What's the difference between a zen monk, priest, and master?

Hawkins

I've recently been thinking about digging deeper into buddhism. Zen, in particular. But I've been questioning the difference between a monk, a priest, and a zen master.
Could anyone fill me in?
Also, what would it take to gain the role of either of the three, and what would the job classification be?

(I know more about monk, of course, but not so much of the priest and master.)

Cristina

Oh gosh don't hate me I can't help it... (my real answer to what you're asking is, "I don't know either.")

The difference is the monk knows he's a monk, the priest knows he's a priest, and the master knows he's a master.

seeker242

Generally a monk is just a monk. a monk is generally a student. However, there can be priest monks and master monks too. A "priest" is generally a teacher that has been given permission to teach by a master. A "priest" is usually someone that has finished koan practice. A "Master" is someone who has been given the title of Master from another master, passing on their lineage, who is now able to give "dharma transmission" to others, passing on the lineage again. Both a priest and master are teachers but only a master can officially pass on the lineage to someone else via "dharma transmission". To become a priest, you need to finish koan practice generally. To become a master, you have to get enlightenment and have it verified and validated by another master. That is how it is supposed to work anyway.

Dazzle

You could find some answers to your questions at Zen Forum International.

http://www.zenforuminternational.org/

Hawkins

How would one find a master in America?

Hawkins

Especially in Virginia.
I'm currently at a Pure Land temple, but I'm more fond, and will feel better in zen .

seeker242

Here is a listing of places in VA, some of them are Zen.

http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Virginia

zenff

How would one find a master in America?

Especially in Virginia.

Don’t look for the master outside yourself.

jinzang

Since Japanese monks do not take a vow of celibacy, some Buddhists call them priests. This is because the four grave precepts in the Vinaya include a vow of celibacy and some do not want to call those who do not hold these vows a monk. A master is a Zen monk (or priest, if you prefer) who is qualified to teach others. There is a formal ceremony to recognize this called inka.

jinzang

"Especially in Virginia"

Google knows all, sees all. If not blocked by robots.txt

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=zen+master+viriginia&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

genkaku

Hawkins -- No disrespect intended, but besides the perfectly understandable distinctions you may be seeking, you might wonder a little about why you are seeking them.

I believe the word "priest" may be more often used in the Soto school of Zen. All the names you mention describe people who have taken (sometimes more, sometimes fewer) precepts. They further describe people who have completed (not always the same) training in rituals and texts. The word "master" is one more frequently used by those surrounding the "master" than by the "master" him- or herself. It may designate a completed training regimen but also (yet not always) can indicate someone held in esteem for his or her understanding. Whether such esteem is warranted or factually-grounded is entirely up to the person who employs such a word.

While it is true in some instances that gaining one of these job classifications results from little more than hanging around long enough or being related to someone, still, Zen practice is not a corporate ladder ... you don't necessarily get a corner office because you've closed a lot of deals or schmoozed all the right people. Any serious teacher I have known looks on such designations with the rueful smile of someone who knows there is a burden to bear and that there is probably no way out of it given the choices they have made and the requests that others make.

Sorry ... these are just vague suggestions based on a number of years of practice. Others may have more cogent and specific responses. What's most important in the whole scenario is not so much "who's hot and who's not," but your own, intimate efforts to find a practice and then practice it. As Gautama Buddha is said to have said (roughly): "Better your own truth, however weak, than the truth of another, however noble."

Best wishes.

Cinorjer

A monk is someone who has taken the vows of a monk and been accepted as one in whatever school of Buddhism they join. A Zen Master is someone who has been awarded Dharma Transmission from another Master. This is, ideally, a recognition that the student fully comprehends all the Master is trying to teach. In practice, this means the student has gone to several Masters to test his or her understanding, and engaged in Dharma Combat and answered koans to the satisfaction of the Masters.

A Master may award this transmission to several people, or none at all, and a Master might or might not choose to teach. There are also senior monks who might be given authority to teach and lead a small group in meditation and koan work, since there are never enough Masters to go around and most of the Masters do a lot of visiting various temples and giving retreats.

So your local temple probably won't have a Zen Master in residence, and if it does you are lucky. But you will have special visits and experienced teachers to guide you.