Zen story: Deepness is only as deep as itself
By emptychair
@innertalks (23734)
Australia
May 28, 2023 1:37am CST
The old Zen master, Dartlick Herzloski, was talking to a student about the deepness of Zen.
He said:
“Reaching deeper into life does not find more life, but the deepness itself, because life is just life, and deepness, deepness.”
“You make the deepness yourself, depending on how you live life through yourself.”
“It is a furphy that there are levels of deepness in consciousness.”
“There is deepness in your love, when you love from the deepest part of yourself, your soul, but consciousness knows nothing of this, being a byproduct of your thoughts, not of your love.”
“Thoughts are just thoughts; none better than the other. What distinguishes you as a spiritual person is the deepness of your love.”
“When you listen to someone fully, their deepness of love comes out to greet you. It is drawn out by a good listener.”
“Every deep thinker is being fooled by their own thinkingness. Only love’s truths carry you into its depths of real deepness.”
“Love is deep, because it comes from the infinitely deep well of God.”
'“They muddy the water, to make it seem deep.”'
Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher (1844 to 1900) said this.
“Zen does not come forth from your thoughts. Zen comes up from your love.”
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
Deepness lives in your love, not in your thoughts. Thought is a tool of consciousness, consciousness is not a tool of thought.
9 people like this
8 responses
@crossbones27 (52907)
• Mojave, California
28 May 23
I think that is true. I find myself getting less deep. Some say its old age, I say its the dumb world we live in. So many advancements and achievements yet here at least some of the most stone age laws you will ever see. What that does to some one is not a dream anymore. Just go to sleep. This world is not worth living in.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
Yes, the World has gone a long way backwards, and it is probably thought that has taken it there.
Just this afternoon, I noticed that some lazy moron had left a large supermarket shopping trolley on my front lawn.
Or, maybe, Saturday night, some larrikin kids were joyriding in the shopping trolley.
I just wheeled it back to the shop, now. Nobody much does the right thing these days.
@crossbones27 (52907)
• Mojave, California
28 May 23
@innertalks Its so silly how people talk all this crap. Yet they have no clue of common politeness or laws or anything and they say we the ones destroying the world. They must want the world destroyed. Only conclusion to it.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
@crossbones27 Yes, I think that that is the only conclusion too.
It is all about artificialized political correctness these days, nothing about realness, integrity, and truth.
@Jenaisle (16568)
• Philippines
28 May 23
These are thoughts that deserve deep thinking that is done with love. Deep thinking without a direction is useless, but when coupled with the love of God will arrive at an answer. In fact, sometimes, you don't need to do deep thinking just allow the love of God into your mind and soul and you will find the answers.
2 people like this
@Jenaisle (16568)
• Philippines
28 May 23
@innertalks Wow, thanks for saying that. Am I going there? I mean do I understand these profound thoughts just a little bit? 
2 people like this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
@Jenaisle Yes, you are understanding, and getting the gist of what l am saying, and even adding further to it now.
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
Thanks. You said it well there.
Yes, we must align our thinking with God's love, and not rely on our own thinking alone either, but be guided by God's spirit, coming to us through our soul. With God in our life, yes, we will find the answers, which we can never find without him.
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
Yes, sometimes if we dig too deep, we just end up burying ourselves in ourselves, but I do feel with love, we should try to love more deeply, than be just shallow surface lovers, here one day, gone the next.
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
I think that thinking has its place, but we should not just think on its own, as we have our feelings, intuition, and inner guidance, coming to us too.
If we just think, we will often block out the answer coming to us from our gut, because we did not "think" of it instead.
We can dig ourselves into a hole, with too much thinking, and as some scientists have done, they take a short nap, or break, and the answer then pops into their mind, coming seemingly from beyond their thought.
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
29 May 23
What is the layman's term for deepness? How is it measured? How deep is deep when it is connected to thoughts and feelings?
2 people like this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
29 May 23
Most people talk/think only shallow talk, or thoughts, about the weather, about sports, politics etc.
A deep thinker thinks more deeper about why life exists, about who is God, and tries to understand the connective reasons between things, and their place in it too.
A deep lover doesn't just love for the sake of it, but for deeper reasons, because they have God within them, deepening the loving in them, so they feel this deeper real contact with God's love, as they love too.
As to how it is measured, it just feels deeper than the shallowness that most people like to stay with. Even shallow people notice the deepness, and are usually afraid of it too.
They will say that is deep, but then not further discuss the deepness of the subject anyway.
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
30 May 23
@Nakitakona Even if a thought is deep, it still needs to be rooted in truth, and inspired by love, otherwise, its deepness is misleading, and we think that we are mining wisdom, and truth, but actually are digging a deep well into quicksand instead.
We need to fashion our lives from a strong foundation with deep roots embedded in the rock of truth, not only with roots rooted in sands shallowly, and feebly.
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
29 May 23
@innertalks Well said. The profoundness of the thought signifies its deepness.
2 people like this
@Shiva49 (28366)
• Singapore
28 May 23
I think it is better not to think too much about whether we get it right but allow our lives to find their depth through a meaningful and love-filled life.
We have to look ahead learning from experiences and reflecting on them without getting bogged down with the nitty witty. Let not guilt, regrets curb our innate enthusiasm.
I take a view my life is best lived with a sense of gratitude to my creator. That gives meaning and direction.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
28 May 23
Yes, we could all be said to have an inbuilt depth finder, which hones in on our own buried talents, and gifts, trying to unearth them from our soul, and encourage us all to live from them in our everyday lives too.
On the other hand, if we get tricked by our minds in following paths, that do not match our God-given gifts, and talents, we might indeed get bogged in our life, and might need help extricating ourselves from our own quicksand.
Guilt also is a heavy load, that keeps us struggling in our quicksand too.
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
30 May 23
@Shiva49 We should not ignore life's puzzle though, and live a life of frivolity instead.
Puzzles encourage us to look wider, dig deeper, and uncover the true us, that sits within the centre of life's maze, just waiting for us to live from it, and to accept the puzzle, as an enigma, but not let it stop us from living true lives, based on truth, love, and a respect for the creator, of the puzzles too.
@Shiva49 (28366)
• Singapore
29 May 23
@innertalks I think life will be ever a puzzle for us and however much we may try to unravel it's mystery the more we will get lost in its wide ramifications and depth.
There have been umpteen efforts all through history and each life can also be a pointer to solving the puzzle.
I believe we may require more than a sixth sense to get some grip on this eternal quest of humankind.
1 person likes this
@manikarnika (3301)
• India
31 May 23
Nice Article...Thanks for sharing...Here subconscious mind plays vital role.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
31 May 23
Thanks. Our real self, our inner self, or soul, can play its role too, when we use our consciousness to experience its energy of love coming through us too.
1 person likes this
