The only Zen you find at the top of a mountain, is the Zen your brought up with you

The only Zen you find at the top of a mountain, is the Zen your brought up with you

My friend Mike Bemiss sent me an email and ended it with: "The only Zen you find at the top of a mountain, is the Zen your brought up with you." Mike is a very talented guy who illustrated my first book: "Never Buy A Hat If Your Feet Are Cold - Taking Of Your Career And Your Life." He also wrote the forward in my book; 

"Beware Of The Known

It's not the UNKNOWN that we must fear. As children everything was unknown. But as we get older, we start to build walls around ourselves, at the limit of what we KNOW. We build the walls of our own jails, with fear of failing at doing something UNKNOWN.

Too soon, we build a castle of security around ourselves. It has no doors, and few windows...it is the KNOWN. We live and die in there, with only an occasional timid peek out a high window, at the UNKNOWN.

We build the walls of our KNOWN so high, that we cannot escape - and our souls wither and die for lack of new experiences.

I refuse to build that wall. Each stone I would use to build it, I'll use instead as a stepping stone into a new and different UNKNOWN. And when I die, as we all do eventually, my only regret will be that I never got to discover that next UNKNOWN, just over the horizon. I want to build my castle around the entire Universe.

I appreciate the KNOWN, but I refuse to be limited by it. It can be a trap - if you let it - and you will never experience the next UNKNOWN. And that is the most special UNKNOWN of all:

The Next One"

As you can tell, Mike and I have the same philosophy of life. Sooo, his signature at the end of his emails got me thinking - what the hell is ZEN? Sooo, I looked it up on the internet and found:

What is the Meaning of Zen? by Rafael Espericueta  The word Zen has become part of the English language, but what exactly does it mean?  It’s much easier to answer the question “When is Zen?”, for that answer would have to be “Now!”.  The whole point of Zen practice is to become fully aware, here and now.  To come home to the present moment; this is truly where we live.  Thinking verbally takes us far into the past, or into the distant future.   But both past and future are fantasies, since the future isn’t known and our memories of the past are often quite distorted accounts of what really happened.  Zen exhorts one to “Come to your senses!”, for when we get lost in thoughts of the past or future, life passes us by.   When one mindfully dwells in the present moment, one completely dissolves into whatever activity manifests.  One becomes the activity.  Most people have had peak experiences, which all involve being so totally involved with life that one’s sense of separateness dissolves into the experience.  Very Zen. The word ‘Zen’ is the Japanese attempt at pronouncing the Chinese word ‘Chan’, which in turn is the Chinese attempt at pronouncing the Sanskrit word ‘Dhyana’, which translates as ‘meditation’.  And indeed, the word Zen conjures up an image of motionless Buddhist monks lost in deep meditation.  This mysterious image becomes less mysterious when you realize the monks are simply practicing being here now.  And even cats frequently practice that. Cognitive scientists tell us that it takes about a third of a second for our brains to start thinking about a sensory experience (meaning verbally interpreting it).  A third of a second is a vast chasm separating one from “right now”.   A Zen master once proclaimed: Lightening flashes, sparks fly! In one blink of the eye, you have missed seeing.  Living fully and authentically in the present moment makes each instant of one’s life a peak experience.  Each moment is filled with a profound peace and clarity.  Each moment is perceived to have infinite depth and significance, charged with magic and mystery, infinitely precious.  Zen brings us face to face with our true original nature, undefiled by cultural conditioning and painful neurotic tendencies.    Words and concepts can be useful, but mistaking them for reality is a big mistake.  Concepts about reality are not reality.  The menu is not the food.  Dissolving all ones preconceptions, beliefs, concepts, and judgments about ourselves and the universe, can be a very liberating experience.  What a relief to let go of all that baggage!  (Most or all of it is not true anyway.)    Simplicity is often associated with Zen.  And Zen practice is indeed simple, if not easy.  Just practice being fully present, right here, right now.  Perceive directly, without filtering perceptions through beliefs and preconceptions.  Dissolve into the eternal now, and realize that the Universe itself peers out through your eyes, hears through your ears, and breaths each breath.  Unity beyond all conception.  If not now, then when?

What I got out of that definition is that ZEN is all about living in the NOW. That means to me, being brave and go after all the UNKNOWNS out there. That means to me, focusing on what is happening NOW and not focusing on the past or the future. In my first book, I wrote an example from Ken Keyes's book (and one of my favorite books) The Three Prescriptions To Happiness. I'll paraphrase:

A man is being chased by tigers. he runs away only to end up at the top of a cliff. As the tigers' approach, he decides to grab a vine and slowly go down the cliff. When he gets half way down the cliff he realizes there are more tigers at the bottom of the cliff. He looks up and the other tigers are still at the top. 

Then he looks straight ahead and sees a small strawberry bush growing out of the side of the cliff. He plucks one of the berries and eats it...it's the sweetest, most delicious strawberry he ever tasted. 

What I got out of Keyes's story is we all have tigers up above and below, but instead of focusing on the tigers, I choose to enjoy the strawberry of right NOW. 

What ever happened in the past is over and done. As far as my future, what I'm doing right now has a big impact into my future. If I can live my life in the NOW, which is very hard, then; 

I will bring my ZEN up the mountain