Question
There is a question about zazen practice that concerns me. In the popular
understanding, at least in France, people say “stay Zen,” meaning
stay calm whatever the circumstances, stoic, like stone.
I have read quite a bit about Zen and understand the popular
conception rests on a cliché, but is that really the case?
Can you clarify the relationship between doing zazen and the
Freudian concept of repression?
I am very interested in psychology. There is a very important book,
The Primal Scream, by Arthur Janov, an American psychologist you
may know. His therapeutic practice rests on expressing
emotions to their utmost intensity, pushing people to their
limits, toward their deepest anxieties, to rediscover their
source. This manifests as what he calls “insights” in
the person, a sign of inner reconnection with repressed
affects, what in psychological terms is called becoming aware
and what I suppose in Buddhist terms amounts to a form of awakening, or at
least reunification, which is also the aim of Buddha’s Way—unless
I have understood nothing!
Here is my question:
How can two methods so different, even completely opposed in their
practice, lead to the same result? I am not trying to trap you
or stump you; that would be very presumptuous. I
simply want to benefit from your experience, because this subject concerns
me greatly and directly. If you have reading
to recommend, I would welcome it!
Thank you in advance for your answer, and best wishes for prosperity to you and
your sangha.
Christophe de sainté
Master Kosen’s answer
Knowledge + practice create wisdom.
Kosen