The Zen of Advaita - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

For the Buddha, not only isthere no God, but there is nosoul or self. For now, if werealize that all is an abstractedrepresentation of something whichdoes not exist, then obviously ifwe turn our gaze “inward”, thebody and the self too are not.What makes Buddhism so unique isthat all states are understood astemporary (even states of bliss orsamadhi or satori) and as such areto be discarded. In the languageof Zen: “If one nests in satorithey will fall into poison.”In this way, Buddha’s insightinto the science of the 20 th and21 st centuries, and his ability toteach and deconstruct, led to whatwe can call the doctrine of NO (tobe discussed later).BUDDHISM’SBASIC PRINCIPLESIn order to understand Zen, it isimperative to first appreciate its38