It’s bound to happen. Sooner or later someone will write it. Zen and the Art of Shaving. And why not? We already have a slew of “Zen and the Art of…” books, including: Zen in the Art of Archery, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Zen and the Art of the Internet, Zen and the Art of Castle Maintenance, Zen and the Art of Ferrets, Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology, and the list goes on…..

The Western mind is more comfortable interpreting Zen (and other meditative disciplines) in terms of things and activities…in having and doing. But Zen is above all about the experience of being; often the opposite of having and doing. In fact, the principle activity of most forms of mediation is quiet sitting, either “observing” the mind, or using some form of mantra or prayer to corral the words and calm the mind in hope of seeing through the tiny cracks between the words into that “wordless” part of the Psyche that connects directly with Ultimate Reality, The Universe, The Tao, God, or whatever terms you want to use. There is even a branch of Psychology dedicated to the study of this phenomenon called, Transpersonal Psychology.

Nevertheless, who’s to say that “active meditation” is any less valid than passive sitting? Certainly, disciplines such as the Oriental martial arts, the Tea Ceremony, and Kyudo (archery), are among just some of the traditional Eastern activities that have existed in parallel with seated meditation, and whose adherents view them as forms of meditation. And in his landmark 2004 book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle even proposed that dangerous activities such as skydiving, car racing, etc. may provide “portals” to non-Egoic consciousness because of the focused attention they demand.

The topic of the meditative value of traditional wet-shaving has often been bandied about by shave enthusiasts as one of the benefits of their activity. In his book Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving, Michael Ham outlines a number of shared features between wet-shaving and meditation. And my own piece on The Therapeutic Value of Nostalgic Activities suggests a similar connection. But over the last few months of intensive gourmet shaving, I must confess that I have serious doubts that the way in which I am approaching shaving can really fulfill the meditative potential of this activity.

Having spent good portions of the last 35 years with monks, yogis, rinpoches, and martial art masters, I have observed that all active meditative disciplines have some common features:

1. Economy and simplicity. Nothing is wasted or superfluous. Every piece of equipment is carefully limited to only what is absolutely necessary. Every movement is methodically studied and executed to avoid waste. There is very little choice in material and tools, although what is used tends to be of very high quality and evolved from long tradition. The Kyuodo archer will not use a modern compound bow, even though it would surely hit the target with greater accuracy. That’s because it isn’t about the equipment, or even about the target….its about You!
2. Ritual. Variety is the enemy of meditation because it stimulates the verbal, intellectual mind to try to “understand” and control what it is experiencing. Words and intellect are fuel for the Egoic, materialistic parts of the Psyche. Constancy and ritual take the guesswork out of the process and allow the mind to focus only on a repetition of what it already knows.
3. Mindfulness. Ultimately the purpose of points 1 &2 above is to facilitate a highly concentrated and wordless state, tightly focused on Now as opposed to past events and future plans, fears, etc. This is the meditative state that is shared with those who simply “sit” in non-doing.

In my opinion and based solely on personal experience, I have found that gourmet shaving is a far more sensual experience, rooted in the pleasurable variety of equipment, lotions, potions, etc. Nothing wrong with that…a very relaxing and enjoyable way of making the daily shave a more pleasant experience. It certainly has the potential to be used in a meditative way, but that would require completely changing the approach to a far more restrictive and ritualized format….something I’m not prepared to do right now (but maybe in the future?).