Institutionalizing Zen

It is not because an institution claims to be the guarantor of a tradition,
It’s not even because, to a certain extent, it is the guarantor of the teachings of a tradition,
that it is its owner or representative.

In this respect, the Sotoshu (the official institution of Soto Zen in Japan), when its 2021/22 brochure displays masked practitioners under the headline « The New Normal, » ceases to represent the teaching and acts solely in accordance with its status as an official institution.

It contributes to the confusion and, moreover, demonstrates its lack of subtlety in interpreting events.
Nevertheless, the texts it relays do not lose their intrinsic value and their power to impact the practitioner.
However, this seems to me to be a fraudulent use of tradition, a usurpation, a trap into which it is easy to fall.

The Heart of Zen, Breath of the Spirit, is not humanly institutionalizable; that’s the official error: Seeking Zen in an institution.

Let’s smile.

©FJ Sept. 2025
Recueils / Participation/