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by Fred Rossini — May 22, 2002
This is some of what I have learned in trying to learn/practice Zen for many years. I am no more a teacher than anyone else, and this is not a teaching. If these notes are helpful, use them. If not, please ignore them. I have divided the notes into three parts: Practice - learning Zen looked at from the individual perspective; Pedagogy - facilitating learning of Zen by self and others; Management - organizing for Zen learning and practice in our society.
The situation in which we are learning Zen is very different from the situation in which our sources of information about Zen were developed. The paradigm we are given is oriental, hierarchical, feudal, and from a monastic environment. We live in a western, networked, information society and are not monastics. It is my understanding, reinforced by information from various sources, that Zen is faltering in its historic environments, and that Zen meditation is not practiced widely there. I propose moving to a learning community paradigm appropriate to the environment in which we actually live.
Buddhism can be described as the science of fingerology (fingers pointing at the moon). Dogen has expressed our principal finger: "To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly;" and "Practice is enlightenment." Another expression of this is: "Become awareness." Now to make the finger point.
Here I suggest a seven-point approach:
1. Adopt a position of continuous, active, focused learning of Zen. Remember that learning styles are individual, and that one style does not fit all.
2. Base learning on: meditation practice: fellow Zen learners living and dead; ordinary life situations.
3. Organize life to facilitate learning by self and others.
4. Follow common sense and natural rhythm. Never hurt self or others.
5. Let go of attachment to power relationships. Do not blindly follow self-styled "teachers" or "gurus."
6. Be open to all. Learn from many sources and share learning. Take advantage of the opportunity that presents itself in every moment.
7. ENJOY!
To expand upon these points:
1. Remember Gautama's final words: "Work out your own salvation with diligence." We are fundamentally learners. Zen cannot be taught as there is no thing to teach. Zen can be learned. Learning can be facilitated by others, both living and dead. However, in the end, the responsibility is on the learner. Remember we are learning Zen, not "Zen things" (history, philosophy, customs, protocols, chants, etc.). It is fortunate that Zen is not dependent on "things" as our lives are already cluttered with things. Focus on an experiential answer to the question that can be verbalized: "Who am I and what is going on?" Our learning is unique to each of us. Remember Soyu Matsuoka's saying "My enlightenment is my enlightenment, and your enlightenment is your enlightenment." We will find others learning from us as we are learning from them. We may even act as functionaries. However, our focus should be on learning, realizing that other roles are secondary.
2. Meditation practice is our primary source of learning. Fundamentally meditation is finding a posture of body-mind that is stable and comfortable for long periods of time and requires minimal energy to maintain. Then one lets the energy that is normally used to maintain body-mind be focused in the present, being completely open and aware, and without tension. One lets whatever comes come without hindrance and lets it go as it will without hindrance. Meditation is a practice or an exercise. It is not a ritual or a liturgy. I view the self as a complex tic involving many "things" that suck up our energy. Do not pump energy into the self or "things" by interacting with them, just let them be. (Like the state in Marxism, the self will wither away.) You should do this in a way comfortable to your unique body-mind. Some hints: become awareness; just so; no separation; no descriptions, judgements, opinions, stories, only presence; practice is about verbs rather than nouns. Move awareness practice into daily life, first in simple tasks, then in more complex situations. Perform the actions of everyday life with full awareness. "Put your whole self into everything you do." Let awareness permeate. Stay loose, but stay present. Do not force or tense.
Fellow Zen learners, both living and dead, provide a unique source of learning since we are social beings. Meditate together, ask questions, read books (for practice hints and confirmation/disconfirmation of experience, not for intellectual understanding). Each of us manifests self-nature differently and uniquely. Thus each has something unique to offer. However, not all sources are created equal. Do not "thing up" a good practice. Keep it simple so as not to escape the present.
Ordinary life situations, including sleep, offer us opportunities of practicing awareness in changing and challenging circumstances. The more intense the experience, the greater the opportunity. We are drowning in opportunities. We have so many natural opportunities in our everyday life that we do not have to create artificial opportunities. Just stay open and aware.
3. Organizing our life to facilitate learning by self and others requires a scaffold within which to live this way. When the scaffold is no longer necessary, it can go away. The buddhist precepts are usually recommended. However, these are simple statements that mask a complex reality. (For example, "honor life, do no kill" masks an interconnected web of life in which beings come into being and cease to be, often by being killed by other beings for their survival. Sentient vegetables are massacred constantly so that vegetarians may live.) Each of us needs to work out the details of our scaffold. The buddhist precepts can work. So, it seems, can the ten commandments.
Five guidelines I use are: live an ordinary life; let go of power relationships; become awareness; act from awareness; be open to all. Whatever you choose, be sure to make sure it facilitates learning by self and others.
4. Following common sense and our natural rhythm, we let Zen become part of our life. We do not alter our life to do Zen "things". In our ordinary lives we have enough to do. Be flexible. Take advantage of natural circumstances as they arise. Don't create artificial ones as natural circumstances are more than sufficient. No need to add complexity. Zen is simple, not complex. It's also difficult, not easy. Let Zen enter every moment just as it is. Practice for life, not to prove anything. Do not get angry with yourself for not practicing or become proud of yourself for practicing. Just do it!
5. It's about learning. The more sources the better. People learning from others within a group may have a richer learning environment than the same people interacting individually with one person without mutual interaction. We need help at the beginning of our practice and at key junctures. Some people/sources are better than others in different spots. Do not limit yourself. "The teacher is everywhere." Yet there is no thing to teach.
Zen is not about intellectualization, behavior modification, or belief. Even if we met someone who was enlightened, there is no guarantee that this person could "teach" us enlightenment. Gautama couldn't teach Ananda during his lifetime. All of us take on the teacher role from time to time. We need to share and be shared with. But we are fundamentally learners. "Keep your eyes on the prize."
6. Be open to all. Learn from as many sources as possible. Take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves in every moment. We are drowning in opportunity. Every moment/every incident of our lives presents a unique learning opportunity. We don't need more opportunities. We just need to take advantage of the ones we have.
7. ENJOY! In the moment there is no suffering, joy, sorrow, bliss - only the moment. Awareness is without distinction. It is fine just as it is. Fantasies, hopes, fears, life worlds come and go. Just so.
Pedagogy is about making it easier to learn the simple and difficult through a "learning community paradigm." It is about creating and maintaining a learning environment based on Dogen's "To study the way is to study the self..." It means focusing as well on eliminating barriers to learning that may arise from social, environmental, and cultural sources. Here are some guidelines I believe may be helpful.
1. Have a clear focus and basis of community on studying the way through meditation practice, interaction with other learners, and taking advantage of ordinary life situations.
2. Be open to everyone. Have no barriers - personal, financial, or other - to entry or exit. In a very real sense, the world is a monastery in which we are monks/nuns.
3. Let each learn from everyone, many - many learning.
4. Respect different learning styles.
5. People meet in both physical and virtual space.
6. There is no end to learning. The learner role dominates while teacher and functionary roles are very secondary.
7. Respect the experience that each possesses, but recognize that everyone is always a learner, always a beginner.
8. Vary intensity of practice. Make available meditation opportunities of varied intensity as well as opportunities to share experience. Remember the analogy of driving a screw into hard wood. Screw in several turns. Back off a turn or two. Repeat.
9. Minimize barriers to each individual's practice. They are different for each individual. Here are some examples (possible lines of solution in parentheses): inconvenient places and times (be flexible); unfriendly people (be attentive to others and their needs); difficult physical positions (let each individual experiment, possibly develop ergonomic devices to assist in maintaining posture); indoor air pollution (avoid incense and candles); tough on kids (develop age graded programs, provide child care); inability to get questions answered clearly (tough for everyone); difficulty in expressing basic issues in words (Gautama had that problem also); obscure texts (patience and study, realize that linguistic and cultural barriers may impede access to texts); hierarchical organizational structure (use a networked organization); use of languages, cultural traditions, artifacts, clothing, and music that people are unused to (don't use); people being hit with stick (don't use stick).
10. Quietly mention positives of practice. These include: improved posture, greater calm, relationships with people who share common interests, resolution of basic religious quest.
11. Respect diversity. Together we are the rainbow. Consider the spectrum image. White light passes through a prism and is split into the colors of the rainbow. However, each atom emits only a very tiny portion of the rainbow. Many different atoms emit a greater range of colors. Each of us is an atom. Many - many learning is desirable to maximize learning potential.
12. Respect proven experience. Consider the rope image. A rope is made up of many strands with different beginnings and endings. Each strand has different thickness, length, color, texture, etc. Together they make the rope. The time axis is along the length of the rope. Each cross section is different. The rope is the learning community. At different times different strands predominate, yet the rope is one.
Zen has traditionally had a feudal, hierarchical, personality-based organizational structure. The practitioner chose one that "fit," if such was available. The teacher's approach was usually "my way or the highway." Management techniques were not a subject of discussion. This has created and may continue to create problems in our culture unless these issues are dealt with.
Now let's consider organizing and managing the learning community. First, the management function should support, but not dictate learning.
In the United States there are two choices for organizing a zen learning community. Perhaps the best choice for a mature organization is the non- profit, tax-exempt corporation, the 501c3 corporation. Such status is gained in two steps. The organization is incorporated under the laws of a state as a non-profit corporation. This is a relatively easy step, but doing it effectively involves making sure the articles of incorporation and the bylaws conform to the Internal Revenue Service regulations for a tax-exempt corporation. The second step is to seek tax-exempt status from the IRS under Section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code. This is a more involved step that may take more time. Some states have "good samaritan" laws that may limit the liability of directors of such a corporation.
The second approach, useful for a small or nascent organization, is becoming an unincorporated association under the laws of whatever state the association operates in. This requires no steps. In this case there are no laws that limit anyone's liability, and, because there is no legal structure, things can become confusing.
In either case, the organization's mission should be to support the practice and promotion of Zen in whatever broad terms are appropriate.
Some guidelines for such an organization (yes, I am a minimalist) include:
- Use volunteer labor, and use the minimum amount possible. People are very busy. Concentrate on practice and let organization building and management be a secondary activity;
- Minimize expenses. Do not maximize revenue (i.e. quietly accept donations, while making fund raising a low priority). Give no compensation for learning zen, (i.e. no funded teachers). "The dharma is priceless. For everything else there's master card;"
- Minimize organizational complexity and bureaucracy. Keep it simple;
- Maintain "group ownership" of organization. Do not have a teacher driven organization;
- Let leadership arise from practice;
- Use extensive delegation and shared responsibility;
- While participation is available to all persons, restrict formal membership and participation as officer/board member to persons who have demonstrated commitment to the organization over a period of time. This commitment should not include required financial contributions.
Here are some assets and capabilities the organization may need:
- Physical space should be typically rented rather than owned, as ownership creates financial and managerial complexity and bureaucracy. Keep it simple, low key, and tasteful. If you make the physical space an attraction, you may confuse newcomers and divert effort from practice. The question of maintaining practice in many dispersed spaces versus in a centralized space is a serious one for the organization to resolve;
- Virtual space and communications include long distance phone, fax, email, and web site (ideally with own URL). Effort is needed to maintain communications and deal with them in a most timely way;
- Announcement and publishing capabilities should be developed and maintained as the organization needs them;
- It is desirable to establish clear, simple, flexible policies that create an easily understandable environment centered on practice in which diversity of learning styles can flourish. Avoid confusion and above all avoid a situation in which an individual or individuals are above the organization.
A specific program that is offered to everyone free of charge may include:
- Group meditations at various levels of intensity at various times and places;
- Instruction in meditation;
- Talks, study groups, and workshops as appropriate;
- Occasional publications in electronic or paper form as appropriate.
Tension between the organizational structure and practice may arise. In resolving any such tensions, it is important to remember that the organization is about practice. To help keep things simple it may be useful to minimize practice status levels for individuals used in the community. Each tension situation and its solutions are unique.
Organizational change may become a significant issue as organizations grow in numbers, resources, and complexity. If at all possible, it can be very useful to design a scalable organization so that expanding the existing structure rather than redesigning the organization may accommodate organizational growth. Sometimes it may be appropriate to establish new organizations rather than redesign the existing organization.
Delegation within clearly understood parameters leads to broader participation and "group ownership" of the organization.
Power and control are very different. Power is accomplishing what is wanted when it is wanted. Control is being able to manipulate something directly. The organization (but not individuals in it) should be powerful. It is undesirable for individuals, whatever they perceive their role to be, to develop attachments to power or control, even though both are necessary for an organization to function effectively. Such attachment should be recognized and avoided. Positions of power and control should be held only for a fixed length of time and then rotated. This is especially critical in a mature organization.
These notes (and they are certainly no more than that) are an attempt to share what I have learned. Their language should be read as expository and hortatory rather than directive. (In fact, feel free to ignore them.)
They address the problem of integrating Zen into a culture that has no significant experience with Buddhism and Zen. Zen has no culture of its own, yet it can be assimilated into any culture (thank you, Soyu Matusoka). This is a difficult challenge since the institutions of the transmitting culture can and do present various barriers to learners in the receiving culture. There is no single, perfect line of solution to this important issue. I hope that my experiences can help raise the issue and suggest possible directions for resolving it. Attachment is attachment whether it is to one's self, an external form of practice, an organization, or the beauties of any culture, your own or others.
(c) 2002 Frederick A. Rossini.
| Revised for www.ZenSpace.org May 22, 2002. | Return to Commentary Page > |