Only Don't Know; Grace Knows
There’s a Korean Zen teacher named Seung Sahn. He’s famous for bringing the Korean version of Zen to America. He got his start working in a laundromat in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1970’s. He attracted some students from Brown University and this led to the implanting of his unique form of Zen in the West. His teaching can be summed up in a phrase he repeated over and over in his teaching – Only Don’t Know. Seung Sahn taught when you approach the world from the standpoint of not knowing anything and being okay with not knowing, you can live an enlightened, contented life. You know that phrase, ignorance is bliss? Well, Seung Sahn basically taught the truth of that phrase and built a spiritual teaching and practice upon the truth that ignorance is bliss. A Japanese teacher, Shunryu Suzuki had a similar approach with his Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. If we approach the world as if a beginner in the task of living life, we will live enlightened, contented lives. For a some time in...