Book Review: An Oak Tree in the Garden by Narendra Murty

 Zen stories are always either a hit or a miss for the common reader. Some of them bring to you an 'aha' moment, unveiling the mist that covers your intellect and making you observe the entire world around you in a new light. But most of them go right above your field of perception. You are not able to make any sense, but you always get the notion that if you were able to appreciate the story, it would change you profoundly. It's not that Zen stories are very long, complex, or confusing to the reader. They often use ordinary settings and feature ordinary people and snippets of their ordinary lives, but somehow they come out extraordinarily dense. This ordinary nature of them makes it too embarrassing to accept our failure to grasp them.

For example, consider the story where a monk asks a Zen master the reason for Bodhidharma's arrival in China. His reply is simply, "an oak tree in the garden." That's it! There is no punch line, no final revelation, or a surprise twist. What sense can be made out of this? Is it just a wise reply with a profound inner meaning, or is there a botanical metaphor in it? How should our minds approach the story in order to decipher it? I have read some collections of Zen stories before and have had this unsettling feeling inside me while reading such stories. They defy our common sense and try to escape out of the reach of our intellect.

In his book, An Oak Tree in the Garden, Narendra Murty attempts to demystify such stories and take his readers more deeply into Zen living. I used the expression 'Zen living' consciously because, after reading the book, I feel that it cannot be called a philosophy or religion in a practical sense. A philosophy or religion needs scriptural backing that uses human intellect, knowledge, and authority in its construction. Zen is beyond such a conventional approach. To understand Zen, conventional knowledge is a hindrance. One must come out of the shackles of knowledge, preconditioning, prejudices, and learning and get ready to unlearn. Only with an empty cup can one comprehend it fully and immerse oneself in it.

In one of his previous books, Eating His Money, Narendra Murty tried to decipher the hidden philosophy and metaphysics of Mulla Nasruddin's jokes. He has tried something similar in this volume with Zen stories. The author recounts thirty short stories pertaining to Zen Buddhism and explains them so that a reader who isn't familiar with the concept of Zen can understand it. It is different from the book about Mulla Nasruddin because his jokes are open to interpretation, but Zen stories are not. They are like those sharp arrows designed to pierce the toughest of armour at precise points. The explanation needs to be accurate and to the point, and any deviation from the intended meaning of the stories will do a great disservice to its reader.

After reading the entire collection of the thirty stories, I could understand the logic that the author has used in the order of their placement. It is intended for the reader to lay a strong foundation in the concept and then to go to a higher level progressively. For example, the first story, The Zen Transmission, that explains the starting point of Zen also makes us realise how it is not something to be understood by conventional learning by hearing the talks of a master. We understand that the aim of Zen is enlightenment. Then we go on to learn more about the state of enlightenment and how to attain it. We also appreciate the importance of shedding all preconceived notions in order to attain enlightenment. We realise that the fear of the future and the despair about the past are two roadblocks on our path, and complete awareness of the present moment is important.

I was enamoured, particularly by a concept that compares religious scriptures to menus in restaurants. The reason we enter a restaurant is to have good food. But instead of that, we just read the menu of the restaurant and come out. We never strive for the complete spiritual experience, but find ourselves satisfied by filling ourselves with knowledge from texts and considering ourselves spiritual beings. By the end of the book, we also realise that the ultimate Zen experience is not just about enlightenment. That experience only reaches fulfilment when the enlightened master reaches back to the world and works among the poor, emanating his Zen to others, as established in the final tale of The Laughing Buddha.

An Oak Tree in the Garden is another achievement for the author, in which he helps the readers on their first step towards a concept that sounds very simple but is rather tough to follow through. It is so important to not miss the forward by Abhay Mishra, in which he gives a perfect preparatory introduction to Zen. Also considerate is the detailed list of works by different philosophers that the author consulted, as it can help the readers continue their journey towards Zen and finding their inner Buddha.