Topic > Understanding Zen through Willpower and Faith

When a person is pessimistic about the world and loses faith in everything, how can he save himself? Perhaps becoming Zen is a way for people to seek peace and gain personal enlightenment from it. This is what the author Morinaga chose. Morinaga changes along the way as he tries to become Zen and awakens something true. Note that trust and belief are a strong power that can support people's insides and also discover the beauty of the world. It takes time to build a trusting relationship with people and it takes time to find a belief. But once people notice it, then this is personal enlightenment, which ultimately becomes their power. In the essay “My Struggle to Become a Zen Monk,” by Soko Morinaga, the author recounts how he achieved personal enlightenment in his Zen education process. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, when Morinaga finishes the first task of sweeping the garden, he learns the enlightenment that everything/everyone is useful and begins to trust his teacher Roshi. It's because Roshi shows how to use the things that Morinaga thinks are rubbish. Morinaga didn't believe in everything/everyone before because already after experiencing the war he lost faith in trust. He comes to the temple and meets Roshi. Morinaga pretends to trust him at first. However, when he completes his first task, Roshi teaches him the truth. In the essay, Morinaga thinks that leaves and gravel are garbage. However, Roshi shows how to use them. Roshi tells Monriaga that nothing and no one is trash. Only then does he realize that he hasn't thought about other uses for these things all along. He saw things firmly. This is the moment Monriaga starts to trust Roshi. And he learns his first enlightenment. He understands that everything has the meaning of its existence. Some things seem useless but still have their value. So this is the first lesson for Monriaga. He gets this awakening and can gradually trust Roshi in the first step of becoming a Zen. At that moment, a seed called trust takes root in his heart. Secondly, Morinaga gets the second enlightenment-confidence when he listens to the conversation with Roshi and Miss Okamoto. It's because Roshi's response shows his full trust towards his student and touched Morinaga. Morinaga thinks that he and Roshi represent the simple relationship between teacher and student. So most of the time you follow Roshi's order to do the task. He didn't think deeply. However, when Roshi answers Okamoto's question. Morinaga is moved. For example, Roshi thinks seriously about him and his students and replies that he doesn't know who is the best. This surprises Morinaga because he thinks the answer must be Roshi himself. Roshi's response shows that Roshi has his students in mind and provides them with enough trust. Now Morinaga knows he has a good teacher because Roshi always wants his students to be better and teaches them good principles. This inspires Morinaga. It turns out that Roshi and his relationship run deeper. He knows that the power of trust is excellent. It also has a feeling of being trusted. His teacher has always put him in his heart and believes that one day he will grow and become stronger. In this moment Morinaga truly feels the power of trust and realizes enlightenment. The seed of trust is growing in his heart. He has a closer relationship with his teacher. And he already trusted Roshi. Third, Morinaga achieves personal awakening when Roshi orders him to leave after doing something wrong. It is because his persistent action proves his.