Ph.D. John Gregory Cottone
In Zen circles it is often said that a teacher’s finger, pointing at the moon, should not be confused with the moon itself. The implication is that no lesson on Truth, no matter how profound, could ever be a suitable substitute for Truth itself. Zen is a tradition that prioritizes personal experience above all else – hence, the emphasis on meditation as a teacher par excellence. As such, students are cautioned to be wary of lessons taught by another, regardless of how wise or respected the teacher. This does not mean that didactic lessons have little value in the Zen tradition. Rather, it means that the best a teacher’s lesson can provide is a fingertip’s point in the direction of an educational experience for which a student is ripe. It is from this perspective that I deliver this book, in hope that the passages within can point you in the direction of introspective experiences for which you may be ripe. The passages of this book are the residuals of a particular type of recurring, sublime experience that I have had many times in my life. These experiences would usually occur at random moments – sometimes during a meditation; or driving on a highway; reading a book; or while cooking dinner – however, regardless of the activity preceding such an experience, the experience itself is fairly consistent, and afterward I am spurred to insights about life that frequently lead to personal transformations. The best way to describe what these sublime experiences are like for me is through the following analogy: Imagine you are riding on a train that is traveling at 1,000 mph, and all you see out the window of the train is a blur of colors and images. Now, imagine that for some reason, the train comes to a gentle, but immediate stop. As you look out the window, you see the actual objects that formed those blurred images and colors. Some are familiar to you – like trees, mountains and birds – but others are completely foreign to you. As you see these objects clearly for the fi
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