272. ZEN REMARKS

272. Getting started on the path of Zen would seem to be easy enough. As one Zen worthy put it, this path can be 'approached in a thousand ways'. Another master, when questioned by a would-be disciple about how he might enter Zen, pointed to a roaring mountain stream and asked, 'Do you hear the sound of that stream?' When the disciple said 'Yes', the master said, 'Enter there'. So if getting into Zen is as simple and easy as that, why do we look for a teacher, join a meditation group, read lots of books, practise rituals and chants and sit for long periods in a prescribed zazen posture?

271. ZEN REMARKS

271. After dinner I do the washing-up. Just washing cups and saucers, knives and forks, plates and bowls, pots and pans. Yes, just washing-up. No running commentary.

270. ZEN REMARKS

270. Anthony de Mello draws a distinction between a 'worldly feeling' and a 'soul-feeling'. A 'worldly feeling', he says, arises out of self-glorification and self-promotion. Examples of the types of experience that can trigger worldly feelings relate the self to other people in a search for their praise, their approval, their acceptance. By contrast, a 'soul-feeling' is the fruit of self-fulfillment. Examples of experiences that bear fruit in soul-feeling are of a disinterested nature, such as the contemplation of a sunset, a stroll along the beach, the thorough enjoyment of a book.