One thing that stands out when you read any of the three books written by Zen Masters, or the newly translated original Shobogenzo: True Dharma Eye Treasury by Dahui, is that Zen Masters were clearly lifelong students. Not only are old texts well known, but the teachings inside and outside the Zen lineage were fruit for discussion.
In contrast, Evangelical Buddhism, the New Age religions, and meditation culture in general tends to focus on religious personal conversion "experiences", often eschewing study and discussion altogether.
This sharp contrast is often taken to an extreme which produces a hilarious contradiction: People who don't study Zen claim to be Zen because Zen is "outside words and sentences", something only found out through words and sentences.
There is more to it than that though. For Evangelical Buddhists, New Agers, and Meditation cultures, somehow, "outside words and sentences" implies that illiteracy is a preferred state. Ironically, or perhaps not so ironically, Evangelical Buddhism, New Age religions, and meditation culture are more vulnerable to the doubt that occurs naturally with an increase in literacy than Catholicism and most of the established Christian churches.
Why is ignorance and illiteracy so non-existent inside Zen?
Practically speaking, dialogue has always played a central role in Zen culture. Without literacy, discussion isn't possible. Without references and citations, the temptation for novices will always be to imagine they have had "insights" which resolve all difficulties... right up until somebody asks them a question.
Submitted March 10, 2018 at 05:49PM by ewk http://ift.tt/2FIiB0m
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