Today we put a lot of emphasis upon the importance of the teacher especially when it comes to Zen Buddhism. Many would-be students expect the teacher to be able to work wonders and enlighten them almost on the spot. But what if most would-be students are actually ‘poor learners' who have come to the door of the Buddhist temple, so to speak, with certain expectations about Zen which have nothing to do with Zen?
Obviously, they need to unlearn what they have learned which is an impediment as far as learning Zen is concerned.
It sounds simple to say this, but Zen cannot be taught to poor learners even though many such learners are very intelligent; who have also mastered other subjects. Over time these same learners may even come to resent the teacher in the example of Sunakkhatta, a former personal attendant of the Buddha who became dissatisfied with the Buddha because he did not perform any mystic, superhuman wonders.
A student who is a good Zen learner cannot have their mind focused on material things believing that the goal of Zen is intended to lead to material benefits or will equip them to relax in a world of stress and confusion. Zen has no connection with such things. What Zen aims at is much more than that which is why being a proper learner is so important.
Don’t be surprised if you happen to be a beginner, that you will have to, at first, learn to unlearn! Zen is not like going to college. What you have learned which is part of your culture has a built in bias towards Zen’s real aim.
If I tell a beginner that Zen is all about coming into direct contact with the vital principle that animates his or her body of birth how do you think this person is going to react to me given modernity’s contempt for the mystical? The beginner is going to look at me, not in wonderment, but as if I were stark raving mad! So why would I waste my time with such a person?
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