"I think; therefore, I am," [Dainin Katagiri] Roshi quoted Descartes's famous line. "I'm sure he knew, but forgot to mention," and here Roshi took a long pause, "I don't think; therefore, I'm not."
Goldberg, Natalie, THE GREAT FAILURE: A Bartender, a Monk, and My Unlikely Path to Truth, HarperSanFranciscoPuffin, New York, 2004. p110.
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Recently re-reading Goldberg's book this particular paragraph struck me once again.
I don't know if Descartes did know or not, but I do feel that the second half of this equation is often missing in the common 'Western' understanding of the world. We claim our existence, claim our separateness from all else, but forget, or do not know, that we too are interconnected with everything, that we are also no-thing, we are part of the ongoing process of the universe.
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1 comment:
I hadn't heard Katagiri Roshi's version - funny!
Zen Master Seung Sahn also used to refer to Decartes' famous line and then say, "Not thinking - then what??"
I never heard him talk more about this but suspect that he was open to the possibility of anything appearing when not-thinking - may "I'm not" or maybe "I am" or maybe something else. Don't know!
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