Think for a moment about your world. What comes most readily to your attention? Your career? Politics? How you get along with your friends and neighbors? What others might think of you? Whether you have enough money? Whether you will ever be happy? Whether the universe is against you, or just seems to be?
At Zen and Science, we call this the World of People. It is a 'virtual world' constructed entirely of human perceptions and ideas. No person completely shares the perspectives of another, and each person believes his/her own perception of the world is true, so there are as many "Worlds of People" as there are people in the world!
In Zen terms, the World of People is the Relative. The world appears to each person relative to his/her expectations, senses, and thought. It cannot be the real world because no two people share the same conclusions about what is the nature of reality. The Absolute, by contrast, is the world without human ideas and description. It is the true nature of the world, the universe, everything.
If you can do so now, look outside a window, or step into your backyard. The trees, the sky, the clouds, the sun, the moon, the birds, the ground you walk upon...you are perceiving the absolute reality of things, but through the filter of your human brain and its conditioning. This world is not concerned with your career, your relationships, the amount of money you have or owe, the status of your personal health. It...just is.
What is more, this absolute reality is perfect. There is not a single thing "missing" from it! There is not a single thing that the universe can "improve" upon. When is a mountain not everything that the mountain is? When is a river not everything that the river is? There is not a single thing to be fixed.
Zen helps us live more in the Absolute, and less in the Relative. By doing so, we realize that we ourselves are seamlessly a part of that absolute reality. To the absolute universe, we already are complete, and that is a wonderful thing!
