Do Zen students improve until they achieve enlightenment and Teacher-hood? Or is something very different going on?
Zen communities commonly take the form of one or more experienced and trusted Zen Teachers leading a group of less experienced Zen students. The distinction between these two classes of people is usually treated as a Big Deal. But what is the nature of this distinction?
Zen is about awakening, and not about experiencing any particular state, or becoming “good,” or displaying any peculiar powers.
Zen is about awakening, and not about experiencing any particular state, or becoming “good,” or displaying any peculiar powers. These points, which I talked about in Part I of this two-part series, are beautifully summarized by the following text by Keizan Jokin, a Japanese Zen teacher born in the 13th century. Continue reading “Dangers of Zen, Part II”