Fourteenth Reading Assignment

Group 1
1: What are the two types of conflicting cultural stereotypes regarding Japan? What does Hori
think about this situation?
One stereotype depicts Japan as a ritualistic, rule-governed, hierarchical society where an
obsession with preserving traditional form and with conformity to group goals stifles individual
creativity. The other pictures Japan as the repository of a mystical culture that produces gentle,
creative, slightly foolish sages. Hori notes that these two cultural stereotypes clash in our
Western perspective. He argues that both can coexist as Japanese Zen Monasteries which teach
mystical insight through ritual formalism.

2: What is the Zen monastery environment likely to make us realize?

The Zen monastery life is deliberately kept at a fairly primitive level with monks living without
the comforts and usefulness of modernity so that monks may seek to find the most efficient or
convenient way of doing the task. All of this creates an appropriate ascetic environment and
gives the monks more room to use their ingenuity in resourceful ways.

Group 2
8: Why is it that people may reject Hori’s thesis?
This is because the idea of teaching by continuous repetition offends their moral sensibilities.
Those who advocate rational teaching and learning affirm that schools should not teach
students to memorize facts merely to regurgitate them on tests but rather the mission of
education should be to teach students to "analyze," "explain," "articulate," "generalize,"
"contextualize," and "apply to concrete situations."

10: In what way is a Zen monastery similar to a Christian seminary and in what way it is
different?
It is similar in a way that the function of both institutions is to train monks/priests for a certain
period of years. However, the ethos and style of training make it a very different place. The Zen
monastery has a reputation for fierce discipline. For those associated with it, it embodies the
essence of Japanese manhood, fierce samurai loyalty, unswerving dedication, and strength of
character.
Group 3
12: When a monk arrived to the monastery, he is a “new arrival” or shintō. For the first six
months, he is supposed to learn all the ways of the monastery. After this time, he may be
called to assume some duties. What is particular about this tradition?
Through this tradition, the “new arrival” is forced to constantly learn new things and adapt to
his changing roles inside the temple. This way he can utilize the knowledge that he previously
learned to make progress with his current duties. In the end, he will be a seasoned monk who
understands the importance of all of these duties so that he may guide other new arrivals as
well.

15: Why is it that the monastery is not using the commodities of modern life, that are
deliberately inefficient and inconvenient with regards to the working conditions of a cook?
It is deliberately inefficient and inconvenient so that the monks would seek and develop their
resourcefulness, efficiency, ingenuity, and resourcefulness to complete their tasks at the
monastery. The cook must be resourceful, creative, and efficient to cook for the monastery with
the limited sources and quantity of food they have.

Group 4
16: What point is Hori showing with the examples of cooking spinach and noodles or
chopping radishes?
Hori wants to point out how the primitive life at the Zen monastery makes an individual seek
more efficient and creative ways of completing their tasks. This promotes efficiency, innovation,
and resourcefulness.

17: The teaching approach followed in the Zen monastery assumes that the monks possess
certain qualities that have already been highlighted by Confucius. What are these qualities?
These qualities are strong motivation, effort, and initiative.

Group 5
21: Why is it considered selfish, within the hierarchical structure of the Zen monastery, not to
order people to do what one cannot oneself do? And why is doing otherwise a way for the
students to correct their teachers?
Because not pushing them into these difficult tasks will only hinder one's journey to
enlightenment and only in this way will they grow and gain incompetence. The courage to take
authority, the humility proper to authority, responsibility for others-some aspects of these
lessons cannot be learned until one is cast into the role of teacher. In this indirect but very real
sense, the student teaches the teacher.

23: What does Hori mean by ''American mysticism''?

By American mysticism, he refers to what true mystical insight is considered in the Western
world. It is not something that can be imposed from outside by a social system; instead, it is a
welling up of psychic energy from within, a breakthrough in which the true self erupts through
the shell imposed by intellect, self-images, and socialization. From this point of view, the Zen
monastery's imposition of the ritual form must seem to be just the opposite of mystical insight.
Opinion question (15 points):
Referring to Victor S. Hori’s article “Teaching and Learning in Rinzai Zen Monastery,” answer
the following questions:

• Is it possible to apply some of the principles of Zen in our modern system of education?
• If yes, which principles?
• If not, what are the main obstacles? The difference in philosophy of learning, the difference in
terms of understanding human nature, or just on account of organizational and logistical
problems?

Monks live under the constant eye of higher-ups in the monasteries. It is a situation in
which they find themselves calm in. The calmness, most likely, comes from the teachings and
learnings of the Rinzai Zen Monastery. In this essay, it will be discussed in some of the teachings
that are located in Zen Monasteries that can be used in everyday life.

One such principle that we would very much learn a lot from is the principle of doing
something that we would not usually do. By doing so, we broaden our horizons to new feelings
and techniques that we necessarily would not want to do ourselves. We would need someone
to tell us to do these things because we lack the motivation to try new things, at least most of
us. Not only do we learn new techniques, but we are less scared of what is to come in the
world. In modernity, we frequently are scared to make large commitments that could affect our
current lifestyle. By using the principle of trying new things, we could raise our tolerance of the
problems that we tend to face in everyday life.

We can conclude that we can learn a lot from monks and their way of life. They are calm
and collected and know a lot of things about themselves because they spend so much time in
the rule-governed society. I believe that, because of the modern society we live in, we have a
hard time finding ourselves. By trying new things, we can learn more about ourselves and the
world around us.