Question
“It is precisely when we distinguish the man from the teaching he embodies that mastery is absent.”
For me, things have been better, much better, since I decided to practice awakening on my own, with or without a master.
Can a master who teaches but does not embody what he says really be a master?? Isn’t he just a teacher?? I had to face the fact that the one I followed taught very well but did not practice what he preached. So I distinguish the man from his teaching, and things are much better.
I can accept having a master. Listening to what everyone has to say and doing sampai. No problem.
But no one will ever again make me believe that the Buddha is somewhere else, farther away, or later, because he is here, in each of us, in you, in me. Just one look inward, and we are all following the Way.
And no master will ever make me think otherwise.
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
The less capable a master is of embodying the teaching, the more he hides behind a doctrine, and eventually even behind a church. He no longer has to take responsibility for his words or actions, because behind him—or worse, in front of him—he has a political and religious apparatus to protect him. This is called AZI syndrome.
Kosen