What is the fixed point of our mind? The modern mind is fixed against change by the Ego. Primitive societies don’t have an ego. Their tribal mind is always fixed by an external point, like a Cosmic Tree or mountain, or even a totem pole. A religious mind is fixed by an external point like the Kaaba is Islam or Jerusalem. The fixed point becomes a sacred place, a cosmic place that connects earth and heaven. The modern rational civilization, having erased all mythic fixed points, have created a portable fixed point, the Ego. However, this is just another stage in the evolution of consciousness, not the final end of consciousness. Zen or Faith Mind is an evolutionary leap beyond the fixed point of the Ego.

But before we begin, what do Ii mean generally when I say a Zen view? Basically, I use Zen to mean creative. Zen is the aroused Faith Mind that can leap beyond appearances to grasp a greater understanding. Faith Mind is a dynamic fixed point that is not fixed in the past or the known, but a faith in Awareness itself rather then some form you are aware of, or a faith in your creative capacity instead of faith in something that is already created. To me that is Zen.

We don’t appreciate or understanding the vital importance of having a fixed center or point. If you are exploring an unmapped land, you need a fixed point, like the North Star to orientate yourself. We all know the panic when we lose our reference to the known. That is a fixed trusted point. Oh…I recognize that building. I know where I am now. But what does it feel like when there is no familiar reference or center?

We always make the finger the fixed point instead of what the finger is pointing to…the unfixed point. Our modern mind is fixed on form, on something. It can’t fix on nothing, it can’t go beyond the fixed finger. Our infant mind grabs the finger as its first point and never lets go.