nihilist-buddhist

This postcard was posted today on PostSecret.  “I’m a Nihilist Trapped in a Buddhist Body” (spelling corrected) is a curious statement.  Why is this person trapped?  What is trapping him (or her)?  Why is his body seen as “Buddhist”?  Why not just say, “I’m a Nihilist,” instead of clinging to Buddhism if it makes this person feel trapped?  I wish I could ask this person for more clarification.

There seems to be a frequent confusion between nihilism – the denial of existence and the absence of meaning, and the Buddhist concept/doctrine of emptiness – the lack of inherent independent existence of things…that is interdependence – often get confused with each other.  One concludes in the ideas that nothing matters, the other in the idea that everything matters because everything is connected.

Or maybe this person is encountering doubt – something that I encounter again and again, and I think all of us encounter.  Times when our practice seems to just be “going nowhere.”  “Why am I doing this?” we might ask, “sitting on this cushion is a big waste of time.  Meaningless.  I’d be better off ______________(fill in the blank).”  In Zen practice we talk about great faith and great doubt both being necessary for awakening – and great determination.  It takes great determination to keep going, get on that cushion every day.

I hope this person resolves his inner conflicts in a way that is compassionate toward himself.  When we’re feeling trapped, we’re usually the ones trapping ourselves.