2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Is zazen truly Zen?
I’m with you on this! I’m just trying to understand the rebuttals. Some say that the wall facing of Bodhidarma is a mistranslation. But the Buddha didn’t ONLY meditate, he expounded a dharma of wide variety in terms of actionables. Dogen only emphasizes on Dhyana part. Thank you for your reply!
Comment by Routine_Motor_9866 at 24/01/2025 at 20:07 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I would find it hard to believe that something that spawned so many myths is a mistranslation. But just for arguments sake let's say they're right, and that neither of them meditated for a second and that they're right, zazen was just made up by Dogen. Does that really change the message of sitting to you? For me it's very personal and when I sit it's just me, so what do I really care what anyone else has to say about it? I can see the benefits in myself.
Look, the people at that other sub used to bother me too. But you have to understand that they are people that have never had a teacher in real life. They are so disconnected from reality the only people that aren't perverts or charlatans are monks from 1,000 years ago. Know that to be your own teacher is best. What does your heart really tell you? Because I know for me I would think about how they said thich that hanh was a racist. But I had to ask myself: is getting upset about this benefitting you at all or are you just letting trolls get to you because you know inside you still have doubts. So instead of confronting the trolls that self publish treatises that their peers mock I would instead confront my own doubts.