Introduction(10)

Why is this book called The Compass of Zen? Buddhist teaching reveals that this world is an ocean of suffering. Everyone is born, suffers, grows old, and dies. We are reborn, we suffer, we grow old, and then we die. Every single being is reborn over and over and over again. Because of our desires and attachment. We have been doing this since beginningless time. The Sanskrit name for that is samsare-everything is always going around and around and around. The Sino-Korean characters for that are go hae, or “ocean of suffering.” The Buddha taught that we must take a boat across this ocean of samsara, a ship of wisdom or “prajna ship.” But like every ocean-going vessel, this ship needs a compass.

Let’s say that you want to take a ship from Los Angeles to Korea. On board you have stowed plenty of food and clothing and medicine. These are necessary for your body to stay alive. But how do you find your destination on this journey? The most important thing to be clear about is your direction. If your direction is not clear, you will wander for years and years all over the ocean. You will be easily lost. In the meantime, perhaps you will run out of food, or get stranded on some island. So more than anything lese on your journey, your direction is most important: “How can I find Korea? How do I get there? Where is Korea?”

To find your correct direction, you need a compass. If sailors have no compass, then even though they may have a very good boat, good maps, and excellent weather, they will not perceive clearly their correct direction. They will certainly lose the way and not reach the destination. But when you use this boat’s compass correctly, you can find your true way. Then you can perceive that actually your true way is always right in front of you.

So if you want to understand your true self, you must practice meditation. Only keep this question very deeply. “What am I?” Don’t knowww…. But there are many kinds of teachings you can follow along the way. There is Tibetan Buddhist teaching, Chinese Buddhist teaching, Korean Zen, Japanese Zen and Namu myoho renge-kyo; there is Vipassana, Transcendental Medetation, and Clear Light Meditation. There is Pure Land practice, Tantric Buddhism, and esoteric Buddhism. There are many, many kinds of teachings, especially nowadays in the West. What is a clear teaching, and how does it function? How does it point directly to mind? How does it help us find our correct way, truth, and a life that functions spontaneously and compassionately for all beings? That is the point of making this compass: to help you find the true bone of the Buddha’s teaching in the three major Buddhist divisions.