The Territory is Your Life

A student recently asked what is the point of having a teacher if Zen is unteachable. Zen Master Obaku (died circa 850 CE) said “I don’t say there is no Zen, only that there is no teacher of Zen.”  There is Zen, it’s just that no one can teach it.  It is just what is!  We can realize Zen, but it can’t be taught.  As soon as we say what it is, that’s not it.  

Although the teacher provides guidance and mentoring, it is up to the student to be open and receptive to the guidance and mentoring. It is only through one’s own practice that realization occurs. The teacher provides guidance for the deepening of one’s practice, and helps the student clarify and distinguish their insight or experience from just their ideas about insight or experience. As a student works with a teacher, the teacher helps the student see their blind spots, and what is hindering their practice. The teacher offers various ways to help the student on their path, including koan practice and dharma talks. 

Zen is not about getting or attaining something, because you are already it, there’s nothing to get or attain. However, realizing that from one’s own direct experience is another matter and possible through practice. The teacher’s role is to help the student see what is already there, to become intimate with their own life. The teacher provides the menu, but it’s not the food; provides the map but it’s not the territory.  What the student discovers and explores through practice, is that one’s life is the food, and the territory.