One of the primary teachings of Zen Buddhism is to bring your consciousness back to reality, saving it from being lost in the world of the abstract. When my class gets too lost in one abstraction after another, I will clap my hands together making a noise loud enough to startle students sleeping in the back. I remind them that at that point, for the moment they were startled by the clap, they were awake without thought: that is Zen.
Seung Sahn
