ZEN REMARKS (21)

21. As Wittgenstein's philosopher is to assemble reminders for a particular purpose, so must the Zen master. The reminders do not function in terms of a fully articulated theoretical system. Rather, they come into play in response to particular needs and particular problems in particular situations - such as 'whenever someone ... wanted to say something metaphysical'.

ZEN REMARKS (20)

20, In reminding the disciple 'to say nothing except what can be said', the Zen master must be able to demonstrate to any disciple 'who wanted to say something metaphysical', following Wittgenstein here, 'that he had failed to give a meaning to certain signs in his propositions'. In Zen such a demonstration might simply take the form of a curt dismissal - 'If you mention Buddha Nature here I will throw you out!' But still the master will demand that the disciple 'say something'. However, the 'saying' that is required is not an ordinary saying but a 'showing'.
      Someone might object here that it is difficult to accept that there is an analogy between Wittgenstein's method and that of the Zen master. For whereas Wittgenstein is at pains to avoid saying what cannot be said - or to point out the nonsensicality of all attempts to say the unsayable - Zen, with its nonsensical koans, insists on saying what cannot be said - that is, insists on speaking nonsense - in order to effect a switch in the disciple to a rejection of what cannot be said. In response, it needs to be stressed that Zen does not reject what cannot be said. What Zen rejects is each and every attempt to say what cannot be said. Moreover, the nonsensical character of koan language is only apparent. Once the grammar of this language-game has been mastered, the nonsensical appearance of its language is seen through.

ZEN REMARKS (19)

19. Perhaps it could be said that the work of the Zen master, like that of Wittgenstein's philosopher, 'consists in assembling reminders for a particular purpose'. Just as Wittgenstein does not wish 'to spare other people the trouble of thinking', so the Zen master has no intention of sparing the disciple the trouble of personal inquiry. Yet Zen inquiry is pursued, not through thinking, but through a carefully practised discipline of non-thinking. But is 'thinking' all of a kind? Are there not different types of thinking? Might the 'non-thinking' of Zen be but a different kind of thinking? According to Descartes, for example, 'all the operations of will, intellect, imagination, and of the senses are thoughts'. Leaving aside for the moment the question of the relation between thinking and non-thinking and focusing on the claim that the Zen master's work could be represented as 'assembling reminders for a particular purpose', it is important to say that the Zen master's reminders would not be of doctrine but of a strategic practice. This is the practice that corresponds with Wittgenstein's 'correct method in philosophy', namely, 'to say nothing except what can be said'.
    

ZEN REMARKS (18)

18. sitting still in zazen
      I move
      not outward and about
      but down
      not slowly sinking
      but suddenly leaping
      into the darkness
      enlightening my day

ZEN REMARKS (17)

17. Proverbial wisdom would seem to involve us in a series of contradictions. One proverb advises us to look before we leap while another warns that he who hesitates is lost. Similarly with Zen: on the one hand we are admonished to hold firm, on the other to let go. Zennies seem to delight in holding firm while letting go, taking care while leaping into the dark.

ZEN REMARKS (16)

16. Someone, critiquing the claim that the 'Prajna Paramita' is the supreme mantra that completely removes all anguish, comments 'but it doesn't, once and for all'. The comment is made in the context of a discussion of global warming and climate change. Indeed, it is difficult, on this eve of a new year, given our ongoing exploitation of the planet and its resources, not to face the coming of 2016 without some measure of anguish. But is this not, as the critic boldly states, at odds with the teaching of the 'Prajna Paramita Sutra'? However, what needs to be kept in mind here is that the feeling of anguish in the face of dire circumstances is not the same as being overwhelmed and paralysed by what is a perfectly natural response, at the emotional level, to those circumstances. The 'Prajna Paramita Sutra' teaches that a fully enlightened one, even while experiencing intense negative emotions, is nevertheless free to act in a committed and creative way in the service of the many beings. He or she feels anguish as much as the next person but is not dominated by it. Hence the sutra's claim that the 'Prajna Paramita' is the supreme mantra that completely removes all anguish.

ZEN REMARKS (15)

15. the fullness that empties itself
      makes itself manifest
      in emptiness

      the unbeginning that begins
      shows the unmade being made
      the unborn being born

      and a new star appears in the sky

      leading wise men from the east
      across mountains and rivers
      to pay homage to a king

      already ruined and homeless