Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake

The thing I like about Zen is its winning combination of austerity and irreverance; it can really cut to the chase about Buddhist principles. And who doesn't like a good kōan, ready to shock them into a state of higher awareness? WHO, I ASK YOU?

This book is a collection of recollections and stories from a popular Zen master, Seung Sahn. Zen's history in American Buddhism is always very interesting, and many Buddhist teachers that came to the West brought with them charisma and controversy (e.g. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and so on). Seung Sahn seems to have been the same (well, if his wiki is to be believed!), and I would have loved to learn more about the life and politics stuff back in Korea: for example, he was originally from Pyongyang, born into a Presbyterian family, before emigrating south and converting to Buddhism.

The stories really convey Seung Sahn's charisma: I found myself laughing out loud, and appreciating the wit - even cheek! - of some of them. I loved the short section on “Can women attain Enlightenment?” (yo, feminist-me was all ready for battle - as was the woman in the story - Seung Sahn's repartee, “Oh, so you're a woman then?” was a great way to pull the rug out from under me/her). The writing - like any book that purports to be about wisdom and parables - felt sometimes simplistic, sometimes repetitive, sometimes “OK, OK, I get it!” But I guess this would be when a Zen student would get hit with the stick. You don't get it! It was especially pleasant to find the stories and messages resonating in my day-to-day activities. I found both existential solace (always useful!) and some good kōan-ish (in Korean, I think it's kong'an?) moments to chew over. Because woman/man/etc stuff is all just false dichotomy, dust-in-the-eyes stuff. Yo, we can get into Buddhist philosophy later...