Question
Is it fair to say that when you tell people not to expect anything from
Zen practice, this is to prevent the destructive effects of anticipation
and expectation? Surely, once this is achieved there is some real
benefit, though I can understand that perhaps you see it as futile or
counterproductive to express this real benefit to people in any words
other than perhaps a basic affirmation. I feel that an answer of “no”
might send me toward nihilism. If you answer, “No, there really is no
point,” please correct my thinking and spare my sanity.
Gordon Blair
Answer from Master Kosen
There is no completion to something infinite. The world of zazen is our eternal nature; evaluating its benefits through temporal values is difficult. That is all.
Kosen