The Religion of No Religion

 

 

My Religion is the Religion of no Religion.  Though I have identified myself as being a Zen Buddhist my entire adult life, I have little faith in Zen Buddhism as a religion. My faith is governed by my understanding of the world and my realization of truth, religion really has nothing to do with this.  Like most, I have read and/or heard the endless debate about whether Zen and/or Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy and all the examples and bullet points that support both ends of the argument.  Most recently, I have been witnessing the emergent debates between the concepts of Religious Buddhism verses Secular Buddhism which is really the same argument under a different banner.

While I will emphatically state that I am a person of great faith and sincere practice, forever on this path of awakening, I simply fail to recognize that most, if not all, religious practices have anything to do with this. I am deeply indebted to all my teachers, both living and long deceased, and the moral philosophical tradition that has become an integral part of my life, but I have never mistaken the crooked finger of religion for the enlightened reality of the moon.

Religions are fundamentally social constructs that evolve into social ego-entities through the course of time.  Those of us who are familiar with the great “Corporate Personhood” debate will recognize that religions, like other corporations, are virtual beings. Once the idea that “they” are really “something” takes hold, these virtual beings begin to take on the characteristics of the actual living beings that created them.  Among these characteristics are; self-image, self-definition, social status, and egocentric thinking; as well as, the primal needs for self-gratification and self-survival.  Through the subconscious process of defining itself, the corporate entity also begins to define the limitations of self and the distinctions between itself and of what becomes “other”.

Since most of what is “truly spiritual” about any spiritual practice is rather universal, and not specific to any one religion or tradition, religions must define themselves through the process of developing a self-image through uniform self-branding and social acceptance.  By defining who is “us” (and therefore defining who is not “us”) corporate religions begin to take on a corporate persona that  infects the thinking of the individuals that make up the corporate structure. Self-image for the corporate entity begins with developing a uniform structure that is applied not only to clothing, but to structures, rituals/ceremonies and most importantly societal hierarchies within the corporate entity. Philosophy and teachings move away from being personally inspirational and realized, towards being explained and interpreted. While ceremonies, traditions and hierarchies become the means and methods of enforcing corporate interpretations, dogmatic suppositions and practices. Independent thinking or individualism rapidly become the enemy of corporate structures that totally depend on loyal corporate thinking for their very survival.

 Religions, in the orthodox sense, have always served two purposes; first is to give people a feeling of belonging, and second is to prevent people from actually realizing that that they had already belonged, which means that belonging to a religion is really not necessary.  In religions that support the concept of God, the religion (or Church) tends to act as a buffer to gently separate the faithful from realizing the true essence of God, while those religions that promote self-realization, are mostly committed to keeping followers perpetually one step away from independent self-realization.  While on the surface this may seem to be a contradiction of purpose, it is indeed the fundamental principle that keeps monolithic religions alive, for once an individual realizes that there is no barrier (other than religion) keeping them away from God, or self-realization, there really is no purpose for an organization of authority to govern or intervene.

While most traditions begin with the sincere intent of bringing like minds together in fellowship, and may succeed in this in limited congregations, the notion that the corporate tradition must become some sort of monolithic governing authority is simply a product of the resultant corporate ego. This idea of having authority then develops into a form of delusional thinking that grows like a cancer within the organization.  This not to say that any specific church or sangha, should not have a governing body with precepts and governing principles, but rather to say that this governing body has no jurisdiction outside the collective activities of its own particular and limited membership.  Religions, churches, sangahs are fundamentally social associations, like clubs, and should always be strictly remembered and maintained as such.  Their purpose is to provide a social framework to help their membership interact with one another harmoniously and nothing more.  The monastic traditions are especially so, because of the added burden of being tight-knit communities, where well defined social structures and protocols are necessary to maintain social harmony.

While I agree that societal traditions and customs can often be desirable and fulfilling, they should never be confused with the essence of the tradition.  Likewise, groups who grow in stature and membership should never feel they have the right to usurp authority from the overall collective range of practitioners in order to dominate any particular philosophy or tradition. Claiming overall authority is a form of corporate ego gratification that simply has no place in any spiritual tradition, especially a spiritual tradition that is specifically founded on the disillusion of ego. The problems with this become obvious whenever one researches the history of any religion including Zen.  The arguments over who has authority, the true lineage, or who is authentic in the Zen tradition, are only arguments among those who have obviously abandoned the essence of Zen and replaced it with the collective ego identity of religion, with its own particular corporate interests and political agenda.

Likewise, it must be remembered that Zen is a discipline of the mind, based on the awakening of our universal or Buddha consciousness. As such, it cannot be defined by any particular national or ethnic tradition. Once the Zen mind is realized, there is no Chinese Zen, Japanese Zen, or Korean Zen, there is simply Zen. Whether it is dressed in Chinese robes, Japanese samue, or a mountain hermits tattered rags it remains the same. The authority of Zen comes from being the tradition of awakened consciousness, unencumbered by the delusions of the ego, be it the ego of the individual or the corporate ego of religion.

For this time honored tradition to continue to flourish and to keep from becoming just another religion, committed to keeping followers perpetually one step away from self-realization, Zen must abandon all thoughts and arguments of who has authority, or whether or not Zen itself is a religion, and simply “Walk On” as the ever fluid, non-monolithic tradition -

 The Religion of No Religion.