Question
Hello, I have just read this link, http://charlyleprof.free.fr/leblog/?p=195, and I am wondering about the place of a slap in our society. It seems many people condemn it. I do not agree. To me, the Masterful Slap is an ishin den shin teaching. It goes from the teacher’s heart to the student’s heart by way of the cheek :) As someone in a lineage of Dharma teachers who has students in your care, what do you think? Isn’t a good old slap like a good strike with the kyosaku?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
I cannot claim to be for or against slapping. It all depends on the context and how it is done. God knows I was slapped plenty as a kid, and several of my teachers deserved a good headbutt in the teeth for treating a child that way. My father also sometimes beat me excessively, but he had boxed and never hit me in the face. As for my master Deshimaru, I am probably one of the disciples who received the most rensakus (literally a volley or shower of stick blows), sometimes five or ten on each shoulder. But with Master Deshimaru, I never once felt humiliated. It always filled me with happiness because of the way it was done. This may seem strange: the blows really were hard (he was a fifth-dan kendo practitioner), but I always felt he loved me like a son, and he always struck me with a big smile and a great deal of love. Even now, thinking about it brings joy to my heart. Sometimes a good slap cuts through doubts and complications. No means no, and it helps a child make clear decisions in the future.
Kosen