무지한 스승으로서의 선사

Abstract

Studies on Zen Buddhism to date have emphasized the voluntary practice of the disciple so did not pay as much attention on the role of the master. In this article, I tried to bring up and evaluate the educational and philosophical meaning of a teacher through the perspective of Jacotot’s “universal teaching” which is highlighted in Jacques Rancière’s The Ignorant Master. The experiment in which Jacotot was able to teach French perfectly to the students without “explaining” the grammar is similar to a Zen Master leading their disciple into enlightenment without giving answer with explanation. “The Universal Teaching” is based on the premise that anybody who has the will to learn can learn new things. Teachers do not explain but rather arouse within students the will to know and force an inextricable loop that eventually liberates the students. Like so, the Masters of Zen at first destroy the false belief that the students have of themselves that they know of something, and consequently spark the desire to know within them. Through “bind-up”, the practitioner is not allowed for a moment to let go of the will to know and all their focus is to be directed towards the hwadu. In such process, the master’s intent to enlighten their students plays an absolutely vital role. What Rancière claimed of the universal teaching as being a method of equality, of liberation is evident also in the teachings of the master in Zen. What a liberated person can do is to liberate. To liberate a disciple, one must first be liberated, enlightened. “Explanation” ironically will perpetuate the separation between master and disciple, the division between knowledge and ignorance. Because an universal teaching that precludes “explanation” is based on the universality that “everything is in everything”, it is linked to values that are autonomous, individual yet communal. Rancière’s claim that humans are neither imperfect nor immature fundamentally resonates with the spirit of Zen Buddhism. Today because we witness too much an absence of the master, their teachings, and appreciation of them, the significance of a master with a “clear view” lies more in the fact that they are the liberators, not in the fact that they have been liberated. This, I believe, is the most important message that Zen Buddhism is able to receive from The Ignorant Master of Rancière.