Self-Knowledge and Self-Realization

DON’T BE CAUGHT BY WORDS

Seung Sahn taught a special sort of Zen that amounted to one thing: Don’t be attached to words!

This simple principle is not easily mastered.

It means when you listen to a teacher or  your spouse, don’t get caught by their words.  Your spouse knows how to verbally get your goat.  As long as they still can, you are still caught by words.  If a teachers speaks to you about the wonders of self-realization, and you then ask, “How can I get that?,” you are caught by words.

Suppose you wife says, “You have been ignoring me all day long,” how do you respond? Argue with her about the truth of her statement?  Would you say, “Sorry honey, but I have been preoccupied with Zen koans.”

Seung Sahn would say in both situations you are captured by words. Even saying “Sorry honey” means you have bought into her story and you are trying to avoid an argument, or are sincerely concerned about her own story-generated emotions.

A correct Zen answer might be, “Seems cold in here, where do we store our blankets?”  You respond, but not following even one word or her story, trying  to get her out of her head into perceiving the world.  Some may feel infuriated with your response, but this is Seung Sahn’s way of ignoring her words, for they are just part of your usual routine, and try to take her to her surroundings.

Or, if you are devious, you can make up a lie that makes her feel good.

His point is, don’t get caught by words. Refuse to accept someone else’s story, your spouses, or Donald Trump.  It is all false news.

This is why I teach by directly transmitting energies by all kinds of means, including words and voice, because we join each other in the same experience, the same story without using mundane stories, but by uplifting experiences.