Zen: Merging of East and West/Philip Kapleau
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ROSHI PHILIP KAPLEAU ZEN MERGING OF EAST AND WEST Roshi Philip Kapleau, founder of the Zen Center in Rochester, New York, is the author of The Three Pillars of Zen, To Cherish All Life, The Wheel of Death, and The Wheel of Life and Death: A Practical and Spiritual Guide. In his youth, Kapleau studied law and became a court reporter, serving for many years in the state and federal courts of Connecticut. At the end of World War II he was appointed chief reporter for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, then sent to cover the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. In 1953 he gave up his business in America and left for Japan to undergo Zen training. After ve years he came to an awakening, then went on to complete eight more years of formal study and training. He was ordained by his teacher, Zen master Yasutani, during that time, and was authorized by him to teach. Kapleau returned to the United States in 1966 to found the Zen Center in Rochester. The Center has since grown to include aliated centers in a number of cities in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Central America. In 1986, after twenty years as abbot, Kapleau appointed the Ven. Bodhin Kjolhede as his successor. Roshi Philip Kapleau is now retired and lives at the Rochester Zen Center. OTHER BOOKS BY ROSHI PHILIP KAPLEAU The Wheel of Life and Death: A Practical and Spiritual Guide The Wheel of Death To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist Case for Vegetarianism The Three Pillars of Zen ANCHOR BOOKS EDITIONS, 1980, 1989, 2000 Copyright © 1978, 1979, 1989 by Zen Center, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Anchor Press/Doubleday under the title Zen: Dawn in the West in 1979. Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. A note on the title page illustration: Richard Wehrman’s drawing, “Carp Leaping Up a Waterfall to Become a Dragon,” is taken from traditional Zen imagery. In ancient China a popular fable was that of a carp struggling to reach the crest of a waterfall. After repeated attempts, the carp nally summons up all its energies and in one mighty leap to the top becomes a dragon. Because in the Orient the carp is celebrated for its vigor, perseverance, and courage—qualities indispensable for awakening—large wooden sculptures of this sh are often found in Zen monasteries. The waterfall represents the spiritual aspirant’s daily life, and the dragon stands for realized Mind. Liang K’ai’s drawing of Shakyamuni (this page) appeared in Zen and Japanese Culture by D. T. Suzuki and is reprinted by permission of the author’s estate. The Photograph of the Sixth Patriarch (this page) is taken from Ch’an and Zen Teaching (Series Three) by Charles Luk and is reprinted by permission of the author. Hakuin’s drawing of Bodhidharma (this page) appeared in Zen Dust by Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki, and is reprinted here with the permission of the Marquis Hosokawa Moriatsu, from whose collection it is taken. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kapleau, Philip, 1912– Zen: merging of East and West/Philip Kapleau. p. cm. Rev. ed of: Zen: dawn in the West. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1979. Bibliography: p. 1. Spiritual life (Zen Buddhism). 2. Zen Buddhism—Doctrines. I. Title. BQ9288.K37 1989 294.3′927—dc 19 88-27117 ANCHOR ISBN: 0-385-26104-7 eBook ISBN: 978-0-307-76358-7 www.anchorbooks.com v3.1 Dedicated to those who wish not just to seek, but to truly find. After six years of inner struggle and hard search, Shakyamuni ascended to the highest peak of Mind and saw into the innermost meaning of birth and death, becoming the Buddha, or Awakened One. After rst relishing this sublime state and then pondering whether men and women still mired in the mud of greed, anger, and delusion could understand the profound truth realized by him, he descended from this highest of mountains into the world of suering and began to teach the cause of suffering and the way to overcome it. The painting radiates a deep stillness, accentuated by the uttering drapery of Shakyamuni’s garments and the oblique line of the mountain. The atmosphere conveys the profundity of enlightenment even as the features of Shakyamuni reect great serenity, wisdom, and compassion. There is nothing otherworldly or mystical here; the Buddha is shown in concrete human form. True awakening, the painting implies, is not a “high” which keeps one, full of wonder and joy, in the clouds of an abstract oneness, but a realization that brings one solidly down to earth into the world of toil and struggle. The ascent is for oneself, the descent for others. “Shakyamuni Descending the Mountain,” by Liang K’ai (thirteenth century), one of the greatest Chinese Zen painters of the Southern Sung period. (illustrations 1.1) CONTENTS Cover About the Author Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Dedication List of Illustrations Foreword by Albert Low Preface Introduction PART ONE ♦ FLASHES OF ZEN Introduction THE DIALOGUES 1 Where Did Zen Originate—in India, China, or Japan? 2 If I Speak of Zen, It Won’t Be Zen I’m Speaking Of 3 Why Do Zen Masters Answer in a Snotty Tone? 4 If Americans Spend Their Time Meditating, Energetic Societies Will Outproduce and Even “Bury” Us 5 Zen and Psychotherapy—Are They Compatible? 6 How Do the Psychophysical Therapies and Zen Differ? 7 Is It Wise to Combine Hatha Yoga or Tai Chi or Karate with Zen? 8 What Are Unwholesome Thoughts? 9 Is There a Special Zen Diet? 10 Reading About Enlightenment Is Like Scratching an Itchy Foot Through Your Shoe 11 To Read or Not to Read? 12 What Is Really Real? 13 How Do You Find Your Teacher? 14 There Are No Teachers of Zen 15 Transcendental Meditation: Who Transcends What? 16 Biofeedback Machines: Electric Zen? 17 Can I Practice Zen and Be a Good Jew (or Catholic)? 18 What Is the Value of a “Holy” Mountain for Zazen? 19 What Is Satori? 20 Are You Enlightened? 21 Can Enlightenment Come Without Training? 22 Is There a Dierence Between Psychic Insights and Satori? 23 No Pain, No Gain 24 What Is Emptiness? 25 What, If Anything, Survives Biological Death? 26 Are You Alive or Are You Dead? 27 Zen says, “Don’t Suppress the Emotions.” But What About Anger? 28 Do You Have to Give Up Sex to Become Enlightened? 29 Can You Work on a Koan by Yourself? 30 Why Reject the Way of the Masters to Follow the Easy Path? PART TWO ♦ THE SECLUDED TRAINING PERIOD (SESSHIN) Introduction I ENCOURAGEMENT TALKS AND COMMENTARIES 1 Fourth Day Encouragement Talk Commentary on “The Three Disabilities”—Case 88 of The Blue Rock Record 2 Fifth Day Encouragement Talk Commentary on “Bodhidharma’s ‘I don’t know’ ”— Case 1 of The Blue Rock Record 3 Sixth Day Encouragement Talk Commentary on “A Man Up a Tree”—Case 5 of Mumon’s The Gateless Barrier 4 Seventh Day Encouragement Talk Commentary on “Think Neither Good nor Evil”—Case 23 of Mumon’s The Gateless Barrier II ENLIGHTENMENT ACCOUNTS 1 “Such Happiness Makes You Realize How Unhappy You Had Been Before” 2 “I Took One Step and the Universe Turned Inside Out” 3 “Limitless, Joyful Peace” 4 “So Grateful to Be a Human Being” 5 “Sometimes I Think the Sexual Experience Was More Real Than the Kensho”—With Roshi’s Reply 6 “Every Day the Treasure of Life Gains in Luster and Beauty” 7 “ ‘O Man’s Most Wonderful Work—Just to Walk upon the Earth’ ” PART THREE ♦ DEVOTIONS Introduction I CHANTS 1 The Four Bodhisattvic Vows 2 Heart of Perfect Wisdom 3 Master Hakuin’s Chant in Praise of Zazen 4 Affirming Faith in Mind II A LETTER AND A REPLY Religious Zen—“It Turns Me Off!” III DIALOGUES 1 Isn’t It Brown-Nosing to Make Offerings to Buddhas? 2 Compassion, Like Love, Isn’t Something One Talks About 3 Does Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Really Exist? 4 Confess Your Wrongdoings and Hide Your Good Deeds PART FOUR ♦ MORALITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Introduction I LETTERS AND REPLIES 1 “What Does Living in the World as a Zen Buddhist Mean?” 2 “Meditation Is an Escape—What Are You Doing to Help Society?” 3 “Do I Have to Abandon My Family to Get Fully into Zen?” II DIALOGUES 1 “Does Awakening Provide the Solution to Moral Dilemmas?” 2 Zen Is Above Morality But Morality Is Not Below Zen III A DHARMA TALK The First Precept: “Not to Kill but to Cherish All Life”: A Discussion of Animal Slaughter, Abortion, War, Suicide, Euthanasia Afterword—A Personal Note Notes Glossary ILLUSTRATIONS “Shakyamuni Descending the Mountain,” by Liang K’ai Diagram of levels of consciousness Diagram of cause and effect in relation to consciousness “Bodhidharma,” by Zen master Hakuin Photograph of body of the Sixth Patriarch The standing drum The bowl-shaped gong (keisu) The wooden-fish drum FOREWORD ZEN: MERGING OF EAST AND WEST is a companion volume to The Three Pillars of Zen. First published in 1965, The Three Pillars of Zen has sold some 150,000 copies in English. To date it has been translated into German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, and Polish.