Meditation?

In the zen and chan wikipedia pages it is stated that Zen places some emphasis in meditation

What the Chan tradition emphasizes is that enlightenment of the Buddha came not through intellectual reasoning, but rather through self-realization in Dharma practice and meditation.

and

Zen emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation-practice, insight into Buddha-nature, and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others.

Furthermore, there is clearly a history of Chan and Zen practitioners engaging in it.

However, reading the "Zen Essence" book as recommended here, I come across some arguments against meditation. Mazu says:

You have always had [acceptance of the beginninglessness of things], and you have it now - there is no need to cultivate the Way and sit in meditation

And then Linji:

There are blind baldies who, after they have eaten their fill, do zazen and practice meditation [...] This is a deviated form of Zen

Are they really rejecting meditation? Or is it a sort of backlash against putting too much emphasis on it and using it as a crutch (seeing the finger and not the moon)? Is meditation an expedient or is it to be avoided? It clearly continued despite Mazu's or Linji's words.

I know there is some debate in this subreddit about this or that school, and I have seen people call out each other for whatever reason. Please spare me that, this is a legitimate question by a person looking to get started and understand what is the practice about (or even, if there is actually something to be practiced).

Submitted August 19, 2016 at 02:57AM by arinarmo http://ift.tt/2br3fhO