For all of you regular readers of my blog (all one or two of you — thank you for your support!), it comes as no surprise to know that I have my problems with Zen. Well, actually any honest person has their problems with Zen; it seems to be designed to be a burr in your spiritual saddle! I’ve been a regular practitioner in a Zen sangha for over 3 years now, and I’ve absorbed a lot of Zen teaching and Zen people over this time. Obviously I’m talking about American Zen. Americanized Zen. But then again, most of the American Zenmasters and populist writers put lots of energy and emphasis on trying to be true to the Eastern traditions, especially the (historically late-stage) Japanese \/ Buddhist version of the Zen tradition. <\/p>\n
(Even though they clearly are guilty of picking out those aspects of J-B Zen that suit their fancy, while ignoring other parts that don’t fit — especially the “educated modernists” who want Zen and Buddhism to support and affirm their secularist, anti-God world views; and yet, most of these people still worship a divine power, one requiring a radical leap of faith . . . doctrinally they call it “psychology<\/a>“, and the religious manifestation of that doctrine is known as “therapy” . . . the priests and acolytes of that religion are commonly known as “psychologists” and “therapists”, “analysts” in some sects). <\/p>\n I’ve heard a bit about the training that is required for a Zen practitioner to become a recognized Zen “teacher” (a “sensei” or “roshi”, in our lineage). It involves a lot of koan study under the tutelage of an established teacher. The whole point of this training (which can take many years) is to avoid being academic; you can’t study for it. It’s all about impressing your master with your emotional responses to the koans, to reflect a growing “Zen consciousness” within. It’s something you practice, like a musical instrument. If you don’t have the talent for it, you can only go so far by mastering the technique (although the technique masters still do go pretty far). <\/p>\n Well that sounds great. But I’m not up for it myself. Nonetheless, I still wonder . . . could the process of Zen-master training benefit from a certain amount of formal reading and learning? Again, the teachers vigorously deny that Zen has anything to do with formal academic learning. That’s what their Japanese mentors drilled into their heads. But here’s the problem with that, as far as I can tell . . . the Japanese (and other Asian) masters grew up in Asia, Asia was their life, their culture, their language. The koans, the various practices, the wisdom literature, could all be viewed by them in the context of “Asian thought”. <\/p>\n Most American Zen people cannot really do that. Thus I wonder, do we American Zennies really know what the Asian masters were talking about? We seem to think its all obvious, but is it? I have studied the Bible a bit, and I know that over the past 20 or 30 years, academia has put an increased importance on appreciating the world and culture in which the Old Testament was written. In doing this, the professors found out that a lot of interesting and important things that a First Century Palestinian Jew would see immediately in the Torah or the Psalms or the Prophets goes right over our heads. And yes, same for the Gospels and letters of the New Testament. It’s going to take awhile for this new-found humility to reach the street-corner churches where the Bible is read and studied and interpreted as directly relating to our lives and to the concerns of the modern-day religion practiced in those churches.<\/p>\n I can’t help but suspect that we American Zennies would have a lot of surprises in store for us too if we could somehow view our Zen customs and practices and writings through the eyes of the land where it came from. Many of the “shockingly profound” and “challenging” things that we imagine Zen to be saying to us and to our way of life may suddenly seem quite different in intent if we could put ourselves into Asiatic shoes. And the only way I know to get any sort of feel for what those shoes must be like is through study (unless you have the $$ and time to go live in Japan or China for five years). <\/p>\n Unfortunately, I myself don’t have the time right now even for a long course of study in Asian thought, culture, history, geography, language, literature, government, etc. But it doesn’t encourage me that most of the official Zen “teachers” that I know of also haven’t gone through such study (or lengthy residence in Asia). (The one guy who might be an exception is the well-respected Zen teacher and writer, Robert Aiken). About all I can do right now is to search . . . for a book. From an author interested in Zen who appreciates what I say here and has invested much of her or his life drinking in Asia, soaking it into her or his mind and soul. <\/p>\n Till then . . . it’s just more blah, blah, blah from the Americanized psychological Zen writers and teachers. Just more Jungian Buddha mavens savoring their profundity as they instruct us to follow the breath, let go of our critical facilities, live solely in the moment, get past the duality of “seer” and “seen”, ignore our atavistic \/ paternalistic God-respecting spiritual instincts, and stop being so hung-up . . . get some therapy, get “healthy”, and you will live happily ever after with your “still and clear mind”.<\/p>\n I have nothing against Zen “sitting” and gaining a “still and clear mind”. But good luck with the “happily ever after” part (they call it “kensho<\/a>” or “satori<\/a>” or something).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For all of you regular readers of my blog (all one or two of you — thank you for your support!), it comes as no surprise to know that I have my problems with Zen. 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