Once upon a time some novice monk went up to a great Zen master and asked the question, “Where is the best dojo?” To which the master snapped, “Your daily life is your dojo.” This answer appears to be terse and dismissive but there lies a buried wisdom which is the essence of Zen: the ordinariness. Or better said, the extraordinarily ordinary daily life. Zen says, if your ordinary life becomes extraordinary, only then are you spiritual. The simplicity of such statements is mind blowing. People are normally in search of something extraordinary, the supernatural. And to get that they deny the natural, and the human. In the clutter of spiritual paths that try to allure seekers with other worldly temptations, Zen is one of the few systems that emphasize human dignity. This is the dignity deriving not from the ego but from the “original face” we all have.
We gain vital freedom by becoming aware of this “original face” and living in terms of it. Zen returns the human being to this original wholeness and introduces him to his real creative being. Man, surrounded by machines, mass-communication, and organised systems, has become alienated from freedom and spontaneity. Zen has the potential of breaking the deadlock facing modern man. Science seems to have become all-powerful and destructive. In contrast Zen is highly creative, penetrates to man’s true self and helps him live it in daily life.
Much of Zen’s appeal stems from its uncompromising view of the whole man. Many Western thinkers are drawn to Zen because it promises fulfillment without the supernatural. In an increasingly complex and mechanised world, perhaps there is need for a teaching that helps man toward being himself. Zen seems well suited to restore the sense of life to many who have lost it. The business management is highly inspired by the principles of Zen and try to inculcate them in their training as well as in their work situations.
