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6 ---'PRIMARypOINT- June 1988 ------SPECIAL ISSUE Old , New Koans, One Kong-an Practice in America by Jan Chozen Bays, Sensei with me that this was a I use koans in working with stu­ agreed guy "jerk", I knew that reaction was out of or­ Yes,dents of . I use koans constantly my prop and I had to work on it to see what it oneself from one's in are not tion, Zenson GifIord- "What is a Koan?" emancipate previous my own Zen work. Koans old said about ME..! sat with it for several learning." But when one really enters into stories in dusty books about monks who from page 5.) to narrow distress down (Continued . the koans for years of training then it IS lived a thousand years ago, irrelevant to days, trying my to a characteristic that bothered a different matter. life "Old" koans are fresh and single koan It is when one is in­ obviously today. practice? only me. I realized that what and there fire "new" koans eventually really volved in that one back Zen is considered a very direct and relevant, analyzing steps was that felt he was to with a got my goat (I that) and sees If look at the koan practical way. Because something works, everywhere.The key working things. you And even he with is to become lazy, worse, got away it is used. This is so have taken koan plunge into it, wholly Mu as a thing then it is outside of you. why many immersed in it. A koan can't be it. No one challenged him or made him Mu is not a or because it koan over the years. Ever figured thing concept up practice do his fair share. since Joshu first uttered this and out logically. The answer has tobe ex­ defies definition. What happens when you "Mu", similar koans have countless perienced with the whole of body & Once I had gotten to the crux of what become the koan with no separation- in brought in various times and cultures to mind. Breathe the words of the koan as characteristic irritated me, I had to turn it essence when you die to the koan? At that people sit, the words of the koan back on How was I in the laziness moment there is Mu, mind, all things/no awakening. you bring up myself. during the day, at work, in things. At the moment one truly enters the What is essential to realize is that it is the car. If are what is where? At that timeless you working koan, put not only the practice per se that is impor­ on an "old koan", and you moment, what is there? tant but also how it is entered into. That seem to be standing on the I have tried to address some of the is, the person makes the practice. Basical­ outside, the words a it on the student's change criticisms leveled against Zen koan prac­ ly depends aspiration, little if you need to, to make tice. In considering such criticisms, an and to some extent the teacher's pointing. it as urgent as it was to the analogy comes to mind. I once met a stu­ The koan must be brought alive- it must people involved originally. dent who was having a great deal of con­ be allowed to come to life, to be the focus­ Mumonkan Case 16: flict with her university professor, an for one's own natural questioning. Umrnon said, "The world is authority on Chinese culture. The student The world is a wonderfully vast fabric vast and wide. Why do you had grown up in Taiwan and knew a great of spiritual paths and religious traditions. on . put your seven-piece deal about the Chinese people. On the Just as Zen isn't the way for robe at the sound of the other-hand, the professor, the. so- called everyone, koan practice isn't the only bell?" Perhaps this koan authority, had never been to China. way for Zen practitioners. Indeed, as one seems because the this is a foreign No matter how books one reads, student joked, probably good many Mumon was to male or there would be some talking if you've never been to a place you can't thing awfully monks in Chiga about put­ really know it. It's only by being there long dokusan waiting lines. ting on their kesa (kasa) and that one gets a real taste through all the It has been somewhat limited ex­ my you are an American sights, sounds, smells, etc. But if one only in seventeen of on perience years working housewife. So change it to visits for a short time the experience tends and with koans that while can have they make it yours. Carry it with to be colored by comparisons with one's if not used their Short-comings properly, you all day long to make it own native land and culture. It is only is vast. much of potential People spend constantly fresh. "The world after a person has lived in a place for their lives in sometimes living shadows, is vast and wide. Why do some years that one begins to know it. looking at the size and intensity shape, you put on your bathrobe at while not at the root cause- not It is the same with koan practice. It looking the sound of the stupid what blocks the Work­ cannot be understood conceptually be­ seeing really light. alarm clock?" Or, "The on a koan can one's to the cause it's whole function is to take you ing open eyes world is vast and wide. Why Jan Chozen Sensei Zen the mind. if moon of truth. the is some­ Bays, began prac­ beyond conceptual Likewise, Although light do the cookies out you pull tice in 1973, doing in a comer of the' it's a short time or in a su­ times obscured by clouds of delusion the only practiced of the oven when the timer bedroom while her 2 year old took naps, She perficial manner then one will have all moon is always shining. goes off?" Or, "The world is started with Maezumi Roshi in 1974, sorts and study of comparisons criticisms. One What is a koan? can answer Only you vast and wide. Why then do received in 1975, tokudo in 1979, and be­ is not as Mumonkan "to jukai yet able, says, this for yourself. � feed the same mouths you came a sanctioned teacher and heir of and wash the same dirty Maezurni Roshi in 1983. She moved to Portland, dishes over and over and Oregon in 1984 and is teacher in residence at the' over?" Contributors Wantea Zen Community of Oregon. She is a pediatrician This koan talks directly and medical director of the child abuse programs or Issue � '1{e�t to us all, no matter what at Emanuel Hospi tal in Portland. Her husband is age, sex or condition, be­ a therapist for sex offenders at the Oregon State Our October Issue will contain a feature entitled "Right Livelihood: Bud­ cause it is about the have three two cats ..Workplace,'l We-need contributors to talking Penitentiary. They children, }hist.praetice-and>the-AmeFican fundamental matter of who and a "write on how their everyday occupation reconciles with their practice and big garden. we are, how vast and wide vice-versa. How does the one contribute to and support the other? What we and how vast kind of conflicts arise? If you're interested, Write or call Bruce Sturgeon truly are, department? The opposite. Miss Compul­ and wide is clearl revealed the smal­ (Editor), 5 Devonshire Place, Asheville, NC 28803, (704)254-8140. y by sive Worker. Stay up all night to finish a even action. lest, unconscious, project. Do it myself rather than delegate "New" koans are everywhere. The to someone else. Haven't allowed myself best ones are those which leap out and to take a non-working vacation in 15 grab you. One of my students was talking. years. Suddenly I realized that I was ac­ pRIMARYpoINT about addiction and addictive behavior tually jealous of this man. He was "lazy" the other day. The worst addiction we and I never.let myself even relax. I'd have is the addiction to the notion of who stumbled onto an idea of who I was and

we think we are and how we think how I had to be ... com­ SUBSCRIPTION fORM things busy, productive, should be. We are pitiful in our addiction. pulsive. As soon as I realized this, my ex­ To receive a one-year subscription to PRIMARY POINT (3 issues), I am enclosing: How do we know when we touch that ad­ cess emotion at him dissolved, and I was o 510.00 for Unitec States diction? When we become angry.....or able to leave "him" and go back to work o Sl1.OO for Canada and Mexico afraid, which is the emotional level just on "me". o 520.00 for Foreign under and usually disguised by, anger. is a Send payment in U_S. dollars only, to Kwan Um Zen School, PRIMARY POINT, Anger very good koan, enabling 528 Pound Road, Cumberland, RI 02864_ Anytime we become upset or angry, us to step back a little from our self- no­ right there we have been caught by a tion and see where we are attached. Do Canadian andforeign customers: We cannot accept your checks unless they personal "new" koan. Someone has just challenged we have to do anything about what we are drawn on a U.S. bank. Please send Canadian Posta! MoN!)' Orders in U.S. our idea of who we think we are. We discover? I don't know. Often dollars, International Postal Money Orders, or bank checks payable on any U. S. Depends. bank or banker's agency. have been given a clue as to where we are just stepping back to see something is stuck that and see Often aware of o PI� put me on your mailing list. Explore anger/fear enough. just becoming o Here's my (tax-deductible) contribution to help produce PRIMARY POlm. what notion it leads to. something, like a little piece of our notion o Affilitated with a Buddhist or other religious organization of means the of the end of For example, I used to work with self, beginning ______of (name group) that koans show someone I did not like. To be in a meet­ something. Many evidence that Zen teachers used anger Name _ ing with him drove me crazy. As soon as to at their students' addic­ �------he spoke I began to squirm and eventual­ skillfully poke c� �,� � tions, unbalance them and them ly to seethe. No matter that a lot of people help step "off the top of a hundred foot pole". June 1988 pRIMARY. pOINT. 7

" Chozen ...One Koan" How about Is there an is not for me. It is to Jan Bays- deficiency? any Soen Sa Nim Interview practice only deficiency anywhere? Isn't everything teach other people. So we use kong-ans, (Continued from page 6.) (Continued from 3.) whole and complete just as it is? What do old kong-ans and new kong-ans, only to we lack that we seek in practicing Zen? teach other Sometimes a Another A student came to people. person's example. the koan of who Our style of means This is Enyadetta, kong-an practice own life may be clear, but don't me in sesshin, unsure if she should work very they she lost her head and had to work not holding kong-an. The old style was to thought . understand how to teach other on Zen koans because she was a Catholic. people into the cut off outside hard to find it go mountains, how to function in I asked her if she had again. correctly everyday any questions world and work on one Our just kong-an. life. don't understand how to within Catholicism which were Do I use koans with every student? Also, they bothering of means to learn how to style practice teach truth and correct When clear her. She said that she had been worried No, only the ones who wish to use them, way. function in life correctly everyday and correct come over the "Is there out­ or those who have already been seized by life, truth, way together question anything when through kong-an practice. So, you in a meticulous side the will of God?" Perfect koanl She the throat by a koan they can't shake. Do way, moment-to-moment, are do it. In that doing something, just that's life is 'Worked on it all sesshin. In Zen I follow the entire formal system of koan kong-an practice. Only "my intently there is no no no doing, thinking, subject, clear" is not For if terms we could "Is there study? I haven't started a student on it enough. example, you re-phrase it, any­ Inside and outside-become one. object. eat one kind of food all the thing outside of Buddha nature?" Is yet, but it may become appropriate in the only time, future. I am too as a teacher to In our of correct kong­ will have a So, jealousy outside the will of God? Is child young style practice, your body problem. your have a an correct life and correct direc­ needs different kinds for a abuse outside the will of God? Is a toilet settled upon way of working, and practice, body good tion are all the same. If we make our for a correct brush outside of Buddha nature? students are too diverse to have one balance, body. life then course of for all. everyday clear, kong-an practice PP: Can of This is Joshu's the first study you explain your system kong­ precisely Mu, is no Then is problem. kong-an practice an What are the different kinds case in Mumonkan. "Does a have I feel that my own formal koan study teaching? dog not special. of like this use? Buddha nature?" The exact wording was immensely valuable, testing and kong-ans you a If our life is clear, then doesn't matter so much when someone deepening in way that would be dif­ everyday kong­ ficult to out of the blue. When an practice is not necessary. Then kong- has a koan which has grabbed them by. reproduce the throat and gives them little rest. it becomes appropriate, I would be honored to offer that experience to There are koans everywhere. Take another student. I loved, hated, delighted AIDS. It stands for Acquired Immune in and dreaded koan study. I looked for­ Take it one word Deficiency Syndrome. . ward to each new koan like a new food to SSN: We use four kinds of like this kong- ans: at a time. What does acquired mean? The be tried...kind of like working your way WITHOUT LIKE THIS =True dictionary is one of my favorite Zen texts. Emptiness =Primary Point , through a huge cookbook, recipe by :., I use it when I'm stuck and can't get "in­ =Silence recipe. I wanted to chew them up and ) side" a word in a koan. Acquire means to ) digest them. I'd finish one and be full, =Complete Stillness come into possession of. It comes from ad I and sometimes exhausted, and then I'd be "What is true ' "What is stillness?" + quaerere, to seek, obtain. Do we acquire Example kong-ans: emptiness?" complete for more. Nourishing and deli- a thing out of the blue? Do we have to sta�ed BECOME ONE LIKE THIS = KATZ! _ '. = Correct demonstratlon.ot-. cious. seek it or be accessible to it in some way? = Hit Primary Point . · It was also horrible...when chunks Is there a mutual relationship between the big Buddha a · smiled. What does it fell Like house hit a Example kong-ans: picked up flower, Mahakasyapa . and the away. having your by . thing acquired acquirer? mean? wrecking ball. I dreaded going in to . (No, I'm not talking about that tired dokusan (private interview) to present my ONLY LIKE THIS =Meaning is Truth = True function of New Age notion that people bring on answer, to face those hard .eyes that their illnesses and can get rid of them if Primary Point brooked no hesitancy and saw any un­ they only try hard enough. And by refer­ Example kong-ans: Spring comes; grass grows by itself. 3x3=9. "What is Buddha?" clarity instantly. I often emerged with ring to a dictionary I'm not speaking "Three pounds of flax." sweat running in little streams under my about an intellectual dissection of each . LIKE THIS = is life = arms. I would go back to the zafu after JUST Just doing correct One-point word in a koan. I'm talking about using 1 my "answer" had been rejected, sit, mad, Correct Function any tool to help immerse ourselves in the for an hour or a day, sure that I had ex­ I koan the way a swimmer is immersed in Example kong-ans: Go drink tea. Go wash your bowls. I plored all that a particular koan had to water...only more intimate...breathe, eat, offer, then and back in. Sure 'j walk and sweat sigh plunge . ) the koan.) . slee_p� another would up. We can understand these four kinds ofkong-ans in � way. You m'tQ'ilie inter­ enoug� lev�l ope� g� I There is the koan "The Buddha Holds view room; the teacherplaces a cup and pen before you and asks you if the cup and the Anyone who practices is working on \ Out aFlower". Seeing the flower, pen are-the same or different. Thefour kinds of like this answers will be: \ koans, whether acknowledged or not, was Ananda, \ Mahakashyapa enlightened. mIS = a don't know mind. whether we adopt or reject the formal WITHOUT L�KE Maintain complete silence, the Buddha's cousin and devoted fol­ . koan system. We are working on the koan BECOME ONE LIKE TIllS = Hit the floor or shout KATZ! \ lower, asked Mahakashyapa after the l that underlies all koans, we are this fun­ \ Buddha's death, ."What did the Buddha ONLY LIKE THIS == Saying "cup is cup, pen is pen" damental koan,"'Who am I?" \ transmit to you besides the gold kesa?" LIKE Drink from the write with the _.JUST THIS:: cup, pen. .. · He was to the same hoping "acquire" SSN: this" is Just Correct Life. . So, "Just like Doing I!, Function, Correct Everyday thing that the Buddha "gave" to Mahakashyapa. What is it we acquire or "un-acquire" with Zen practice?

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