To Study the Way
The following stanza is one that is very valuable to me and I have often reflected upon it and shared with others:
To Study the Way is to Study the Self
To Study the Self is to Forget the Self
To Forget the Self is to be Enlightened by all things
To Be Enlightened by all things is to remove separation between you and other.
It is a zen saying from Dogen who founded the Soto school of Zen in Japan. He lived from 1200-1253.
Below is a quote from Epictetus was a Greek stoic philosopher, alive between 50-135 A.D. Someone who couldn’t seem more different than Dogen. Culturally, historically, geographically, and yet….
“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.” -Epictetus
Forgetting the self is forgetting what you think you know. They are saying the same thing. They were seeing the same thing, that when we close our minds, nothing can enter. When we think we know, when we put ourself above or apart from another, we miss making the connection with the other part of us, the other being. Forget the self, Dogen says, forget your conceit, and conceited opinions, says Epictetus. They are both saying listen, look, pay attention. They are both saying, you are not different.
Another famous zen story
A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's full! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "This is you," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup."
Is also saying the same thing. Don’t be so full of yourself, there isn’t room to let new things in. To learn, to discover. To be enlightened by all things, instead of learning nothing, or knowing everything, and being as good as dead already. Wake up. Live.
Which is also what Lao Tzu says when he says:
“He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.”
How is that true? Isn’t the zen master speaking to tell the man he is full. The difference is the professor is talking of all the things he knows while not paying attention to where he is or who he is with. He could be taking in the experience of the tea and the zen master. Did he come to learn or to impress the zen master?
The one who knows, in some ways knows he doesn’t know, and stays in a state of presence and awareness to be enlightened by all things. A state of discovery always. A state of response-ability. Or as Stephen Batchelor says, able to respond. Responding is not the same as reacting. Reacting is what the professor did, responding is what the zen master did.
A common thread in stoicism, zen and taoism. The common thread begins inside you, thats the only “way.” To study the way is to study the self! Can you see why that one is so precious?
Are you ready to study your SELF? To truly get to know YOU? The body is the gateway as it holds all things and through the process of releasing the bodily patterns, you will also release your mental patterns. It is a true path to transformation. It is so clear you’re going the right direction that we are happy to offer a Free Pilates Yoga lesson, (either online or live in West Seattle) in the “Get to know YOU” style developed over my nearly 20 years of teaching.