STUDENT:

In Ch'an, how does one deal with personal problems? Does one just treat the symptom or does one not bother with it at all? The advice I usually get is to ignore whatever arises in my mind while I meditate. Causes and conditions and causes and consequences are many and complex, so that it is difficult to find the direct source of a problem. Could one say that the Ch'an attitude is: If you can't find a cause, don't bother with it?

SHIH-FU:

Ch'an does not address specific psychological problems and their causes. The Ch'an master will rarely analyze a personal situation. Rather, the Ch'an master leads people to pose their own questions. When people are restless, they should go to the source of the problem. It is for students to realize that, after all, problems exist because they are attached to a particular idea of self. People are creating problems for themselves. Therefore, they must come to realize and resolve the problem themselves. Depending on the role of the therapist in various schools of psychotherapy, Ch'an is either similar or different in this matter.