Bernie Glassman on the Zen of "letting go" that is not "letting go"

"All of us who come to Zen have a yearning to let go.  Naturally, we want to be free of the self, free of the ego, attain the mind that Shakyamuni attained under the bodhi tree. But what is letting go?

I don't think we understand it at all. We've got this idea of something trapped that we got to set free.  Like there's a bird in your hand, what Zen is about is spreading your fingers and letting it fly away.  Whoosh!  I'm enlightened!

But you and the bird are the same!  You and your hand are the same!  Nothing needs to be opened!  Nothing needs to fly away!  Realize this and you've automatically let go!"

Bernie Glassman
quoted in Ambivalent Zen by Lawrence Shainberg

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