede the inadequacy of my logical reasoning and attempt to temporarily render useless my cognitive mode of processing information, so that an "alternative reality" can emerge.

You see, for me, life is very much like a Zen koan. An absorbing paradox that has no apparent solution. In times of clarity I recognize that much of the time I do not understand what is meant to happen and why, and I realize that my logical reasoning does not help me to feel at peace with myself and in the world. When I pray I give my Zen koan over to God, realizing that my cognitive mind on its own is not enough to fully understand and appreciate life.

From time to time, without my understanding how,
There are moments of utter stillness,
When nothing need be said,
And everything is communicated and understood.

The blessings of life are both given and received.
And everything is just as it should be.

Ah! If only I took the time to pray more often!

3. A possible workshop in Australia

Over the last year or so, a number of people who subscribe to our newsletter have said they would likely attend a Seishindo workshop if one was ever held in Australia. Some folks have even offered to help organize such an event.

If YOU have definite interest in a Seishindo workshop held in Oz, please write to us at Australia[at]seishindo.org, and let us know. We will add your name to our Australia-New Zealand mailing list, and if we get enough interest, we will contact you at some point in the future.