Where All Things Exist

Zen is the ultimate fact of all philosophy and religion. Every intellectual effort must culminate in it, or rather must start from it, if it is to bear any practical fruits. Every religious faith must spring from it if it has to prove at all efficiently and livingly workable in our active life. Therefore Zen is not necessarily the fountain of Buddhism thought and life alone; it is very much alive also in Christianity, Mohommedanism in Taoism and even in positivistic Confucianism. What makes all these religious and philosophies vital and inspiring, keeping up their usefulness and efficiency, is due to the presence in them of what I may designate as the Zen element.

D.T Suzuki explained the life force, which permeates all consciousness in his 1949 book Essays In Zen Buddhism. Zen is a region of consciousness. Zen is not a product of Buddhism; it is the source of Buddhism and every other religious belief. Western religious groups call this life force by other names, but the energy captured within those names comes from the same region of consciousness that Suzuki identifies. Our beliefs about the nature of this region creates the mystery that surrounds its existence.

When we examine our belief structure, and consciously change the beliefs that don’t give us the experiences we want, we discover the power of Zen. Zen is the region where all things exist. In that region, energy manifest very quickly. Our imagination illuminates the light of Zen, and our emotions signal the physical presence of Zen. Our imagination, beliefs, and emotions create our world. These psychic elements constantly change our reality even when we are unaware of the power within them.