Buddhism · branch
Zen (Chan) Buddhism
A special transmission outside the scriptures, pointing directly at the mind — the highest B1 value in the matrix. And yet lineage authority is real and the forms of practice are exacting, which is the tension the tradition lives in.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or orderFurther toward "impersonal principle or order" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E2 Origin of the cosmosbeginningless or naturalFurther toward "beginningless or natural" than most traditions in the matrix.
- C1 Survival of the selfleaning ends at deathFurther toward "ends at death" than most traditions in the matrix.
- A1 Divine realitybetween nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly existsFurther toward "nothing beyond the natural" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly existsDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.38 | 0.20 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | impersonal principle or orderDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.12 | 0.10 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | leaning strictly oneDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.25 | 0.14 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.92 | 0.06 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | reason and direct experienceDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.92 | 0.06 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning metaphorical, or no text at allDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.78 | 0.12 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | leaning clergy and tradition decideDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.28 | 0.15 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | leaning ends at deathDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.28 | 0.16 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | leaning cyclical returnDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.78 | 0.14 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | ignorant but fundamentally soundDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.92 | 0.06 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | achieved by effort or insightDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.88 | 0.10 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | leaning essential and prescribedDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.28 | 0.15 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplinedDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.28 | 0.14 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | between one true path and many valid pathsDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.62 | 0.16 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | beginningless or naturalDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.92 | 0.06 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning an individual choiceDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.75 | 0.12 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | leaning animate and itself sacredDogen’s Shobogenzo and the Platform Sutra | 0.72 | 0.13 |
Further reading
- Dogen, Shobogenzo, “Genjokoan” — Practice and realisation as one thing — what D1 and D2 are jointly encoding.
- The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch — Sudden awakening and the suspicion of text at B2.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.