Words v. Silence

Do you think there is such a thing as a clarifying word?

In this day and age that is so very noisy, with so many competing messages, where we are saturated with words everywhere we turn - people talking, people shouting, people typing, as I am now ... can words still be helpful in encouraging the fundamental, ineffable Zen experience (or revelation, or realization, or whatever we want to call it; none of these words captures it, of course, which gives a glimpse into the problem ...)

Can words help, or is it more true that in this day and age it is better to simply stay silent and sit zazen, and as a core value decide not to engage with the noise, and thereby stand on one's own two feet rather than descend into the ordinary use of language, which it seems to me goes hand-in-hand with what Seung Sahn sometimes calls "dry, empty cognition"?

The question comes up for me because recently I have felt the call to shift from being a student of Zen and nondualism and the mystic core of actualizing the fundamental point, and to start sharing with others what I have learned over 15 years of study and practice. So I started a podcast called Inflections of the Mystic Message (which I invite you to listen to through most podcast providers, or at mysticalmessenger.com) in which I offer guided meditations and use the words of awakened beings to point to the Suchness of Being, to Absolute Truth. And in part this is really exciting for me; it feels dharmic and like it can help people who are searching for meaning to find the truth within themselves, to help people like myself as I was 15 years ago ... but on the other hand I wonder if it isn't just adding noise onto noise, if I'm trying to put out a fire by lighting a match.

What do you think? Especially in the context of our noisy modern world: Are there such things as honest words that can clarify the matter? Is this subreddit helpful? Is it helpful to read books on zen, or to share experiences with each other? Can a podcast dedicated to authentic awakening help?

Or does it all only help us in accumulating knowledge when in fact what we need to do is strip all of it away and empty ourselves of every word, every story, every teaching, even and including our concepts and stories and teachings about Zen?

Submitted March 17, 2022 at 07:01PM by apocalypseno1 https://ift.tt/dQxPVp3