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the dewdrop can reflect the moon as much as the ocean, the depth of the reflection cannot be more than the circular dimension of the dewdrop. In the ocean the same moon penetrates to the very depths, miles deep.
Being a devotee means dropping even individuality, dropping even the feeling that, "I am"... just merging with the universe. It is the ultimate quantum leap. From personality to individuality is a very small jump, available to many, but from individuality to no-individuality is a very rare occurrence. And that's what makes a disciple a devotee.
Because Zen tradition knows nothing about the devotee, there is something missing in it. It brings the individual to realize the truth, it brings the individual back home; but the separation of the individual from the master and the separation of the individual from existence still remain in a very subtle form. The disciple still is. He has not forgotten himself completely, he has not dropped even his being.
A devotee is a miracle. He simply disappears into the whole, leaving behind not even a trace.
Gautam Buddha is reported to have said that the authentic seeker is just like a bird flying in the sky, leaving no footmarks behind. When the bird becomes one with the sky... not only in tune, because in tune you still remain separate. The disciple is in tune with the master but they are two different instruments, meeting deeply with each other, but the separation line is still there. The devotee simply disappears, only the master remains. The master himself becomes just a window for him to jump into the beyond.
Because the devotee is not at all a part of the Zen tradition... and there are reasons why the word has not appeared. The reasons are that devotees -- the very word `devotee' has become contaminated with the idea of God, with worship. To devote yourself, to dedicate yourself, to surrender yourself... but all these words are not the essence of the word `devotee'. Because of these misconceptions about the devotee, Zen has not used the word at all -- because there is no God to be devoted to and there is no worship to be done; you have to be just yourself.
My own experience
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