I was having a conversation with someone recently and it came to mind that Zen represents the Japanese lineage of Chán that originated in China and that they have had authoritative translations of the texts that only recently came to the West (translated in English) for literal centuries.
The Monastic community in Japan has litteraly had these texts for centuries and have studied them as an integral part of Monastic training.
The same is true of Thién which also flows from the Chán tradition in China. The Thién Monastic community has also had these texts for literal centuries in authoritative translations and they have studied them and formed their community practices around being in Accord with what Zen Masters teach.
There are thousands of Thién temples in Vietnam and even some in the west.
Is it possible that Zen as is understood by members of the subreddit is actually alive and well in some of these temples?
Also bearing in mind that English is not a priority of monastics in the Zen or Thién Monastic communities.
I find it to be a very interesting idea that What Zen Masters teach may in fact be being practices in modern Zen temples in both Vietnam and Japan. Even in places like China and Korea.
However it's worthwhile to be mindful of the fact that Chán monasteries and all Buddhism in China was deeply attacked as a part of government policies in the past so it has been a real issue for the Chán Monastic community there over the years.
Also on Korea I have heard that the community of monks and by extension of Seon temples in Korea is not particularly large. So maybe it would be less likely to find these Real Zen temples in Korea.
In closing it also brings to mind that as the Dharma, the teachings of the Zen Masters has come to the west there may even be some western Zen temples that really embody What Zen Masters Teach
To this effect while studying is certainly pleasant and engaging it may even be worthwhile to leave the comfort zone of face to book and actually explore modern Zen temples in my/your area. What could it hurt?
Actually going out there and seeing what the state is at some of these Zen temples may be extremely worthwhile.
Someone also recently mentioned to me that in Zen we should take things on a Case by Case basis rather than always jumping to the feeling or conclusion of our own self centered ideas or assumptions being right/correct perhaps it's worthwhile to really examine/test/see for ourselves what the situation is in our real lived experience.
So hey, you Zennists, don't just read the books, Live it. Go and visit your local Zen/Chán/Seon/Thién temple and see for yourself What Zen Masters Teach... And how it compares to what you see there!
Who knows... You might even meet a Zen Master 😉
Peace!
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Submitted July 08, 2020 at 01:06PM by Heretical_Shavepate https://ift.tt/38FUTOC
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