The Path to Awakening: Chan/Zen. Return to Your True Nature

Out of the Labyrinth

Caught in the flow of life, you may feel like a piece of driftwood, aimlessly floating, adrift, consumed by an inexplicable sense of emptiness, unsure of your path forward.

Amid the clamor of the mundane world. Search endlessly, longing to discover your true self. Standing at a crossroads, feeling lost and confused, and don’t know which path to take.

Deep within, a voice cries out: Life must be more than this! You wander in confusion as if trapped in a vast labyrinth, desperately looking for the way out.

This voice urges you forward, prompting questions: Who am I, really? What is my true essence? Awakening isn’t about pursuing external answers but realizing the truth is here and within. It’s not about becoming something else but removing falsities that obstruct your true self. Return to the natural state of being—effortless flow with ease and clarity.

The Path We’ve Walked

On the spiritual path, we traversed countless roads—endlessly searching, yet finding nothing. The journey once felt infinite, marked by relentless hardships, struggles, and despair. And yet, in the end, we realized that everything we sought was already here, effortlessly within reach.

Looking back, we see that what blinded us was nothing more than a thin veil—an illusory, non-existent “gateless gate.” Paradoxically, piercing through that fragile layer proved to be one of the most difficult undertakings of all.

We once immersed ourselves deeply in countless Buddhist practices: long hours of sitting in meditation, devout recitation of scriptures, diligent study of sacred texts, contemplation of suffering and impermanence, rituals, smoke offerings, and almsgiving. We believed these methods—whether exoteric or esoteric—would dissolve karma, cultivate compassion, and transform our minds.

Yet despite exhausting every effort, the path only grew more bewildering. The harder we strove, the more lost we became. Day after day, night after night, our desperate striving brought neither peace nor liberation, but instead a deepening sense of powerlessness and despair. We wept before the Buddha, pleading to know why we could not reach the end. Nearing the brink of hopelessness, we felt trapped, directionless, and utterly without a way forward.

Everything shifted when we unexpectedly stumbled upon the teachings of Chan—the words of Bodhidharma, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, and the writings of Jed McKenna and U.G. Krishnamurti. In that moment, a sudden realization dawned: our self-nature is true-nature. It was as though the clouds parted to reveal the ever-present sun. The truth had always been within us—hidden in the depths of our hearts, never outside. The methods we had followed were focused outwardly, placing hope in external rituals rather than turning inward to rediscover the natural state of the heart and mind.

Now, through the lens of our own awakening, we hope to offer you a clear and direct path home—like a lantern cutting through the densest darkness. No more wandering aimlessly. No more losing yourself in layers of mist and confusion. Let this be the light that guides you back to your true self.

Return to Your Natural State 

This in-depth introductory course lays the foundation for a spiritual journey. At its core, awakening is about returning to your natural state or true nature.

On a gloomy day, it’s easy to forget the sun is still shining, just hidden from the view. You might be disoriented or unable to see the sun. However, your true nature, like the sun, is always present but merely obscured by dark clouds of false beliefs, identities, or self-restraining frameworks of thinking.

The awakening process is dispersing thick clouds, allowing your inherent light to shine through. Returning to your natural state means stripping away these obstructions and, much like purifying water—removing impurities to reveal its original untainted clarity—your natural state.

Awakening is like a butterfly breaking free from its chrysalis, shedding the cocoon of false beliefs and illusions. It’s about dismantling the self-imposing barriers that keep us confined. Without the tinted lenses, without bias or false notions, you’re able to perceive reality with raw, unfiltered clarity.

Awakening is beyond mental and cognitive shifts—it is also a physiological transformation, leading you into a whole new paradigm.

However, the path to awakening demands great courage—to confront and reexamine the beliefs, values, identities, and judgments you’ve taken for granted or even held sacred. These assumptions often disguise themselves as absolute truths, like the blue sky or green grass, yet they are frequently subjective constructs that hinder growth and freedom.