John Sojun Godfrey spent eight years living as a monk in Daitoku-ji, a Rinzai Zen monastery in Kyoto. He says he spent most of that time in silence. There were few discussions of philosophy and doctrine within the monastery, he said.
"I think the assumption is that if you are interested enough in Buddhism to become a monk that you are going to do this (learn the philosophy) anyway," he said. "I also really feel that they (other monks) don't think it's important. I don't feel that it is necessary to be able to explain what we are doing in able to do it
I understand that in Japan, people who want to learn Zen practice are given little direction except how to sit zazen. I once read an autobiography by a Japanese Zen nun, who said that on her first day in the monastery she was told only to go to the zendo and sit with Mu. So she went into the zendo, completely baffled, and finally asked someone which monk was Mu. (Mu is not a person but the name of a koan.)
In American Zen there is quite a bit more instruction given, but even here the emphasis for beginners is on meditation and other forms of practice, with little instruction given in Buddhism until the student is a little more advanced.
Recently I read an article about a Theravadin master who complained that American students came to him wanting to learn to meditate but were not interested in the Precepts. In Zen, precept training usually isn't offered to beginners, but to students who have been practicing for a while and are preparing to take the refuges.
I'm sure that when I first went to a monastery for the introduction-to-Zen weekend retreat the monks must have given us a talk on the basics of Buddhism, but I don't think any of it registered. Then after I'd been sitting for a couple of years a visiting teacher gave a talk on the Four Noble Truths, and it was a revelation. I'm sure I'd been told the same stuff before, but that day I was ready to hear it.
I suspect most people who go to a dharma center for the first time are seeing some sort of spiritual experience, not hours of lectures on doctrine. On the other hand, there seem to be a lot of self-described Buddhists here in the West who don't know the dharma from spinach. I'm sure there's a middle way to be found in there somewhere.
yum, spinach — with butter & a little parmesan cheese, it’s even more tasty than the paramitas
Spinach simmered in Mu and served with a side of Samandi.
It’s hard to strike the balance. Zen is about sitting. Essentially the idea is to shut up and sit and if you do it for long enough then you will just figure it out. ‘If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him’ No-one can explain it to you, you just have to figure it out.
In Japan where they are taught to be subservient and silent and patient that fits really well. I think that played a big part in Chan (zen from china) becoming as popular in Japan as it did.
Here in the US we talk a lot.
A whole lot.
Like we invented it. And we dissect, we analyze and we learn Everyone knows we consume but some times that consumption is knowledge.
So the idea of sitting there and waiting for it to come to us seems so foreign. Especially when taken in the context of our ADD super hyperactive lifestyle. We want books and lectures and podcasts and pamphlets. We want STUFF! We want things to buy and to consume.
In the spirit of skill full means you’re absolutely right. There’s got to be a middle ground. Obviously Bodhidharma’s method ‘You’re doing it all wrong, just meditate’ doesn’t sit well with our culture. At the same time we’re not going to get it by making ‘Von Dutch’ Buddha statues it’s in the sitting where we do all the work.
I think a lot of people do a lot more explaining. There are books as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges about Buddhism. My teachers are happy to explain the sitting and the ceremonies and have dharma talks weekly. At the same time they don’t over explain there is often a very ‘zen’ aspect to their answer that keeps it vague and leaves the ultimate responsibility on yourself. “Yes, it’s a lot like that, a little different but just watch when we do it and you’ll figure it out.”
Now the question is “Do we eat our spinach with a fork or chopsticks.”
This is an age old debate, and it is not at all a matter of East vs. West. I’d say the majority of the meditation teachers in Buddhist traditions in Asia give clear, precise instructions to their students.
The Burmese Vipassana traditions (SN Goenka, Mahasi Sayadaw, and others) give incredibly clear, seemingly algorithmic instructions. A modern example of this is Shinzen Young, the mindfulness teacher and student of Rinzai teacher Sasaki Roshi also teaches and algorithmic, step-by-step approach to meditation, and it is effective.
Not even all Japanese traditions are so vague in their approach to instruction. The esoteric Shingon tradition gives their students a text to work with, which gives detailed instructions on what to do and when to do it – though they usually receive this teacher after much time practicing basic skills.
So, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Westerners aren’t the only ones who like things spelled out for them. The Buddha LOVED lists and gave lots of specific instructions, if the Pali cannon is an accurate reflection of his actual historical teachings. That’s not to say that one’s practice can’t become too cerebral, because it can. But meditation is in many ways like any other skill – there is theory involved. Theory and practice are like the two wings of a bird, which together enable it to soar. Removing a wing, and there is little chance one will even get off the ground!
Jackson makes a good point. The Buddha did leave a complete set of “algorithmic” instructions for us to follow. I’ve been working my way through a marvelous book “Teachings of the Buddha, In the Buddha’s Words, An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon”, edited and introduced by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom Publications), and I have been blown away by the Buddha’s clear, methodical and comprehensive teachings. I have also been amazed and intrigued by how all aspects of the teachings interlock. I get the impression a clever person could make a model of the dharma and it would be a lot like DNA, but a triple helix with strands for the Three Marks of Existence: Emptiness, Impermanence and Suffering.
Jackson mentions that under certain circumstances, one’s practice could become too cerebral. Well, the Buddha had that covered. He points out that mastering the mind begins with the establishment of moral discipline. Then we need to master a pair of skills: serenity (concentration) and insight (wisdom). With concentration comes liberation from lust and ill will. Mastering insight into the true nature of things and developing higher wisdom brings liberation from ignorance.
According to the Buddha, there are four approaches to mastering the mind. The classical approach is to first develop serenity and then insight, however some disciples develop insight first and then serenity. Some disciples develop serenity and insight in tandem, while others initially driven by an intense desire to understand the dharma cannot focus clearly on meditation object, but later under certain supporting conditions manage to subdue the mind and gain concentration. Whichever of these four ways is used, meditators must strike a balance between serenity and insight from a base of moral discipline. Then they can relax and enjoy their spinach and parmesan cheese.
Oh, I’m not claiming this is a Buddhist thing. Traditional Theravadan (sp?) Monastics have hundreds of laws and you’re right. Buddhism is just chock full ‘o lists. We got lists coming out our ears.
I’m saying it’s a Zen thing. Zen is pretty deconstructionist. Just sit.
Confused by the world? Sit more.
Confused by sitting? sit more.
I am also not saying (intentionally) that they are more vague in the east. Rather trying to say that Zen leaves a whole bunch up to you and here in the west we react to that differently.
In the Zen approach theory and practice are not the wings of a bird. Theory is an illusion as strong as the illusion of self. Ultimately no-one else’s ideas on how to get there will help you. Only your own.