Dokusan Jap., lit. “go alone [doku] to a high one [Sino-Jap., san; Jap., mairu]”; meeting of a Zen student with his master in the seclusion of the master’s room. Dokusan is among the most important elements in Zen training. It provides the student an opportunity privately to present to his master all problems relating to his practice zazen and to demonstrate the state of his practice in the encounter with the master so as to test the profundity of his Zen experience.
Many kōans have as their content mondōs between master and student and thus give us information about dokusans of ancient times. The practice of giving individual instruction in this manner began, according to Zen tradition, with the “secret teachings” of Shākyamuni Buddha and has been preserved in this “school of Buddha-mind” ever since. Although it was formerly customary in all Zen lineages, the practice has nearly died out today in the Sōtō school and is basically still only cultivated by the Rinzai school.
The content of dokusan, for several reasons, is subject to strict secrecy. First, dokusan requires from the student complete openness and honesty towards the master, which for many people is difficult in the presence of others. Second, in the dokusan the student demonstrates to the master his solution of a kōan; if other students were to witness this response, it could hinder them in their struggle for their own answer. Third, it is generally the case that the instruction of the master accords with the particular situation of an individual student; he might respond to externally similar manifestations of different students in entirely different ways, which might be a source of confusion for students who have not yet reached an understanding with the master. Dokusan can be given only by a person who has received inka-shōmei from an authentic master and who has, moreover, been confirmed by him as hassu.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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