Zen Fusion

I was going through the Zen books and writings I’ve added to my "to read" list so I could find things to read, summarize, comment on, etc to create some content. I came across the below translator’s introduction to “Opening the Hand of Thought” by Kosho Uchiyama. What the translators, Shohaku Okumura and Tom Wright, wrote I think better encapsulates what I was trying to express with my last post on Dogen’s Instructions to the Cook. The basic thought is that Zen needs to adapt to being in the West in the 21st century. The fundamental teachings are as true and relevant as they’ve always been, but Zen has always adapted to different cultures and circumstances as it's been transmitted around the world and through time, and here and now should be no different. I think there is an unfortunate tendancy to imitate the old ways and to read the old masters as if their words are infallible truth, without an attempt to translate or understand their teachings in our current world. That is where I feel Zen often falls flat, it doesn’t meet people where they live. At best, there have been efforts to bring Zen more into things like the social and environmental justice movements. While I think that is overall a positive development, I can’t help but feel like it misses the mark by focusing on symptoms rather than causes. At worst, self-help gurus and the like will peel off teachings or phrases and repackage them for their own grifts. To be clear, that is not what I mean by adapting to the modern world. And then there are those that cling to the words of masters without bother to deeply examine the meaning. At any rate, this is part of why I created this community, one that will not say “this is Zen, that is not” and devoutly read the same limited set of teachers ad nosium without giving any thought as to how those old teachings (and others in the long and varied tradition of Zen) apply to the world we live in. My hope is not only to study Zen and get a greater understanding of the teachings, but to also to explore how those teachings apply here and now.

That’s enough from me. Here is the translator’s introduction. And keep in mind, this was written over 20 years ago, so our current world is different from even the world they lived in then.

If Buddhism in general, and Zen in particular, is ever to lay deep roots in the mainstream of Western culture and civilization and not relegated to being simply one of those quaint or odd Oriental traditions in the religious supermarket or our day, then Zen, or the so-called practioners of it, while studying the examples of past teachers, will have to be able to see the problems modern people are faced with, as well. Indeed, if Zen is to play any role, much less a leading role, in the future direction of humankind, then those who profess to be Zen followers will have to be able to articulate clearly the problems we are facing in the world today. Moreover, a Zen that clings to the traditional garments of Zen without grasping the essence will surely end up being regarded as one of the religions of antiquity – and only that. What is that essence? To be sure, it is much easier to talk and write about what it isn’t than about what it is. Yet, if no attempt is made and Zen is left only to be understood by silence, under the guise of profundity, then surely Zen will be silently left behind.

So, then, what can be said? One expression that accurately points to that essence is, ironically, an expression predating the Buddhist tradition. This is Araniyake’s statement: “All that can be said is, ‘not this, not that.’” But unless such statements are put into the overall context of Buddhism and Buddhist practice, we’re afraid they will be poorly understood or ignored. Perhaps the best statement that we can make about Zen comes in the form of a question we have to ask ourselves continually no matter how long we study Buddhism or sit zazen. That is, with zazen as the center of our lives, how can we go about living fully and freely in our day-to-day lives? [The translators go on to explain how the present book goes about addressing that question, the history of the talks that make the book up, how it was translated, etc]