A disingenuous picture of Zen

Do some Western Zen institutions help paint a disingenuous picture of Zen?  The answer is probably yes but also no, as odd as this sounds.  Let’s start with the no side.  

When Zen is imported from Japan to the shores of North America and Europe, the importers try not to tamper with their import too much, at least not for a while.  In addition, the importers are hardly aware that their Japanese import is not the same as Chinese Zen (Ch’an) nor are they aware that Chinese Zen is pretty much of a hodgepodge of different Buddhist schools including different interpretations of Indian Buddhism from a Chinese perspective. 

Looking at the yes side of the problem, Western Zen institutions paint a disingenuous picture of Zen when they psychologize it, trying to make it look like some kind of Asian self-help program or worse, teach Zen as just learning to be in the here and the now.  An other example of painting a disingenuous picture is when Westerners try to secularize Zen, and for that matter, portray Buddhism as a secular religion (oh what an oxymoron that is!).

Switching our attention to a slightly different matter, the notion of pure Zen or a golden age of Zen is pretty much of a fiction.  Such an idea is largely the invention of Japanese scholars. This is gone over in the book, Zen Ritual, which has been edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright (many of the essays are very informative).  There never was a time when Zen was pure, being free of rituals, or existing as a simple demythologized form of Buddhism that at one time existed in China that we can all romantically look back to.  Even zazen or seated meditation is a ritual with nothing below its surface.  

If Western Zennists can accept Zen’s imperfections (I have my doubts) and are not afraid to look beyond the somewhat disingenuous portrait of Zen that we presently have, then in all likelihood Zen can be revitalized and presented as a form of Buddhism that puts a great deal of emphasis on gnosis and much less emphasis on ritual, which includes zazen (sitting-zen).  Right now, Zen is flipped to ritualism and psychology which when put another way, ignores the spiritual content of Buddhism, that is, ignores the actual Buddhism contained in the canon.  Of foremost concern is that Western Zennists are clueless as to the place of gnosis in Buddhism.  While they can claim that Zen is transformative, which sounds like gnosis, this doesn’t take us to actual gnosis which is transcendent as in the example of realizing the immortal element (M. i. 435-36). 

 

Comments

[Bob Morris]

I have read this blog from the beginning and have often wondered how many of the commenters are really qualified to make such bold and sweeping assertions.

[clyde]

From the Maha-hatthipadopa Sutta:

"Now if other people insult, malign, exasperate, & harass a monk [who has discerned this], he discerns that 'A painful feeling, born of ear-contact, has arisen within me. And that is dependent, not independent. Dependent on what? Dependent on contact.' And he sees that contact is inconstant, feeling is inconstant, perception is inconstant, consciousness is inconstant.

:
:

"But if, in the monk recollecting the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha in this way, equanimity based on what is skillful is established, then he is gratified at that. And even to this extent, friends, the monk has accomplished a great deal. "

[Azanshi]

Clyde ...hands down, from a spiritual POV you are the dumbest son of a bitch I´ve ever encountered online. I ve said this before in more "diplomatic" ways, but this time you do deserve a more straightforward opinion.

You truly represent the worst category of an american new age junkie whom got zen buddhism upside down. You are a mere troglodyte,unable to brake through his own thick crust of pure ignorance. One whom Buddha Gautama always referred to as a miserable putthujana. You are probably one of Maras most cherished protoypes. A high powered mutant of some kind, never considered for mass production. To weird to live and way too rare to die.

btw that last piece you posted about the tiger is a koan story and one of the easiest. If you manage to crack this one you will still have 40 years of practise ahead of you. It usually takes troglodytes of your level around 5-6 years to solve this koan with proper spiritual guidence. I bet my left chinese ball you do not have such guidence, which means you are, like most zonked out americans, basically fucked for this life time.

[clyde]

Kojizen; Do you even read what I write? In any case, realization is not ritual and for Dogen meditation (which is not ritual) is realization. If you don’t like Dogen or Soto Zen, practice some other form of Zen or Buddhism. But the Path the Buddha taught included meditation. Do you meditate?

Minx; Are you familiar with this well known Zen story:

"A man was chased by a tiger. Coming to a cliff, he grabbed the root of a vine and hung over the edge. The tiger looked at him from above. The man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting. Two mice began to gnaw at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!"

[minx]

To a genuine zen student, awakened to the path of the bodhisattvas as layed out by the Buddhas, the very concept of "being in the here and now" is repulsive. It denotes that one of samsaras three times equals the heart of zen, which is nirvana.

It is like a man, caught in a deadly sand trap, admires his surroundings while sinking to an assured death. Surely no good comes from this.