Pagan Portals - Zen Druidry by Joanna van der Hoeven

Author:Joanna van der Hoeven [Hoeven, Joanna van der]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78099-391-1
Publisher: Moon Books
Published: 2013-04-26T00:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

INTEGRATION

Chapter Five

Zen Druidry – Getting Started

Integrating the Five Noble Precepts

We have looked at the history of both Zen and Druidry, and investigated the core tenets of each path. Now we will look at starting our first footsteps on the path of Zen Druidry, how to put what we have learned into practice and most importantly, how to make it practical!

Zen easily blends in with any form of religion, for it uses the gifts that you already possess, and emphasises the fact that you are perfect and perfectly who you are at this given moment in time – you can be no other. As we saw, Zen is about living in the here and now, this very present moment, which does not exclude any higher or other powers should this be your belief system. You could be a Zen Celtic Druid, a Zen Christian Druid, a Zen Animist Druid – the path is open to you and you only. Each path is different. You can make full use of the here and now and appreciate the natural world around you, its rhythms and sounds, smells and sights. The main point is that Zen does not contradict any religions – in fact, it adds new dimensions.

While most Zen practitioners may be Buddhists, this need not restrict you to the teachings of Buddha. If, like me, you find them beautiful and informative, feel free to incorporate them into your Druidry. There is no monopoly on wisdom. That wonderful saying about killing Buddha on the road when you meet him, for you are already perfect and Buddha cannot exist outside yourself, relates to Druidry on so many levels. Each living thing is simply living, doing the best they can at that particular moment. Realisation, perfection – it’s already there within each living thing. Like a seed, you already carry that potential within your very self, and with the right nourishment and conditions, will blossom.

Zen, like Druidry, is in the living; in the doing. It’s not an intellectual exercise. We all have jobs, families, obligations. Many of us have felt a call to enrich these with devotion to causes, gods or goddesses or art. There is nothing wrong with that – equally, there is nothing wrong with simply devoting oneself to living in the present moment with no external obligations. It is in the doing that we create the most change in our lives, not in the thinking, or praying, or anything similar.

Let’s look at Buddha’s Five Noble Precepts once more, and see how they relate to Druidry:

The destruction of life causes suffering, so we learn compassion for all things and protect all that we can, whether it be the lives of people, plants or animals. We refuse to kill, or to condone any acts of killing.

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