Working With A Teacher
By Sosan Theresa Flynn
The Winter 2023 issue of Buddhadharma Magazine focused on "The Teacher and The Student." It was a good issue, but the cover featured a disturbing image of a large teacher with a giant teapot for a head and a small student with a little teacup for a head. This image was disturbing to me because it implies that the teacher has all the wisdom and the meeting between student and teacher is one in which the teacher pours wisdom into the student. This is not the way that the teachers at Clouds in Water work with students.
The way we do it here is that the teacher is more like the cup into which the student can pour out whatever they need to express so that they can find their way. In order to be that cup, teachers set an intention to be connected to themselves beyond a separate self, so that they can be present to the student in a way that is stabilizing and spacious and compassionate. In this space, the student learns on their own.
Of course, sometimes, teachers have something to say… some teaching that might be helpful to the student's particular situation or some practice we might suggest. Sometimes we can be very directive - like asking the student to serve in a temple officer position, or to refrain from certain behaviors. But even then, it's not like we are pouring the tea of wisdom into the student's cup. Our intention is to offer these suggestions or directives from a place of spaciousness and non-attachment to outcomes. If the teacher has a plan for the student to become a certain way and is attached to that, it's a big problem. It interferes with the true self of the student unfolding naturally.
There may be a sense - from the student's side, that they are visiting the teacher in order to receive something (a spot of wisdom tea). There also may be a sense, from the teacher's side, that the teacher is giving something. But in reality, giver, receiver, and gift are all empty of inherent nature.
As a teacher (Zen or otherwise), it's important to watch your own mind, and if you think you are giving something - look more deeply. Is there really a separate "you" who is giving, or does the giving only happen because of all the myriad causes and conditions that make "you" who you are?
As a Zen student, your main job is to engage your practice. And it's also important to consider how you might want to work with a teacher. In our tradition, there is a model of a student having one main teacher that they work with. But even within this model - in olden times - students often visited many teachers and switched teachers. It's good to have some fluidity and flexibility in our model of how this relationship manifests.
Let's return to that disturbing image of the student and teacher as teacup and teapot. This image was likely inspired by a famous Zen story about the first meeting between a teacher and a potential student. Here's one version of the story:
There is a famous Zen story about the first meeting between a teacher and a potential student, a meeting held over a cup of tea. Here's one version of the story:
"Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
When Suzuki-roshi said, "In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few," he may have been thinking about this story.
So, how do we learn to empty our cup? I see a kind of paradox where we can't learn from a teacher until we empty our cup and yet, we we might need a teacher to learn how to empty it. But I also notice that, in this story, Nan-in did give a teaching when he poured the cup to overflowing.
We can learn how to empty our cup from teachers, from studying the dharma, and from the sangha, our community. I find sangha to be especially helpful in learning to be humble, but the sangha can help us have confidence if our issue is not a lack of humility but a lack of faith in ourselves (which is kind of a full cup of self-doubt).
If you come to Clouds as a student, some specific ways you can learn are by attending Sunday dharma talks, taking classes, participating in sesshins or retreats, volunteering, and/or working with a teacher. Please know that when you meet with a teacher at Clouds, the teacher will set an intention to be connected to themselves beyond a separate self, so that they can be present to you in a way that is stabilizing, spacious, and compassionate. In this space, you, as the student, can learn on your own.
You can find information about which teachers are available for meetings on our website: https://www.cloudsinwater.org/priests-and-practice-leaders.
Sosan Theresa Flynn is the Guiding Teacher of Clouds in Water Zen Center.
She has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 36 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water. For more information, see Sosan’s website.
