A zen man ( maybe from the twelve century -( see Zen Flesh Zen Bones )would often call to himself " Hey Jan - where are you!" What did he mean, and why would he do this! Was he calling little mind back from its preoccupations, back into the present of big mind? ( The day unfolds perfectly well without the interventions of little mind.)Yet why does he bother to do this? Is it because it lives in restlessness and fragmentation, going from one thing to another and does not like what it feels as losing control-yet has no real peace and stability. And therefore Jan calls it home like the " prodigal son".
The New Age movement has grabbed the word " mindfulness" And uses it in all walks of life ( it has become popularized )Yet little mind cannot really BE mindful- mindfulness is not of the mind in its presence but rather of its absence in the whole - What D.T. Suzuki calls unconscious consciousness.
One can have the most interesting questions, read a lot of esoteric literature and have questions about life but its only when you find your own true question that it has meaning or resonance.
And how the hell does one do that? Well in my own experience, I
try and look at a question as if no-one has asked it before -impossible? perhaps! And when a real question does arrive its important to hold onto it -but more than likely, it will hold onto you!
One can have the most interesting questions, read a lot of esoteric literature and have questions about life but its only when you find your own true question that it has meaning or resonance.
And how the hell does one do that? Well in my own experience, I
try and look at a question as if no-one has asked it before -impossible? perhaps! And when a real question does arrive its important to hold onto it -but more than likely, it will hold onto you!
