To: talk.religion.buddhism
From: rmw@netcom.com (Richard M. Weinapple)
Subject: Re: Zazen is Useless
Date: 17 Jan 1995 19:44:18 GMT
Quoting: |Blaise Cirelli (blaisec@sr.hp.com) 

|I've been reading a few books on Zen Buddhism written by
|Zen practitioners. I've been practicing meditation for
|a year. What annoys me is when the author (usually one who
|has practiced many years) states that Zazen is truly
|useless.

|I understand this to mean that we should practice without
|having any gaining idea. (i.e. practice without trying
|to GET something from zazen). Since getting something is
|another trap which leads to attachment.

|However, understanding this, I have a problem with the
|statement that Zazen is truly useless. If it is so
|useless, why do these practitioners do it for 30 yrs
|or more. To me it smacks of disingenuousness.  

I've also noticed that Zen commentary is often disingenuous
(i.e, not straightforward; crafty).  This means that such
commentary reveals itself only to those who sense deeper
levels of meaning.  Only those who are willing to work to
pry out those deeper levels, will get much out of Zen.

If that's not you, there's no shame or blame.  There are
forms of Buddhism which approach the questions of attachment
more directly than Zen does.  If the statement that "Zazen is
truly useless" discourages you more than it encourages you,
then please ignore the statement -- it wasn't meant for you!

This sort of thing has always seemed to me to be a kind of
Venus fly-trap for the ego of the intellectually inclined
individual.  If we're the type who insists on conceptual
answers to everything, we may be attracted to koans such as
"Zazen is truly useless."  But if we investigate too deeply,
we're caught by the fly-trap!  Then struggle as we may, we
will find ourselves (over time) being digested by the juices
of paradox.

This may explain why some practitioners sit for 30 years or
more.  Their egos are slowly being digested by the crafty plant
called Zen.

Richard