Will your mind ever slow down? Anxious about tomorrow, obsessed about yesterday, the mind resists living in the only moment it is ever been afforded: the NOW. We have trained our minds to engage in endless cycles of judgment, commentary, and analysis. Could there be a way to gently quiet the mental cacophony that has become the omnipresent background noise of our lives?
“Keep watch with me.” The words of Jesus from Gesthemani echoed in my head as I set my sleepy body upon the cushion in the dimly lit meditation hall. Fr. Robert Kennedy, a Jesuit priest and Zen teacher entered the room, planted a glowing stick of incense into a bowl of sand, and assumed his place at the front of the room. A copper bell rang three times to begin a 3 day meditation retreat. Its steady vibrations drew me and my breath into the most reliable place where we can meet God--in the silence. Over the next three days, he would teach us, by what he said and by what le left unsaid, about how Zen practice can be used by the faithful Christian to grow closer to Christ.
Fr. Kennedy has become the unofficial translator of Zen practice to a growing number of Christians who have integrated Zen meditation into the Christian life as a way to empty the mind and put on the mind of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 2.16). When asked why he turned to Zen while serving as a missionary in Japan, he responded: “I wanted a faith that was deeper, that was rooted in my experience, that was not a theory that could be blown away with a change in culture. . . . Christianity is not a triumphal march to the Kingdom. It is an emptying of self. This profound teaching of Christian life is very close to Buddhism. Buddhism tries to empty ourselves of a false identity and to come to the world as naked and as crucified as Christ was.”[1][1]
Nearly 30 years later, Fr. Kennedy has received the title roshi, or “old teacher” in the Zen tradition. As a committed Christian, priest, and Zen teacher, Fr. Kennedy has helped thousands to grow closer to Christ by helping them to empty their minds so they might be filled with the mind of Christ.
Fr. Kennedy tells a famous Zen story tells of a man who went to visit a Zen master. First, the old master served tea. He filled his guest's cup to the brim and then kept on pouring. The tea spilled over the sides of the cup, until the astonished man could no longer hold his polite silence. “Stop!” he cried. “No more will go in!” The master quietly replied, “Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
The Christian, inspired by this Zen insight, might likewise ask: how can we put on the mind of Christ, unless our mental space is emptied of its desires, judgments, and incessant mental chatter? A community of Christians will gather to ponder this question on November 12-14 at Holy Family where Fr. Kennedy will lead a weekend retreat entitled, Zen Spirit-Christian Spirit which explores the role of Zen practice in the Christian life. For more information, visit http://www.holyfamilyretreat.org/.
[1][1]Robert E. Kennedy, S.J., “Interview with Fr. Robert Kennedy, S.J,” interview by Tom Fox, National Catholic Reporter website, available at ncrcafe.org/node/1057 (accessed 11 September 2008).
