The miracle of Zen
Loneliness is a major problem today, especially for people who live in cities. People may have all the resources to visit and enjoy luxury clubs around the world for some time, but that doesn’t solve their problem of being lonely when they return home. I see people running from one place to another to kill their loneliness, yet they remain lonely.
It is possible to sit alone in a room and enjoy one’s own company. One simply has to learn how to do it. This secret art can only be learnt if one is a practitioner of Zen.
Once a disciple asked a Zen master, “What is the greatest miracle in the world?”
The master replied, “I sit here all by myself.”
There can be no bigger miracle than this: sitting by yourself. It is our unconscious habit and conditioning that we always seek company. We always engage or occupy ourselves, going from one occupation to another. If we are bored with newspapers, we switch on the television. If television doesn’t satisfy us, we log on to the Internet, often without any purpose. We do everything possible in the name of entertainment but never want to sit by ourselves.
Nobody wants to meet their own self, everybody is interested in meeting others. Meeting oneself, being oneself or sitting by oneself is the most arduous thing. That is why the Zen master said that it is the greatest miracle in the world.
Sitting by oneself is real meditation. We call it dhyan, which is quite different from meditation. Meditation means concentrating on something, while dhyan means being aware, awakened, not focused on anything outside oneself, not thinking or contemplating any object or even your personal god. It is pure awareness and nothing else. Just being centred and being by yourself is dhyan.
The word Zen travelled from India to China with the first Buddhist Master, Bodhidharma, and took the form of Chan, pronounced “chan”. Then it went from China to Japan where it was pronounced “zan” which later became Zen. Now it has become famous all over the world because the teachings of Buddha have tremendous appeal in the West. Dalai Lama is such a rage in the West.
Sitting by yourself is not loneliness. In loneliness, you miss others. Dhyan means you are enjoying being alone and don’t need the presence of any person to give you joy. You are contented, with and by yourself.
This “aloneness” is a blissful state of consciousness and this is the miracle of Zen.
Swami Chaitanya Keerti, editor of Osho World, is the author of Osho Fragrance
Comments
That is SO right! When I
June Hardy
15 Aug 2012 - 02:44
That is SO right! When I first learned to meditate, I was astounded at the peace I felt when I learned to sit alone in silence with only myself as company. It was the ideal place to get inspiration and ideas. Keep up the good work.
June
How To Create A Miracle
Post new comment