Seeing the Pole star in the Southern sky

I'm not sure who I stole this line from..

Zen is: "Seeing the Pole star in the Southern sky"

This is one of those phrases that not too often comes up in Zen; One with absolute simplicity, clarity, and pointing to Tao like an arrow stuck out of its forehead.

This concept is absolutely the message to be learned to enter Samadhi and once developed can lead to yet further inroads. Without understanding of this then you couldn't feel if you punched your own nose.

What it says should be clear but in its simplest form is the idea of everything being a relationship to what it is not.

People unfamiliar with these basic concepts will reply with very worldly statements.

Given the question "What is more important; the air in your lungs or all the rest?" - a very worldly response proves a failure of seeing this core truth of "Seeing the Pole star in the Southern sky". 

1) "That in my lungs as without it I'd die" - Worldly, simple, straightforward.

2) "All the rest, I've used this bit" (exhales) - Worldly, cunning, witty, open.

3) "They are the same ocean and I can not separate them" - Metaphysical, open, recognizes truth.

4) "[  ]" (saying nothing, smiling from the small of the back to the crown of the head) - Realized.

5) "Let's eat!" (grins, pulls you up off your chair and slaps your back) - Probably the Buddha.

This recognition is expected for Zen study as how can a person see to the truth in any Koan or passage without this core realization? They can not. There is no structure to Zen, you can not read a text book 12 times and you know it. You'll be dumber than the book itself.

With this basic premise (realized) the person is then able to see many more truths in statements that would pass others by. This is not an attempt at an "in-crowd" mentality by Zen but a very valid and powerful method for getting more from the written word than can be achieved through literal methods.

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Tao Wow | Daily Cup of Tao