Can I do Zen without a teacher?
Perhaps a real question (somewhat exaggerated) is this: Do we need to depend upon a single clergyman for a rest of my life to turn enlightened? The answer is, of course, a large NO, unless a a single who analyses is looking for someone, so to speak, to plow their margin for them (being spiritually lazy). (Believe it or not a lot of people who have been interested in Buddhism have been looking for someone to plow their margin believing that if they find a right clergyman he or she will enlighten themplus, mislay their suffering! This is rubbish.)
Yes, you do need teachers with a Buddha being a inaugural of teachers. Teachers can be an inspiration, acting more similar to a good coach to assistance us upon a devout journey. But you dont need to find onejust onewho is matched for us. This is crazy. We may need multiform teachers, in fact. Keep in thoughts that Siddhartha had multiform teachers prior to he became a Buddha. But you additionally need to keep in thoughts that Bodhidharma pronounced that a single person in a million becomes cordial but a teachers assistance that if you have been an American adds up to 310 cordial beings who have been currently vital in a U.S. who became cordial but a teacher! In India there have been 1,190 cordial beings all of whom became cordial but a teacher. This is amazing!
The most appropriate advice we can give upon this subject is to first sense self-reliance afterwards investigate with most teachers that can be finished in a accumulation of ways in further to investigate what a Buddha actually pronounced (remember, he is a inaugural teacher).
There have been Buddhist lectures upon a Internet that have been since by pretty efficient teachers that have been of assistance (check out YouTube), in further to a outrageous amount of great celebration of a mass material. Recently, we found a correspondence march offering by Lama Shenpen Hookham Click here.
Buddhism, you should be thankful, is not in a hands of usually a singl! e teache r, lets contend a little Zen master who especially schooled how to lay upon a zafu for long periods of time; who is assured that a more and particular sits a wiser they will become. These teachers, we am afraid to say, have been better matched for shoal practitioners. For anyone with a normal devout IQ, they should be avoided similar to a fast-food restaurant.
Other teachers to investigate with have been those who teach in a university. we was introduced to Zen by a highbrow was a personal crony of D.T. Suzuki. He was a wonderful, inspiring human being whose coaching caused me to read Suzukis books that we couldnt get sufficient of even though we understood zero about Zen after celebration of a mass them! Still, we longed for to really understand Zen Buddhism. And afterwards there was a smashing Nichiren Bishop (also a professor) who taught me where to look to find a pure Mind within myself. And afterwards there was my central Soto Zen monk clergyman who taught me what Zen was not and what teachers to avoid similar to a plague, especially those who similar to to consume cheap beer and contend foolish things like, we am a Tathagata.
