Questions to Master Deshimaru

Question

Do you believe that if Christians practice Zen they can come one day to express something about it in a form that can be "philosophically" different?

Answer

Zen is not philosophy, not psychology, not doctrine. It is beyond philosophies, concepts, forms. The essence of Zen is not expressed in words. Of course, there is the Zen Buddhism which is a traditional framework with disciplines, rites, and rules. And there is the Zen that is open to everybody, in its teaching of the universality of consciousness, in the practice of meditation, in the perfect posture of zazen. And also in the means it offers, of cultivating one's presence to oneself as an art of living here and now, in the perfection of the instant; and of learning how to release and master the energies within us and by so doing to participate fully in the creation that takes place through us and by our activity every day. Philosophy comes after practice. But it is important to attach Zen to its origins and learn them well: its source in India, then Ch'an in China, and then the lineage of all the masters to the present day. Otherwise one could be spreading anything, not true Zen. If you are faithful in practice, Zen becomes continuous creation. Through a profound knowledge of the spirit and the source, Westerners will be able in turn to create an original Zen, their own.