Principles Of Calligraphy

Anthropocentric Terminologies

The Bible says that God created man in his own image; that is not true. Man has created God in his own image; that is far more true. The God that we have created is our idea, it is anthropocentric. If horses were philosophers, God could not be a man, he would be a supreme horse. If donkeys were philosophers – and who knows – they may be; they look very serious, always brooding, as if in deep contemplation, thinking of great things… Watch a donkey and you will be certainly aware of this simple fact that donkeys are great thinkers. They are constantly somewhere else far away, involved in great esoteric things; that’s why people think they are fools. They are not fools, they are philosophers. If donkeys are thinking – if they are theologians, theosophists, philosophers – then God will be a supreme donkey. God cannot be a man, that’s impossible. They cannot imagine God to be a man.

Hence, Zen avoids any anthropocentric terminologies, any words that can become associated with our circumference. It does not call God, Brahman because that is a philosophical term. Maybe the best philosophical term, but even the best philosophical term is still philosophy, and philosophy is something of the mind – you can think about brahman.

Zen says: Buddhahood is not somewhere far away. You are just sitting on top of it. You are it! So there is no need to go anywhere; you just have to become a little alert about who you are. It has already happened! Nothing has to be achieved, nothing has to be practiced! Only one thing: you have to become a little more alert about who you are.

Zen teaches, therefore, not by words. Zen teaches, therefore, not by goals. Zen teaches by direct pointing. It hits you directly. It creates a situation, it creates a device.

A man came to a Zen master and asked, “I would like to become a Buddha.” And the master hit him hard.

The man was puzzled. He went out and asked some old disciple, “What kind of man is this? I asked such a simple question and he got so angry. He hit me hard! My cheek is still burning. Is it wrong to ask how to become a Buddha? This man seems to be very cruel and violent!”

And the disciple laughed. He said, “You don’t understand his compassion. It is out of his compassion that he has hit you hard. And he is old, ninety years old; just think of his hand – it will be burning more than your cheek! You are young. Think of his compassion, you fool! Go back!”

But the man asked, “But what is the message in it?”

And the disciple said. “The message is simple. If a Buddha comes and asks how to become a Buddha, what else is there to do? You can hit him and make him aware that you are it. What nonsense you are talking about!”

If a rosebush starts trying to become a rosebush, it will go mad. It is already the rosebush. You may have forgotten. Zen says you are in a state of slumber, you have forgotten who you are, that’s all. Nothing has to be done, just a remembrance. That’s what Nanak calls surati, Kabir calls surati – just a remembrance. You have only to remember who you are!

So Zen teaches not by words, not by scriptures, not by theories, but by direct pointing, by engaging us in a game in which the only answer is a new level of consciousness.

Listen to this story and you will understand how Zen creates situations. Zen is very psychological. The problem is psychological – you have simply forgotten; it is not that you have gone anywhere. You have fallen asleep. Zen functions as an alarm. It hits you, hits at the heart, makes you awake.