The Zennist

Zen at the crossroads

Chan or Zen Buddhism we have to regard in two basic forms: specific spiritual exercises taught by Buddhist monks since the time of the Buddha, and Zen (禪) the lineal institution (宗) which bears the marks of having been finally mythologized during the Song dynasty, what most of us recognize as the Golden Age of Zen, which is more fiction than historical fact and helped to further the fortunes of the Zen lineage (禪宗). 

What both have in common is the belief that the primogenitor was Gautama the Buddha; and that any spiritually competent person could realize what Gautama realized whereby he became awakened or Buddha.  This belief is the root of all Buddhist traditions from Theravada to Tibetan Dzogchen.

Buddhism, in this respect, is not without genuine awakened individuals insofar as Buddhism is not just about holding on to various beliefs but, more importantly, whether or not such beliefs actually obtain through certain mystical experiences.  In Zen, this experience would be kenshō, that is, intuitively seeing one’s true nature.  During the time of the Buddha this would be nirvāṇa, or in Pali, nibbāna.  This is not any kind of intellectual knowledge, i.e., any kind of conceptual or linguistic knowledge.  It is instead, intuitive knowledge which is the immediate apprehension of ultimate reality which is unconditioned.  Nor can it, in anyway, be visited by the senses.  It falls under the general category of mysticism.

How this all rests with modern thought and the modern individual depends a great deal upon how encumbered the individual is by the various modern dogmas which depend on a kind of  loyalty to ideological materialism, if not ‘scientism’ which has been socially engineered into the individual since their birth. 

If this is the kind of person that Zen Buddhism has to teach, it will likely not be successful without, itself, being revised to tally with the demands of materialism and its various forms.  In other words, the modern individual wants his or her Zen Buddhism to deny the personal realization of true reality whether it be Buddha-nature, or an unconditioned, non-empty reality called the One Mind.

Buddhism, but more so Zen, is standing at a crossroad.  If Buddhism, in general, and with it Zen, is to survive outside of the Asian community it will have to get stronger in its polemics against a culture of materialism and also stronger in its apologetics, making a much stronger case for rebirth and karma than it has in the past.  You don't adapt to a culture by giving up your core principles and tenets—by ignoring the Buddha's enlightenment.

Don't bring your resentment to Zen Buddhism

Let’s be honest, some of us will eventually go through a phase of being incredibly disillusioned with life when our hopeful assumptions are shown to be false, or life as we hoped it would be took an unexpected turn for the worse which we cannot handle right now.  Any number of events can lead to eventual disillusionment, from the death of a parent or friend to betrayal.   

With disillusionment there is always the risk that it can eventually manifest in resentment.  This could happen during the transformation of our youth into adulthood, if there is no positive and helpful rite of passage which is a personal test but more, the development of authentic selfhood which is less vexed by disillusion and almost immune to resentment.

Establishing an authentic self usually involves putting our still youthful immaturity into sort of a crucible in which the gold is separated from the dross.  This self is still one of outward act and encounter with culture and society until it reaches a state of spiritual maturity, having gone well beyond the superficiality, crudity and awkwardness of youth.

But what if in the West those still in the process of being disillusioned, undergoing one let down or disappointment after another, enter Buddhism or Zen showing signs of resentment which might be a dissatisfaction with the way their life is going right now, or even dissatisfaction with the way the world is in terms of justice and injustice?

But how is Buddhism supposed to heal the festering wound of resentment in which one feels angry much of the time or frustrated with his or her present life; whose dreams are not coming true as expected; whose self-esteem is also not doing so well; who sees injustice all around them which they believe is the cause of their misfortune? 

How would a Buddhist monk, for example, have healed the festering wound of resentment that found its way into a young Karl Marx who eventually developed an ideology of resentment we know as Communism? 

Resentment contained in Communism can also become a complex emotional strategy serving, mainly, to make actions, even violent and cruel actions, more excusable as in the end justifies the means. 

These days I see too many of today’s youth suffering from resentment perhaps caused by their sudden exposure to the real world coupled with being victims of poor to bad parenting.  I see it gaining traction in Buddhism in the form of social activism.  An entire new ethics has been built upon the emotion of resentment.  We only see resentment’s raw forms, for example, in the idea of ‘hate speech’ (i.e., don’t say things that displease me). 

As we can see, resentment can turn into an “x vs y” antagonism that serves to reify resentment and with it a kind of false fatalism.  This antagonism is only a way of reinforcing my resentment such that I don’t have to change—real change being another way of allowing myself to see and to solve the problems at hand without having to be resentful.

In Robert C. Solomon's book, Living with Nietzsche: What the Great "Immoralist" Has to Teach Us, besides being one of the great books on “resentment” he has something interesting to say which touches, directly, on those full of resentment who come to Zen.

“But it then becomes clear that objective strength or success cannot be the issue; the poison of resentment works only on those who have frustrated ambitions and desires, whose self-esteem depends on their social status and other measures of personal worth and accomplishment. But then it is easy to see the wisdom of the Zen master and the Talmudic scholar who are never poisoned by resentment because they never allow themselves those desires and expectations which can be frustrated and lead to resentment.”

This all ties in with tricycle’s recent article by Lama Jampa Thaye, The Dangers of Diluted Buddhism.