Zen and Reality: An Approach to Sanity and Happiness on a Non-Sectarian Basis

by Robert Powell

El Zen produce una percepcion mas clara, una vision ionterna mas profunda de nuestra naturaleza, no interfiriendo en ella o disciplinandola, sino por medio de una vigilancia quieta y extremadamente lucida. Cuando efectuamos esto, entramos en un ameditacion verdadera, profunda, la cual es el proceso que nos lleva a comprendernos totalmente y, por lo tanto, es el unico medio de liberarnos de nuestro propio ser. Esta meditacion no requiere el retiro del mundo o ningun periodo determinado de tiempo, sino por el contrario, puede ser muy efectivo aun en la agitacion y el carrerear de la vida cotidiana y puede llegar a ser una segunda naturaleza en el transcurso de nuestra vigilia diaria, y mas tarde veremos que opera aun durante el sueno.

Genres: Spirituality

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Elias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think of thinking then do not think!

[Celest Sorrentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Robert Powell feels like an old, wise, university professor who explains simple concepts at lunch for students who always end up having a “but what if…” — I found his essay to be a fantastic read, but I believe definitely necessary to consume each chapter in intervals. Not because the explanation isn’t simple, but because the concepts he ties with Buddhism and Christianity are so simple our mind might skip over the point. Excellent read, definitely a keep.

There are so many great chapters, but one in particular that stood out are “Can we Seek Happiness?”, “Desires”, “ A scientist Looks at Buddhism” and “There is Nothing in It.”

Here are
Can We Seek Happiness?:
“[…] ‘dukkha’, psychological suffering: that is this seek for happiness which causes the unhappiness.”
“ to try to effect control in the psychological spheres is therefore like a dog trying to catch its own tail — resulting in it going round and round in circles.”

Desires:
“Our desires perpetuate themselves like a chain reaction— as long as they are not understood for what they are: the blistering efforts of the self to assert itself, to find some security and some permanency in an impermanent world.”

A scientist Looks at Buddhism:
“Where science is the pursuit of knowledge ABOUT the world (therefore, within the framework of space and time), Buddhism is concerned with ‘knowing,’ with the Absolute, and it is no need of going through the Relative first in order to contact the Absolute: it begins where science ends— with the breaking down of the subject-object duality.”

The Slaying of the Mind:
“First of all, what is it that we are seeking? For if we do not know what we are after, we shall be beaten before we have ever started the enquiry. Is it truth, however bitter, however discomforting, that we are after— or is it relief from the sorrows of the world, some kind of satisfaction which will give us temporary oblivion to the pain of living?”

“The seeking of comfort and the seeking of truth are obviously incompatible;[…] For to pursue the truth the first requirement is that we drop all the preconceived notions to which we are attached, that gives us some feeling of security and ‘respectability’ —- and that means ‘living dangerously’, something few of us are prepared to to.

There’s Nothing in It:
“Zero and infinity are mathematically related symbols. Zen, Life, when pressed for an answer, gives out only a zero, yet at the same time it is Infinity, for it is the Whole that is limitless.”


Powell wraps up his essay with a final chapter of “Some Thoughts on Life” which really bring up the main objectives of the entire work.