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What Is It? She Said This All Matter-Of-Factly Without Any Hesitation Or Even a Glimmer of Embarrassment

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What Is It? She said this all matter-of-factly without any hesitation or even a glimmer of embarrassment. “We each have an innate, bright, After she left, Cathy apologized to me and shinyness of mind. We have no word for said, “I couldn’t believe how rude Jane was to it so we call it ‘Buddha nature’.” you!” You see, I have been the one making the —Harada Shodo-roshi desserts. “Once you stop clinging and let things I just laughed and said, “I really don’t care if be, you’ll be free, even of birth and people prefer her desserts or not. Everyone death. You’ll transform everything. likes to be good at something and she obviously You’ll possess spiritual powers that can’t takes a lot of satisfaction in being a good cook be obstructed. And you’ll be at peace and baker.” wherever you are.” —Bodhidharma, in his Bloodstream Sermon, We both agreed that after Jane’s mother dies found in The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, (she’s in hospice), if she wants to take back the tr. Red Pine kitchen, we have no objection. I even said that I would work for her. Dear Roshi, This is just such a huge change in my normal Had a really interesting experience last evening. reaction. My ego normally would have been Interesting because it was so unlike my habitual right there front and center, saying, “How reaction. I work in the kitchen here at the dare she say that to me! How rude!---etc., etc, apartment building on Saturdays. The woman etc,....” Nothing. Of course, my ego is pretty (will call her Jane) who used to be in charge of tickled about the whole thing now! Actually, the kitchen said she couldn’t get anyone to help the whole incident both amuses me and makes her and then her mom developed cancer and is me sad for Jane at the same time. I can’t help on hospice. She is the primary caregiver during wondering if similar remarks might have made this time. others quit working for her in the kitchen. I am often clueless about the impact of my words The woman (will call her Cathy) who took over until I get a reaction from someone, but even I the position and I get along fairly well together. know that you don’t say this!!! Our meals are not going over as well as we had hoped. Last night, Jane came down as we were Anyway, what fun to see my ego NOT come to finishing up the dinner. She showed us a picture the plate. of the beautiful triple strawberry cupcakes that she had made. Cathy said, “They won’t go for The person who wrote this has been practic- them here. They like chocolate or vanilla”. Jane ing for quite awhile—and it shows. The more said, “No, they ate everything I made. They just we dive into our practice, the freer we become. like my desserts better.” As part of that process, however, it’s important to recognize that, as someone very perceptive- The Oak Tree in the Garden November/December 2014 page 1 ly reported after having a kensho experience: published as the contents of this volume—with “First it shows you where you’re caught—and a few parts left out and others separately pub- then it sets you free!” lished. It was certainly a monumental effort on the part of Norman Waddell, and of Professor So when those moments of clarity arise in Yoshizawa, whose translation from Hakuin’s which you have a sudden insight into some- era Japanese into modern Japanese was an thing you’ve said or done, something you’re not essential prerequisite, to gather all the back- very proud of, it’s not that zazen is making you ground information and choose which of the a worse person; it’s that it’s beginning to set annotated copies to translate. What results you free. There’s something about the clarity is an excellent resource on the teachings of a with which we begin to see our own behavior great Japanese Zen master who singlehanded- with the help of zazen, and the remorse that ly resurrected Rinzai Zen, and a wonderful ex- that recognition brings up, that is a good part pression of the dynamic personality that Hakuin of the work toward letting whatever dysfunc- Ekaku appears to have been. What follows in tional behavior pattern that was, weaken and the next article is a teisho given on one of the eventually—if we are careful and aware—drop writings in the book. away. Some things can take a long time: Yasu- tani roshi reported that it took a good ten years v v v POST-kensho before he was able to drop his habit pattern of reacting in anger. Hakuin’s Reply to Priest Rempō As we do our practice and begin to see where of Keirin-ji we need to work, and commit to doing that vital This is a letter written in answer to one from work—the Long Maturation—our life begins to Rempō, a student of Hakuin’s. One of the change. While it’s tough work, the results are reasons this book of translations is so excel- worth it! And this is but one gift of practice... lent is due to the extensive and detailed work of the translator, Norman Waddell, in introduc- v v v ing the material he has translated, as well as his inclusion of notes handwritten in the text Poison Blossoms by Hakuin’s own students. He also, according From a Thicket of Thorn to other translators, seems to truly capture the essence of Hakuin’s personality, which is clear Norman Waddell is the premier translator of the and right up front in this translation. Here is writings of Hakuin, having spent a career be- Waddell’s introduction to this letter: coming intimate with the old sage. His transla- tions, to go by the comments of people who Rempō Chishō (d.1770) a Dharma heir have read Hakuin’s works in Japanese, truly of Ranshitsu Tōiku (d.1743), was the catch the flavor of that vibrant personality. head priest of Keirin-ji in Kai province, a temple Hakuin visited frequently to Here comes the latest in a series of translations conduct practice meetings. An an- by Professor Waddell: Hakuin’s seminal collec- notation tells us that Rempō “studied tion of his own teachings, Poison Blossoms with the master for many years, even From a Thicket of Thorn. In the days of Chan after becoming head priest at Keirin-ji.” teachings in China a tradition was established He was thus one of a number of Zen of recording the sayings and doings of em- teachers in Suruga and the surrounding minent masters, for the benefit of generations provinces of Kai, Tōtōmi, and Izu who to come. This was still the case in Japan in continued their post-satori training Hakuin’s day, but being the iconclast he was, under Hakuin while training students in he had one of his students edit his collections their own temples. According to Tōrei, of teachings and then proceeded to have them Rempō applied himself to koan study page 2 The Oak Tree in the Garden November/December 2014 under Hakuin “with the greatest deter- those priests as well, and is an excellent model mination” (Draft Biography). for Zen practice as it unfolds in the West. This is one of the hallmarks of the Rinzai Since it is known that Rempō succeed- Sect—and of dedicated Zen students regard- ed Ranshitsu at Keirin-ji on the latter’s less of Zen sect: the ongoing post-satori train- death, this letter can date no earlier than ing. The Jataka Tales are the stories of the pur- Hakuin’s late fifties, and given Hakuin’s ported previous lives of the Buddha, remem- reference to “enjoying the years left to bered during the seven nights and eight days him” possibly even a decade or so later. of the deep meditation that culminated in his great enlightenment. (It is not uncommon for The Letter: Zen folk who do many sesshin to have insights into not only our behavior but also our past; Your letter of the twelfth of the fourth while this is neither sought after nor celebrated, month reached my desk on the twelfth it is a natural result of the level of attention and of the fifth month. Reading it over awareness that can be developed with com- several times, I felt as though you were mitted, concentrated, ongoing zazen.) During actually here conversing with me. Won- each of these lives the Buddha recalled, he derful. Wonderful. appeared to have been working toward living an increasingly awakened life. This ongoing I was concerned that you may have effort is what Tōrei Enji, Hakuin’s first Dharma wondered why I had not replied to your successor, termed “The Long Maturation.” By letter. It was not due to conscious all accounts, Tōrei himself exemplified this neglect on my part. The letter you sent ethic—that vital aspect of practice in which we took an entire month to reach me. work to integrate into our thought, speech and action what we have realized in our kensho I fear that I didn’t treat you with proper experiences and insights born of the ongoing hospitality when you visited Shōin-ji at zazen we do. the end of the third month. Now when- ever I sit in my room and think about This work is true bodhisattva work.
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