Question
Hello, Master Kosen,
I would like to be ordained as a bodhisattva.
At first I thought of going through the AZI (since it is the association Master Deshimaru founded), which could legitimately seem the most logical choice.
The little I saw there quickly put me off.
So I plan to take advantage of a stay in Japan to be ordained “on site,” thereby avoiding “made in France” dojos (I might as well go to the source and not have to answer to any French person).
But yesterday I came across some of your remarks about the Sotoshu in Japan, and I must say they trouble me. I don’t know this institution, and I would frankly like to avoid coming “under its thumb” if, as I interpreted your remarks (a very personal interpretation), this institution doesn’t care about Zen and merely seeks to control a spirituality that doesn’t need it.
Could you tell me more about the Sotoshu and whether, to your knowledge, all Zen temples in Japan are affiliated with it?
Thank you in advance for your answer, which I await with great interest.
Guillaume
Guillaume
Answer from Master Kosen
Churches, whatever religion they claim, have always spoiled and corrupted true teaching. Every church claims to protect dogma, but dogma is exactly what we want to free ourselves from.
What saved Zen and allowed its living aspect to endure to this day is the tradition of teaching transmitted without interruption from master to disciple up to the present.
Those who have not had the good fortune to receive transmission from a true patriarch eventually turn to the church to find a role and authority, but you can never turn a wooden donkey into a racehorse.
Kosen