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“What happens when it comes to light that in Zen there has always been a large and fundamental role for verbal communication and that, indeed, Zen masters have produced a tremendous volume of writings that originally were based on oral teachings (while the claim for the priority of orality has itself been questioned)? Does this point to a basic contradiction or hypocrisy in Zen, or would the prevalence of literary production mean that our understanding of what constitutes Zen transmission in relation to oral and written discourse must be reconfigured?” — Steven Heine
What happens when it comes to light that in Zen there has always been a large and fundamental role for verbal communication and that, indeed, Zen masters have produced a tremendous volume of writings that originally were based on oral teachings (while the claim for the priority of orality has itself been questioned)? Does this point to a basic contradiction or hypocrisy in Zen, or would the prevalence of literary production mean that our understanding of what constitutes Zen transmission in relation to oral and written discourse must be reconfigured?