Mental Storms

Zen is a matter of character and not of intellect which means that Zen grows out of the will as the first principle of life. A brilliant intellect may fail to unravel all the mysteries of Zen, but a strong soul will drink deep of the inexhaustible fountain. I do not know if the intellect is superficial and touches only the fringe of one’s personality, but the fact is that the will is the man himself and Zen appeals to it.

D. T Suzuki in his essay Satori explains Zen in terms we all can understand. Zen expresses life or the experiences within a focused physical reality. Will or consciousness is a deep well of knowing and Zen is the river that originates from the well and wets the awareness as we allow our intellect to rest. Intellect is an expression of ego so there is a chasm between the intellect and the will even though both function in this stream of consciousness.

The will vibrates with impulses that are rooted in innate desires that expand the essence of consciousness. The intellect dissects these impulses and chooses how to interpret them based on the beliefs established by the ego. The truth of Zen is covered by a separated personality that accepts the limitation of rationalism, so truth becomes a personal belief filled with associations and alterations. The character of consciousness expands from this separation and eventually merges in the river as the awareness of Zen is accepted rationally even though there are no rational concepts in the enzymes of Zen.

We create mental storms, emotional earthquakes and self consuming floods that bring the intellect into the river where it is baptized by Zen and then becomes it. This experience is not measured in time; in fact it’s not measured at all. It is what we already are as we express it without thought.