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How to Grow a Lotus Blossom: Reflections Contents MASTER TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication Foreword BOOK I How to Grow a Lotus Blossom: Reflections Contents BOOK II How to Grow a Lotus Blossom: Reflections in a Disciple’s Life Contents BOOK III Related Writings Contents BOOK IV Poems - - - - - - - Sources Serene Reflection Dharma Association How to Grow a Lotus Blossom: REFLECTIONS Essays about, and inspired by, How to Grow a Lotus Blossom, a book by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett Second Edition by Rev. Koshin Schomberg Copyright © 2018 Rev. Koshin Schomberg The reader is free to copy, share, and print all or any part of these Reflections, provided the source is mentioned and the text is not altered. Originally published as a web publication at: www.howtogrowalotusblossom.org First Edition: 2016 (as eBook.) Second enlarged Edition: 2018 (as eBook and as printed edition.) The printed edition, and Kindle eBook, are available from amazon.com; the pdf eBook from www.howtogrowalotusblossom.org. Cover and interior illustrations by Rev. Koshin Schomberg This book is dedicated to Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett and to all who follow in her footsteps. Foreword The gift of the Light of the Lord is everywhere; The palace of the Buddha Nature is within ourselves. The deep, true heart longs to go quickly So that their happy meeting may occur soon. This book consists of two sets of short essays. The essays of the first set (Book I) are all about, or inspired by, teachings that appear in How to Grow a Lotus Blossom, Or How a Zen Buddhist Prepares for Death, a book written by my teacher, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett. My intention is to show that every part of this book contains teachings that have practical, helpful applications in ordinary daily life. Even the most seemingly esoteric spiritual experiences described in the pages of How to Grow a Lotus Blossom in fact only exemplify the wonderfully simple teachings of Buddhism—and Soto Zen in particular—at a very deep level. Deep Teaching shows how to do deep training; deep training results in spiritual experience that confirms the truth for oneself of the Teaching. While like all writers I hope for sympathetic readers, I also hope that every reader of these essays will recognize that there is always more to every aspect of training and enlightenment than I or anyone else can either understand or explain. Nowhere in these essays am I saying, “Here is the explanation, and there is no more to it than this.” Rather, I am saying, “I think I have something to say about this subject that may be helpful.—And I am very aware that there is far more to it than I know or can explain.” My main effort in doing the writing was to follow what I believed (and still believe) to be a sound spiritual instinct. I did not know where the narrative would go when I started writing. Again and again, I came to an impasse, only to find that the seeming impasse was in reality a new point of departure. And so the process of writing became a mirror of the spiritual life as I have experienced it. As in the rest of life, the key in writing these essays was always to look up, ask the Eternal for help, and trust. In parallel with the essays that constitute my reflections on the teachings embodied in How to Grow a Lotus Blossom, I wrote a second series of essays (Book II) in which I attempted to show the way in which the teachings embodied in How to Grow a Lotus Blossom have been reflected (a different meaning of “reflection”) in the life of one of my master’s disciples—myself. I do not suppose many people would have given me permission to write about them in such an intimate way, so I chose to write about my own life and training with a strong—and limited—focus on the way in which some of the events in my life reflect and confirm the teachings of my master. I named this narrative “How to Grow a Lotus Blossom: Reflections in a Disciple’s Life.” I wrote the two parallel narratives over a period of fifteen months. I made an internet website http://www.howtogrowalotusblossom.org for publishing the essays, and as soon as each successive chapter was written, it was published. Each set of essays forms its own “Book” within this book, and each is preceded by a Table of Contents and Introduction. I strongly recommend reading the Introduction to each Book, and then reading the chapters in the sequence in which they are listed. This is the sequence in which they were written. Later chapters build upon the foundation laid down in the earlier chapters. After concluding the two parallel narratives, I continued writing some short essays on related subjects and published them as “Related Writings” on the same website. These essays are included here as Book III. At certain key points in my training, I have written a poem that helped me through a difficult period, or that expressed gratitude for the help that I had received. A few of these poems are included here as Book IV. When I quote from How to Grow a Lotus Blossom, I always quote from the second edition. Plate numbers given are from the second edition. Generally, I provide Plate numbers for the first edition in parentheses when they differ from the numbers in the second edition, though I may not always remember to do this. The second edition contains many more Plates than the first edition. When I use the word “he” as a general term, I mean “she” as well as “he”. I would like to thank all those who caught and reported typos as the essays were first being published on the internet, especially Geoff Nisbet and Ian Davros. I would also like to thank Rev. Master Mokushin Hart, Rev. Master Basil Singer, Rev. Master Hector van der Marel, Rev. Master Olaf Miller, and Rev. Master Clement Siddoway for their helpful advice and observations. Rev. Master Bennet Laraway gave sound editorial advice and comments on content and also re-formatted the text for publication as an e- book, and then arranged for that publication. Then he, with the assistance of Rev. Master Hector van der Marel, prepared the paper edition of the book. Finally, I would like to express my special gratitude to Rev. Master Alexis Barringer, who died in the second month of the writing of these essays, but who enthusiastically and sympathetically read the first chapters. Indeed, there never was a more sympathetic and generous-hearted friend. I hope that all who read these Reflections will find something helpful in them. Rev. Koshin Schomberg North Cascades Buddhist Priory January, 2019 Book I HOW TO GROW A LOTUS BLOSSOM: REFLECTIONS Hold the back erect and still, but keep the body relaxed. In this way the wise purify their hearts, Withdrawing into the secret refuge Of their own inner Treasurehouse . TABLE OF CONTENTS OF BOOK I HOW TO GROW A LOTUS BLOSSOM: REFLECTIONS Introduction Chapter 1 Some Keys to Understanding How to Grow a Lotus Blossom Chapter 2 The Five Kenshos Chapter 3 Training and Enlightenment Chapter 4 Original Enlightenment Chapter 5 True Conviction Chapter 6 Need and Help Chapter 7 The Residual Buddha Nature Chapter 8 The Repository of Spiritual Need Chapter 9 The Refinery Chapter 10 Refining the Ore Chapter 11 Unsui Chapter 12 Asking Chapter 13 Offering Chapter 14 Waiting Chapter 15 Listening Chapter 16 Following Chapter 17 If it is Good Chapter 18 The Spirit of the Precepts Chapter 19 The Letter of the Precepts Chapter 20 One Calls, One Replies Chapter 21 The Inner Refuge Chapter 22 The Divine Medicine Chapter 23 Seeking the Key to Life Together Chapter 24 Kensho and Death Chapter 25 From Death to Rebirth Chapter 26 Help for Fear Chapter 27 Purification of the Heart Chapter 28 The Pearl Chapter 29 Opening the Gates Chapter 30 A Great Awakening Chapter 31 A Paradigm of Conversion Chapter 32 Letting Go and Receiving Back Chapter 33 The Buddha Land Chapter 34 Leaf and Wind Chapter 35 Harmonizing Heaven and Earth Chapter 36 The Army of Mara Chapter 37 The Kaleidoscopic Mind Chapter 38 Suffering and Suffering’s Cause Chapter 39 The Cessation of Suffering and the Eightfold Path Chapter 40 Joy and Woe Chapter 41 Historical Roots of the Five Ranks Chapter 42 The First Rank: The Host Invites the Guest Chapter 43 The Second Rank: The Guest Turns Toward the Host Chapter 44 The Third Rank: The Host in Rightful Position Chapter 45 The Fourth Rank: The Guest in Rightful Position Chapter 46 Host and Guest in Undifferentiated Oneness Chapter 47 The Five Ranks: Help and Need Chapter 48 The Five Ranks: Conclusion Chapter 49 Onwards and Upwards Introduction The Purpose of this Book In the spring of 1976, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, a Zen Master in the Serene Reflection (Soto Zen) tradition of Buddhism, was drawn into an extended and very deep meditation retreat. How to Grow a Lotus Blossom or How a Zen Buddhist Prepares for Death was published in 1977. The book is a record of the events and experiences of that retreat. I am a monastic disciple of Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett. (I still think of her and refer to her as “Rev. Master” and will do so most of the time in these essays.) I was a young monk in 1976, and my master’s retreat was a great catalyst in my own spiritual life. Indeed, I can never adequately express my gratitude for the help that her example and teaching gave me during that momentous year.
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