Question
I feel as though we can change the reflection without changing the object… Is there any way other than time to be sure that a structural change has taken place? If not, it takes forever! Damn it, I would love to keep running along the path, but now it feels like I have gotten lost… After moving the spotlights around so much, I cannot see anything anymore. Just as well, you will say, since nothing really exists… But how can we be sure? How can we weigh things up without making mistakes? Help.
Anonymous
Master Kosen’s answer
Words are only a way to bring out what we experience during zazen practice, nothing else. They cannot in any way offer an effective solution for truly changing our lives. That is why religions that rely only on texts are dangerous and dogmatic. Zen’s distinctive feature is that it rests on an ancestral practice and a transmission beyond the written word. That does not prevent us from giving explanations, but they can only be understood by people who practice. And even then…
Kosen