by Tang Huyen

In November 2006, Tang Huyen replied to a poster who argued that Zen dismisses conceptualisation entirely — that native intelligence is sufficient and "the whole notion of knowability is a great mistake." Tang Huyen called this view one-sided. Buddhism does not prescribe the permanent dissolution of mentation but its balanced, context-sensitive use. What makes something Buddhist is not whether it abandons thought but whether it knows what fits the situation.

It all comes down to what is appropriate for what. In
other words, balance and perspective.

When one needs to deal with the world, including
oneself, one needs the mentational apparatus, though
it helps to keep it in balance and perspective. It also helps
to keep each bit and piece of the mentational apparatus in
balance and perspective. It is the mark of a fool to lose
balance and perspective, get lost in some details and
chase such details to the detriment of the whole
picture.

But one doesn't always deal with the world. There
are moments when one hasn't to do anything, and
one can then relax and merely enjoy what happens
without bringing one's mentational apparatus into
play. It is during these moments that one gets to
know whether one has control over one's
mentational apparatus or not. Does it run on and
on regardless whether it is needed or not? Can
one deactivate it, fully or at least partially, when it
is not needed? Is it a tool that serves one, or is it
one's master? When it is running, is it transparent or
opaque, light or heavy, flexible or unwieldy? Does
it do what one wants it to do, and then leave one
alone when it is not needed?

That's the overarching balance and perspective of
Buddhism. There is no unvarnished truth, in and of
itself. What matters is the usefulness of something
for a particular situation — its ad hoc fitness — for
example, when one needs to deal with the world or
when one doesn't. What fits one situation may or
may not fit another. To know what fits the particular
situation is wisdom. In other words, balance and
perspective.

Colophon

Posted to talk.religion.buddhism on 2 November 2006, in reply to a poster arguing that Zen dismisses conceptualisation and that native intelligence is sufficient, "the emperor has no clothes." Author: Tang Huyen. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

A compact counter to the anti-conceptual reading of Zen. The post introduces the criterion of ad hoc fitness: what matters is not whether mentation is used but whether it is used appropriately. The recreational deactivation test — can one actually let the apparatus rest? — is a practical measure of practice.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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