Questioner (Q): Spiritual way tends to be more direct and I feel Zen-Buddhism actually misleads from the direct path.
Acharya Prashant (AP): Zen never imposes any rule. Or does it? Is that your question that Zen imposes rule?
Q: Yes.
AP: What kind of rules?
Q: Rules of the way of living, thinking.
AP: Zen is the simplest, purest, and most direct way of living. Almost living like a plant, living like winds, and stones and animals. So, that could be said about many other traditional practices but not at all about Zen.
If you go to a Zen practitioner and ask, “What rules do you follow?” He will have very few rules to tell you. Maybe he will say, “When I sit down for meditation, I face the wall” or if he has picked up a few practices from here and there, he will talk about them, but nothing very elaborate.
