Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Buddhist
Authority in Zen

Authority in Zen

Last updated on: November 1, 2011 at 3:13 pm by James Ford

Authority in Zen 2011-11-01T15:13:01-07:00 James Ford

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes…

Henry David Thoreau

One of my favorite blogs is Wild Fox Zen written by Zen teacher Dosho Port. I really admire him for lots of reasons. Not least of which is how obviously he has genuine insight into the fundamental matter. His most recent posts have been about power, and more specifically about power as authority in Zen. This is something I’ve also given some thought to and here I’d like to share some of that thinking.

Mostly provisional, of course…

As Dosho has pointed out authority in Zen has just about always been “vertical.” I said it. Do it… Now, it has worked swimmingly for many people for ages and ages. And it has always been subject to abuse. In our contemporary West we’ve seen that abuse take various shapes. Largely this has had to do with sex. But it has included other things such as financial dealings and various forms of involvement in student’s lives such as suggesting marriages or career choices. Well, not suggesting, more like directing…

If Zen teachers were omniscient I guess this would be okay. But I’ve never met a Zen teacher who was. And the whole deal of Zen is about becoming “ordinary,” so, why would one even want such a thing? Omniscience would be too special, by half. (Please picture me spitting on the ground here…)

Dosho’s series addresses a bit the problematic nature of the vertical relationship. He then suggests many Zen communities in the West have opted for a more horizontal system, which he characterizes as ultimately just putting the inmates in charge of the asylum. At first here I suggested there were scant few experiments in horizontal leadership patterns in Western Zen, but Al Billings blew that assertion out of the water by mentioning the San Francisco Zen Center, which definitely has introduced a much flatter leadership pattern than has been traditional. And as they are the second largest Zen organization after the Kwan Um School, which itself has a more broadly distributed leadership structure than in more traditional Zen organizations, I have to acknowledge that there is a strong horizontal, or at least a flatter organizational structure (or structures) in the West than exists in Asia. There are at the same time many more traditionally hierarchical organizations. And by the count of various organizations, I’m inclined to think more are obviously hierarchical than flat, even if more Zen practitioners study within flatter organizations than not.

But before advocating for a more although not completely horizontal model of Zen teaching I need to note how Dosho goes on to describe and advocate a post-modern model of Zen authority. I’ve never been all that scholarly and frankly I don’t quite get what he was describing. It struck me as an appeal to the authority of non-authority, all very Zen (really. it is very Zen, in its deepest sense. Remember, he is a real Zen teacher…), but I also noticed short on specifics and he seemed to ignore the thorny issues of ongoing relationships that involve more than pushing the student to their deepest insight. Even a post-modern Zen teacher is going to find herself being offered things she wants by her students, but which wouldn’t be good for the student, or the community, or most likely, any of the participants…

Okay, now, my premises.

First there is such a thing as awakening. My understanding of this is how a person may come to a place where “self and other” both fall away. I believe this is some natural thing. I also believe nearly everyone has had at least a fleeting moment of this experience, often described as being “one” with nature. Mostly we’ve had tiny tastes, but occasionally we’ve gulped the whole ocean. Whether shallow or deep this experience (actually experience isn’t quite suitable for what happens, nor is “one” or oneness a completely satisfactory term for what happens, but I’ll use that term as a placeholder) shifts how we see the world. And, at least potentially, it shifts how we act in the world.

Zen offers two things on this way of awakening. It offers what I think are the best practices associated with cultivating a place to stand where awakening happens more often than not: shiktantaza and koan introspection. I’ve described these elsewhere as have many others.

And, Zen offers teachers. Teachers are guides on the way of awakening.

The myth of Zen is that Zen teachers have had their awakening confirmed and their ability to teach acknowledged by their teacher who was authorized by his or her teacher, so on, right back to Gautama Siddhartha himself, the original Awakened One.

Of course, they’re not.

By this I don’t mean they’ve not experienced the falling away of self and other. And I’m not saying they’re not schooled in the disciplines of Zen. And I’m not saying they weren’t confirmed by a real human being with a name and a history.

There is in the modern West an interesting subset of people who claim to be Zen teachers but who do not or will not name their teachers. They may have had awakening experiences, they may even have skills as guides; but they are not Zen teachers who must, to be “Zen teachers,” have been authorized by that real human being who was authorized by that real human being.

(While I feel a need to acknowledge self-described Zen teachers may have real skills, in fact I think there is something profoundly creepy about people who could just as easily say they’re self-awakened, or that they practice and teach in a Zen style, but who instead pretend to belong to the family. It is exactly like someone who says they’re a Roman Catholic priest, but who cannot name their bishop or religious superior. Interestingly, such people exist, as well…)

But that authority, while the sin qua non of Zen teaching authority isn’t as magical as I wish it were. Lineages are real enough. They start in early Medieval China, probably as part of the legitimization of the Chinese style of Buddhist practice we call Zen. And, frankly, there have been breaks along the way, at least here and there. But, in addition to this “vertical” line, there is a “horizontal” one, a fraternity and sorority of Zen teachers that tends to heal the breaks. A very interesting example to my mind is the “Rochester” Zen lineage, started by Philip Kapleau. Kapleau was a very senior student and had permission to teach. But there was a break between he and his teacher before he received Dharma transmission, the formal and public acknowledgment that makes a “Zen teacher.” However, over the years his Dharma heirs have come to be accepted as “real” Zen teachers by their peers who hold more traditional acknowledgments. I suggest this horizontal transmission is very important. And hints at broader possibilities as well as suggests the importance of sangha as spiritual community…

For me a Zen teacher is someone who is first and foremost trained in at least shikantaza and ideally koan introspection and has under the guidance of a teacher become experienced as a spiritual director. And that ability has been authorized by someone who stands in a commonly acknowledged Zen lineage…

Zen is also a school of Buddhism. In China, Korea and Vietnam, most Zen teachers are also monks or nuns. In Japan a peculiar ordination model emerged creating what I think are best called priests. Here is a statement that is not well understood about Zen in the west. With the exception of Japanese-derived Soto Zen, there is no necessary association between ordination and authorization as a teacher. In Soto Zen there has been a collapsing of these two different authorizations so with a couple of exceptions in our contemporary West, one cannot receive Soto Dharma transmission without also being ordained a priest. While there is no necessary association I need to quickly add that outside the modern West authorized lay teachers are only slightly less rare than hen’s teeth…

While I believe Zen can be practiced profitably without being Buddhist I also believe it is best practiced within a clearly Buddhist context. I particularly think the Bodhisattva precepts of Japanese-derived Zen Buddhism to be critically important for the furtherance of Zen, for its deepening, and for its fullest expression. For me, when we stand in the place of awakening, the precepts are the expression of our awakening and when we are confused they are boundaries and guides for us all, student and teacher.

So, I think on balance this association between Buddhist ordination models and the practices of Zen has been a good thing. Not absolutely necessary, but on balance, a good thing.

I also think sangha is of incredible importance. It is one thing to have a private experience. It is often quite another to have to manifest it with others. Without community, without sangha, I am increasingly inclined to question the value of Zen practice. But I think I need to simply assert here and promise I’ll reflect more deeply on this question later…

Okay, back to the premises. Zen is about awakening. Zen is fostered by its teachers who are almost always Buddhist clerics. And these teachers are, at best, well trained, and authorized by people and institutions (that sangha thing). But these Zen teachers are not perfect masters.

It is not about magic. It is not about special wondrous abilities, well, other than those magical events of eating and sleeping and visiting the toilet…

Awakening does not by itself make us more moral or incline us to one political philosophy over another.

Although, recalling those precepts, I do think awakening is the basis, upon reflection, and further discipline, of a powerful moral stance predicated upon the twin truths that we are all individuals never to be replicated, and all are woven out of each other, that is we belong to one family. (Darn, that one thing, again. Perhaps it is better to say we all belong to that not one, not two family…) I believe we could spend a thousand years unpacking the moral consequences of these observations. And should… (And again, hints at the importance of sangha in all all this…)

But, my major concern here is how we relate to each other, those of us who wish to awaken and those of us who have had that taste and who have been authorized to guide others on the way.

That vertical model, as I said, has done a good job, on balance.

And, it is unlikely it will appeal to as many people as can profit from the disciplines of the Zen way and its guides.

So, all this boils down to a few straight forward suggestions.

One let teachers teach.

And two, don’t get confused as to what the teacher is about.

And, three, remember we really are all in this together, and we all have awakening as our common heritage.

I think there can be many possible organizations that can foster this great work. A traditional monastic model. A temple with an authoritarian leader. A small and intimate gathering, such as I think I understand Dosho speaks for, with a serious guide and a couple of serious students. A vastly more horizontal organization is also possible, where decisions about money and property are not the responsibility of the teacher, and where there is a place for everyone at every moment on the great way.

Of course, all this, again, takes us to considerations of community, of broader relationships, of ongoing relationships, of sangha…

And every word said with, of course, a caution.

Chanted every evening during a Zen retreat…

Life and Death is a grave matter,
all things pass quickly away,
each of you must be completely alert,
never neglectful, never indulgent.

Awaken.

Awaken…

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 12, 2008

According to Tip

Next Post

July 13, 2008 Festivals of the Dead

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Christmas Carol Abolitionist African-American Ahmadiyya Alan Watts Aldous Huxley Allen Ginsberg Amedkar Jayanti American politics American Zen Anaheim Zen Sangha Anglican Annie Besant April Fool Armageddon Art and Religion artificial intellegence Atheist Awakening B R Ambedkar Barlaam & Josaphat Beatnik Between Bhagavad Gita Bible biography birthday bodhisattva Bodhisattva Precepts Book burning Book of Common Prayer Book of Mormon Brahmo Samaj Buddha Buddhism Buddhist Buddhist Lord's Prayer Butterflies Calendars cartoons cat ChatGPT Chicken Tortilla Soup choices Christian atheism Christian mysticism Christian origins Christian Science Christian Zen Christianity Christianity and Buddhism christmas Christmas Truce Christopher Isherwood Church of Later Day Saints Cinco de Mayo circus covenant critical thinking culture D. T. Suzuki Dalit Buddhism Daniel Defoe Desert Fathers and Mothers dharma talk Dogen Donald Trump Dongshan's Five Ranks Dorothy Day dream Duty Easter ecology Edwin Arnold emptiness Empty Moon Zen Network Episcopal Church Eternal Now Ethics evolution existentialism Faith fantasy Fathers Day film film review fire Five Ranks Folk music food Form and emptiness Four Seals Francis of Assisi Francis Xavier Free thinker friendship George MacDonald Gerald Heard Glenn Taylor Webb God Good Friday Gospel of Gospel of Mark Gospel of Thomas grace Graduate Theological Unioin Graduate Theological Union Guanyin H R Blyth Hakuin Ekaku Hanamatsuri Hanukkah Harada Yasutani Zen Heart Sutra Henry David Thoreau Hermann Hesse Hinduism History and Religion history of religion Holy Spirit home Hospitality Icon Ides of March Isaac Newton Islam Islamic mysticism Jack Kerouac James Luther Adams Jiddu Krishnamurti Joan of Arc Johannes Gutenberg John Donne joke Judaism justice karma kensho King James Bible koan Koun Yamada Kyoto School Lewis Carrol Liberal Christianity Liberal Religion Life Plan Community Liminal literature Literature and Religion Liturgy Lord's Prayer Love Mahatma Gandhi Mahayana Martin Luther King Jr Mary Baker Eddy Mary Magdelene Mary Oliver Mayflower Compact Meditation memories memory metaphor money money and religioin Mormons Mother's Day movie review mysticism mythic Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church New Thought Nichiren Buddhism Nonduality not knowing Omar Khayyam Pacific School of Religion pagan Palm Sunday Passover peace Pentecost perennialism Phantastes Philip Kapleau philosophy Pilgrimage poetry Poetry and Religion politics Prayer Precepts Printing Press prophecy prophetic spirituality psychology Pure Land Queer religion queering religion Quietism Ram Mohan Roy rebirth recipe Relationships and religion religion religion and history Religious syncretism Resistance Retirement Retreat review Rissho Kosei Kai Ritual Robert Aitken Roshi Robert Ingersoll Rohatsu Romani religion Rosie the Riveter saints samadhi SanboZen Sangha Satyagraha science science and reigion science and religion science fiction seminary sermon Sesshin Sex and Religion Shinran Sikh Sikh tradition silence Social Justice Socially Engaged Buddhism Society and religion Soto Zen soul spiritual community spiritual practice Spirituality Sufism Suicide superstition Taoism Television Teresa of Avila Thanksgiving theological schools Theosophy Thomas Merton Time Transcendentalism Transcendentalist Trinitarian Trinity Uncategorized unitarian Unitarian Christianity Unitarian Universalist Universalism Vajrayana Vedanta Walking war Willa Cather William Ellery Channing wisdom women and religion women in religion World Teacher Writing zazen Zen Zen Center Zen inspired retriement zen meditation Zen Precepts Zen women

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The feast of Purim commemorates the Jewish people's deliverance from Haman's plot.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE