>>13947838Thanks for the response!
I think the similarity could be because Chan/Zen was influenced by Taoism at some point, I think?
Meditating on art makes sense too.
This might sound a bit odd, but what I like to do is go somewhere quiet, and listen to "epic" music (like Two Steps from Hell, or the soundtracks that plays at the most epic moments in movies/series or anime), and then I meditate on what the purest form of that idea being evoked by the music would be.
My favorite is pondering how a pure and good heart gives strength when all around the lights go out, and you're the last candle left in the darkness. How when you have an innocent desire to protect something dear to you, it's like a light in the darkness, where the universe seems to come to your aid and help you as well. But also, how when your heart is truly pure, you want to even save evil itself, because in the innermost of hearts, you feel that true goodness, the kind I truly believe God (or the Tao, or Reality) would look upon with goodwill, doesn't abandon anyone, not even evil itself.
It's kinda like the story of the Emperor and the nightingale: when everything seemed lost in darkness, the nightingale's tender song is what saved his soul, because no one could contend with its simple pure goodwill.
That is how I like to meditate. Wonder if I'm the only one.