Question
I already asked you this question through the same channel, but I have received no answer and cannot find one anywhere. So I will ask again, sincerely hoping for a response. Although it may sound provocative, my question is not without foundation.
Here it is:
Having looked into certain Zen principles (perhaps incorrectly), I learned that to create no effect, we seek to create no cause (causality: being rich and displaying one’s wealth leads to envy and therefore theft. To avoid being robbed, I do not display my wealth to everyone. This is obviously a crude, caricatured example).
Knowing that an answer is an effect caused by a question, and that we create no cause in order to create no effect, why do we ask questions in the master-disciple relationship?
Thank you in advance for your answer. I eagerly await it to resolve my dilemma.
Warmly, Lazaro.
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
Zen’s worst illness is dogmatism.
Dogmatism is the kind of thing that says you must or you must not.
If you begin your statement or reasoning with a dogmatic principle, no development is possible, and the conclusion will necessarily be dogmatic. The problem is that the nature of the entire cosmos in which we live does not function dogmatically.
Which would imply that your shitty Zen excludes itself from the nature of things?
If you ask me a question, I will not answer predictably, and my answer will not be connected to your own cause but to a cause beyond you. That is how development becomes possible.
Kosen