Yesterday I posted a review of
The Zen Guide: Lessons from a Modern Master, a condensed version of a Zen classic by master Katsuki Sekida. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Zen.
I wanted to excerpt one of my favorite passages here, as it includes a koan that one could contemplate for years, and deepen one's realization (as I am sure that many a Zen seeker has done):
"We gave spoken rather easily in this book of the zero level of consciousness, though it is admittedly no easy matter for the beginner to reach this state. There, exhalation is almost stopped, and after a long silence a faint breath stealthily escapes, and then a slight inhalation occurs. Here we encounter the purest form of existence.
Traditionally it is called Original Nature or Buddha Nature. It is the hushed silence of the snowclad Himalayas. Or it can be likened to the eternal silence of the fathomless depths of the sea.
There is a koan that runs, 'Pick up the silent rock from the depths of the sea and, without getting your sleeves wet, bring it up to me.'
The silent rock is yourself. You are asked to pick yourself up from the depths of the sea. But first you will have to find yourself at the bottom of the sea, where eternal silence reigns, with no time, space, or causation and no difference between yourself and others."
