The Unwritten Book part 2

Truth number one is, 'All is one'. Why is this Truth not the Truth? Because, although All is One, it is also not one; yet it is not two either. You see, already the words make no sense. The Truth is beyond words and the rational mind; The Truth includes the irrational too. For even nothing, by the definition of everything, is included in everything.

We call this Ai Mai (Vague, Un-definable). The Truth cannot be put into words instead it leads the words round and round... From one side of the Truth to it's opposite, trying to include everything. Sometimes the Truth is best left to calligraphy, painting, poetry or some other art form. In our tradition we use: Kyu(u)do(u) (Japanese Zen Archery), Hatsu-Zen-Do(u) (Zen Calligraphy), Zo(u)-En-Sekkei (Landscape/Garden Architecture), & Chado(u) (The Way of The Tea).

My teacher would never tell me all of this in outright prose like this. But instead, would relate stories of the past that embraced these ideas and taught lessons; in this way, he connected me with my inheritance, with his legacy, family, and history.

The Unwritten Book Part 1

Many students kept asking me to write down the principles behind our school. In an attempt to both please them, and explain why that was difficult, I wrote the following paper. The paper is a little long so I'll break it down into a few blog posts.

There is an unwritten book. It is unwritten because it is never to be written down, but is to be transmitted down orally from master to master; my teacher called this menju kuketsu (oral secrets transmitted face to face). This unwritten book has been passed down to me. I was told not to write it down; but to pass it down only 'face to face'. Yet, here I am writing it down. I write it down for me, and those I sit with face to face. I write it down for generations to come, so that it will not be lost.

Why do we not write it down? Everyone knows the Truth; That All is really connected, that nothing is really separate; so, there is no reason to write it down. Plus, words by their nature define and separate, so the Truth of Wholeness cannot be written down, it cannot even be put into words. This is why so often we use art to try and point the way to this Truth. The Truth is whole, the Truth is everything, but words separate everything into definable pieces. To try and write down the Truth is sure folly. Words, at best, only 'point the way;' they merely reflect some aspect of the Truth, the way the Moon reflects a portion of the Sun's light. So I know I shouldn't write this down, some have tried before me. Success is impossible, But I write, what I can , anyhow.