Quotes of Wisdom

 

                          Photo by Franco Garcia 

 "I am looking for the face I had before the World was made."

Zen Parable

The Search for the Original Face: A Reflection on a Zen Parable

 This simple yet profound statement, attributed to an ancient Zen parable, invites us to explore the deepest questions of identity, self-awareness, and enlightenment. It speaks to the essence of who we are before the conditioning of society, before labels, before the stories we tell ourselves.

But what does it truly mean? And how can we apply this wisdom to our daily lives?

The Original Face and the Illusion of Identity

In Zen Buddhism, the idea of the “original face” is often linked to enlightenment. It often refers to the true Self—the self that exists before we are shaped by society, our vast cultures, experiences, and personal history. This question is famously echoed in a Zen koan:

"What was your original face before your parents were born?"

On first glance, this appears contradictory. How is it possible for us to have a face before birth?  However, logical reasoning is not the exclusive basis of Zen teachings. Rather, they employ paradoxes to force us to go beyond knowledge and into firsthand experience.
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We spend our lives creating an identity based on external factors—whether it be our name, nationality, beliefs, and personal history. We think of ourselves as the sum of our experiences, memories, and achievements. But in Zen thinking it suggests that beneath all of this is a pure, unchanging awareness—the “face” we had before the world shaped us.

Shedding the Masks We Wear

From childhood, we are given many roles and expectations. We learn to behave in certain ways to gain acceptance in the world. We develop a Persona—a king of mask—that helps us navigate the world. But as we grow, many of us begin to feel disconnected from our deeper selves. We start to sense that something is missing, that we are not entirely at peace.

The search for the “face before the world was made” is really a return to authenticity. It is about peeling away the layers of conditioning to finally discover who we truly are beneath societal labels and personal narratives.

How do we do this? Through attention, meditation, and introspection. Zen practice helps us to sit quietly and objectively notice our thoughts. By doing this, we start to see that the narratives we tell ourselves about our accomplishments, setbacks, anxieties, and ambitions don't accurately reflect who we are.

Living with Awareness

We can live our lives more freely if we accept this wisdom. We can live in the now rather than being constrained by regrets from the past or worries about the future. Without having to maintain a self-image all the time, we can interact with life on a deeper level.


This does not imply a rejection of the outside world or our obligations. Instead, it refers to living life to the fullest without becoming attached to one's ego. It entails behaving with empathy, staying loyal to who we are, and realizing that despite our differences, we are all fundamentally the same.

Final Thoughts

So this search for the “original face” is not about finding something new—it’s about remembering something we’ve always had. It’s about returning to a state of pure being, before judgments, fears, and expectations took hold.

In a world that constantly tells us what kind of person to be, perhaps the greatest act of courage is to seek who we were before all of that—to look for the face we had before the world was made.

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