THUS SPAKE THE BUDDHA...

My first Zen meditation session was a fairly satisfying experience. The Atlanta Soto Zen center, one of the largest in the U.S. has a regular Monday session in Emory. I think I did ok for someone who is not used to sitting quietly with his eyes closed for long periods of time. In the end, I asked my fundamental, eternal question to the Zen master: This process of trying to block thoughts, watch them flow by etc. is ITSELF an act of thinking. Thinking about this is in turn another act of thinking and so on...a wheel within a wheel a.k.a. the perpetual question about observer created reality. How do I get out of this ad infinitum progression? The Zen master's answer: Try not to think about it!...a pithy remark which struck me as quite insightful. He said, do it and you will know. A good idea. Let's see how long I last.