“Suck-ass Advice” and “Crap Teaching”

Seems my “eyes wide shut” posting/question on 8/29 resulted in quite a bit of discussion. That is the beauty of the blogo-Dharma-sphere. I am amazed that we can ask a simple question like that, and get responses not only from our fellow e-Sangha practitioners, but also from the likes of Sensei Nishijima and the famous Zen author, Brad Warner!

Frankly, I am a bit in awe of Sensei Nishijima, so I would have never even thought to ask him the question directly. Dan, thanks for forwarding it on to him.

Apparently, Brad Warner was also cc’ed on the question when it was posed to Sensei Nishjima, and Brad joined the discussion in his post, “Zen is Not a ‘Bottom Line Whatever Works for You’ Philosophy.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love Brad’s confrontational style and ‘hard core’ attitude. It is refreshing. But I think he jumped the gun a bit in his posting.

My original question had to do with advice on sitting with eyes open or eyes shut. In the COMMENTS section, I later posted an email response from “a trusted advisor on matters of Dharma.” His response started, “Some people prefer to meditate with eyes open and some with them closed. Bottom line is what works best for you. As far as the 'official' zen position though...”

Now Brad’s commentary seemed to really focus on the snippet, “what works best for you,” and Brad railed against this statement, and how it is not “Zen”:

“There are lots of guys out there in the Blogosphere giving advise on Zen practice and, unfortunately, most of them are like the guy who told the Truth Seeker that ‘bottom line is whatever works for you.’… Nothing personal, but that advice sucks ass. Zen is not a ‘bottom line is whatever works for you’ philosophy. ‘Whatever works for you’ is crap teaching. Don't ever accept crap teaching. I take so much flak from people who've learned from God only knows where that Zen is ‘whatever works for you’ and are driven to madness by my insistence that it is not. But it isn't. Nope. Never. ‘Whatever works for you’ means you accept what massages your ego and reject what doesn't. That is not Buddhism. That is not Reality. Reality does not bend in order to please you and neither does the philosophy and practice of Zen. Shunryu Suzuki said, ‘If the teaching doesn't feel like it's forcing something upon you, it's not good teaching.’ That is the real spirit of Buddhism. If you're not ready for that, you're not ready for Buddhism.”

Whew! Brad, read the quote more carefully. He never said that “Zen is whatever works best for you.” He specifically separated the “whatever works best for you” statement from his commentary on ‘official’ Zen tradition.

My question to him was based on the fact that I come from a tradition that teaches closed-eye meditation, and I am now having difficulty with the open-eye practice of Zazen. Knowing that I am a student of Theravada Buddhism that is learning more about Zen, my friend’s advice regarding “whatever works for you” was not commenting on the proper attitude in Zazen. It was advice on whether to follow the Zazen tradition in the first place.

In the COMMENTS section of Brad’s post, Gesus wrote, “Zazen is a discipline. Every discipline has a proper form. Anything else said would be mere tautology on the subject.” Beautifully stated, Gesus.

Zazen, as a discipline, seems to have very well-defined postures and attitudes. That is wonderful. However, life is not so well defined. What about the question of whether to practice Zazen or a Theravada method in the first place?

Would the Buddha answer, “Thou shalt practice Zazen, for all else is crap”? I doubt it. He may respond something like this (Kalama Sutra):

1.] Do not accept and believe just because something has been passed along and retold through the years.

2.] Do not believe just because some practice has become traditional.

3.] Do not accept and believe merely because of the reports and news spreading far and wide through one's village, or even throughout the world. Only fools are susceptible to such "rumors," for they refuse to exercise their own intelligence.

4.] Do not accept and believe just because something is cited in a Pitaka. [The word "Pitaka," which is used for the Buddhist scriptures, means anything written or inscribed upon any suitable writing material.]

5.] Do not believe just because something fits with the reasoning of logic (takka).

6.] Do not believe just because something is correct on the grounds of naya (deductive and inductive reasoning) alone. [These days, naya is called "philosophy."]

7.] Do not believe or accept just because something appeals to one's common sense, which is merely snap judgments based on one's tendencies of thought.

8.] Do not believe just because something stands up to or agrees with one's preconceived opinions and theories.

9.] Do not believe just because the speaker appears believable.

10.] Do not believe just because the Samana or preacher, the speaker, is "our teacher."

Buddhism is different from other religions in that it does not require its practitioners to become mindless, unreasoning zealots, accepting beliefs and practices “just because.” Buddhism encourages us to be skeptical, and to question everything.

And that is hard core.

Love ya Brad, keep keeping us on our toes.