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Zen
Masters
Adi Da Samraj (Franklin Jones) –
1972
The Zen Masters demonstrated a very
useful wisdom in the way they taught. The great ones did not
teach at all! They wasted no time in trying to teach the
truth to their disciples. This was wisdom, for it is clear
that every disciple considers himself in some fundamental
and mysterious way, to be a knower of the truth. This is
also wisdom, except that all disciples do not now the wisdom
but only the ignorance of it therefore, many Zen Masters did
not teach. They only set aside time to observe their
disciples in the attempt to demonstrate knowledge of
truth.
This created a tremendous effect
upon the disciples of these masters. At first it may have
seemed an easy thing, even a recognition of their worthiness
and superiority by the master. But the master would be
satisfied with nothing but an actual, radical demonstration
of actual, present, radical knowledge. Thus, years often
passed with nothing but blows, indifference, mockery and
enslavement in the company of the master. The disciple would
exhaust every possible expression, every subtlety of his
mind and creativity. As long as he felt there was some way
in which to represent his knowledge to the master he would
remain trapped in the game. But, finally, the crisis would
come. There would seem no way to represent it, indeed, it
would seem that in fact there was no knowledge of truth
within himself. Then, in a moment of absolute emptiness,
nowhere to go, nothing to represent, the disciple would turn
to the master, giving nothing, expecting nothing, knowing
nothing. And, no matter what he did, his actions would be a
prefect expression of fundamental truth. The master might
then make some sudden gesture that would call the attention
of the disciple to the actual nature of his mind, the
present unqualified face of reality, and the moment of
attention was known and acknowledged by the disciple as
fundamental truth.
The Zen Masters taught nothing but
only sat comfortably in the company of wise disciples who
displayed their knowledge of perfect truth without effort.
And because of the endless kinds of ultimate demonstrations
as well as the innumerable means the masters used to call
there disciples’ attention to the nature of their own wisdom
there are countless traditions about enlightenment
experiences and the methods of Zen Masters.
There was great wisdom in these
means, and great honor between master and disciple. So it is
not longer useful to teach exclusively by these means. The
demand for communications is so much a requirement of modern
society that no one understands silence or feels the need to
demonstrate the knowledge of truth, whatever that is. But
one who understands will not fail to make appropriate use of
the teaching methods of Zen Masters.
Further reading:
Historical
Masters
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