The Great Awakening – Reflections on Zen and Reality

By Robert Powell.

179 Pages | Copyright 1961, first Quest book edition 1983 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835605779.

Here is Krishnamurti - a living legend; one of the most creative minds of our time. And here is Robert Powell. Captivated by the stark truth he found in the Krishnamurti philosophy, he pondered over the dynamic equivalents he noted in Zen Buddhism, the exotic discipline that has so captured the imagination of the Western world.

Powell's search for reality is not limited to exploring the Krishnamurti and Zen philosophies. He believes the mystical tradition of all major religions has been concerned with an immediate transformation of consciousness, and that all major religions are in fact, branches of the same tree. The tree of reality, symbol of the non-divisibility of life.

From Chapter 30 - 'There is Nothing in It . . . (p. 169):

" In the end there can only be Silence; when no longer anything is said or done to describe or 'act' Zen consciously, comes the experience of the silent mind, in which there is constant renewal so that the mind is ever fresh and innocent. So let us wash out our mouths many times, for we have mentioned the Buddha, Christ, etc. many times, and consider ourselves lucky that for now we have been spared the pulling of the nose, the thirty blows or such treatment - and who would deny that we have deserved it? Thus there remains only to 'walk on'! "