AboutJoe McSorley Expertise I can answer questions dealing with Taoist philosophy and Zen and not the historicity and religion of Buddhism and its different schools. I studied under Dr. Richard DeMartino and Masao Abe of the Kyoto School of Zen.
Two days ago I came across the book 'the power of now' by Eckhart Tolle. I am entranced by the ideas it contains. I want freedom. I want happiness. My life has by and large been a work of sadness and destruction so far. At the beginning of the book he describes how he came about 'enlightenment' through intense suffering. I suffer, and I have had similar experiences to the ones he describes, but I have not found the freedom or peace that he has.
I ask you, how can I reach inner peace? I want to take some kind of action. I originally thought that I would just find Tolle wherever he was and follow him and learn whatever I could. I don't think that he's some kind of god, but I seek a teacher. I just want help. Now my mind is racing with ideas of how to find a temple and join, how to become a monk. I just want freedom from the suffering that is my daily life. How can I take action towards enlightenment? How can I end my suffering?
Thank you for your time and energy!
Answer Dear Tony,
How to find enlightenment, well, the quick response to this is simply to say, who is it that asks this question? This is the entire crux of it; who are you? Any movement away from this question is a distraction. Tolle’s facing the ‘now’ is an approach to this as is zazen, mindfulness or koan practice; it’s all facing yourself in the moment but not moment to moment. One of the real problems is that this is often misunderstood as a psychological solution, something that calms ‘your’ mind. It is not and should not be but this is the way I see it being taught and articulated all the time. You could join one of the many monasteries in the US and they will teach you their understanding of it but it might not be genuine. You might even find a monastery in Japan or elsewhere that will accept you, teach you practices and traditions and regiment you into their way of attempting to solve your problem but what is really happening? Did Tolle need to do this or many others in history? This is not to say that a monastery cannot be tremendously helpful, they can and are, but to find one with an authentic teacher is daunting. I know of one master at a monastery that is authentic but the problem is that he goes through a translator and the translator’s grasp of the subject is very compromised so the student’s have been getting the translator’s idea of Zen and not the teacher’s version.
If you go to a monastery it’s what you bring to the situation that will move you along as opposed to what they can teach you. When Hui ka approached Bodhidharma he was not told to practice, meditate, study or anything else, he was told to present his self (heart/mind). He became awakened because of what he brought to it and had struggled with himself for years prior to the event. The egg was ready to hatch and Bodhidharma just gave it a tap.
You can end your suffering by realizing who it is that suffers. Investigate this thoroughly without accepting some form of belief or rationalization. Know it fundamentally and from your heels, not your brain. I would read everything from D.T.Suzuki to Tolle and realize they are all bound by their language and culture as to how it is explained. You have to find what drives you deeper and don’t be fooled by what sounds ‘good’ or makes sense, that is the rational side of things. As Bodhidharma said, the road is long and hard, not comfortable and soothing as today’s teachers might have you believe. For some the road is short and quick but that is because the fruit was ripened already.
Good luck.
Joe
