Without the intuition of our true nature or kenshō there is no Zen Buddhism. It all rests upon intuition: that extraordinary moment when all our presuppositions and ideas are emptied out. Only then are we open enough to have kenshō.
A significant part of Zen Buddhism aims at making us intuitive; not filling our heads with just words and concepts but going much further and deeper. In the words of Sixin Wuxin 死心悟新,
“As your self-reflection grows deeper and deeper, the moment will surely come upon you when the spiritual flower will suddenly burst into bloom, illuminating the entire universe. The experience is incommunicable, though you yourselves know perfectly well what it is.”
How can we know this sublime depth of which Sixin Wuxin speaks without intuiting it directly? The short answer is that we can’t. This is why Zen seems so strange to many people because Zen is teaching those who decide to follow it how to be intuitive and that is not an easy subject to teach or learn.
When we decide to learn Zen it is somewhat like trying to remember what we have completely forgotten in the example of a person whose name we can't remember even though we are standing right in front of them. The harder we try to remember the more difficult it becomes to remember until we just have to quit trying!
By comparison, Sōtõ Zen’s just sitting (sitting for its own sake) must be viewed as an oversimplification of Zen Buddhism: a reduction of its real practice which is intuition, putting it into a single uncomplicated physical exercise. Such a practice gives rise to wrong views about Zen which only serve to obscure the meaning of Zen. Only when Zen’s path is related to intuition, not just sitting, does Zen become Zen. Only then can we understand the teachings of the past Zen masters and the Buddha.
Zennist; Mind-to-mind transmission is not paper transmission. There is an old Chan saying, “First awaken on your own, then see someone else.”
Posted by: clyde | February 08, 2021 at 05:05 PM
Clyde:
I haven't the slightest doubt what Zen Buddhism is. What I am asking you is what YOU mean by "actual Zen Buddhists". This is your term it should not be so hard to explain. So what do you mean by "actual Zen Buddhists"?
Posted by: n. yeti | February 08, 2021 at 04:52 PM
Clyde: it is nice to learn that you are familiar with paper transmissions. Dokuan Genko (1630–1698) openly questioned the necessity of written acknowledgment from a teacher, which he dismisses as a "paper transmission". He said, "Those nowadays who claim to be Dharma heirs are merely receiving paper Zen."
I've met a few people over the years through the Internet who went to Japan to receive such a paper transmission. For Dōgen Kigen such a paper transmission was very important. His shisho was later found to be a medieval forgery.
Posted by: TheZennist | February 08, 2021 at 04:19 PM
Yeti, If you want to know who is a Zen Buddhist, visit a Zen Buddhist sangha and see for yourself. You know, “A person drinks water and knows himself whether it is cold or warm.”
Posted by: clyde | February 08, 2021 at 12:59 PM
Clyde:
I might remind you of a couple of things. First, in traditional Buddhism, according to the Pali Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (Sutta 16 of the Digha Nikaya):
“So, Ānanda, you should all live with yourselves as your island, yourselves as your refuge, with no other as your refuge; with the Dhamma as your island, the Dhamma as your refuge, with no other as your refuge. And how does a monk live with himself as his island, himself as his refuge, with no other as his refuge; with the Dhamma as his island, the Dhamma as his refuge, with no other as his refuge? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. This is how a monk lives with himself as his island, himself as his refuge, with no other as his refuge; with the Dhamma as his island, the Dhamma as his refuge, with no other as his refuge. For those who, now or when I am gone, live with themselves as their island, themselves as their refuge, with no other as their refuge; with the Dhamma as their island, the Dhamma as their refuge, not with another as their refuge, will be my foremost monks: those who are desirous of training.”
So my interpretation of this is that we must rely upon ourselves before we rely upon a teacher. I see that you have said in your case you failed on your own so found benefit in a teacher, but your own karmic limitations do not necessarily extend to anyone else. Why not clean up your own house before offering suggestions to others?
Furthermore, though I doubt you even know this, the original Ch'an history is quite open for study. There were not, evidently any "schools" as we think of today-- those being developed over time (as per the research of Foulk 1999) principally in an effort to drum up patronage and define a sort of legacy in the contemporary culture of Confucian China which heavily emphasized ancestral lineages.
Now, please, you keep avoiding the question. Who is an actual Zen Buddhist?
Posted by: n. yeti | February 08, 2021 at 11:12 AM