Personally realizing the secret of Zen

I have been working on trying to put a book together.  It is not easy to do because the sense of the book is for someone who decides to get serious about realizing the secret of Zen this being also the title.  I am writing it in the second person, using the pronoun “you,” which gives it a more personal sense.  Here is an example.

Today’s Zen institutions have either consciously or unconsciously decided to adapt to the ways of the world so that Zen is supposed to teach you how to get along with people that you either don’t like very much such as a co-worker, or people you dislike for no apparent reason.  They just irritate you.  Zen is also supposed to help you handle your everyday tensions and problems including anger and depression.  Also, Zen is supposed to help you stop your addictions such as smoking or substance abuse. 

Do you see what is happening?  To be frank with you, none of this is what Zen is supposed to do!  You’re supposed to have all your ducks in a row before you undertake the upward climb of Zen's path.  Zen requires a person who is hardy, yet humble and open to radical change—not some crybaby who can’t let go of their toys.  Yes, it’s typical to want some help if you have mental problems.  But in Zen, it’s different.  You are pretty much on your own.  It is assumed that you are a mature person.  Think about it, it’s your responsibility—not your teacher’s—to raise yourself up by your own bootstraps.  Without a love for this arduous, mysterious path of Zen you will eventually falter.  Wanting to learn the secret of Zen should be foremost on your mind.  Everything else is secondary.

This is unedited but it gives you an idea of what I am trying to get across.  I want to be frank with the reader.  The journey will not be easy.  The adept, as I write, will be put eventually between a rock and a hard place.  They will eventually come to their wits’ end in what Zen master Dahui called “great doubt.”  This is a serious spiritual crisis since everything the adept used in the past to realize the secret of Zen has utterly failed.

The good news is I have personally done all this and much more.  Let me tell you this, it is one fucking adventure like no other. The reader just needs faith and the courage to stay on the path. 

Comments

[TheZennist]

D: I am working on it every day—writing and editing. I am trying to bias it to the right hemisphere of the brain where our spiritual door resides. I plan on putting some autobiographical material in it also. I found out that Bodhidharma's cave is 23 feet (it's like an adit). The adit where I meditated is 43 feet. I went far deeper than he did. lol

[Coyote]

After several years of following your blog, I’d love to read a compilation of your thoughts, comments, observations and personal lessons in the form of a book.

[Vyartha]

Wow, excellent initiative!
This book needs to happen!