Is Buddhism something that you should study?

It is something that you should study well and put to practice. It is not something that you learn like a right, ritual, custom, theory, pure science, logic or philosophy

Zen is very hard. Specially without a great teacher. A popular idea is that Zen could "get away" from emphasis on study because it produced great teachers who did not "need" to refer to scriptures -- when they could simply refer their disciples to reality, using whatever means (including Buddha's words).

This Zen attitude is believed to come from many things. One of them is it's origin in the flower sermon. Another is the culture it developed around accusing exclusive intellectual/abstract understanding of the dhamma -- carried out famously by the "finger and the moon" metaphor. Like a person who spends his/her life studying sex but no amount of study got him/her close to lose the virginity.

But shikantaza has a flip side of the coin that is as devoid of value as studying Buddhism for Buddhism sake (if nibbāna is of concern). And that is, by "just sitting", it's quite possible one's life is spent "just sitting" and nothing really happens, ever. Like drawing lines and random symbols on a canvas and hoping to arrive at language and poetry.

In my understanding, the critical point is: in a learning process of any kind, there must be an evaluation process (ad-hoc, implicit, explicit, formal,... whatever), done by yourself, your teacher, or both (when one has a teacher). And evaluation is always a function of one's goal and one's current distance to that goal. It's evaluation that tells where you ware, if you are moving, and towards what you ware moving. Otherwise, it's just random walking around and hoping to stumble on a goal that became a taboo(*) to acknowledge.

(*) it seems every once in a while this idea becomes popular: that "enlightenment" is not something to strive for. What was once a pedagogical instruction towards specific people overly attached to a goal keeping them from progress, is now a full doctrine.

On a final note: the major risk of not reading the Buddha's word is, years later, find out that what you were doing had little to do with what he proposed.

I find this helpful (Ajahn Tong: Path to Nibbana, complete edition, pg. [some thai numeral, sorry!]):

The two ways of learning meditation

Learning through theory: The meditator both studies and practices the theories of meditation (i.e. the six fields listed previously [5 aggregates, 12 sense-spheres, 18 elements, 22 faculties, 4 noble truths, 12 steps of dependent origination]). This is like medical students who study medicine and then cure their own sickness. This method of learning is good for those with a lot of time.

Learning through practice: The meditator learns about meditation without theoretical knowledge, simply through practice. This is like patients who, without medical studies, treat and cure themselves by learning about themselves and examining their sickness. This method of meditation is good for those without much time.

My approach personally is lot of practice (daily & retreats), and picking up theory if/as needed. Otherwise it is just dry scholasticism, and I've had enough of that already.

At least in the Theravada tradition, it is emphasized that the role of the Buddha (technically the Samyaksambuddha) was to teach and establish the dhamma. And he was also the most qualified person to do it.

The dhamma (teachings) is like a shortcut that we received from the Buddha, which we need to first study and understand. Studying involves understanding the Four Noble Truths, the Three Marks of Existence, and other teachings found in the suttas.

Practice includes the Five Precepts and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path includes Right View and Right Intention (which comes in part through studying), as well as Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration and Right Effort (which is meditation and practice). The remaining three are also part of practice.

So, if you do not want to study, but only want to practise meditation, then you are not making use of the "shortcut" teachings of the Buddha and instead want to find enlightenment by yourself.

For a good introduction on the teachings, I recommend What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula. You can find the PDF version here. There is also a very short collection of the suttas at the back of the book.

The Tripitakas are rather huge. But a good anthology or selection of suttas can be found in In the Buddha's Words by Bhikku Bodhi. You can find the PDF version here.

If you find studying Buddhism potentially daunting, then these two books should help you get started.