The underlying assumptions about Zen

There is a continuing pattern that seems to be ongoing since I first began my study of Zen just before 1965.  This pattern, no doubt, means that the underlying assumptions about Zen, including Buddhism, have not changed all that much over time.  The exact source of these assumptions is not, however, easy to pin down.  Still, there is a certain attitude modern culture has, the source of which  prevents it from treating Zen as it should be treated.  All is geared towards the external; not to the task of introspection and first-person knowledge much less gnosis or direct intuition.

Beginning in the 1960s, Zen was still very much a free spirit.  It didn’t enter academia the way the Frankfurt school did or existentialism.  The elitist academic mind couldn’t wrap its brain around Zen or Buddhism, in general, for that matter.  Anybody’s guess of what Zen was about was still unsettled—it couldn’t be dissected like some frog in a biology lab.  It still walked in a mystery leaving no traces; its sages were lovable, yet enigmatic characters like Kanzan 寒山 and his friend, Jittoku 拾得. 

In all frankness, I have to say that Zen is still like what it was in the 1960s despite the proliferation of Zen centers for Westerners who wish to learn how to meditate which, by the way, is an exercise that is common in all Buddhist traditions.  What makes Zen unique is its relentless insistence on kensho which is to say, we must awaken to our fundamental nature which transcends this mortal coil of ours.  In other words, Zen is telling us that we have to see what Gautama saw whereby he awakened and became the Buddha—nothing less.

This demand, if we can call it that for now, is alien to the modern disposition whose mind is still looking at the stars rather than within.  It is an immature and limited mind that appears to have bet the farm on salvation through empiricism insofar as useful knowledge can only be derived from sense-experience with the help of scientism.  Hardly a day goes by where researchers are close to finding some kind of anti-aging mechanism or drug.  Soon it will be one pill a day and you can watch yourself grow younger.  It is as if scientism is saying, “Nothing is going to stand in the way of our desires.  We can have our cake and eat it too.”

Trust me, with the exception of technology, we have not made any real inner progress.  A few people like me will hear the call while the huge majority can hardly wait to buy a house and start their Darwinian fitness adventure.  Yes, we are still an immature culture and likely to stay this way for a very long time.  Those of you who follow this blog will always be that small minority who were born into the world knowing it is a huge trap—but there is a way to escape.

Comments

[thezennist]

A teacher is not necessary insofar as each of us has the Buddha-nature but which, unfortunately, is buried under a lot of misconceptions, karmic impressions and cultural programming. Your goal is to see this nature, directly, face-to-face. It is ubiquitous, like the air we breathe—but we suffer from a kind of spiritual amnesia with regard to it. To show you the depth of this amnesia virtually all humans have no idea what animates their corporeal bodies because they've over-attach to the corporeal (the conditiond/samskrita). When you personally seek out this Buddha-nature which is hidden within you, that is process of detaching from the corporeal.

[Keen_eddie]

I have no teacher. I am trying to do this on my own. All I have are my books and my meditation, and what I hope is a continuous practice through my day. Is this enough, or am I just spinning my wheels?