Father Patrick Eastman

With Eyes wide Open: a Catholic Priest sits Zazen

Way back in the 1960's, when a number of Christians were going to Yamada Kuan Roshi, a great Zen master in Kamakura, Japan, he asked them whether there was something lacking in Chrisitanity or was there some dissatisfaction with Christianity. that made them turn to practicing Zen. Similarly I have been asked on more than one occasion why I precise Zen. It's not an easy question to answer! For me it all began when I was acting as chaplain to the Benedictine sisters at their Ashram at Osage Monastery in Oklahoma. (This Ashram was fashioned after Father Bede's ashram at Shantivanam in India and he came to America to bless it.) This was a wonderful experience for me for when I became a married Roman Catholic priest in 1984 and left my Anglican parish to live in Tulsa I had been a Benedictine Oblate for almost twenty years. Benedictine spirituality therefore had been a central part of my life for many years. For quite a few years I had followed the practise of Centering Prayer as taught by Fr. Thomas Keating and Contemplative Outreach. With this as a background I very naturally participated in a Zen retreat (sesshin) lead by Dr Ruben Habito, a Zen Roshi for the community and friends of \Osage Monastery.

The experience seemed to provide me with a very definitive practice of silent sitting which I found helpful albeit quite challenging. I had found that although the Christian mystical tradition had considerable references commending to contemplation it provided little practical teaching. This is really hardly surprising of course and it cannot really be leant by reading about it in books but only through the teaching and guidance of a qualified teacher. For me Zen provided an ancient practice where for 2,500 years or so the central core of their religious practice was silent sitting (Zazen). But, you may well ask; isn't Zen part of the Buddhist religion? I certainly had to address this question at the beginning for myself. In answer both Yamada Koan and Ruben Habito and many others all assured me that Zen is not a religion. Yamada Roshi puts it this way:

Zen is not a religion and you do not have to think of it as such, in the sense of a system of beliefs and concepts and practices. You do not have to throw away your Christianity as you come to Zen. I do not intend to make you become Buddhists but to help you to empty yourself in imitation of your Lord Jesus Christ.

Furthermore I have often been reminded of the difference between East and West where the central religious question in the West is "What do you believe?" whereas in the East the important question is "What is your practice?" From my own practise over the years I have found the assurances given at the start to be perfectly true as there is no doubt in my mind that my Zen practice has deepened and enriched my Christian faith.

For many years prior to taking on a Zen practice my Christianity was concerned primarily with concepts about God. It was a rather intellectualised belief in certain facts and as a reslt was very dualistic. I spent much time an energy trying to work out what was right and true and what was wrong and false. Practising Zazen has gradually helped me move much more in the direction of the gospel which simply invites us to enter a different level of consciousness and to be dynamically caught up in the life of Christ. In other words I discovered that the central message of the gospels is the invitation of Jesus to "follow me" meaning to become a participant in the life of the One who is "The Way, the Truth and the Life." I have come to know for myself Thomas Merton's words;

If revelation is regarded simply as a system of truth about God… then Christianity is in effect, reduced to a world view at times a religious philosophy… 'Experience' of the inner meaning of Christian revelation will be necessarily distorted and diminished in such a theological setting…either rather a sense of security of one's own correctness… or [it] becomes an experience of anxious hope, a struggle with occasional doubt of the 'right answers' a painful and constant effort to meet the severe demands of morality and law, and a somewhat desperate resource to the sacraments which are there to help the weak who must constantly fall

So like Merton Zen for me has given me a strong method to put the wordless and imageless prayer of contemplation into practice. Zen has brought me face to face with life and with myself with its ego-centeredness. The great expert and lifelong student of world religions, Mercia Eliade assets the death of the false self (ego) lies at the heart of all the major world religions. The desire for that to be my whole orientation has been given substance in and through my Zen practice. Zazen does not allow me to analyse or theorize about life but plunges me into full attention in the present moment. In doing so it takes away the fear and anxiety so that that prevents one from living out of the deep centre at the ground of our being.

There is one further and very important aspect of my Zen practice. Through the meetings I had with Fr Bede at Osage \monastery I have felt drawn to personally be committed to the invitation of the Second Vatican Council to practice interreligious dialogue. Zen practice allows me to do just that. It opened up the opportunity to have a month-long residency at the Buddhist Zen Mountain Monastery in Upstate New York with Abbot John Daido Loori and to participate in Sesshins, here in England, with members of the Liverpool Zen centre. As a Dominican sister friend once said "It may not be much but I do what I can."

Father Patrick has retired from his ministry in the Diocese of Tulsa and now lives in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton where, as a Dharma Holder in the Zen White Plum Lineage, he leads a Zen group in Fairford, Gloucestershire. He also helps with on-going formation for the priests of the diocese and gives retreats and spiritual direction. You can reach him through his website www.northwall.plus.com or by email at Patrick@northwall.plus.com

Helpful Books

Kim Boykin:: Zen for Christians, Jossey-Bass
Tom Chetwynd:: Zen and the Kingdom of Heaven: Reflections on the Tradition of Meditation in Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Wisdom Publications.
Ruben L F. Habito:: Healing Breath: Zen Spirituality for a Wounded World. Orbis Books Living Zen, Loving God. Wisdom Publications
Robert Kennedy:: Zen Gifts to Christians, Continuum Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit. Continuum
Elaine MacInnes:: Light sitting in Light: A Christian's Experience in Zen. Fount Press

Father Patrick Eastman
Home Biography Articles Book Reviews Schedule Links Contact Me	With Eyes wide Open: a Catholic Priest sits Zazen Way back in the 1960's, when a number of Christians were going to Yamada Kuan Roshi, a great Zen master in Kamakura, Japan, he asked them whether there was something lacking in Chrisitanity or was there some dissatisfaction with Christianity. that made them turn to practicing Zen. Similarly I have been asked on more than one occasion why I precise Zen. It's not an easy question to answer! For me it all began when I was acting as chaplain to the Benedictine sisters at their Ashram at Osage Monastery in Oklahoma. (This Ashram was fashioned after Father Bede's ashram at Shantivanam in India and he came to America to bless it.) This was a wonderful experience for me for when I became a married Roman Catholic priest in 1984 and left my Anglican parish to live in Tulsa I had been a Benedictine Oblate for almost twenty years. Benedictine spirituality therefore had been a central part of my life for many years. For quite a few years I had followed the practise of Centering Prayer as taught by Fr. Thomas Keating and Contemplative Outreach. With this as a background I very naturally participated in a Zen retreat (sesshin) lead by Dr Ruben Habito, a Zen Roshi for the community and friends of \Osage Monastery. The experience seemed to provide me with a very definitive practice of silent sitting which I found helpful albeit quite challenging. I had found that although the Christian mystical tradition had considerable references commending to contemplation it provided little practical teaching. This is really hardly surprising of course and it cannot really be leant by reading about it in books but only through the teaching and guidance of a qualified teacher. For me Zen provided an ancient practice where for 2,500 years or so the central core of their religious practice was silent sitting (Zazen). But, you may well ask; isn't Zen part of the Buddhist religion? I certainly had to address this question at the beginning for myself. In answer both Yamada Koan and Ruben Habito and many others all assured me that Zen is not a religion. Yamada Roshi puts it this way: Zen is not a religion and you do not have to think of it as such, in the sense of a system of beliefs and concepts and practices. You do not have to throw away your Christianity as you come to Zen. I do not intend to make you become Buddhists but to help you to empty yourself in imitation of your Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore I have often been reminded of the difference between East and West where the central religious question in the West is "What do you believe?" whereas in the East the important question is "What is your practice?" From my own practise over the years I have found the assurances given at the start to be perfectly true as there is no doubt in my mind that my Zen practice has deepened and enriched my Christian faith. For many years prior to taking on a Zen practice my Christianity was concerned primarily with concepts about God. It was a rather intellectualised belief in certain facts and as a reslt was very dualistic. I spent much time an energy trying to work out what was right and true and what was wrong and false. Practising Zazen has gradually helped me move much more in the direction of the gospel which simply invites us to enter a different level of consciousness and to be dynamically caught up in the life of Christ. In other words I discovered that the central message of the gospels is the invitation of Jesus to "follow me" meaning to become a participant in the life of the One who is "The Way, the Truth and the Life." I have come to know for myself Thomas Merton's words; If revelation is regarded simply as a system of truth about God… then Christianity is in effect, reduced to a world view at times a religious philosophy… 'Experience' of the inner meaning of Christian revelation will be necessarily distorted and diminished in such a theological setting…either rather a sense of security of one's own correctness… or [it] becomes an experience of anxious hope, a struggle with occasional doubt of the 'right answers' a painful and constant effort to meet the severe demands of morality and law, and a somewhat desperate resource to the sacraments which are there to help the weak who must constantly fall So like Merton Zen for me has given me a strong method to put the wordless and imageless prayer of contemplation into practice. Zen has brought me face to face with life and with myself with its ego-centeredness. The great expert and lifelong student of world religions, Mercia Eliade assets the death of the false self (ego) lies at the heart of all the major world religions. The desire for that to be my whole orientation has been given substance in and through my Zen practice. Zazen does not allow me to analyse or theorize about life but plunges me into full attention in the present moment. In doing so it takes away the fear and anxiety so that that prevents one from living out of the deep centre at the ground of our being. There is one further and very important aspect of my Zen practice. Through the meetings I had with Fr Bede at Osage \monastery I have felt drawn to personally be committed to the invitation of the Second Vatican Council to practice interreligious dialogue. Zen practice allows me to do just that. It opened up the opportunity to have a month-long residency at the Buddhist Zen Mountain Monastery in Upstate New York with Abbot John Daido Loori and to participate in Sesshins, here in England, with members of the Liverpool Zen centre. As a Dominican sister friend once said "It may not be much but I do what I can." Father Patrick has retired from his ministry in the Diocese of Tulsa and now lives in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton where, as a Dharma Holder in the Zen White Plum Lineage, he leads a Zen group in Fairford, Gloucestershire. He also helps with on-going formation for the priests of the diocese and gives retreats and spiritual direction. You can reach him through his website www.northwall.plus.com or by email at Patrick@northwall.plus.com Helpful Books Kim Boykin: Zen for Christians, Jossey-Bass Tom Chetwynd: Zen and the Kingdom of Heaven: Reflections on the Tradition of Meditation in Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Wisdom Publications. Ruben L F. Habito: Healing Breath: Zen Spirituality for a Wounded World. Orbis Books Living Zen, Loving God. Wisdom Publications Robert Kennedy: Zen Gifts to Christians, Continuum Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit. Continuum Elaine MacInnes: Light sitting in Light: A Christian's Experience in Zen. Fount Press