What separates Rinzai Zen from Sōtō Zen?

It almost goes without saying but the Zen koan will not yield its intended meaning, which is religious and mystical, to the intellect or to someone just sitting  (J., zazen). 

This, by the way, is what separates Rinzai Zen from Sōtō Zen.  The former rests upon intuition, the latter on sitting.  In fact Dōgen ( 1200–1253), the founder of Japanese Sōtō Zen, rejects the intuitive approach to Zen.

Frankly, I don’t find Sōtō Zen or it various notions to be all that Buddhist such as shushō ittō which means oneness of practice and realization.  Nor do I find sitting in zazen in the belief that I am already a real Buddha to be other than a form of autosuggestion.

I see the value of zazen but not for the reason that Dōgen did.  Sitting in an old abandoned copper mine (technically called an “adit”) taught me about the finitude of my carnal body of birth, especially, the five senses which are brought somewhat to a halt and controlled in meditation.  But it did not teach me about the mind or manas which includes the intellect, cognition, reasoning, and my imagination.  And this is where I think the importance of Rinzai Zen is to be found.  For it is with the overcoming of the manas, and I include consciousness (vijñāna), that enlightenment takes place in which one intuits their true nature or kenshō.

Of all the senses the sixth sense, manas, proves to be what can only be described as the barrier 關 of Zen master Mumon (1183–1260) who is famous for the work, The Gateless Barrier (J., Mumonkan) which consists of 48 koans, all of which I take to be barriers!  These barriers represent our inability to pass through the manas.  Each koan frustrates the manas and frankly drives it crazy.  Still, it can not pass through the barrier. 

To pass through Mumon’s barrier one has to intuit the very substance of thought which is the basis of the manas.  When the substance or essence of thought is intuited the key to every koan becomes obvious since the adept has transcended the manas and its world.

When this happened to me many, many years ago (I confess I am in my seventies now) I was flabbergasted to say the least.  This is not what I had expected.  Words could not describe my shock and amazement.  But no matter what koan I read there it was.  The koan was resting on kenshō.  If you lacked kenshō which is the necessary intuition, you only met Mumon’s barrier.  Do zazen all you wish.  It won't help you to answer a single koan.

Comments

[Buddha]

Well said, Jung. But I like Bodhidharma’s answer : https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=XKCoVvAdjIY

[Yip Man]

https://youtu.be/2TpQcAnfNbU

[Jung]

The ubiquitous changeling wrote; "Jung, what is the absolute truth?"

Since beginningless time your divided mind has managed to make a Gordian knot of its true self. The illusion is complete and beyond any doubt.

Leap through the gateless gate of Mumonkan and the Reality in question will stare you right in your face, without the slightest doubt at hand. With no sword in sight (i.e. lack of right view) to cut through the knot, how do you pass through this entangled enigma?

Certainly not with that faltering intellect...all it can do is leading you deeper into the labyrinth of ignorance and despair.

[n. yeti]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bamRklL_0r4

[Socrates]

Jung, what is the absolute truth?