Some of the best commentaries on the Book of Laotse have been written by Zen scholars. Zennism, like Taoism, is the worship of Relativity. One master defines Zen as the art of feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can be reached only through the comprehension of opposites. Again, Zennism, like Taoism, is a strong advocate of individualism.
Nothing is real except that which concerns the working of our own minds.
Yeno, the sixth patriarch, once saw two monks watching the flag of a pagoda fluttering in the wind. One day Soshi was walking on the bank of a river with a friend. Zen was often opposed to the precepts of orthodox Buddhism even as Taoism was opposed to Confucianism. The followers of Zen aimed at direct communion with the inner nature of things, regarding their outward accessories only as impediments to a clear perception of Truth. It was this love of the Abstract that led the Zen to prefer black and white sketches to the elaborately coloured paintings of the classic Buddhist School.