Zen is seen to consist of five Zens according to Zen master Zongmi (Tsung-mi) with the highest being Supreme Vehicle Zen (上乘禅) or in Japanese, Saijojo Zen. For our purposes, we might call Saijojo Zen "ultimate Zen" which includes one-pointedness of Mind and Bodhicitta (the mind that is bodhi). Ultimate Zen is mainly characterized by "realization" (J., kensho) without which Buddhahood is impossible.
This is in contrast with the intellectual attitude which is constituted by knowledge seeking and pondering in addition to methods for restraining the afflictive emotions such as zazen. Here, I hasten to add, worldly thoughts and emotions still dominate although somewhat less than for the average untrained person. It might surprise some to hear this, but this is pṛthagjana (J., bompu) Zen. This is worldly Zen without kensho, but it can go quite far in terms of practice.
A teacher like Soryu Forall comes to mind who trained in Japan with Shodo Harada Roshi. He has probably logged in more zazen time than most. Some 25,000 hours according to his bio. Still, this can be classified under the rubric of pṛthagjana Zen because so much of it is silent about kensho which neglects the realization of the luminous Mind. It tends to be sympathetic with neuroscience which is materialism's last stand, claiming that mind is created in the brain. It is worldly in a number of respects and certainly not transcendent. Pṛthagjana Zen is where most of us start from. But by no means should we remain here.
Getting on the path of ultimate Zen means spiritually growing up so that pṛthagjana Zen has outlived its usefulness. Despite hours sitting in zazen and many psychological insights which help us to tame Mr. Id, we still don't understand the recondite teachings of the Buddha in Mahayana—and we barely understand what is going on in the Pali Nikayas. Sure, we can dismiss it. But that is just a cop-out. We are capable of so much more. We have just sold ourself short. To get us over this hump greater faith is required of us.
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