Question
Do you think it is possible to attain satori by trying to answer an unanswerable existential question?
Anonymous
Master Kosen’s answer
Some years ago, I read in a sutra that Buddha had predicted that 2,500 years after his nirvana, people would no longer attain satori. Completely discouraged, I asked my master what he thought about it. His answer was: “So what, Stéphane? Nowadays Zen monks no longer need satori; it has become useless. What happiness! Perhaps one day Buddhism itself will disappear; humanity may be wise enough and no longer need it. All that will remain is aimless zazen, true zazen in all its purity. Let us hope so…” This answer completely disconcerted me, and even more than that… But now I no longer think that way at all, and I understand that my master spoke the truth. In my sangha, satori is completely useless; no one speaks about it and no one is interested in it. How happy I am to fulfill my master’s true Zen… Simply practicing zazen is enough.
Kosen