In Japan, cities of concrete jungles, confined living space, and total chaos is the norm.
This nation survives by conformity, and discouragement of the individual.  A current
transition in government, with an economy bordering on crisis, the country’s inhabitants
find themselves constrained by immense pressure.  It is due to this that the country’s
dominant faith, Zen Buddhism, remains influential in Japanese society today.  Buddhism
is common amongst countries where conformity is the rule.  It provides sanctuary for
individuals to find themselves, an escape from the pressures of everyday life and the
opportunity to discover inner peace.  In Australia with a democratic government, stable
economy and an abundance of living space we may look to Zen and find it has no place
in our society, due to our democratic virtues and encouragement of individualism.  But
within one’s diligent professional life, the individual may seek Zen to emancipate
himself from his hectic lifestyle.  He does so by questioning himself and his existence.
Zen isn’t merely a religion, it is a way of life.
 

Every religion at its highest tells us that life itself is holy and that the full experience of
life is a home coming.  Zen is the Buddhist way of attaining a direct realisation of the
truth..  This direct pointing is to the living experience of Reality, what life is in itself, not
mediated by words or ideas.  Zen alludes to a specific state of awareness in which the
mystery and beauty of life in this very moment is perceived wholly and directly, and with
pure objectivity.  It desires to loosen us from the grip of concepts, to shatter the rigid
thought-forms in which we seek to possess life, so things can be experienced as they
really are.

The Zen way of teaching is to demonstrate Reality rather than to talk about it,  To see it
in its proper teaching capacity we have to overcome our tendency to put everything into
words.  By using the right word for each situation, we lose the enjoyment of experiencing
and learning things for ourselves.

There is not only one method that can awaken the mind to Zen, and to Reality, but there
is training by which one is enabled to let go his hold on his concept-world.  This training
is applied through four avenues : zazen, sitting meditation; koans, problems beyond logic;
sanzen, private interviews with the master; and ordinary physical work in monastery or
gardens - the practice of bringing the others into accord with everyday life.
 

In zazen, one sits in the yogic lotus position and by slow rhythmic breathing brings his
mind to a state which is calm and free from ideas and chatter.  Setting everything aside
he thinks neither good nor evil, right nor wrong.  This is the basis of zazen.  Zazen is not
step by step meditation.  It is simply the easy and pleasant practice of Buddha, the
realisation of Buddha’s wisdom.  The truth appears, through there being no delusion.
This may sound quite outlandish to the average Australian, but it can work harmoniously
with your being.  It provides a form of the utmost relaxation, a state of inmost peace.
Liberty.
 

Following the method of zazen, and the teaching of Zen each one of us will be on the
way to enlightenment - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  ‘Depending on
nothing, you must find your own mind.’  This is a point that must not be forgotten.  The
understanding of Reality is not found in the shifting opinions of the world, but in the only
realisable thing there is: our own existence.  Japanese, Australian, Human or Alien the
search for peace with our inner most self is common amongst us all.