"All of man's troubles come from his inability to sit alone, quietly, in a room." When French scientist Blaise Pascal made that statement, he touched on a universal theme: Our suffering increases when we eagerly search for a remedy outside of ourselves rather than slowing down to look deeply at the root cause of the suffering.
In Zen Buddhism, we engage in zazen, or seated meditation, to slow down the frenetic and constantly chattering monkey-mind so that our attachments to illusion and delusion can be examined and lessened. Once we are aware of the causes of our suffering, we can address the issues that lead to the false attachments. Rushing around and wanting something or someone else to fix our perceived problems will not bring lasting relief to our suffering.
Outside a tempest.
Yet, I'm seated in zazen,
Filled with clarity.
No comments:
Post a Comment