Most skeptical school of Buddhism?

asrava · 1日前

A Theravadin will emphasize Faith.

The Zen Practice relies on Doubt as springboard for investigation.

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The 'critical phrase,' 'principal theme,' of the larger gong'an/kōan/gongan exchange. The classic example is the longer gong'an, "A monk asked Zhaozhou 趙州, 'Does a dog have buddha-nature 佛性, or not?' Zhaozhou answered, 'It doesn't have it (wu/mu/mu 無)' " (more commonly translated as 'no' ). 〔無門關 T 2005.48.292c23〕 The gong'an is the whole exchange, the huatou/watō/hwadu is the word wu/mu/mu. The hwadu is the focus of a sustained investigation, via a more discursive examination of the question, "Why did Zhaozhou say a dog doesn't have the buddha-nature when the answer clearly should be that it does?," which is called 'investigation of the meaning;' this investigation helps to generate questioning or 'doubt,' which is the force that drives this type of practice forward. As that investigation matures, it changes into a nondiscursive attention to just the word 'no' itself, which is called 'investigation of the word' 看話 (K. ganhwa) because the meditator's attention is then thoroughly absorbed in this ' sensation of doubt.' This type of investigation is said to be nonconceptual and places the meditation at the 'access to realization,' viz. 'sudden awakening.' The most sustained treatment of the use of hwadu in Chan/Zen/Seon meditation appears in the Korean tradition and 'Keyword Meditation' (ganhwa Seon 看話禪) remains the principal type of meditation practiced in contemporary Korean Buddhism.

When do you start doubting someone? Only if someone holds 'X' and 'not X' as true at the same time or if someone does 'X' and 'not X' at the same time.

I am partial to Theravada / Pali Canon myself. Here is a good example how doubt can be used for furthering understanding.

For example, For example, you might conclude from reading one sutta [Sn 4.1] that your practice should be to avoid all desires. But upon reading another [SN 51.15], you learn that desire itself is a necessary factor of the path

skeptical & I think it's a good quality to have

The Buddhist practice -- be it Zen or Mahayana or Theravada -- is to ultimately let go of "identity views". Sticking to an identity, makes you less flexible. A True Buddhist is one who neither values doubt or faith. He is a one who acts appropriately.

So, instead of asking "Is it True" or "Is it False", ask "Is it appropriate?" and "When is it appropriate?"

A true skeptic cannot doubt himself. i.e., he has to confidence in his own judgement.

A true follower of Dharma should cultivate an earnest sense of doubt so that his investigation his fruitful and his faith strengthens rather than withers away.

The practice of Dhamma is to convert Faith in (or Doubt about) Dhamma in to Confidence in Dhamma.

urbanzennist · 16時間前

Zen because I hear they strike down "sacred cows" so-to-speak and are more skeptical of teachers and things they are told. I think it's a good quality to have. Though I heard they reject scriptures and I also don't fully understand the differences between Mahayana and Theraveda.

Note that though zen emphasizes scriptures less than personal realization, most serious zen practitioners DO study the scriptures and derive wisdom from it. Some (even some of the most famous zen practitioners such as Dogen) even believe in the cosmology. It is just that zen provides much more latitude in departing from "hearsay" and "study" and depends more on personal realization than belief.

Thomas_Amundsen_ · 1日前

Yea, I think you found them. I think it's Soto Zen and Thai Forest.

grass_skirt · 1日前

Zen because I hear they strike down "sacred cows" so-to-speak and are more skeptical of teachers and things they are told.

In Zen you kind of have to prove yourself before you do such things. The student is not skeptical of the teacher. It is the one who has already mastered what he was taught who has earned the right to break the rules.

By that stage, he/she would be proceed with a confidence informed by realisation, and not cautiously by means of an evaluating skepticism.

abhayakara · 1日前

Striking down sacred cows isn't so useful if you don't have anything to put in their place. What Zen does right is to assiduously avoid reifying incorrect views. But too often you talk to Zen practitioners who assume that because we aren't supposed to reify the thing, the thing isn't real. Other traditions lean heavily in the other direction. It's a tightrope.

jty87 · 1日前

Thich Nhat Hanh's "Order of Interbeing" emphasizes openness, non-attachment to views, and freedom of thought in the first 3 of the 14 mindfulness trainings for formal members of the order (a modern distillation of the traditional Bodhisattva precepts of Mahayana Buddhism):

The First Mindfulness Training: Openness

Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. We are committed to seeing the Buddhist teachings as a guiding means that help us learn to look deeply and develop understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill, or die for. We understand that fanaticism in its many forms is the result is the result of perceiving things in a dualistic or discriminative manner. We will train ourselves to look at everything with openness and the insight of interbeing in order to transform dogmatism and violence in ourselves and the world.

The Second Mindfulness Training: Non-Attachment to Views

Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. We are committed to learning and practicing nonattachment from views and being open to other’s insights and experiences in order to benefit from the collective wisdom. Insight is revealed through the practice of compassionate listening, deep looking, and letting go of notions rather than through the accumulation of intellectual knowledge. We are aware that the knowledge we presently possess is not changeless, absolute truth. Truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment, ready to learn throughout our lives.

The Third Mindfulness Training: Freedom of Thought

Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our view on others, we are determined not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever – such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination – to adopt our views. We are committed to respecting the rights of others to be different, to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, learn to help others let go of and transform narrowness through loving speech and compassionate dialogue.

In the more basic 5 mindfulness trainings there is one sentence on the topic (The Five Mindfulness Trainings are based on the precepts developed during the time of the Buddha to be the foundation of practice for the entire lay practice community):

Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.

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