The "direct assault on the Citadel of Truth"

Some people seem driven to Zen practice. For others, like me, it was more like being drawn in*... and this was the quote that first grabbed my attention... 30 years later, I'm not blind to the shortcomings of CH's view of Zen... but these words still bounce around the inside of my head!

In fact, this is only a short part of a longer quote from his 1951 book Buddhism, which goes on:

Zen is the apotheosis of Buddhism. This direct assault upon the Citadel of Truth, without reliance upon concepts (of God or soul or salvation), or the use of Scripture, ritual or vow, is unique...

He also says in that book:

The purpose of Zen is to pass beyond the intellect. All that we know, we know but about. The expert, a wit has said, learns more and more about less and less; Zen wearies of learning about it and about, and strives to KNOW. For this a new faculty is needed, the power of immediate perception, the intuitive awareness which comes when the perceiver and the perceived are merged into one...

What is the goal of Zen? The answer is Satori, the Zen term for Enlightenment. As Satori lies beyond the intellect, which alone can define and describe, one cannot define Enlightenment. It is that condition of consciousness wherein the pendulum of the Opposites has come to rest, where both sides of the coin are equally valued and immediately seen. Silence alone can describe it, the silence of the mystic, of the saint, of the artist in the presence of great beauty; of the lover and the poet when the fetters of time and space have for the moment fallen away.

Christmas Humphreys was a hugely important figure in the development of Buddhism in the UK, but is far less well-known than other figures of the age - e.g. Alan Watts, who Humphreys introduced to the Buddhist Society. His conceptualisation of Buddhism at times is redolent of the trappings of the Theosophists with whom he was also involved. And his writing does seem like a relic from a bygone era - and indeed perhaps it is - but if you come across Buddhism or one of his many other books, don't overlook it or dismiss it as outdated or irrelevant. His words can still inspire, 40 years after his death, and still bring people to the Way.

* This driven/drawn thing was actually one of the topics I wrote about in my PhD thesis on how people in the West get into Buddhism. It's called Becoming Buddhist and for the curious is out there on the internet. You'd have to be pretty damn bored to read the whole thing though!