THE INNER REVOLUTION

On this page, you can read the presentation of the book by the monk Kosen, the introduction of the book, the mondos and the illustrated glossary . You can also read the biography of the monk Kosen and listen to the CD .

Presentation of the book by the monk Kosen

" The zen apprenticeship resembles to guerilla: a small part of ourselves takes to the maquis to struggle against the corrupted power, greedy and liar, which leads our inner life. This struggle appears to be hopeless but we still undertake it and , with some know-how, a lot of tenacity, some people have succeeded and have liberated themselves from themselves. The zen I am talking about is not the apprenticeship of a meditation, it is a shelter that man owns from ever, a shelter of peace and happiness which springs out instantaneously as soon as we practice it. All the human beings, whoever they are, are capable to obtain this treasure, and even if they practice only during a single day, even if they sit in the posture only a short instant, that will have an incidence and will irremediably transform their existence. We discover quite simple things, but still extraordinary ones, like for example the feeling of life. Everybody get this feeling, so intimate that it seems to us eternal, immortal. We do not get the impression that this strength of living can disappear, even with death. Would it not be that, the buddha's nature? To discover it is not more complicated than that. We often believe that the extraordinary things are not accessible. I think that originally the world is the paradise, the promised land, that the human vocation is to be the visible side of God. Even the extraordinary works in a very simple way. Removing complications, parasites, pollution, this is enough for the evidence to show up. The evidence has not been invented by somebody. Buddha himself did not invent the evidence, neither any prophet, nor any revolutionary. They only knew sometimes how to perceive it". (Answer of the monk Kosen to the question "What is zen?" asked during an interview at the Spanish national radio in June 1997.)

Introduction to the book: What is the revolution?

If it is really true that through authentic masters revolutionary evidences spring out and speak out, for a zen monk, it is totally indecent to hide behind a revolutionary ideal. The revolution which will transform our world in a more advanced one cannot consist in the confrontation of the Blacks against the Whites, of the goods against the evils, of the poor against the rich, of the persecuted against the persecutors! It cannot be only that, even if these are the first symptoms. The revolutionary perception of a zen monk is much more profound. For example, talking about Marcos zapatist revolution, the result is obvious. How can we be happy with such a phenomenon? It is easy for an intellectual person to hide behind his newspaper, to take a decision and use for his own body the revolutionary energy of these poor people who risk their life in fighting. In this phenomenon, youth, namely what is alive and spontaneous, risks to be squashed and totally annihilated. It is this way from many years in South America. It is like destroying a forest to build a freeway or an airport. The worst is, even when the revolution is victorious, that it becomes very quickly rigid like ice. The Cubans escape by swimming to the United States. Thirty years ago, Mao Tse-Tung proclaimed to have won the revolution, and today the entire world is waiting for the revolution of the revolution. If the revolution of the revolution arrives in China, the Chinese will be able to drink Coca-Cola and have credit cards. Then what is the attitude to take? Could we not believe in an honest and free world where each of us feels responsible? Carlos Castaneda tells how Don Juan was sent by his master to go back and work in the hacienda where he was exploited when he was young, where he almost lost his life and where young Indians were confined illegally and forced to slavery. At no time Don Juan has any feeling of hate. Only be honest and impeccable with oneself, only the inner practice from which the phenomena are sucked like in a whirlwind. To realize a revolution, we should use the magic weapon that no one can neither catch nor stop. To get this weapon, everybody should continuously work on himself. On himself, but not only for himself. The problems which concern the world should not be approached with an ordinary state of mind but with the entire body, with our zazen practice. The magic power of zazen is beyond what can be controlled. Questioning our own revolutionary concepts is much more difficult that to stay attached to them. That drives to silence because it is impossible to say anything about it. When we are sincerely asking ourselves questions on our own concepts, we are not anymore only revolutionary, we become ourselves the revolution, the alive and silent revolution. Sit down firmly, without any goal, stay still. Practice zazen, kin hin, sampai, the three fundamental postures, and samu, the work which does not have any personal goal but the good of everybody. We should stop pretending that we understand something. Let the truth and the cosmic energy emerge spontaneously, teach the profound freedom and the correct attitude to others, not to make propaganda, but to help them really, and spread this influence so that the world changes. But the world does not change in a conceptual direction. The real evolution is the opening of consciousness and responsibility. Simply in silence, this evolution will bring the entire world in the whirlwind, the whirlwind of things to their right places, because the fundamental nature of everything is revolutionary.

Mondo

Here is one of the mondos that you will be able to find in the book.

What is freedom?

I do not know!! Freedom? we cannot know what it is, it is not belonging to the human domain. If I tell you what freedom is, it will not be freedom anymore. Nobody can say: "That is freedom!" you would be chaining yourselves to a definition of freedom. I think that the native American Indians were not seeing the world in terms of freedom, never an Indian has spoken about freedom. Freedom is a prisoner's concept, not a concept of a free man.

The true freedom is what it is naturally. The Indians consider that the earth is alive, as a living being, and each form of the earth is an expression of the body which is the earth. They consider that mankind belongs also to this body. The Indians planted grains, they grew cereals, vegetables! They raised or maintained herds of buffalos, of horses. In fact, they took advantage of everything which was there and everything was going very well. But still with a profound respect and an intimate communication with everything existing, including rocks, stones, etc.

When they saw the Whites coming, when they saw them clearing an entire land and then, where were the forms of the earth: "Sschlaaa! (movement of the edge of the hand), they ripped off, planted well straight, created fields like that! For them, it was like if they were seeing somebody stabbed in the street. So the Indians said: "You don't see? You are hurting the earth, you damage it!" They were immediately shocked: " The earth will bring you bad luck!". Because the earth gives you luck or misery. Never an Indian had the idea of freedom. They think about the interdependence, to live in harmony with everything which exists.

It is obvious, it is not even worth explaining it. In interdependence with realities: not only with trees, mountains, etc., but also with the other men. There is no freedom, that does not exist. There is an interdependence, a respect, an harmonious exchange or not, that is all! Freedom is really an aspirin tablet for the slaves.