r/zen • u/ewk [non-sectarian consensus] • 19d ago

AI Zen Master

Since it's so easy to drop a Zen text or even multiple Zen texts into an llm and ask questions that the llm will answer from the standpoint of the text?

* www.reddit.com/r/Zen/wiki/getstarted

Doesn't it make sense that there would be a lot less confusion and a lot more interesting conversations??

Plus, if you have an llm answer questions about the texts then who better to explain why Zazen Shinto-Buddhism and Alan Epstein Watts are not part of the tradition?

Serious question.

Where are all my AI Zen Masters at?

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u/encommun New Account 19d ago

A lot of western “Zen” is probably vague Alan Watts flavoured aesthetic spirituality. Fair enough.

But equally, if we discuss lineage disputes, textual provenance, dynastic record keeping and Japanese sectarian history for 2 years without ever really touching the actual nature of mind/experience/awakening/ordinary life etc… hasn’t something slightly odd happened there too?

Nansen and the cat is so close to hand, do you see it as relevant?..

So I’m not really convinced an “AI Zen Master” trained to classify authentic textual traditions necessarily moves us towards a correct understanding. Nor re-phrasing old texts according to my own level of English for that matter.

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u/TFnarcon9 18d ago

Not everyone has to be involved in elucidatation, translation, or heavy study of the texts!