I interpret Zen Buddhism as a set of practices for not
tripping over your own mind—avoiding our tendency to
bin experiences into categories so swiftly and completely
that we stop actually paying attention to them, not
becoming imprisoned by fixed beliefs, not mistaking maps
for territories, always remaining attentive to what
actually is. Perhaps the most elegant expression of this
interpretation is this koan setting forth the problem:
“The mind is like a dog. His master points at the moon,
but he barks at the hand.”
In this sense, Zen is discipline that assists instrumental
rationalism by teaching important forms of self-monitoring
and mental hygiene—in effect very similar to
General Semantics.
Maybe this belongs in the open thread, but on the topic of rationalist interpretations of Buddhism, Eric Raymond just wrote something on “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him” (the following is just an excerpt):