Stop Eating the Menu! Gestalt and Zen
By Morgan Goodlander

Almost everyone has heard the word Gestalt or the word Zen, but few have any real idea what they mean. The reason their definitions are so obscure is also the reason they have so much in common. They both have stepped out of the box of the rational and into the transcendent. Gestalt and Zen are both pathways of liberation rather than systems-of-thought. Gestalt and Zen simply refuse to make sense at the expense of reality.

Systems-of-thought hold together through language, logic, and symbolism. They are representations of things rather than the things themselves. Systems-of-thought are maps rather than the territory. Unfortunately, we have all been socially conditioned to mistake our thoughts for the reality they so inadequately attempt to describe.

Pathways of liberation operate within experience itself rather than on the description of experience. They work to short circuit the rational mind and provide sudden insight into the unfiltered nature of being. The Gestaltist or Zen Master are both primarily interested in immediate experience. They want to taste the Mango rather than describe it. They want to make the Mango the whole universe complete within a present moment. For the Gestaltist or the Zen Master the Mango lacks nothing. It simply is. In its Suchness it requires no description, categorization, or justification. To name a Mango is to commit murder by reducing it to a mental artifact.

Any system that attempts to describe Gestalt or Zen is doomed to failure. It is like trying to carry the ocean in a wheel barrel. If you want to know what the ocean is, dive in. Feel the deep blue on your body. Pay careful attention as the salt forms crystals on your upper lip and you look toward the stars. Pathways of Liberation take you on a journey of the soul. They fill you with life and never lead you to the dark library of armchair adventures. They don't cheat you with mere words.

If you really want to know what Gestalt or Zen is find a Zen Master or call a Gestaltist. sit face-to-face and look into their eyes. Feel the energy of simply being with them. Do not expect them to make sense, because if they are the real thing they won't. Don't ask for answers because they will show you rather than describe to you. You will not need to ask what color the ocean is when you can see it there right before the two of you! Descriptions are for people who are blind. When you come out of the hypnosis of your thoughts and kiss life full on the lips, then you will know what you know and all else will seem like stale prayers at sundown.

Yes there are people who write books about Gestalt and Zen, highly educated philosophers and psychologists who will be glad to tell you all about the history and development of these traditions. They will speak with authority and it will all make sense. Only in the end you will not know what either Gestalt or Zen is.

Instead of tasting the Mango you will have tasted the menu.