Question
Hello. As the patriarchs brought Buddhism, and therefore Chan/Zen, to China and Japan, they translated the sutras into the local language.
Why do those who established and continue to establish Zen practice sanghas in the West, where people speak English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and so on, recite the sutras in Sino-Japanese instead of the country’s language?
Sincere regards.
Anonymous
Master Kosen’s answer
For us Westerners, accustomed to understanding things intellectually, reciting sutras in a language other than our own encourages the development of intuition. In any case, even Japanese and Chinese people do not understand most sutras, which are in neither modern Japanese nor modern Chinese.
Kosen