Zen Tuesday

Those who know do not speak;
Those who speak do not know. -Lao-tzu

In my continuing studies of Buddhism, I am constantly amazed at how well the philosophies of the East resonate with my life. In contrast to the omniscient, controlling premise of the Western conception of God, I find my life influenced more by the need to observe the world than to classify everything in it. One can learn much more from listening to nature than by hopelessly trying to construct it. Alan Watts, in paraphrasing Nagarjuna (c. A.D. 200), notes that "nothing in the universe can stand by itself - no thing, no fact, no being, no event - and for this reason it is absurd to single anything out as the ideal to be grasped." In this sense, learning to let go of our conjectures to see worldly situations "from a peripheral vision" is important for the attainment of inner sanctum.