wfs@we13.UUCP (05/27/83)
Relay-Version:version B 2.10 5/3/83; site mhuxt.UUCP Posting-Version:version B 2.10 5/3/83; site we13.UUCP Message-ID:<501@we13.UUCP> Date:Fri, 27-May-83 11:35:31 EDT Organization:Western Electric - Montgomery Illinois Zen and Intuitive Reponse(Part 2) The quality of life that you become innerly attuned with, the indefinable force that permeates all existence, is the tao. The tao is the way of all things, ultimate reality, ever present and ever manifest-but only for that part of consciousness that doesn't look for it. Because the tao loses its essence, its flavor and aroma, its appealing quality when consciousness tries to capture and make it an object of the rationalizing mind. This is why Zen decrys terms, symbols, wordy definitions, and the consequent intellectual search for the "meaning of life" as futile attempts-like trying to outrun your own shadow, bite your teeth, or smell your nose: attempts distracting and ultimately frustrating. There are ways but the way is uncharted; There are names but not nature in words; Nameless indeed is the source of creation, But things have a mother and she has a name. The secret waits for the insight Of eyes unclouded by longing; Those who are bound by desire, See only the outward container..... Lao Tzu Zen calls for the primacy of intuition and instinct over reason and logic in matters too tenuous for words or too exigent for the intellect. The tao which cannot be perceived through conventional modes of rational inspection of scientific inquiry is available to consciousness, but only on an intuitive level, not as an object of rational thought. In such a sense Zen might be discribed as the "Radical intuitionism" of William Barret in Selected Writings in Zen Buddhism. "Radical intuitionism means that Zen holds that thinking and sensing live, move, and have their being within the vital medium of intuition". Zen wants to show that our spontaneous movement into each moment is basically guided by our intuitive consciousness. (cont'd. in part 3)
wfs@mgweed.UUCP (06/16/83)
Zen and Intuitive Response(Part 3) Intuition-a direct perception of a truth or fact independent of reasoning or logistical support, an immediate apprehension of experience that defies rational inquiry. But because of this elusiveness from the rational intellect, Western culture has sublimated instincts and intuitive hunches and encouraged us to disregard them as too imprecise, abstract and nebulous for our overbearing, rationalizing intellect. Zen says it is this Western insistence of intellect as the preferred partner over instinct and intuition that is essentially responsible for a state of exist- tial paralysis; insofar as consciousness does not trust its reflexive intuitive responses in those very instances when they are more reliable and expedient than logistics or rationalization. Graduation exercises at the Shaolin Monastery were indicative of the imphasis put on the intuitive reponse. As part of a student's final exam, he was required to navigate through a long, dark passageway strewn with devices and boobytraps arranged to test the student's intuitive/reflexive reaction. The nature and immediacy of running this gauntlet left the student little time to plan a defense or apply a technique. His only saving grace was how well he was in tune with his inner feeling and instinctual moves. This exercise conveyed to the student that reason and logic could not always be depended upon to deliver them from unfavorable impending circumstances; it is therefore necessary to cultivate an open consciousness to the inner voice, so that it will guide and move us when the intellect is stifled......(cont'd. in part 4)