Pedagogy: “the function or work of a teacher; teaching”. Methodology: “a branch of pedagogics dealing with analysis and evaluation of subjects to be taught and the methods of teaching”
A Zen Ancestor said, “It’s not that there is no Ch’an (Zen) in China, just that there are no teachers.” That being said, ‘my’ teacher often describes Zen as an “autodidactic apprenticeship”. A ‘self-taught apprenticeship’? This is the pedagogy and methodology autodidactically learned in a long apprenticeship with his teacher.
Huh?
In a small room a frail elderly man sits cross-legged on the floor, two drums in front of him. A teacher. In a semi-circle around him are three or four young people sitting cross-legged with drums in front of them. Students. With precision, the teacher delicately strikes the head of a drum with a finger and a clear resonant sound is heard. He asks the students to make the same sound. They try…repeatedly…without success. The teacher again demonstrates saying: “I can’t teach you how to make this sound. I can tell you what part of the finger touches the drumhead; what part of the drumhead touches the finger. You can watch the shape of my arm, the bend of my wrist, how the fingers move…and then you can try again.” The rest of the hour is spent much like this. At its end the teacher says, “Go away now and try to make that sound until we meet tomorrow.” A thousand tries later, no success. A thousand more, maybe once or twice. By the next day some of the students sort of have it, some not at all. It goes on like this for days, weeks. Some students quit coming, some master the sound, and move on to the next one. An autodidactic apprenticeship.
A Zen aphorism says, “What comes through the front door are not the family jewels.” We can be taught lists, quotes, stories. A lifetime memorizing and forgetting the “dead words” of others. But this is not the historic pedagogy and methodology of Zen. Be present, pay attention, notice what mind arises, act in accord. If some instruction is offered, as best one can, be present, pay attention, notice what mind arises, act in accord. Provisionally speaking, the intention for attention is the root of an autodidactic Zen apprenticeship. We need teachers, not to teach, but to allow learning. We can’t be taught awakening…but we can awaken!
It is helpful, maybe necessary, to have a teacher, a good friend in the Way. The teacher explains very little, does a lot. The student asks very little, observes a lot (and does some). Over time the student teaches and the teacher observes. Over time there is no teacher-student, only good friends in the Way. An autodidactic apprenticeship. This is antithetical to most Western pedagogy and methodology. Not only is there not an outline of how to achieve the goal…there is no goal.
The student asks, “Is the water hot or cold?” The teacher answers, “You tell ‘me’.