Zen is boring

"There are definite styles of boredom. The Zen tradition in Japan creates a definite style of boredom in it's monasteries. Sit, cook, eat. Sit zazen and do your walking meditation and so on. But to an American novice who goes to Japan or takes part in traditional Japanese practice in this country, the message of boredom is not communicated properly. Instead, if I may say so, it turns into a militant appreciation of rigidity, or an aesthetic appreciation of simplicity, rather than actually being bored, which is strange. Actually it was not designed to be that way. To the Japanese, Zen practice is ordinary Japanese life-situation in which you just do your daily work and sit a lot of zazen. But Americans appreciate the little details, how you use your bowl and how you eat consciously in zazen posture. This is only supposed to create a feeling of boredomm but to American students it is a work of art. Cleaning your bowl, washing it out, folding your white napkin and so forth, becomes living theater. The black cushion is supposed to suggest no color, complete boredom. But for Americans it inspires a mentality of militant blackness, straightforwardness."

from The Myth of Freedom by Chogyam Trungpa