Most recent: Sudden and then Gradual
Sudden and then Gradual
"Just make the mind receptive and you will not be cheated." - Changlu Zongze
There's a perennial debate in Zen about whether the gradual or the sudden approach is best. Do you put all of your effort into having a singular breakthrough moment, or patiently cultivate attention so slowly that you might not even notice any change from day to day?
I wonder if taking this model outside of the spiritual arena may make it easier to reason about. In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy it's taught that values are often more practical than goals, because they can be implemented immediately and in almost any circumstance. As an added bonus, they usually help us reach our goals anyways.
Take the example of wanting to be a nicer person. You can just immediately start approaching your daily activities with an emphasis on kindness. You don't have to wait to act until you've mastered metta meditation, or studied all the texts, or graduated from a Good Person Certification program. The Sudden approach to kindness, if you will.
On the other hand, there is of course a difference between someone who has just started doing acts of kindness and someone else who has been putting effort into it for years. And maybe reading a book like A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life will inspire you to be more compassionate. So we can't deny the reality of gradual improvement either.
I think the best Zen doesn't stay in one spot. Or at least not for long. In the Dzogchen tradition they talk about a bird that is always in the air and never lands. No final resolution. So the sudden approach is excellent. Yes, and the gradual approach is good too. We can switch between the two as our conditions change without the need for a final answer.
See more posts