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CHAPTER TWELVE
LET'S TRY IT!
But we are still talking about Zen, and even murdering it by discussing whether or not it is suitable" here or there. For Zen, like Tao, only exists in use. “When one looks at it, one cannot see it; When one listens to it, one cannot hear it. However, when one uses it, it is inexhaustible.”l "Anything not based upon experience is outside Zen," says Dr. Suzuki. Let us, therefore, use Zen. The man in front of me in the street drops his umbrella. I pick it up and give it to him. He smiles and thanks me. We both walk on. Well? I did not think what to do or feel emotional about it. I just did it, or, as in the exercise on selfcontrol of the Southern School of Buddhism, "there was a doing” of the act, for the "I" for once was silent. But why not run the whole of life this way? There is a friend in need; let there be a helping of him. There is no need to worry about him, or even to think about his woes; just do what you can and walk on. There is a washing-up to be finished, or a war to be won; let them be done. Keep the emotions where they belong, for they have no part in "right" action, and none at all in thought. But do not repress them. If yours is an emotional temperament, use
1 Tao Te Ching, Chap. XXXV.
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