THERE IS NOTHING TO LIMIT OUR FREEDOM An interview given to Pavol Remiáš and Daniel Cvečko by Sandó Kaisen Received November 15 2014 - Revised December 22 2014 - Accepted January 7 2015 Zen is a Japanese expression for object-free meditation. In China it is Chan, in India dhyāna, in Korea Seon. This originally eastern philosophy, or a way of recognition of the self and the laws of the universe, came to existence through a fusion of traditional Taoism and Buddhism, which was brought to China from India by a legendary first ever Zen patriarch Bodhidharma in the 6th century. Then, from China, Zen came to Japan, where it took roots and very intensely soaked into the local culture. Within the past 50 years, Zen, like other branches of Buddhism, penetrated into Europe and the USA. Today, you can find numerous books on Zen in bookshops – from catalogues of Zen gardens with typical economising aesthetics to sageness of the Zen masters. As for meditation, which is to bring insight into reality, in almost every book the cognizants emphasise that Zen is not about knowledge, but practice. Despite hundreds of sympathisers, there are only a few dozens of people who practice Zen in Slovakia, and even less of those who do it regularly. What is practice? For example, in Zen, an important part of the practice is to sit with one′s legs crossed for approximately half an hour several times per week, sitting on a cushion opposite a white wall, so that the person is not distracted by anything. Sitting in this position is called Zazen. Hundreds, maybe thousands of hours spent in such meditation one of the few European carriers of the highest knowledge, Master Sandó Kaisen, née Alain Krystaszek. He was born in 1952 in Noyon, France. He spent eight years living in a communist Poland, raised by his strict grandmother. For several years he assisted in a church. Later he moved to France. At the age of 20 he set off on an adventurous and dangerous journey to the communist China, where he trained the martial arts Wu Shu with a local master. After returning to France he came across Zen. In 1979, he was ordained a Zen monk. At present, he leads Zen adepts Europe-wide. We met on the occasion of his visit of Bratislava. A modestly looking, pleasant older man with spontaneous and natural demeanor welcomed us. During the interview he switched between French and Polish and his behaviour was rich in kind-hearted laughter, although the topics were not cheerful only. A Q & Spirituality Studies 1 (1) Spring 2015 91 (1)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzgxMzI=