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The Zen Practitioner's Journal Fall 2015 Ancestors The Zen Practitioner’s Journal Ancestors Fall 2015 $9.00 / $10.00 Canadian Don Symanski MOUNTAIN RECORD (ISSN #0896-8942) is published quarterly by Dharma Communications. Periodicals Postage Paid at Mt. Tremper, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send address changes to MOUNTAIN RECORD, P.O. Box 156, Mt. Tremper, NY 12457-0156. Yearly subscription of four issues: $32.00. To subscribe, call us at (845) 688-7993 or send a check payable to Dharma Communications at the address below. Postage outside terri to ri al U.S.: add $20.00 per year (pay in U.S. curren cy). Back issues are avail able for $9.00. All material Copyright © 2015 by Dharma Com mu ni ca tions, Inc., unless otherwise specified. All pho tog ra phy and art are Mountain and Rivers Order’s National Buddhist Archive prints unless oth er wise credited. Printed in the U.S.A. CDs of the dharma dis courses that appear in the Mountain Record are avail able free of charge to the visually impaired. The articles included and the opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, who are solely re spon si ble for their contents. They do not necessarily reflect th opinions, positions or teachings of Zen Mountain Mon as tery or the Mountains and Rivers Order. Cover image © by Malcolm Browne At the time of actualization, innumerable buddha ancestors arrive without expectation and receive dharma without seeking. —Eihei Dogen Vol. 34 No.1 Fall 2015 Ancestors 4 In Accord with All Time, Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Sensei How can we hold what we do not yet know for ourselves to be true? 13 Knowing Where We Come From, Danica Shoan Ankele Editorial 14 The Place of Discipleship in Buddhism, Bhikkhu Bodhi On the noble path, breaking the endless cycle of samsara. 22 Past, Present, Future, Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi Looking back at the Japanese roots of an American sangha. 30 Document of Heritage, Eihei Dogen What does it mean to actualize the buddha ancestors? 35 Selected Haiku, Kobayashi Issa, translated by Robert Hass 36 When God Was a Woman, Merlin Stone A sculptor discovers the ancient world of the creator Goddess. 40 Tending the Tigress, Jody Hojin Kimmel, Osho An apprenticeship in clay and life. 47 Night Singing, Poem by W.S. Merwin 48 Listening to the Other, Gary Paul Nabhan The deep connection between peace, place and environmental justice. 54 Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates American history, the creation of race, and living within a black body. 60 No Birth, No Death, Thich Nhat Hanh A true ancestry of interconnection. 66 The Return of Ma ah shra true ee, Leslie Marmon Silko Down below human destruction of earth, a messenger calls out. 74 The Dream that I Told My Mother-in-Law, Elizabeth Alexander 76 An American Childhood, Annie Dillard Looking back at moments of coming to life. 82 Black Elk Speaks, as told through John G. Neihardt “It may be that one little root of the sacred tree still lives.” 86 Mountains and Rivers Order News News and Happenings, Affiliate Directory 105 Resources and Services In Accord with All Time Dharma Discourse by Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei Prajnatara Transmission of the Light, Case 28 Main Case The Buddhist master Punyamitra said to Prajnatara, “Do you remember events of the past?” Prajnatara said, “I remember in a distant eon I was living in the same place as you. You were expounding great wisdom and I was reciting the most profound scripture. This event today is in conformity with past cause.” Verse The light of the moon reflected in the depths of the pond is bright in the sky. The water flowing to the horizon is thoroughly clear and pure. Sifting and straining, over and over, even if you know it exists, Boundless and clear, it turns out to be utterly ineffable. 4 Eric Parker 5 rajnatara was the teacher of society, there would be an assumption that a Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen master of this stature was male. Prajnatara’s Pschool. In addition to the notable role female form may have been lost over time, of being Bodhidharma’s teacher, Prajnatara buried beneath cultural assumptions. is also an interesting figure because there is Although historical records don’t contain some evidence that she was a woman. This nearly as much information about female possibility first came to my attention a num- teachers as they do male teachers, we know ber of years ago through a brief article by a there have been many realized women mas- successor of Jiyu Kennett Roshi, the founding ters. There are sutras in which the Buddha abbess of Shasta Abbey. When Jiyu Kennett states that there is no high or low in the Roshi was training in Japan, her teacher, dharma; sutras in which he makes clear not Koho Zenji, told her that there were female only that the four groups in the sangha— masters in their direct ancestral line. Years male and female monastic, male and female later, Jiyu Kennett asked one of her students lay—were all capable of realizing enlighten- to try to find them. His research lead him ment, but also recognizes individuals from to records within the Korean Zen lineage in each of these groups as having achieved which Prajnatara is remembered as being a enlightenment during his lifetime. Although woman, as well as to historical and oral tra- there are other sutras that seem to refute the ditions from Kerala in southern India, where capacity of women to realize themselves, Prajnatara lived and is remembered within some modern scholars believe these sutras local historical memory as being a woman. were added in later by conservative male He also learned of archaeological discoveries disciples. in Kerala that confirm the presence of a well- known woman master around that time. All Whoever Prajnatara was, whether male or of these factors aligned to offer a convincing female, certainly as Bodhidharma’s teacher argument that although within most modern she holds a special place within our lineage. scholarship Prajnatara is assumed to be a She is said to have been an orphan who man, this important teacher may have actu- lived on the streets and didn’t even know ally been a woman. her own name—a very good beginning for When I first found out about this, I wrote a Buddhist master. She made her living several Buddhist scholars who are friends of by begging, and one day she encountered the Monastery. One dismissed the matter out Punyamitra. It seems she had a karmic con- of hand, but another said he had heard about nection with Punyamitra going back into this rumor and thought that it was entirely past lives; he recognized her as a dharma plausible. In fact, he allowed that there vessel and she eventually became his dharma may be other female masters within the Zen heir. To escape the mayhem of the Hun inva- lineage who have been mistakenly assumed sions in Northern India, Prajnatara traveled to be male. In written Chinese, gender is to the southern part of the country. This is inferred from context rather than stated where she first encountered Bodhidharma’s explicitly. So, in the context of lineage with- father, who was a king there, and then later in a male-dominated religious tradition and met one of his sons who would become her 6 disciple. Just as her teacher had seen some- intentions, how many words and actions of thing special in her, she also recognized others have influenced us to wonder about Bodhidharma’s potential. things, led us to the dharma? How many acts of In this koan, Prajnatara is being asked kindness, or words of inquiry or concern by her teacher, “Do you remember events of have we received that helped lead us to this the past?” She says, “I remember in a distant very moment? How is it that on this very eon I was living in the same place as you. day we can study these teachings, learn these You were expounding a great wisdom and I practices, be tested in our understanding and was reciting a most profound scripture. This be in intimate contact with a spiritual pro- event is in accord with past cause.” What is cess that began over 2,500 years ago? the question in this koan, what needs to be resolved? “This event today is in conformity For many Western Buddhists, this koan with past cause.” What does this mean? This presents a challenge: how are we to under- can be understood from Buddhism’s perspec- stand the Buddhist teachings on past lives tive on karma, but the koan is asking for a and rebirth? We could just dismiss them deeper, more direct understanding. out of hand because we have no personal “This event today is in conformity with evidence to verify them, but is it possible How many acts of kindness, or words of inquiry or concern have we received that helped lead us to this very moment? past cause”—this is always the case. This that we just don’t recognize the evidence? is never not true. Our presence in this hall Does it make sense to deny something simply today is fully and utterly in accord with because we haven’t experienced it as being past causes. We didn’t just suddenly get true? How often do we come to discover here by ourselves. We should reflect on the things as true that we didn’t know were true multitudes of past actions, just in this one before? How often do we rely on the obser- brief flicker of a lifetime, that brought us vations or reflections of others—thinkers, to this moment.
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