Foyan: Advice to Students and Community Pitfalls

All citations are for Foyan. Instant Zen. Trans. Cleary.

I was interested in answering ThatKir's questions on an AMA yesterday, but didn't because the question wasn't for me to answer. Those questions inspired this.

What notes have you taken about what Foyan says about beginner zen students?

Foyan admonishes students who just say they don't know/understand or are unconcerned; say they just eat when hungry/sleep when tired without understanding the logic of not-knowing(15), when pressed, just say they have already answered(49), assume mastery when they have a couple of interpretations to bandy around(51), claim they are without any attachments to knowledge or parade around mimicking the actions of Masters(71), desire a few sayings to repeat, expedient techniques, doctrines, or peace and happiness(71-2), and who make phenomena and principles into two extremes, causing "them to be physically and mentally uneasy"(101).

(For brevity, I peruse past the admonitions for a correct understanding, and to pursue clearly; it is literally the topic of the book. Foyan's general advice for students can be found on pages 50-5, as well as a specific statement on what is not to be found, and the problem with teachers on pages 71-3)

What common pitfalls did he observe in his community?

Whew! Buddhism today is lackluster; even in large groups it’s hard to find suitable people.

1.Being unable to realize that, as Nanquan says, "The normal mind is the path"; people who use the mind to search for mind, or refuse to leave the place of "I have found mind"(4), view cases as just dialogues, "failing to understand the expedient devices of the ancients"(52), who hear the words and go off to sit like lumps "suppressing body and mind, waiting for enlightenment"(69), who favour an inheritance of understanding a few model cases they can circulate in Zen communities, rather than instant enlightenment(88), and waste years on "vain conceit", acquiring habits of thinking about others and "hardly even give a thought to the matter of independence"(102).

To these, Foyan quotes his teacher, who says, “This matter is not understood in that way. You need to have realization of enlightenment first. If you have enlightenment, you naturally need not ask others about whatever you do not understand. If you have no enlightenment, even what understanding you do have is not yet right either.”

2.People who "have studied Zen for years" but pursue material rewards; fast talk(7), an understanding of a saying or phrase that applies to all others(18), an attachment to what is "right now"(66), to force an understanding that "everything is alright"(86-7), and who do not speak of "the reality of instant enlightenment"(90).

If you meet such as these, Foyan says, "Lightly question them, and they go to pieces. This is because they have always been working in idleness."

3.Bad teachers "whose guiding eye is not clear"; focused on the now and not the future(8), are generally degenerate(8-9), give rationalizations and interpretations without have reached the state they preach(11), teach to use mind to seek mind, avoid logic/thinking or speech(45-6), or to think and not think(51), talk fanatically about Zen and give interviews/lectures without "talking about this reality" or touching "upon what is most urgent"(84), who teach that "perception is unobscured"(88), and who can only speak after dawdling(92).

As a teacher talking to students, Foyan says "I am a fellow seeker with you; if I comprehend, you must comprehend too. If you don’t comprehend, I don’t comprehend either."

Submitted September 04, 2020 at 12:04AM by surupamaerl https://ift.tt/31URmtI