Is competitiveness lacking in Zen due to the absence of hierarchy?

You have recently referred to the "noncompetitive spirit" of the zen masters. Is competitiveness lacking in zen because there is no sense of hierarchy -- because the idea of hierarchy is essentially connected with the concept of a supreme being, apart from and above man?

There is no competitive spirit. That means, no master is thought to be greater, and no master is thought to be lesser. Even the enlightened one is not thought to be higher than the unenlightened one. One is asleep, one is awake -- that does not mean that the awake one is more superior than the one who is asleep. They are different states, but there is no question of superiority or inferiority. In this sense, no competitive spirit exists in Zen. No master is trying to gather more people, more followers. On the contrary, there are cases on record where the master will look into the eyes of the disciple who has come to be with him, will shake his head and will say, "It will be better if you go to the other monastery on the other hill. Although the teaching there is different and the opposite to…

Chao chou asked nan chuan, "what is the tao?" nan chuan answered, "the ordinary mind is tao." chao chou then asked, "how can one approach it?" nan chuan replied, "if you want to approach it, you will certainly miss it." "if you do not approach it, how do you know it is the tao?" "the tao is not a matter of knowing, nor a matter of not knowing. To know is a delusory way of thinking, and not to know is a matter of insensibility. If one can realize the tao unmistakably, his mind will be like the great space -- vast, void, and clear. How, then, can one regard this as right and that as wrong?" upon

Hence you will find Zen Masters engaged in very mundane activities; no Hindu saint will be ready to do such things. He will call them worldly things. No Jain saint can conceive himself cutting wood or drawing water from the well or carrying water from the river -- impossible! These are mundane activities; these are for the worldly people. But Zen Masters make no distinctions. You can find the Zen Master chopping wood, cooking food, carrying water from the well, digging a hole in the garden, planting trees -- all kinds of ordinary activities. But if you watch him you will see the difference. The difference is tremendous, but it is not of quantity: it is of quality. He works with such awareness, with such silence, with such joy and celebration that he transforms the whole activity. The Jain, the Hindu, they escape from the world. The Zen Master lives…

Our beloved master, on one occasion, two zen monks came from a rival community and, arriving at isan's monastery, commented: "there is not a man here who can understand zen." later, when all the monks were out gathering firewood, kyozan saw them both resting. He picked up a piece of firewood and said to the two: "can you talk about it?" both were speechless, at which kyozan commented: "do not say that there is no one here who can understand zen." when kyozan got back to the monastery, he said to isan, "today, I exposed two zen monks." "how?" isan asked, and kyozan told him of the exchange. Isa

Just learn to be silent, not a single ripple in your consciousness, and you are a buddha. This small barrier of language is the only barrier. Otherwise, everybody is a buddha. Hence I say: it is very simple to be a buddha. One day, seeing that the barrier is only language, I dropped it. And if spring comes for Basho, it comes for me too. If the grass grows by itself, then why bother? I simply settled in my buddhahood. There is no need to make any effort; all efforts are to destroy efforts, to tire you, to bring you to a moment when you completely drop dead, tired -- "Enough of it!" That is the moment when a new life source, a new starry night, new roses start blossoming around you. Soseki wrote: <q>ALL WORRIES AND TROUBLES HAVE GONE FROM MY BREAST, AND I PLAY JOYFULLY FAR FROM THE…

All the religions are based on god. Their morality, their commandments, their prayers, their saintliness -- everything points towards god, and you say that god is dead. Then what will happen to all these great things that are dependent on the concept of god?

So Ma Tzu was a very strange man, perhaps there has never been another man so strange. A unique master in himself, he walked on all fours and always looked like a tiger. Whenever he looked at somebody, people started a deep trembling; he was a dangerous man. He was very healthy; he was bound to be, he was almost like a bull. Just the horns were missing, otherwise.... Between Ma Tzu on one side, Rinzai Zen, and Sekito on the other side, Soto Zen, Zen took flight; both were very powerful people, great masters. <q>AS A YOUNG BOY, SEKITO TOOK A STAND AGAINST AN OLD CUSTOM OF SACRIFICING A BULL AS A MEANS TO PLACATE EVIL SPIRITS; HE MADE A HABIT OF DESTROYING THE SHRINES DEVOTED TO SUCH SPIRITS, AND WOULD RELEASE BULLS FROM THEIR ENCLOSURES SO THEY COULD ESCAPE. AT THE AGE OF TWELVE, SEKITO MET MASTER ENO.…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, HOGEN BECAME A PRIEST AT THE AGE OF SEVEN, STUDYING BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM. ONE DAY, SOME YEARS LATER, WHEN HOGEN WAS ON THE WAY TO THE LAKE, IT BEGAN TO RAIN AND HE TOOK SHELTER IN JIZO'S TEMPLE. JIZO, WHO WAS SITTING BY THE FIREPLACE, ASKED HOGEN, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" HOGEN REPLIED, "JUST WANDERING FROM MASTER TO MASTER IN SEARCH OF ENLIGHTENMENT." "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" ASKED JIZO. "I DON'T KNOW," SAID HOGEN. "DON'T KNOW IS THE MOST INTIMATE," SAID JIZO. THE TWO SAT TOGETHER BY THE FIRE, TALKING OF A TREATISE ON BUDDHISM, AND WHEN THEY GOT TO A SENTENCE THAT READ, "HEAVEN AND I ARE OF THE SAME ROOT," JIZO ASKED, "ARE MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS AND THE GREAT EARTH DIFFERENT FROM ME OR THE SAME?" SHINZAN, WHO WAS WITH THEM, REPLIED, "THE SAME.