What is zen?
Zen is very simple … What are you?

In this world everyone is looking for happiness out there, but no one understands his true self inside.

Everyone says, “Me!” “I want it, I’m this …” But no one understands what it means. Where were you before you were born?
When you die, where are you going? If you honestly ask “What am I?”, Soon or later you “hit” a wall, where all thinking is stopped. We call it “do not know”.

Zen keeps this mind “do not know” always and everywhere.

Meditation in Zen means keeping the mind “do not know” when you bow down, sing and sit in zazen. This is a formal Zen practice. In everyday life when you do something, just do it. When driving the car, do just that. When eating, eat, etc.

In the end, your mind will be clear. Then you can see the sky only blue. The tree can only be seen green. The mind is like a bright mirror. The red will come, the mirror is red. The white and the mirror is white. Then there is no desire for yourself. Such a mind is already an enlightenment. What we call Great Love, Great Compassion, The Big Way of Bodhisattva. It is really easy!

The Buddha said that all beings have Buddha’s nature. Zen master Joju, however, said that the dog had no Buddha’s nature. Which one is right? If you find out, you will find the right path. (© Kwan Um Zen School)