A Zen Story: The Zen master who still prayed, even when he was a Zen master (fiction)

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Before becoming a Zen master, the Zen master Dogen Doshexje, had been a priest in the Catholic church. Old habits die hard, and so even now, that he was a Zen master, he still prayed to God, on most days. Now, most Zen masters do not believe in God, or pray to a person, like to Budha either, and so they pray more generally to oneness, or the Tao, itself, which gives rise to the infinite. Zen prayer is not directed at themselves either, but the prayer is answered within themselves, in a similar way to which meditation can provide you with answers, in this way too. The Zenists call this type of prayer absolute prayer, as nothing is being asked for, both materially, or just to help us, ourselves, within our lives, in regards, to health problems, for example, either. "May love be itself within my life." was the Zen master's new prayer to God. He knew that love was important within the Catholic religion, and he wanted not to lose this importance for love, when he was just zenning in his mind trying to practice mindfulness, but perhaps not heartfulness. He did not want his mindfulness to become heartlessness instead. This Zen master's own master would often chide him over this point. He said that Zen was of the mind, not necessarily of the heart, as was enlightenment too, enlightenment, via conscious awareness. The Zen master said to his master: "Well, I will not drop my heart into my mind to lose it, as I would rather drop my mind into my heart, and let it, my mind, be a part of my heart then instead." And with that, he left the Zen monastery, and he went back to the Catholic church as a monk there instead. He joined the order of Saint Augustine, the Augustinians. Augustinians live from their hearts, emphasising the need to love God, and our neighbour, rather than paying unnecessary attention to studying specific religious details. The one time Zen master felt more at home again here, and he was now known as Friar Dogen, the dogmaless dog, of the monkery. He never barked dogma at anyone; he just forever offered them a helping hand of love instead. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The old Zen master liked the idea of making pilgrimages too, within the Catholic faith.