What is Zen Deism?

Deism, as defined by Dr. Michael Armheim, is the “Belief in an impersonal creator God who does not get involved in the day-to-day affairs of the world.” (1)

I describe my spiritual path as Zen Deism. For me, it’s a natural blending of Zen Buddhism’s contemplative practices with the Deist commitment to reason, observation, and a non‑personal understanding of the divine. Instead of following a revealed deity or a fixed religious system, I orient myself toward what I call the Ground of Being—a universal Source that underlies reality, not a god who speaks through scriptures or institutions.

I am not drawn to rigid dogma or religious authority. Zen Deism gives me room to breathe. It lets me explore spirituality without surrendering my intellect or my direct experience. My practice centers on personal transformation, ethical living, and a mindful, rational connection to the cosmos—not on creeds or rituals.

At the heart of my path are a few guiding principles:

– Rational Spirituality: I use reason, reflection, and my own experience to understand the divine. I don’t accept any scripture as exclusive truth; instead, I look to the natural world and my own consciousness for insight.

– Contemplative Practice: Zen meditation—especially Zazen/Vipassana—grounds me. Through mindfulness, I cultivate clarity and a direct sense of connection with the cosmos.

– The Ground of Being: I experience the divine not as a person but as an infinite, universal presence woven through existence. I don’t worship it; I encounter it within.

– Ethical Living: Compassion, awareness, and integrity are my spiritual disciplines. Living mindfully is how I awaken to deeper wisdom.

– Spiritual but Not Religious: I draw inspiration from many traditions—Buddhism, Stoicism Daoism, and certain mystics, as well as philosophy—without belonging to any institution. My spirituality is lived, not inherited.

Zen Deism also helps me understand what my path is not. It isn’t traditional religion; there’s no clergy, no temple, no dogma. My personal motto is:

Learn from all, cling to none.

Zen Deism isn’t pure Zen, because I openly acknowledge a divine Ground of Being that Zen often sidesteps. And it isn’t pure Deism, because I don’t stop at intellectual belief—I cultivate direct, contemplative experience (cosmic consciousness).

In the end, Zen Deism feels like a form of rational spirituality. It’s a way for me to explore who I am, what reality is, and how I relate to the Source that permeates everything. Through disciplined awareness and mindful presence, I walk a contemplative path that feels honest, grounded, and deeply alive.

Albert Einstein Quote

“I am not an atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations.” (2)

Charles Darwin Quote

“There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice. Not believing this, I see no necessity in the belief that the eye was expressly designed. On the other hand, I cannot anyhow be contented to view this wonderful universe, and especially the state of man, and to conclude that everything is the result of brute force. I am inclined to look at everything as resulting from designed laws, with the details, whether good or bad, left to the working out of what we may call Chance. Not that this notion at all satisfies me. I feel most deeply that the whole subject is too profound for the human intellect. A dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton.” (3)

Endnotes

1. Michael Arnheim, Is Christianity True? (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1984), 20.
2. Albert Einstein, interview with George Sylvester Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (New York: Macaulay, 1930). Emphasis added.
3. Charles Darwin, letter to Asa Gray, May 22, 1860, in The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. Francis Darwin (London: John Murray, 1887), 312. Emphasis added.