Zombie Zen

                                                

          A zombie is the body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, 0r just a person whose behavior or responses are wooden, listless, or seemingly rote; automaton.

         Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism which originated in China during the 6th century CE as Chán. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, to Korea and east to Japan.  The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 Dzyen (Modern Mandarin: Chán), which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "absorption" or "meditative state". Over the years many forms of Zen have come and gone.

 It is time to ask if you and I are practicing Zombie Zen!

           A living religion is the one which changes according to the needs of the times keeping its essence.   Is our Zen a Zen that is doctrinally rooted in the past?  If a Religion hasn't changed since it's inception, or continues to cling to dogma that is obviously out of step with the time it's in, or it's social environment, then it is no more living than a stone.  It is doomed to irrelevance simply because society changes and it doesn't.

          Is our Zen simply the animated corpse of a Zen long dead?    Teachers are you responsible for this voodoo.  Do you spend your life trying to reanimate that which is long dead?

   It seems to me too many Zen Masters focus on the trivia of Zen as a way to avoid risking their reputation by exercising their own judgement. If you assume your self a teacher don't pratice voodoo trying to recreate what is long dead.  If you are a master stop trying to  raise the dead, give birth to a living Zen