The Art of Zen

     "I stand in front of the water, sand sinking under my toes, board clutched under my arm.  Looking out across the blue, I watch as the waves pulse against the shoreline, the ocean's heartbeat echos inside my chest. I slow my breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Steady rhythm draws   me inward to a focal point where all my energy harmonizes with my surroundings. Focus narrowing, the   ocean and I become one in the same. In those brief moments I become aware of the count down. Time has no real meaning in this place of zen, only the realization that soon every muscle, every fiber, all action and intent, mind, body and soul will be working in sync, reacting without thought, adjusting to my surroundings, firing efficiently and effectively on its own.  I become something more, something indescribable."

     My best friend once asked me to define zen? The image that immediately came to my mind was that of a serene landscape filled with luscious green trees. Across the background sat snow capped mountains below a bright blue sky dotted here and there with wispy white clouds. A babbling brook traced a path from the edge of the tree line through a dandelion filled meadow. A living symphony whispered across the open space carried on a gentle breeze, swaying the cotton tipped flowers, breathing, pulsing, very much alive. In the moment the image flashed through my head I pondered the word zen and what it really meant. It would be foolish to think that zen is definitive, for even the image in my mind, when put into words, cannot give credit to that which it truly is. A more accurate definition of zen would be the way that the image made me feel, for in that moment I became aware of the breeze across my face. I could hear the sounds coming from a place inside me and around me. Even the grass beneath my feet seemed all too real. Would that mean that zen is something real? Did for a moment my essence transport itself to that place? I cannot say what zen is, and I don't think anyone really can. Truly believing is much like zen in the sense that achieving both is personal. I hope that just like truly believing, each person may find what zen is for themselves,. Perhaps zen and truly believing are one in the same.