Excerpt from No-Nonsense Zen for Beginners
Recently during a talk, a student asked me how can sitting Zen be helpful when there are so many wars, so much poverty, injustices, and discrimination. I responded to the student, “Why do you think all of this is happening?” The student replied, “Because of power, greed, and hate.” “So why is there power, greed, and hate?” I asked. The student said, “Because of the ego. Many people are selfish.” “Ah,” I replied. “So why is there ego and selfishness? Where do they come from?” The student was silent for a moment, then responded, “I don’t know.” I then replied, “That is why we sit Zen.” We sit Zen to see the root of the suffering in this world.
