Zen and the Consummate Chemist

I've been studying Zen philosophy for about a year now and although I'm not really ready to call myself a Buddhist per se, the concepts make so much sense for all that I do in my life that maybe I am already and just haven't said it...

One Zen concept that I have been thinking a lot about is the principle that all people and all things are perfect and complete exactly the way they are. All that is left to do is let go and experience the reality of what a great and intelligent person you already are. According to this logic, a teacher does not really teach a student anything, it is the student who realizes the concept when they are ready. Everything that you will ever learn in your life, you already know, it is just a matter of realization.This principle accounts for those moments when something that has been eluding you for some time finally comes clear: It always feels as though the change comes from the inside, not the outside.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was doing my daily run and remembering my Chemistry class from that morning. I am presently trying to grasp the concepts of Molecular Orbital Theory in that class. So far it has been the most difficult class for me to keep up in even though I find it very interesting and spend quite a lot of time studying. This year at midterms, for the first time, I experienced real exam anxiety when it came to my chem exam. I spent the entire two hours feeling like I was stuck in a violent dry heaving spell. In the end, I did fine with room to improve for sure, but it would be safe to say that I have not been seeing my inherent perfection when it comes to chemistry.

Running is a good time to think for me, and as I made my way I thought of this inherent perfection and how it seemed so opposite to my experience in chemistry so far, a little thought came from somewhere inside and it seemed plain as day: You, I, animals, plants, tables, rocks, bugs and couches are all living the reality of this chemistry all day every day for our entire existence and even after we die. You and I are performing this chemistry in our bodies with incredible precision and balance without even consciously considering it. Our glands release hormones, electrical impulses travel through our bodies and constantly update our brains about the outside and inside environments, we eat food and then proceed to perform complex chemical reactions with it to release the potential inside that food, the list is endless!

I have been performing these chemical reactions since I was a tiny cell mass, and will continue participating in them, whether I like it or not, until long after my earthly life is done. Even when I'm not thinking about it, some part of me is. That part understands and orchestrates these fantastical processes in ways that even the world's finest chemists can not fully explain (as they themselves perform these same incredible processes in their own bodies...)

Maybe I am a consummate chemist after all...