I've pondered statements made elsewhere that could be interpreted to say that "experience trumps information". Often the statement has been made that information only becomes knowledge through experience. SImply put, it's one thing to read about flying an airplane, it's another to actually do it.
That's impossible to argue with. The examples are numerous...learning to swim, learning to ride a bicycle, learning to play a musical instrument, learning about sex and on and on.
Where I have a problem with the dictum is in the realm of the spiritual. How does one experience what I like to call "essential Zen"? Essential Zen is not confined to a monastery, even though it might be found there, and hopefully, is. Essential Zen is a matter of moment to moment existence regardless what you are doing...awake, asleep, or any of the other potential states of awareness. But how do you "experience" essential Zen? What the Hell IS essential Zen? (a can of snakes...)
I think there are generally speaking two kinds of Zen: formal, and essential. Formal Zen includes all the trappings, rules, regulations, ratings, acknowledgements, etc. Essential Zen is about the guts of it. And somehow, the guts of it have managed to sneak through all the translators and tweakers and censors. The one bit of literature that captures the essence is "The Blue Cliff Record", and I think I can see why the censors missed it.
FIrst, the book is esoteric. That is, on the surface, all it is is a collection of 100 koans with some commentary by a few folk. That's the sneaky part of it, and merely reading it from page one on will put most folk to sleep in short order. However, there are superb gems within in the form of vignettes and comments about just about every aspect of being alive.
What is cleverly described is realizations...unique realizations by the masters, as well as actualizations of their realizations. Those quips provide insight. When they are read, and acquired, they remain within, and when one encounters situations where they are applicable, one "experiences" the truth of the realizations...experiences the essential Zen. A key aspect of essential Zen, however, is that everyone's experience is unique. All the masters can do is share what they have experienced. It is up to the individual to have his own experience.
A favorite quip, extracted from TBCR is the following, titled, "Catch the thief" which I think illustrates what I'm getting at:
The Blue Cliff Record wrote:Catch the Thief
Tzu Hu once late at night shouted in the lavatory, "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!" In the dark he ran into a monk; he grabbed him by the chest and held him, saying, "Caught him! Caught him!"
The monk said, "Master, it's not me."
Hu said, "It is, but you just won't own up to it."
The true effort, imo, is to 'own up to it', no matter what is found.
