Question
In your writings, you sometimes speak of God and even of Jesus Christ.
At first, this can seem surprising coming from a Zen master, since Buddhism almost never speaks of God. So is the idea of God, at least the Christian God, incompatible with Zen?
Anonymous
Master Kosen’s answer
The idea of the Christian or Jewish God with a white beard who created the world about ten thousand years ago is more ridiculous than ever, yet it exists, just as the idea of Santa Claus does. Aladdin’s lamp also exists in the culture of our dreams and is therefore real somewhere inside us, even if one day we stopped believing in it completely.
At Christmas, for example, we celebrate this superstition as real and merrily mix Santa Claus, baby Jesus, and foie gras, just as in the days of the pagan gods Moses forbade us to believe in.
Do you think Buddhism does not also have a whole slew of buddhas with the most improbable names, to whom Asian zealots bring offerings?
Whether we believe we believe in God or not, whether we are atheists or not, humanity’s quest has always, to my mind, been for its origins.
And that origin is what I call God.
What makes the difference from superstition is becoming aware that this origin is within us.
Kosen