Zen experience defies all thinking and linguistic description and simply affirms what is evidently real: &quot;The ordinary way&mdash;that precisely <i>is</i> the Way.&quot; After questioning the nature of reality, the Zen student discovers that what remains is what <i>is.</i> Although it seems that Zen would not lend itself to philosophical discussion, that all conceptualization would dissolve in light of this empiricism, in this volume, the author demonstrates that the &quot;silence&quot; of Zen is in fact pregnant with words. A variety of topics are discussed: the experience of satori, ego and egolessness, Zen sense and nonsense, koan practice, the influence of Zen on Japanese painting and calligraphy and much more.