ha. "empty mind films" couldn't have said it better myself.

If you try it sometime, Glu, you might discover an empty mind beats having a tortured one

Eugh, what a disgusting appeal to ignorance. That's just it you know. My definition of a tortured mind IS an empy one. Can you think of anything more awful than a dead unthinking mind? If that's your bag though, you're welcome to it.

A mere 20 minutes of emptying the mind and experiencing peace puts me in good stead for the rest of the day. Gives enough clarity of thought to process the millions of bits of information this busy world has to throw at me from all directions, every other waking moment.

Well then like I said, if that's your thing, whatever. I'd much rather spend the time catching up on the latest about the hunt for neutralinos in Nature. Emptying my mind gives me no clarity whatsoever, its an illusory cop-out to me. Conversely, filling it with a good logical argument that genuinely deepens my understanding of something gives me the greatest pleasure. Its precisely the "millions of bits of information this busy world" throws at me that allow me to understand the world as it really is and if I can understand the world then I am not ignorant of it and if I am not ignorant of something then I can not fear it and that is deeply calming to me. I think quantifiable information itself is soothing.

I think your missing the point, Glu. The purpose of Zen is not to have an empty mind, as in devoid of content, but rather to cultivate a mind which is receptive to experience in a way which can only be achieved by lowering the volume of the inner chatter we all have. Someone once explained it to me as "shutting up to finally listen, for once".

It's not unlike what happens as we mature. When you're a child, not getting a lollypop can make you throw a fit and ultimately make a fool out of yourself. We all know people who still do that as adults. The idea of Zen and meditation in general is to make one aware of those mental processes, to see that you're getting upset out of proportion and sort of not get on that train.

That said, one of the nice things about buddhism is it has no proselytising. It doesn't have to be for everyone. If you're happy without ever needing it, good for you. If it can add something to your life, then give it a try. The point is that it's a philosophy which concentrates on internal experience more than appearance or being seen at mass every sunday.