So… yeah. Don’t lie about it. We all try to look spiritual. Don’t we?
We try to look more loving. We try to follow the books that we’ve read and look like we are supposed to look. We even have spiritual clothes
We all do it! That is fabulous. You want to know what it means? It means we are human beings. We mimic. That’s what we like to do.
There is even a saying “Fake it, till you make it.” Maybe there is some value to that.
This week’s Zen story shows these two different monasteries that are both trying to look more spiritual than the other — to the point where the older monks don’t allow the younger monks, the boys that are working in the monastery, to ever meet each other.
Because they haven’t learned the rules yet.
They might do it wrong.
They do meet. They do it wrong. That’s you and me. That’s the value of Zen stories. It gives us a laugh at ourselves. It puts a picture in our mind and now when you are doing it yourself, or when you catch me doing it, you can have a little smile. Right?
Once you see yourself doing these things, then you see yourself. Now you have a choice in that moment. Are you going to continue doing it? Maybe you are really good at it. Maybe there is some sort of famous spiritual teacher that you mimic who looks spiritual all the time.
Maybe you are like me… you don’t hardly ever look spiritual ever.
That’s the value of Zen stories.