Here I was a full blown Christian many years back. My mind racing with questions about the size of the Universe, the presence of God, how other religions fit into the picture, and many others My thirst for knowledge could not be quenched back then.

I took on my own personal World Religions studies just to see what everyone else was saying and how it compared to my precious Christianity. So here I was, sitting on a couch in my living room, having recently purchased my first ever Zen book to see what it's all about. I did not know it was a Zen book at the time.

It started off discussing how all views are relative. How a child simply is aware and does not know. That child learns and everything it is taught is a program that rests on top of that original child-like awareness.

Eventually I came across this sentence:

"Just like the thought of a rock, is not an actual rock; So who you think you are, is not who you actually are."

I froze at this expression and began to dismantle it. First I found that it was true, that a rock is its own thing (completely naked without any labels), and whatever I think of it, is merely an imagined illusion based representation of the actual rock. Instantly I saw how the mind superimposes representations over all of reality.

This statement was thus far true. Better yet, it was logical and rational and was devoid of any religious labels. This statement did not belong to Zen, or Satan, or God, or anyone. It was merely fact.

So I continued. Seeing that all mental images/thoughts are not real, but illusions using mental representations superimposed over reality, I then tried to find out who I am, .....that is not a thought.

Any answer that the Mind came up with was a thought, therefore was not I. So I wrestled with this for the next 15 minutes, like a puzzle. Who am I, that is not a thought?..... all the answers were thoughts.

Then it happened. In an instant, I shifted into a third person perspective. I was now viewing the mind. The thinker of thoughts was being seen from a third person perspective. I saw that this thinker of thoughts is not I. The ego was seen for what it is .... a bunch of illusion imaginations.

This was AWESOME!!!!! Filled with Joy and Laughter and Peace and Awe. I hated myself basically all my life and was now free from myself. I was again like a child, seeing everything anew. So after a 2 hour walk in this new child like state where everything was in Awe, I came back home sat on the couch, took a deep sigh of relief from being freed from myself, and then then next shift happened......

This childlike state seemed to drop instantly into an Ocean of Oneness. There was no longer any me. There was only what was, and what was, was an Infinite Beingness, and Absolute state. Nothing could ever trump this, for this was the foundation of all of reality, beyond words, beyond thought. This was the final exclamation point !

In the excitement of this experience, the original mind came back into the scene to try and figure this all out, which pulled me out of all the states and back into the Ego/Mind/I complex.

This was It !!!!!! When Jesus said, "I and the Father are One," it was him being permanently in this state. I too, for a few seconds, had been one with the Father.

Amazing!!!! All that happened from a logical/rational sentence(not belonging to any religion nor a weapon of Satan) that I mulled over for 20 minutes.

Coming back to reality, I saw the difficulty in explaining this, for all understanding would be limited to language and thought, all of which is illusion based and could never represent nor even touch the Absolute state of Being which not only transcends all thought, but is also prior to it.

So then I saw that Jesus had been a Zen master. Surrounded by a bunch of Jews who are busy killing innocent animals as sacrifices to a blood thirsty God to cover their sins, and anyone who speaks against their way of life ought to be stoned ...... Jesus had to be slicker than greased lightning and even then, he had to dumb this down to everyone, considering the IQ level of the simpleton folks back then.

Since then I embrace Zen, as a Christian. I think they are interchangeable and highly compatible. I find that Zen is not some religion or a thing that satan created to deceive ....... but an actual Science that uses logic and reason to break down reality to the very Absolute Truth of it all.

Jesus never went to India. People who say that never bothered to read:

Matthew 15:21-24

21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

23 But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

There were no "lost years" where he was seeking some grand knowledge in India, he had everything he needed. He was teaching pharisees Torah at the age of 12 when he had never read it, he was still 1 year away from his bar'Mitzva. The son of a carpenter would have been learning his father's trade to take over the family business when the father died, unless he was 30 years old in which he could then begin his ministry as rabbi.

Regardless of his travels and lost years, would he not be aware of such practices and experiences?? All the manifestations/expressions of GOD. This feeling of oneness is the fuel to the spiritual fire...it drives one to see what is similar and tolerable in everyone and everything...even the tiger taking down a gazelle...is it all not part of GOD's divine pattern?

If your beliefs bring you to tolerance and love for your fellow man then it is your path to follow...if your beliefs raise internal barriers against your fellow man then you are to fault...you are to be the gazelle!

***It would be naive to suggest the lord did not or does not value and cherish such experiences...its a blessing and a gift to reach that point of clarity. Most will never earn this clarity...for they are too busy building walls to protect their ego...consider yourself blessed OP, but you already know that

I think that if you dropped the last 5 paragraphs , you would have had a more genuine op . You also have a good excuse for the last 5 paragraphs being there , exactly where you would have left off .
I enjoyed reading this op , thanks for sharing it .

And I agree with you , the 'who we are' , is important , and its a matter of owning who we are . We are the owners of the truth within and the world without , and that purest of knowledege will transform existence in the future . Is is who we are .

Soo basically Jesus is nothing more than a first century Phil Jackson??

Originally posted by dominicus
.... Jesus had to be slicker than greased lightning and even then, he had to dumb this down to everyone, considering the IQ level of the simpleton folks back then.

I don't really have a comment on your assertion about Zen. Folks of all philosophical bents are capable of finding common spiritual truths.

But I do believe your comment about those "simpleton Folks" and I.Q. shows a lack of understanding of both them and the concept of I.Q.

They could do things, reason, and take care of themselves in ways that would make many of us look like simpletons. Don't fool yourself, some of the greatest philosophical and spiritual thoughts were introduced into the world by folk of that era.

You contemplated a rock after reading a quote and extrapolated "oneness." Wowzer.