Snape the Zen Master/ was Re: Harry's Role in OotP (long)

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 130168

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Renee Daniels" 
<Calimora at y...> wrote:
Calimora said:

 consider Harry's state after each lesson. Exhausted, angry, 
humiliated, his every thought, emotion, experience and secret laid 
bare to a man he loaths.


Tonks:
And just think if the person that was with him was LV. He would not 
be very prepared to face the enemy now would he?

Think of the basic training folks in the Army get. It is a place 
that I would never want to be and I would never survive it because I 
would tell my commanding officer to go to hell after the first hour. 
And I know people don't want to see Harry as *drafted*, etc. He's 
still a kid, yada, yada
  But like it or not he is in a war and he 
is the prime objective for LV. 

I understand that basic training for the Army is rather nasty. They 
say mean, nasty things to you.  You are exhausted, angry, and 
humiliated on a daily basis. How is Harry's experience any different 
than that?  And for the same reason, he has to be prepared to meet 
the enemy face to face. And the next time he meets LV face to face 
he will have to face him alone. No Phoenix to come to his rescue, no 
DD to show his power, no ghosts from the wand to hold LV off.  Harry 
is going to have to face LV ALONE. LV is a powerful wizard, second 
only to DD. Harry hasn't got a chance in his present state of being 
blown by the wind in all directions. LV can do with him as he wills. 
Harry has no discipline. Harry has been a child playing with LV and 
the adults around Harry have protected him as DD has watched him 
grow in the knowledge and strength that will hopefully prepare Harry 
for the day that is to come. Harry has been is training without 
realizing it. 

Now as to the manner in which Snape attempts to teach Harry 
Occlumency.  Snape doesn't give explicit directions as he might in 
potions class. I think that this is because of the subject. Perhaps 
this subject is taught in the manner of a Zen Master. Now I don't 
know a whole lot about Zen and maybe one of our Lurkers can come 
forward and enlighten us on this in more detail. From what little I 
know about it, the Zen Master does not give explicit directions 
either. And the little intriguing saying the Zen Master uses such 
as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" are meant to teach the 
student to stop thinking. For a long time when I heard these saying 
I would ponder them as an exercise in philosophy. But then I heard 
that the purpose of these sayings are not for the student to think 
about and try to figure out the answer. The purpose is to teach the 
student to be empty. To close his mind to thinking.  (I may have 
this all wrong, so if someone knows this better please come forward 
and tell us.)

I think that a Zen Master sometimes hits his students too. So all in 
all what I am saying here is that Harry's training in Occlumency 
probably was attempted in the correct manner. I think Snape is a 
perfectionist and takes pride in doing whatever he does well. He is 
probably a good Occlumency teacher, a good Zen Master, but Harry and 
we the readers just don't *get* it. 

Tonks_op