Sanzen is a Japanese invention. It was encounters with anyone, not necessarily a (verified) Zen teacher, that made up early chan. See e.g. Huineng. The problem today is that sanzen is often the place of abuse. Koan practice was actually done in the open once, in front of the sangha. Zen may be Buddhist, Chan wasn't. It was a reinterpretation of Daoism with Buddhist inspirations (see Hinton: Essence of Chan). The more you study early chan, the stronger you will know by yourself. You may also find it in Broughton's Bodhidharma Anthology: concepts like karma and rebirth were already deconstructed by the group surrounding Bodhidharma. And do not make the same mistake as the Dogen school and understand "practice" as sitting!
when you hear someone saying it is enough to see a student once a year for a few days know immediately that they are not an actual teacher .... a true connection between teacher and student needs constant meeting and observation if both are concerned about actualizing liberation .... he talk about being traditional yet what he says has nothing to do with tradition ..... traditionally students and their teacher lived together. he is confused.
This is an utterly exceptional discussion. Deeply inspiring. Thank you. 🙏
This channel is too good! 😊
Really glad to hear Meido call out "faux internet zen". That's something that frustrated and confused me for years.
He’s the only one that makes me want to give Soto Zen a break, and give Rinzai a go.
Sanzen is a Japanese invention. It was encounters with anyone, not necessarily a (verified) Zen teacher, that made up early chan. See e.g. Huineng.
The problem today is that sanzen is often the place of abuse. Koan practice was actually done in the open once, in front of the sangha.
Zen may be Buddhist, Chan wasn't. It was a reinterpretation of Daoism with Buddhist inspirations (see Hinton: Essence of Chan). The more you study early chan, the stronger you will know by yourself. You may also find it in Broughton's Bodhidharma Anthology: concepts like karma and rebirth were already deconstructed by the group surrounding Bodhidharma.
And do not make the same mistake as the Dogen school and understand "practice" as sitting!
when you hear someone saying it is enough to see a student once a year for a few days know immediately that they are not an actual teacher .... a true connection between teacher and student needs constant meeting and observation if both are concerned about actualizing liberation .... he talk about being traditional yet what he says has nothing to do with tradition ..... traditionally students and their teacher lived together. he is confused.
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