Page 17 - Zen of an Earth Mythology
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destroying the ecologies we need in order to live—an
irony that would elicit a knowing and compassionate
smile from any Zen master.
This is but a sample of the perplexities in which
we live, and the reality we are supposed to embrace.
Contractions and paradoxes abound. Our old mythology
is in tatters. Nothing is quite what it seems. Or, as
Alice declared amid the oddities of Wonderland, things
are getting “curiouser and curiouser.” The koan is
working its magic.
The enigmatic qualities of Zen perfectly befit our
times. Accordingly, we can expect that the mythology
we are moving toward will be similar. Like Zen itself, it
will be grounded, real, practical and personal. Although
inexplicable, the answers it provides will come from
being wholly present in the fullness of each moment.
As noted by Shunryu Suzuki, a Soto Zen master, “If it's
not paradoxical, it's not true.” Because reality does not
organize itself to match any of the paradigms in our
thoughts, the “true” we seek does not reside in any of
our invented ideas. Thinking only confuses us. So
somewhere between thoughts is the answer to our
koan, and the way to an Earth mythology.
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