Question

How does one distinguish between a satori experience and mental delusions ?
I often feel as if I am experiencing intergalactic oneness in the land of a million Buddhas. Unfortunately, as a psychology major, I learned that such mental states are synonymous with schizophrenia and hallucinations and psychotropic drug use. How does one weed out the real from the delusion?

Answer from Master Kosen

It is difficult to accept, and even more to understand, that reality and illusion are not of a different nature. A wiseman is a schizophrenic who knew how to harmonize his madness to the socially recognized madness and thus how not to be locked up. To know how to control one's madness and to know how to take the madness of the others into account, that is what is rightly called wisdom.
Take the example of two musicians as a metaphor : The first one plays his part, but he is not able neither to listen to the orchestra nor to get harmonized to the main rythm. He will very soon loose his job as a musician and will at the most, with some luck, become a policeman at a crossroad, and play the whistler and the billy. Maybe then, with the prestige that uniform gives him, he will manage to be listened to.
The second one is a genious. His name is Yehudi, Chet or Louis Armstrong. The band goes on and takes the rythm written on the music score. Good. The audience who is patiently waiting for the star begins to get bored.
But suddenly, he arrives and we can hear his tones that cannot be imitated.
He turns the rythm upside down and seems to be playing in complete freedom, not even bothering about any rule. The band seems to be spurred on and gets harmonized to the artist as one man. The genious, just as the madman, doesn't listen to the others but he has a secret who makes the
difference between them : he hears.
Then, why does not the genious like the cops ? This is a problem that would
demand more time to be answered.


Mondo On the same theme : Illusions



There are no more thoughts, nor body...

There are no more thoughts, nor body, nor image of the body, nor sesation, nor perception, nor breathing or conciousness of the breathing, no more space... than the conciousness of a persistante black. It is impossible to describe with words, what is it?
...




I wants use the koan MU

My name is Peter Hinz and I live in a town called Perstorp.I am a 35 year old man from Sweden, who wants to use thekoan MU but don't know how togo about it. I have practiced zazen for about 2 years, concentrating on my breathing.Please help me.
...


To know more about mondo

You may want to see other themes of this mondo online, or ask your own question : see Mondo online : questions to zen Master Kosen Thibaut

Subscribe to our YouTube channel


Zen meditation : retreats

Next sesshin : from 28 December 2024 to 01 January 2025 - Information and registration to this zen retreat

Winter camp 2024 : Zazen the méditation Zen, Caroux Temple near of Montpellier


In ku there is no matter, no perception, no feeling, no action and no consciousness There is no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no thought. There is no knowledge, no ignorance, no illusion, no cessation of illusion There is no birth, no death, no suffering, no cessation of suffering. There is no profit, no loss.

Nagarjuna

Donate to the Sangha

Let's help the Kosen Sangha and the Yujo Nyusanji zen temple


Mondo

Questions to zen Master Kosen

Boddidharma, buddhist monk

Master Kosen

Follow his teachings in the Montpellier Zen dojo and in the great sesshins at Yujo Nyusanji zen temple


Kusens

Listen to and download last teachings (in french) of Master Kosen in Montpellier's dojo