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Samurai Zen: the Warrior Koans Unites 100 of the Rare Riddles Repre- Senting the Core Spiritual Discipline of Japan’S Ancient Samurai Trad- Ition

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Samurai Zen: the Warrior Koans Unites 100 of the Rare Riddles Repre- Senting the Core Spiritual Discipline of Japan’S Ancient Samurai Trad- Ition Hokusai: The war-god Marishi (from India) using bow, spear, sword and fan with his various arms without confusion, while balancing on the back of his ‘vehicle’, a wild boar. This is to illustrate ki filling the whole body and each single function without being concentrated to the detriment of the others. (Hokusai Manga volume 6, image of Marishi Japanese Illustrated Book 216/ 1942.9–19.03, Vol 6 © Copyright The British Museum) Samurai Zen Samurai Zen: the Warrior Koans unites 100 of the rare riddles repre- senting the core spiritual discipline of Japan’s ancient samurai trad- ition. Dating from the thirteenth-century records of Japan’s Kamakura temples, and traditionally guarded with a reverent secrecy, they reflect the earliest manifestation of pure Zen in Japan as created by Zen Masters for their warrior pupils. Unlike the classical Chinese koan riddles, the Japanese koans used incidents from everyday life – a broken teacup, a water-jar, a cloth – to bring the warrior pupils of the samurai to the Zen realization. As key preparatory tests, they were direct attempts to waken the sleep- ing wisdom in each man, found in the region of conscious medita- tion that is without thought. Their aim was to enable a widening of consciousness beyond the illusions of the limited self, and a joyful inspiration in life – a state that has been compared to being free under a blue sky after imprisonment. Trevor Leggett (1914 – 2000), for many years the Head of the Japanese Service of the BBC, was a leading practitioner of Judo and among the West’s most recognized modern experts on Zen and the eastern arts. He is the author of several books on Zen Buddhism including Zen and the Ways and Encounters in Yoga and Zen, and was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese Government in 1984 in recognition of his work in promoting Japanese culture abroad. Trevor Leggett Samurai Zen the Warrior Koans To the late Dr Hari Prasad Shastri these translations are reverently dedicated First published in 1985 as The Warrior Koans: Early Zen in Japan by Arkana, an imprint of Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd Republished 1988 by Arkana, an imprint of Penguin Books This edition published 2003 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. © 2002 The Trevor Leggett Adhyatma Yoga Trust Trevor Leggett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Shonan kattoroku. English. Samurai Zen: the warrior koans/Trevor Leggett; with a new introduction by Trevor Leggett. p. cm. Translation of: Shonan kattoroku. Cf. CIP gally. Originally published: The warrior koans. London; Boston: Arkana, 1985. With new introd. ISBN 0–415–28464–3—ISBN 0–415–28465–1 (pbk.) 1. Koan–Early works to 1800. I. Leggett, Trevor. II. Warrior koans. III. Title. BQ9289 .S5613 2003 294.3′443–dc21 2002036938 ISBN 0-203-38061-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-38679-5 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–28465–1 (PB) ISBN 0–415–28464–3 (HB) CONTENTS I by Trevor Leggett 11 P 19 A 25 I F’ S-- 27 E I F’ W Z 36 K 49 No. 1 The mirror of Enkakuji 49 No. 2 Hachiman asks to hear the dharma 50 No. 3 Saving Kajiwara’s soul 51 No. 4 Daikaku’s one-word su¯tra 52 No. 5 Bukko¯’s no-word su¯tra 54 No. 6 Daikaku’s one-robe Zen 55 Bukko¯’s loin-cloth Zen 57 [ 5 ] CONTENTS No. 7 The bucket without a bottom 58 No. 8 Jizo¯ stands up 61 No. 9 Jizo¯ coming out of the hall 63 No. 10 The well of youth 63 No. 11 Putting out the fire in Hell Valley 65 No. 12 Rankei’s shari pearls 66 No. 13 The deer at the sermon 67 No. 14 The snake round the Ginko tree 68 No. 15 The dragon crest 69 No. 16 The great Buddha of Hase 71 No. 17 Numbering the waves on Yui beach 72 No. 18 Tokimune’s thing below the navel 73 No. 19 The gate by which all the Buddhas come into the world 76 No. 20 The rite of the Treasury of Space 79 No. 21 How priest Isshin saved the ghost 80 No. 22 Stopping the fighting across the river 82 No. 23 The verse facing death 83 No. 24 The Cave of Man in Mount Fuji 84 No. 25 The Nembutsu Robe 87 No. 26 Benzaiten of Enoshima 89 No. 27 The god Hachiman 90 No. 28 The rite of the wind god at Kamakura 91 No. 29 The one-word charm of Enkakuji 93 No. 30 Mirror Zen – Introduction 95 – the Verses 98 No. 31 The very first Jizo¯ 102 [ 6 ] CONTENTS No. 32 The nyo-i sickle of Enkakuji 103 No. 33 The cat-monster 105 No. 34 The destruction of the toad at Kaizo¯ji 106 No. 35 The Kannon at Hase 109 No. 36 Yakushi of a thousand forms 109 No. 37 The snake at Ito¯zaki 111 No. 38 Bukko¯’s age 113 No. 39 The birth of the Buddha 114 No. 40 ‘The world-honoured one has been born!’ 115 No. 41 The flower hall on Buddha’s birthday 116 No. 42 Sermon 118 No. 43 The source of heaven 121 No. 44 Wielding the spear with hands empty 122 No. 45 The Kencho¯ji library 123 No. 46 Sameness 125 No. 47 The badger-headed Kannon 127 No. 48 The basic truth of Buddhism 130 No. 49 The divine snake of the Benten shrine 131 No. 50 Reading one’s own mind 132 No. 51 The dharma-interview of Nun Mujaku 133 No. 52 The night interview of Nun Myo¯tei 135 No. 53 The Buddha-heart relics 137 No. 54 The Zen Goma rite 138 [ 7 ] CONTENTS No. 55 The one-word Heart Su¯tra 140 No. 56 Isshin’s rain-making 141 No. 57 Bukko¯’s death poem 143 No. 58 The charm 144 No. 59 Ashikaga Takauji’s Jizo¯-Son 145 No. 60 The gravestone with no name 147 No. 61 The judgment of Yama 149 No. 62 Really before the eyes 149 No. 63 So 150 No. 64 The picture of beauty 151 No. 65 How the su¯tra of the Resolution of the Brahma-king’s Doubt was put into the canon 152 No. 66 The mark of the Brahma-voice 153 No. 67 The mind, the Buddha; no mind, no Buddha 154 No. 68 The Great Katzu! of Master To¯den 154 The Great Katzu! of Master To¯rin 156 No. 69 The paper sword 158 No. 70 Heaven and earth broken up 160 No. 71 Victory in the midst of a hundred enemies 161 No. 72 Teaching Buddhism 162 No. 73 Pasting the charm on the heart 162 No. 74 Painting the nature 163 No. 75 Not going, not coming 164 No. 76 The way of the teacup 165 No. 77 The scriptures of one hand 166 [ 8 ] CONTENTS No. 78 Daibai’s shari-pearls 168 No. 79 The lotus strainer 169 No. 80 The copy 170 No. 81 The gate-keeper’s question 171 No. 82 The Buddha’s birthday 172 No. 83 Tengai’s heart-binding 174 No. 84 The Lanka su¯tra of one word 176 No. 85 One law, a thousand words 178 No. 86 Ku-an’s three questions 180 No. 87 The sermon of Nun Shido¯ 181 No. 88 The Knight patriarch coming from the west 182 No. 89 Sadatsune receives the precepts 183 No. 90 The Great Katzu! of Ryu¯ho¯ 185 No. 91 Daiye’s verse on ‘not’ 189 No. 92 Meditation of the energy-sea 191 No. 93 To¯zan’s Who’s-This? 192 The Who’s-This? Sermon 193 No. 94 Tanka’s Buddha-burning 194 No. 95 The four Dharma-worlds of a teacup 195 No. 96 The diamond realm 196 No. 97 Meeting after death 198 No. 98 Maudgalya¯yana’s mother 199 No. 99 The iron bar of 10,000 miles 200 No. 100 Freeing the ghost 201 I C 205 [ 9 ] INTRODUCTION SAMURAI ZEN: THE WARRIOR KOANS (SHO¯ NAN-KATTO¯ -ROKU) This is an almost unknown but very important text recording Zen incidents from the first stages of Zen in Japan. It survived in tiny editions. It would appear that Dr D.T. Susuki did not know it directly though he refers vaguely to a collection of koans given to warriors by the first immigrant Zen teachers from China. It contains some important material in their lives as is now recognized in the official history of the founder of Kenchoji temple in 1253. Below are given a few extracts from this recently published history.
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