Zen Drop 004—Self Disrupt set the table: cryptic, poetic, but maybe too much so.
Take the line: Zen rebels with a whisper: “There were never any walls to begin with.”
Is this statement profound—or baffling?
Okay, I’ll just say it—what are we even talking about here?
Is the suggestion that each day does not come with its own trials and tribulations, its heartaches and frustrations?
Oh, I guess the Buddha was wrong then—life isn’t suffering after all.
There are no walls?
Of course there are walls! Who are we kidding?
Thanks for nothing, Zen.
Yet if the three little pigs taught us anything…
Not all walls are created equal.
Some are straw.
Others are sticks.
The brick ones—those are the best, right?
Fear. Identity. Expectations.
They feel immovable—until they don’t.
They feel like brick—but they aren’t.
These are assumptions and survival patterns.
They are a fable—not unlike the three little pigs.
You understand this for yourself the moment you stop defending and believing in them.
These walls are a mirage—but to the extent that they confine you, they exist.
The separate self is also illusory—but if it defines you, then it’s trapping you too.
There’s one thing you must always remember—illusion doesn’t mean nothing’s there.
Rather, what is there is not all that it appears to be.
Step one—stop mistaking constructs for construction.
Stop mistaking assumptions for bricks.
Gentle disruption. Quiet rebellion. Big whisper.
Zen rebels with a whisper. A mighty whisper. One that huffs and puffs and blows the house down.
In our next Zen Drop, we’ll learn to hear that whisper more clearly.
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