Zen-Jou - Return to the Source of Life             DE  |  EN

Foundation Charter

Trusting in the guidance of Him who gives us Life and Light and being conscious of the responsibility entrusted to us, we founded the ZEN-JOU COMMUNITY as a means of returning to the source of Life.

Purpose

First of all:

·           to become free from the darkness which keeps us in captivity,

·           to preserve the creation,

·           to promote connection with all expressions of Life and thereby to orientate them with each other, towards Life-Itself.

 

With increasing clarity we realise that our corporate efforts to discover the nature of Life are inadequate. We need to become aware of this. The Sesshins,[1] and the fruits of the training period are required to be integrated into daily life. If the goal of the Exercises and Renunciation is directed, however, towards the Identical then remaining in oneself is no longer adequate: unmistakably our being opens itself to authentic relatedness. The life-giving Source that manifests itself in relatedness is not given only that we become aware, but we are required to participate consciously in it and finally to become part of it. Concretely this means: that the fruits of the corporate training are not to be retained for oneself lest they petrify and become objects. Much more the authentic moment of Life-Itself mirrors itself in the Kernel-_F. Here the authentic moment of Life is grounded in us, in order that the Identical can be experienced. Since we can bear fruit in our lives only with the Lord, it is necessary to be penetrated by the Identical (➝ John 15, 1-8). If we are penetrated by Life-Itself our awareness can grow and we realise our own nothingness. Finally, we receive the clear insight that each image and perception we have of ourselves cannot have the quality of our true selves or that which we expect from ourselves. The awareness of our nothingness is a hard condition that must accompany the entire journey; it ensures that no illusory view of ourselves tarnishes contact with authentic Life.

Through our practice of the Exercise and Renunciation consciousness grows in transparency and this helps us to recognise that we are bound by collective thinking and by the grabbing and manipulative spirit of the Age. This newly won freedom opens the seeker and the sincere probationer to the authentic network of relations present in our Existence. Convinced that growth in freedom is necessary especially nowadays, we founded the ZEN-JOU Community for the return to the Source of Life, with the above stated aims. Texts which will be written in the future will serve to contribute to these aims.

When the ZEN-JOU Exercises and Renunciation are authentically practised then the resultant activity will no longer narrow or contract based on a need for security and a desire to save oneself. The authentic self will become free and it can therefore lead to a deeper manifestation of what Life as such will be for all of us.

All the points that we have presented here concern the probationers in the Sesshin. If the Way we teach and practise with the probationers is successful they will, in turn, become participants who contribute. Different forms of participation are taking place. Their contributions are incorporated in our written texts for the Sesshin. In these texts   the questions and problems of the participants are given expression. What is new here is the requirement that all become conscious of the transforming Power accessed through the Exercises and Renunciation which touches our actions in everyday life.

The purpose of the texts is not to provide information. It is a mistake to read them in this light. They are designed as a form of invitation to us to practise the Exercises and Renunciation. The action of making the journey along this path by the participant is guided by the written texts and the relationship between the daily life of the person making this journey and the texts constitutes a dynamic, mutually supportive process. Furthermore, to grow in personal freedom and to act as a guide for others on this path are no longer mutually exclusive.

The liberation gained through the practice of the Exercises and Renunciation – Shugyō – begins with an understanding of how we are contaminated by self-created objects. As one progresses in freedom from the passions, the probationer realises that he[2] is not bound as before; he then experiences his own nothingness and, comes to know he is not limited by space and time. From this authentic breakthrough there is no return. If you desire to receive the Law of Life you must be in a state of whole-hearted preparedness to accept it. Only Life-Itself can enable you to do it. Only when all our faculties and gifts work together in harmony can we participate in the Truth of Life.

On the one hand, the untouchable Identity is given us within the frame of the Life-Dynamis of the Kernel-_F.  On the other hand, there is our consciousness of the closed-in state or the fleshy part of our soul – Difference – connected with matter, grounded in the gifts of nature and shared with all existing things. All the abilities given to us to meet the requirements of daily life, along with the inheritance from our forefathers reside here, in the lower part of our souls.  These gifts in themselves have no autonomous power to present themselves. Through teaching and practice, the natural gifts of the Difference find their way to become integrated with the Life-Power and can be unfolded in true connection with Identity.

One is required to remain for a long time on this path which (metaphorically speaking) passes through a long night, a consequence of the Law of Life, in order to be born in Him (➝ John 3, 1ff). On this Way a great supernatural penetration takes place and through this purification, freedom is wrought from a false understanding of the ego and a false view of Existence and Non-Existence. Identity shares in the nature of the limitless Reality of Being, by means of a relationship of participation, in being one and in being different. Recognition of this relationship of Identity to the Dynamic of Life-Itself is the key to the door of authentic life given to us. In other words, the Identity [which is unlimited relatedness] is communicating limitlessly beyond itself, even though it has deficiency – and here the paradox is experienced – one that we must resolve in the practice of the Exercises and Renunciation. This paradox is resolved, if Life-Itself penetrates the Identity. If we are unaware of this, an experience of the Identity can cause great damage.

Parallel to the reality described in the foregoing paragraph is a second reality found in us known as Difference; this exists on a lower level of the universe. In itself it is limited, but in dependence on the Identity it does have unlimited possibilities for authentic action.  Difference is required to become aware of its dependence on the Identity; this is decisive for its integration. Left to itself, the Difference lacks insight into itself. Through an awareness of its dependency the Difference can gain insight into itself and by this means gain a taste of true Life. The entire creation, which awaits its own freedom, shares in this transformation and human beings can consciously realise it by means of their responsibility.

Unfortunately it is a fact that many human beings spend a long time in confusion before realising their error, sometimes to the very end of their lives. Ultimately, this veil can be penetrated only by the inseparable Cosmic Energy of Life-Itself, which is actively bringing everything about: neither matter, nor consciousness, nor intelligence can do so. This Cosmic Energy acts as a principle of causation lying behind all cosmic phenomenon, as the power in the material and as the Life-Energy in all living physical bodies.

The inborn fear of the inscrutable has to be changed into awe before the Mystery of Life in us human beings by means of the Exercises and Renunciation. One needs to become conscious that Life must not be betrayed, otherwise awe withers. That which burdens our Age, and consciousness shows it, is the fact that modern human beings live without awe. One can almost have the impression that there is a danger in our time that awe is being banished from society, even banned or erased from the heart of the human being.  In so far as we live without awe – as an unwritten norm in society – people give themselves the freedom to become self-serving in their activity. In this case, everything can be reduced to an object.

Yet the life given to us may not be betrayed. It is our duty not only to uncover this betrayal, but also to point out a path for other people, on which what we do and leave undone is determined by reverence. By means of the Exercises and Renunciation the reverence grounded in us – a foundational attitude that cannot be divorced from life – can recover and through this recovery, trust and gratitude can be re-awakened. In our Age of radical change, when the demand for a growing consciousness is without limit, it is imperative for this process to be grounded in awe, because awe preserves the foundational values of Life in the course of all change.

 

 

 

 

Explanation of the ZEN-JOU COMMUNITY – return to the source of Life

The basic intention of the ZEN- JOU Community -rsl is to reconnect the human being to the source of Life. This requires an abandonment of the media’s collective claim to possess the truth; this collective social claim is a problem which has also invaded the Church nowadays. In this context we need the Exercises and Renunciation to introduce each one to the task of bearing the sufferings of his own existential existence, which in turn opens us to awareness of our connectedness and compassion for the whole of Reality and to our responsibility for it. Acceptance of this responsibility purifies our consciousness and opens human beings to their inter-connectedness with the whole of Life, to a realisation of life grounded in the Creator. Only within this frame of reference can our actions correspond with our realised responsibilities.

As a consequence of original sin our relation to our created, authentic Identity is damaged: our ego-centricity is awakened. Our foundational created Identity is replaced by a pseudo-Identity. Only in an honest search for Life can the contradictions and their dispositions lying within us be recognised and we can become ready to repent. Once we cease to identify with these dispositions then there is the possibility of freedom from enslavement. We no longer identify ourselves with these inner contradictions; therefore we can choose to let them go. We lose in order to win life   (➝ Matthew 13, 44-46).

Acceptance of suffering can result in a purification of consciousness. It can also lead us to realise that the mission entrusted to us is part of God’s plan of salvation. Suffering has no purpose in itself, but through suffering we can realise our nature as being co-responsible. A decisive and trustful attitude in daily life can enable us to assemble our abilities in a greater unity, in a deeper correspondence with Life. In an act of renunciation of everything – not only of that which hinders our progress, but also of each idea of what is or what should be the goal – we will be freed in order to be filled with Life-Itself; in this way the still Unknown, with its otherness, can be experienced.

How can the practice of the Exercises and Renunciation – understood as an entity – lead to freedom?  It can only be achieved by our placing our trust in Life-Itself to support and carry us, even before we reach the next stage of our journey. We are given the abilities of our consciousness to help us; through their functions they enable us to communicate with the environment that supports us. But essentially what is required is the seed of faith that needs to be awakened in us: Happy are those in whose ground it [the seed of faith] takes root and bears fruit. (➝ Matthew 13, 1-58).

To enter the Exercises in order to search solely for ‘myself’ [to have our egocentricity strengthened] will prove a hindrance to acting in accordance with my responsibilities.  Practising the Exercises and Renunciation as preparedness to receive Life-Itself is the opposite to a narcissistic endeavour. For, ‘to each person who has something even more will be given and he will have more than enough, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away’ (Matthew 25, 29).

 

Negation of Life: its Extinction

The unalterable split in the Kernel-_F function, the antagonistic division in the relationship between Identity and Difference has its cause in the bite of the serpent, that is, in original sin. Division in the human heart has been brought about by the envy of the One, who himself has dropped out of the unity of Life. The essential communication between Identity and Difference in the created order has been deeply wounded. Yes, the ordered link between them is poisoned. Therefore Difference cannot understand Identity and remains impervious to its interpenetration. The possibility remains moreover, that Difference because of its own absurdity can even turn against Life-Itself. It can even dominate Life and conceive in its consciousness the belief that it is fully autonomous.

By means of Baptism and the Sacraments this break between Identity and Difference is cancelled, giving us the Light to recognise their relationship. We will be enlightened on the true nature of Difference and our basic abilities will be brought together in accordance with our created origin. The awareness of that which opposes Life-Itself must remain awake in us, as must the consciousness that all of creation is affected adversely by every action committed against Life. Every erroneous action affects the whole of creation. We need the saving power of Life-Itself in order to overcome this damaged state, and the whole of creation takes part in our salvation. Not to ignore this sense of our belonging to the whole of creation is the key to our finding the Way back to original unity.

Although we have the gift of the sacraments, our cooperation is indispensable. The Exercises and Renunciation are a necessary praxis, freeing our whole being to   cooperate with the Lord in His work of salvation. To the degree that the scattered powers within us are brought together, our consciousness becomes sensitized to our identification with our accumulated, meaningless actions by which we evade Life. Should the reception of the sacraments intersect with this awareness our whole existence will be involved and the authentic Identity of the Kernel-_F will be awakened. This includes readiness to accept the reconciliation gained for us through the act of redemption. In other words, it is a matter of wiping out the inborn enmity within us.

The exercise of renunciation has its presupposition in Shugyō, which involves us in a dis-identification with those powers not in accordance with Life, which are stored within. Should the abilities given to us bear fruit, they must first be purified in order that they can attain their proper purpose within the Life-Dynamis. In our search to return to the source of Life we depend on a double process working together, that of clearing those obstacles working against Life and also the readiness to receive it. The possibility of gaining freedom from that which intends to work against Life, along with the freedom to permit Shugyō to be activated that is, to realise and to emerge from the darkness of our consciousness, is dependent on the foundational Life-Dynmasis. This is the reason why ZEN-JOU, along with other understandings designed to purify human consciousness were given to humankind from the beginning, as a freeing invitation to practise conversion, so that humanity could approach the meaning of Life. This is possible only because Christ ‘that mystery hidden for ages and generations but now has made manifest [this secret] to his saints’ (Colossians 1, 26). It can be grasped by human insight, since He is the key that opens all ‘the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (Colossians 2, 3).

It is decisive for us to recognise that the systems of value and knowledge discovered by humanity find their integration in Christ, even before his coming as man into the world. ‘[…] for in Him God created everything […] all things were created through Him and for Him’ (Colossians 1, 16). With Him and through Him life is opening itself to us in its fullness on a radically new level, but that which had been given prior to His coming must not be let go of, it must be fulfilled and brought to perfection (➝ Matthew 5, 17-20; Luke 5, 36-39). Likewise from the beginning of ZEN – dhyãna – the possibility of development and maturation are given, in order that in Him it is realised and we come to fullness of stature. Only through Him does the given Moment of universal communication come to full completion, that is through ‘Christ in you’ (Colossians 1, 27). In so far as Shugyō is not used in order to achieve something, but is founded on self-emptying then it opens the door to Life.

 

Yugawayama, 8 December 2007

Fr. Gebhard Kohler