The INNER freedom in Zen can lead naturally to kindness. Zen commandments are not actual commandments, they are merely suggestions of methods for freedom and kindness to be vivid in your life. The Zen commandments are as silent as one hand clapping.
Some people are waiting for the sun to shine. The weather is imperfect but that’s perfectly fine as he performs “Singin’ in the Rain”. He’s not just coping with it, he’s celebrating in it. People love this scene because it conveys the uninhibited joy that we somehow feel our lives should be, even as the storms of messy, uncontrollable circumstances rain down upon us. We all suspect such a life is possible. For fleeting moments we may even feel we’ve grasped this secret, while reading philosophy or poetry, listening to Bach or Hendrix, scaling the mountain or making love. The light flickers on but then flickers off again.
But we can have that light as a steady brilliance, if we know where to focus. The light is within you. The dimension of boundless freedom and happiness is not in some external sensation or grand achievement, not in some holy person, but within you. And it is within you— not someday— but is, NOW and always.
And finding this boundless dimension doesn’t affect only ourselves. The more we bask in that inner light, the more we radiate it to others. Love, generosity, kindness are its natural overflow. In fact, as he walks off at the end of the song, he passes a fellow pedestrian the umbrella. It’s not enough to sing in the rain ourselves— we’ve got to pass the torch along to others. (Author’s note, p1-2 paraphrased)
“I’m laughin’ at the clouds, so dark up above. The sun’s in my heart and I’m ready for love.” -Singin’ in The Rain
Eventually every situation, even the must disastrous, becomes not a matter of “Why is this happening to me?” but “What is my teacher teaching me?” (p75)
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