Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explores the meaning of the opening of the Mystica Theoligica . “Thou Trinity beyond Being, direct us to the heights of mystical revelation, sublime beyond all thought and light, wherein the simple, absolute and immutable mysteries of Divine Truth are hidden in the translucent darkness of that silence which revealeth in secret. For this darkness, though of deepest obscurity, is yet radiantly clear, and though beyond touch and sight, it overfills our unseeing mind with splendors of transcendent beauty. This is my prayer….” Lola does a deep dive into the meaning of the reference to the translucent darkness, and what it means in terms of our Zen practice. We start believing in the world of twos, of duality, soon after birth. The dichotomy of virtue and sin. Where there is one, there is the other. If you want to find God, you need to train your mind to observe, to look. A discussion of Christian Zen in Japan and elsewhere. And what the term means. Jacob Needleman’s book, Lost Christianity, about how Christianity took the path less mystical than Buddhism did. A mystical event is an undisturbible insight. It presents itself gutlessly, innocent, in ignorance. She notes that there are no proofs for Truth. We need to verify Truth for ourselves, through our own experience. We live in a mystery of mysteries, a mystery that can be experienced—but not through words. All the world has been created without a word. Lola discusses the meanings of atheism, theism, and agnosticism. How the athiest speaks as if he knows. As does the theist. But usually neither really knows. The agnostic, while he may be a seeker, admits that he, as yet, does not know. And when he does, he doesn’t speak of it. We should keep that ignorance while seeking. This meaning is not unlike that of Ikyu, about how one cannot explain it, or speak of it. It is the state of not-knowing that opens the door. Lola talks about how we learn things at age 5 that we still believe to be true but that may not be so. She recounts a time when she was five walking in the snow from Church with her grandfather. While therapy can get help clear up some childhood issues, it will not clear them all. Nor does it need to. Meditation will solve the small ones eventually. What is real Prayer? Lola tells of a time, at 18, when she was in a bit of a pickle. How she tried praying, but her prayers were demands and not sincere. Instead of making prayer a demand, we need to learn to just let go, and know that you, yourself, can do nothing. Admit hat you don’t know. Because the thinking mind will not find the answers. Dec 4, 1988
