We know the kind of interest
Zen has evoked even outside specialized disciplines, since being popularized
in the west by D.T. Suzuki through his books Introduction to Zen
Buddhism and Essays in Zen Buddhism. This popular interest
is due to the paradoxical encounter between East and West. The ailing
West perceives that Zen has something "existential" and surrealistic
to offer. Zen's notion of a spiritual realization, free from any faith
and any bond, not to mention the mirage of an instantaneous and somehow
gratuitous "spiritual breakthrough", has exercised a fascinating attraction
on many Westerners. However, this is true, for the most part, only
superficially. There is a considerable difference between the spiritual
dimension of the "philosophy of crisis", which has become popular
in the West as a consequence of its materialistic and nihilist development,
and the spiritual dimension of Zen, which has been rooted in the spirituality
of the Buddhist tradition. Any true encounter between Zen and the
West, presupposes, in a Westerner, either an exceptional predisposition,
or the capability to operate a metanoia. By metanoia
I mean an inner turnabout, affecting not so much one's intellectual
"attitudes", but rather a dimension which in every time and in every
place has been conceived as a deeper reality.
Zen has a secret doctrine and not to
be found in scriptures. It was passed on by the Buddha to his disciple
Mahakassapa. This secret doctrine was introduced in China around the
sixth century C.E. by Bodhidharma. The canon was transmitted in China
and Japan through a succession on teachers and "patriarchs". In Japan
it is a living tradition and has many advocates and numerous Zendos
("Halls of Meditation").
As far as the spirit informing the tradition
is concerned, Zen may be considered as a continuation of early Buddhism.
Buddhism arose as a vigorous reaction against the theological speculation
and the shallow ritualism into which the ancient Hindu priestly caste
had degraded after possessing a sacred, lively wisdom since ancient
times. Buddha mad tabula rassa of all this: he focused instead on
the practical problem of how to overcome what in the popular mind
is referred to as "life's suffering". According to esoteric teachings,
this suffering was considered as the state of caducity, restlessness,
"thirst" and the forgetfulness typical of ordinary people. Having
followed the path leading to spiritual awakening and to immortality
without external aid, Buddha pointed the way to those who felt an
attraction to it. It is well known that Buddha is not a name, but
an attribute or a title meaning "the awakened One", "He who has achieved
enlightenment", or "the awakening". Buddha was silent about the content
of his experience, since he wanted to discourage people from assigning
to speculation and philosophizing a primacy over action. Therefore,
unlike his predecessors, he did not talk about Brahman (the
absolute), or about Atman (the transcendental Self), but only
employees the term nirvana, at the risk of being misunderstood.
Some, in fact, thought, in their lack of understanding, that nirvana
was to be identified with the notion of "nothingness", an ineffable
and evanescent transcendence, almost bordering on the limits of the
unconscious and of a state of unaware non-being. So, in a further
development of Buddhism, what occurred again, mutatis mutandi, was
exactly the situation against which Buddha had reacted; Buddhism became
a religion, complete with dogmas, rituals, scholasticism and mythology.
It eventually became differentiated into two schools: Mahayana
and Hinayana. The former was more grandiose in metaphysics
an Mahayana eventually grew complacent with its abstruse symbolism.
The teachings of the latter school were more strict and to the point,
and yet too concerned about the mere moral discipline which became
increasingly monastic. Thus the essential and original nucleus, namely
the esoteric doctrine of the enlightenment, was almost lost.
At this crucial time Zen appeared, declaring
the uselessness of these so-called methods and proclaiming the doctrine
of satori. Satori is a fundamental inner event, a sudden
existential breakthrough, corresponding in essence to what I have
called the "awakening". But this formulation was new and original
and it constituted a radical change in approach. Nirvana, which
had been variously considered as the alleged Nothingness, as extinction,
and as the final end result of an effort aimed at obtaining liberation
(which according to some may require more than one lifetime), now
came to be considered as the normal human condition. By these lights,
every person has the nature of Buddha and every person is already
liberated, and therefore, situated above and beyond birth and death.
It is only necessary to become aware of it, to realize it, to see
within one's nature, according to Zen's main expression. Satori
is like a timeless opening up. On the one hand, satori is
something sudden and radically different from all the ordinary human
states of consciousness; it is like a catastrophic trauma within ordinary
consciousness. On the other hand, satori is what leads one
back to what, in a higher sense, should be considered as normal and
natural; thus, it is the exact opposite of an ecstasis, or trance.
It is the rediscovery and the appropriation of one's true nature:
it is the enlightenment which draws out of ignorance or out of the
subconscious the deep reality of what was and will always be, regardless
of one's condition in life. The consequence of satori is a
completely new way to look at the world and at life. To those who
have experienced it, everything is the same (things, other beings,
one's self, "heaven, the rivers and the vast earth"), and yet everything
is fundamentally different. It is as if a new dimension was added
to reality, transforming the meaning and value. According to the Zen
Masters, the essential characteristic of the new experience is the
overcoming of every dualism: of the inner and outer; the I and not
I; of finitude and infinity; being and not-being; appearance and reality;
"empty" and "full"; substance and accidents. Another characteristic
is that any value posed by the finite and confused consciousness of
the individual, is no longer discernible. And thus, the liberated
and the non-liberated, the enlightened and the non-enlightened, are
yet one and same thing. Zen effectively perpetuates the paradoxical
equation of Mahayana Buddhism, nirvana-samsara, and
the Taoist saying "the return is infinitely far". It is as if Zen
said: liberation should not be looked for in the next world; the very
world is the next world; it is liberation and it does not need to
be liberated. This is the point of view of satori, of perfect
enlightenment, of "transcendent wisdom" (prajnaparamita).
Basically, this consciousness is a shift
of the self's center. In any situation and in any event of ordinary
life, including the most trivial ones, the ordinary, dualistic and
intellectual sense of one's self is substituted with a being who no
longer perceives an "I" opposed to a "non-I", and who transcends and
overcomes any antithesis. This being eventually comes to enjoy a perfect
freedom an incoercibility. He is like the wind, which blows where
it wills, and like a naked being which is everything after "letting
go" -abandons everything, embracing poverty.
Zen, or at least mainstream Zen, emphasizes
the discontinuous, sudden and unpredictable character of satori
disclosure. In regard to this, Suzuki was at fault when he took issue
with the techniques used in Hindu schools such as Samkya and
Yoga. These techniques were also contemplated in early Buddhist
texts. Suzuki employed the simile of water, which in a moment turns
into ice. He also used the simile of an alarm, which, as a consequence
of some vibration, suddenly goes off. There are no disciplines, techniques
or efforts, according to Suzuki, which by themselves may lead one
to satori. On the contrary, it is claimed that satori
often occurs spontaneously, when one has exhausted all the resources
of his being, especially the intellect and logical faculty of understanding.
In some cases satori it is said to be facilitated by violent
sensations and even by physical pain. Its cause may be the mere perception
of an object as well as any event in ordinary life, provided a certain
latent predisposition exists in the subject.
Regarding this, some misunderstandings
may occur. Suzuki acknowledged that "generally speaking, there
are no indications on the inner work preceding satori". However,
he talked about the necessity of first going through "a true baptism
of fire". After all, the very institution of the so-called "Halls
of Meditation" (Zendo), where those who strive to obtain a
satori submit themselves to a regimen of life which is partially
analogous to that of some Catholic religious orders, bespeaks the
necessity of a preliminary preparation. This preparation may last
for several years. The essence of Zen seems to consist in a maturation
process, identical to the one in which one almost reaches a state
of an acute existential instability. At that point, the slightest
push is sufficient to produce a change of state, a spiritual breakthrough,
the opening which leads to the "intuitive vision of one's nature".
The Masters know the moment in which the mind of the disciple is mature
and ready to open up; it is ten that they eventually give the final.
Decisive push. This push may sometimes consist of a simple gesture,
an exclamation, in something apparently irrelevant, or even illogical
and absurd. This suffices to induce the collapse of the false notion
of individuality. Thus, satori replaces this notion with the
"normal state", and one assumes the "original face, which
one had before creation". One no longer "chases after echoes"
and "shadows". This under some aspects brings to mind the existential
theme of "failure", or of "being shipwrecked" (das Scheitern,
in Kierkegaard and in Jaspers). In fact, as I have mentioned, the
opening often takes place when all the resources of one's being have
been exhausted and one has his back against the wall. This can be
seen in relation to some practical teachings methods used by Zen.
The most frequently employed methods, on an intellectual plane, are
the koan and the mondo. The disciple is confronted with
a saying or with questions which are paradoxical, absurd and sometimes
even grotesque and "surrealistic". He must labor with his mind, if
necessary for years, until he has reached the extreme limit of all
his normal faculties of comprehension. Then, if he dares proceed further
on that road he may find catastrophe, but if he can turn the situation
upside down, he may achieve metanoia. This is the point where
satori is usually achieved.
Zen's norm is that of absolute autonomy;
no gods, no cults, no idols. To literally empty oneself of everything,
including God. "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him",
a saying goes. It is necessary to abandon everything, without leaning
on anything, and then to proceed forward, with one's essence, until
the crisis point is reached. It is very difficult to say more about
satori, or to compare it with various forms of initiatory mystical
experience whether Eastern or Western. One is supposed to spend only
the training period in Zen monasteries. Once the disciple has achieved
satori, he return to the world, choosing a way of life that
fits his need. One may think of satori as a form of transcendence
which is brought to immanence, as a natural state, in every form of
life.
The behavior which proceeds from the
newly acquired dimension, which is added to reality as a consequence
of satori, may well be summarized by Lao Tzu's expression:
"To be the whole in the part". In regard to this, it is important
to realize the influence which Zen has exercised on the Far-Eastern
way of life. Zen has been called "the samurai's philosophy," and it
had also been said that "the way of Zen is identical to the way of
archery," or to the "way of the sword". This means that any activity
in one's life, may be permeated by Zen and thus be elevated to a higher
meaning, to a "wholesomeness" and to an "impersonal activity". This
kind of activity is based on a sense of the individual's irrelevance,
which nevertheless does not paralyze one's actions, but which rather
confers cam and detachment. This detachment, in turn, favors an absolute
and "pure" undertaking of life, which in some cases reaches extreme
and distinct forms of self-sacrifice and heroism, inconceivable to
the majority of Westerners (e.g. the kamikaze in WWII).
Thus, what C.G. Jung claims is simply
ridiculous, namely that Psychoanalysis, more than any other Western
school of thought, is capable of understanding Zen. According to Jung,
satori coincides with the state of wholeness, devoid of complexes
or inner splitting, which psychoanalytic treatment claims to achieve
whenever the intellect's obstructions and its sense of superiority
are removed, and whenever the conscious dimension of the soul is reunited
with the unconscious and with "Life". Jung did not realize that the
methods and presuppositions of Zen, are exactly the opposite of his
own. There is no "subconscious", as a distinct entity, to which the
conscious has to be reconnected; Zen speaks of a superconscious vision
(enlightenment, bodhi or "awakening"), which actualizes the
"original and luminous nature" and which, in so doing, destroys the
unconscious. It is possible though, to notice similarities between
Jung's view's and Zen', since they both talk about the feeling of
one's "totality" and freedom which is manifested in every aspect of
life. However, it is important to explain the level at which these
views appear to coincide.
Once Zen found its way to the West,
there was a tendency to "domesticate" and to moralize it, playing
down its potential radical and "antinomian" (namely, antithetical
to current norms) implications, and by emphasizing the standard ingredients
which are held so dear by "spiritual" people, namely love and service
to one's neighbor, even though these ingredients have been purified
in an impersonal and non-sentimental form. Generally speaking, there
are many doubts on the "practicability" of Zen, considering that the
"doctrine of the awakening" has an initiatory character.
Thus, it will only be able to inspire
a minority of people, in contrast to later Buddhist views, which took
the form of a religion open to everyone, for the most part a code
of mere morality. As the re-establishment of the spirit of early Buddhism,
Zen should have strictly been an esoteric doctrine. It has been so
as we can see by examining the legend concerning its origins. However,
Suzuki himself was inclined to give a different account; he emphasized
those aspects of Mahayana which "democratize" Buddhism (after
all, the term Mahayana has been interpreted to mean "Great
Vehicle", even in the sense that it extends to wider audiences, and
not just to a few elect). If one was to fully agree with Suzuki, some
perplexities on the nature and on the scope of satori may arise.
One should ask whether such an experience merely affects the psychological,
moral or mental domain, or whether it affects the ontological domain,
as is the case in every authentic initiation. In that event, it can
only be the privilege of a very restricted number of people.
