I'm interested in what this group thinks of the following two sources on the Chinese roots of Zen:
https://www.davidhinton.net/china-root (review, one of a few: https://www.thezengateway.com/cultur...-in-china-root and https://www.lionsroar.com/whats-daoi...to-do-with-it/)
https://www.davidhinton.net/no-gate-gateway
Summarizing the argument: of all the words and representations Buddhism could have used in its migration from India to China, it opted for words and characters that strongly resonated with Daoism. In doing so, Zen adopted a fundamentally Daoist view on mind and nature. In that context, and as a single example, the character for Wu/Mu means 'no' as well as a principle of Absence, a 'generative tissue' that gives rise to 'Presence' (or the ten thousand things). I do find an understanding of this background good to also better understand some of the wild dance we find in, for instance, Dogen. In the migration to the US from Japan, most of the Daoism ends up mystified and exploited in a Zen perplexity that is alien to this origin. A better understanding of these Chinese roots will help to enrich our practice. STLah
PS: This all sounds very intellectual and 'just words', and it is. Although I think this background enriches practice if one already practices, it will do nothing without it.