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volume xxxvii · number 4 · 2014–15

The Responsive Communion Between Buddhas and Sentient Beings by Roshi 3 Reflections on the Four Bodhisattvic Vows by Roshi Sunya Kjolhede 7 Right Livelihood: The Thousand Arms of Kannon by Randy Baker 9 Kyogen’s Man Up a Tree by Roshi 13 Letters to Roshi Philip Kapleau 17 Bowing : An Unsolicited Contribution from One Who Cares for the Way by John Blofeld 21 of Infinite Love and Compassion by 23 Cold Butter on Soft Bread, and Other Anguish by Roshi 25 Grace by Amala Wrightson 28

copyright © 2015 rochester zen center co-editors : Donna Kowal & Brenda Reeb ❖ image editor : Tom Kowal cover : Amaury Cruz

proofreading : Chris Pulleyn ❖ John Pulleyn

The views expressed in Zen Bow are those of the individual contributors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Rochester Zen Center, its members, or staff. From the Editors

In anticipation of the Rochester Zen Center’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2016, this retrospective Zen Bow issue features a selection of essays from past issues on the theme of ‘Faith in Dharma.’ Together, these essays reflect the Center’s teaching traditions and the transformative power of faith.

—Donna Kowal & Brenda Reeb

The Responsive Communion Between Buddhas and Sentient Beings

roshi hakuun yasutani Editor’s note : The teachings of Hakuun Yasuta- ings, none of us could ever become a buddha. ni-roshi (1885-1973) were introduced to American Just as a seed will not sprout without sunlight or students largely through the work of his disciples, heat or water or soil, so our Buddha-nature seed including Roshi Philip Kapleau’s The Three Pil- without the light of the buddhas’ wisdom and lars of Zen. The following article is adapted from the waters of their compassion will not grow the booklet Eight Bases of Belief in by and flourish. Yasutani-roshi. It originally appeared in Zen Bow Chin-k’ai, founder of the T’ien-t’ai sect of in 1969 (vol. II, no. 2), and, in response to popular Buddhism in China, describes four types of demand, it was reprinted in 1977 (vol. X, no. 2). We responsive communion between buddhas and decided to share it ‘for the third time.’ other forms of consciousness.

Radio and television, as we all know, make it 1. Latent motivation and indiscernible response possible for us to hear and see things happening far away. The responsive communion between Our deep-rooted desire is not apparent to us, yet buddhas and sentient beings is of this kind of in our subconscious mind we are already seeking long-distance communication on a spiritual the Buddha’s Way, which is likewise indiscern- plane. That is to say, the reciprocity can be in- ible but is nonetheless guiding us at all times. visible and take place regardless of distance. It is like the seed of the plant which has not You have already heard me say that Buddha- been exposed to the sun’s light or heat directly nature is indigenous to all, and that buddhas of but which responds to the indirect stimuli of the past even now are engaged in the task of temperature and humidity. Of the four kinds wiping away defiling dusts from their Buddha- of responsive communion, this is the most fun- nature. Still, if there were no mutual attraction damental. Though one may not be consciously or sympathy between buddhas and sentient be- aware of seeking the Buddha’s teachings, at a 3 Tom Kowal Tom subconscious level one may well be searching. places and many meditation groups are The Buddha’s invisible response is this subcon- active. Although it may seem that most people scious yearning. are not interested in such activities, in their sub- The main source of this unapparent response conscious minds they are being influenced in is monks who do zazen by themselves in small greater ways than is realized. We should not be mountain temples or solitary retreats. Isolated discouraged if large numbers of persons do not from intruders and visitors, they devote them- attend lectures on Buddhism or engage in za- selves to zazen, to chanting (the teach- zen. Such efforts are not in vain. Much more ings of the Buddha), and to reciting the Great is being accomplished than we realize, and on Vows to save all living beings. The response also many levels. It is like the seed under the soil comes from the many great masters who spend which is ready to sprout but only needs light and their lives in mountain retreats doing zazen and water to bring it forth. Therefore it is good to engaging in other devotions to feed this invis- commit oneself to these unspectacular exertions ible response. Those of shallow understanding with strong faith and joy. Our efforts are bound protest that such endeavors contribute nothing to be effective. of social value and are no more than a selfish concern with one’s own well-being. Actually, 3. Discernible motivation and latent response such work is altruism of the highest order. We are becoming eager and are aware of it. We 2. Latent motivation and discernible response look for a leader but can’t find one. Despite de- lays and disappointments, we will not be put off. Now the Buddha’s teaching is evident. Lectures So long as we continue to study and practice de- on the Buddha’s Way are being given in many votedly, our understanding of the Buddha’s Way

4 becomes clearer and deeper, and eventually this through it. This particular talked about ardor brings forth a good teacher. the love of parents for their children and the good karma that flowed from it. This man was 4. Discernible motivation and discernible response so impressed by the contents of the book that he immediately dispatched a servant to a Buddhist The greater one’s devotion to the Buddha’s Way, bookstore to buy him a commentary on the su- the greater the guidance from the Buddha and tra. This he read thoroughly and became con- the sooner the opening of the Mind’s eye. Like vinced of the profundity and applicability of the a plant, which because it is properly nourished sutra to his daily life. He was still without direct and cared for blooms earlier and more beauti- guidance, but the fact of his having received the fully, our awakening also is quicker and more book from the abbot was surely indirect guid- complete. ance. So we now have discernible motivation and Let me give you a concrete example of the unapparent response. working of responsive communion between It soon became evident to this man how easily buddhas and living beings. What I am about to one can go astray studying alone, so he decided tell you happens to be a true story, which was to visit the master of a nearby Zen temple for told to me by one of the parties. This gentle- monthly instruction. Now his karma was ripe man, who had no particular interest in Bud- and he commenced zazen under the guidance dhism, took his convalescing child one summer of the abbot whose temple he had first visited to sunny Kamakura, a city famous in Japan for in Kamakura. Discernible motive and discernible its many and shrines. On a response. certain day he and his daughter visited Kencho- Mencius, the Chinese sage, said, ‘Whatever ji, a well-known temple in Kamakura, for no is accomplished in one day is not accomplished other reason than that the temple and grounds in that day alone ; it is accomplished by (previ- were so serene and attractive. Since he had no ous) causes.’ Nothing, then, is done in one day or intention of doing zazen or of engaging in any night, and of course nothing happens of itself. devotions, it would appear that what led him Now, even as there are many buddhas, so are there was nothing more than this pleasant at- there many , and between them and mosphere. But we must not overlook latent mo- ourselves there is also a responsive communion. tivation and indiscernible response. Given this sympathetic attraction between bud- Before returning to Tokyo, late in the sum- dhas and bodhisattvas on the one hand and our- mer, this gentleman decided to call on the abbot selves on the other, can we not become buddhas of Kencho-ji. During the visit the abbot spoke even without practice and discipline ? Unfortu- nothing of Zen but simply served his visitor tea, nately, it is not so simple and this is why : The exchanged pleasantries with him, and gave him attraction is not merely between them and us ; as a present a small sutra book containing the it exists between us and all other forms of ex- Buddha’s sermons and dialogues. Believing the istence. Thus we respond to devils as much as gift to be no more than a routine gesture, the to buddhas, to bad friends as well as to good, to man didn’t even open it. Still, when he returned both selfish and altruistic causes. We admire the home he put the little book in the family Bud- man who works hard, but we also envy the fel- dhist altar-shrine. Notice : latent motivation and low who gets by without lifting a finger. discernible response. Just as we can choose which tv channel to A few years passed. One day after a nap in watch, so we can attune ourselves to the Bud- a reclining chair near the altar-shrine, he spied dha’s teaching and improve our lives, or tune in the little book. Out of idle curiosity and to pass to those who would persuade us to do evil. One the time, he took it down and began thumbing who likes alcohol inevitably finds himself in the

5 company of drunkards. The gambler associates much as my head monk is coming today, please with other gamblers. Those who practice zazen clean his room.’ Telling them exactly when the are attracted to people similarly inclined. head monk would arrive, he added, ‘You must This mutual sympathy also extends to ani- go to the main gate to welcome him.’ mals. Dogs take kindly to a person who likes With mixed feelings the monks cleaned the them, and so do cats. In a certain sense, this type room, and at the proper time went to the main of attraction is even more sensitive than that gate. A traveling monk had indeed arrived. Af- between human beings since animals, having ter the visitor had gone to the Master’s room less complex minds, are naturally more intui- to extend his formal greetings, the Master in- tive. As an example, when cattle are led into the quired, ‘When did you decide to come to this slaughterhouse they sense their fate and protest monastery ?’ ‘A few months ago, I heard of you. I in their own fashion, even with tears in their wanted to meet you and practice under you,’ the eyes. Buddhists stress vegetarianism because of traveling monk replied. To this the master said, this empathy between man and beast. Confu- ‘I knew before you were born that you would cius said, ‘One who has heard the scream of an come here. That is why I did not appoint a head animal being killed could never bear to eat any monk until today. Although you are new, from animal’s flesh.’ now on you are the head monk.’ In one of the Chinese scriptures there is re- The master then spoke to him as follows : counted the incident of a boy who used to play ‘You and I were born in India at the time of the with seagulls by the ocean. One day his father, Buddha Shakyamuni and became his disciples. who had observed his rapport with birds, said We worked very hard and developed a myste- to him, ‘Tomorrow catch one of those birds for rious power. Naturally we were good friends. me, will you ?’ ‘If you insist, father, I will,’ the Subsequently, for three lifetimes, you were an boy replied. But the next day when the boy went emperor, and because you reveled in a worldly down to the beach as usual, no seagulls were in life you lost this power. I, on the other hand, sight. This story is believable if we accept the having continued to perfect myself, still retain fact that the birds sensed the boy’s intention to that power. That is why I was able, even before snare one of them and for that reason never ap- you were born, to predict that you would come peared. here.’ (This monk, I might say, in time became In this connection there’s a remarkable anec- one of the most distinguished masters in the dote involving a in ancient China history of Zen. In Japan he is known as Um- who had no head monk in his monastery. When mon.) asked by his monks why he did not appoint one When my own teacher, Harada-Roshi, relat- he replied, ‘My head monk has not yet been ed this story, he stated that its import could not born.’ The monks were perplexed by this cryp- be understood on the level of our puny intellect. tic answer. Sometime later the Master informed Lastly, there is also mutual sympathy and re- them, ‘My head monk has been born.’ This state- sponse between teacher and student. A teacher ment left them no less bewildered, but they did who is a strict disciplinarian will attract many not press him for an explanation. Again, many ardent disciples, whereas one who is lax will years later, the Master announced, ‘My head find himself surrounded by lukewarm students. monk has become a novitiate and is undergoing A competent teacher can help a student make training on a pilgrimage.’ The monks found this his mind a clean slate. The harder the student answer no more enlightening than the others. strives, the stricter the teacher’s guidance. Even- Then one day the Master told his monks, ‘Inas- tually this brings about enlightenment.

6 Donna Kowal Reflections on the Four Bodhisattvic Vows

roshi sunya kjolhede

Editor’s note : Roshi Sunya Kjolhede is a Dharma practitioners throughout this country and the heir of Roshi Philip Kapleau and the sister of Ro- world do the same. Versions of these vows may shi Bodhin Kjolhede. She teaches at the Windhorse vary slightly from one center to another—in Zen Community in Alexander, North Carolina, Rochester, for example, we opted for ‘liberate’ which she co-founded with Roshi Lawson Sachter. over the loaded verb ‘save.’ But we are all mak- The following article appeared in Zen Bow in 1997 ing the same essential declaration : that we will (vol. XIX, no. 3). strive endlessly to realize complete and perfect enlightenment not for ourself alone, but for the All beings, without number, I vow to liberate. benefit of all beings. And we will continue this work until every living being—down to each Endless blind passions I vow to uproot. single blade of grass—has attained full Buddha- Dharma gates, beyond measure, I vow to hood. penetrate. A tall order ! How are we to relate to such colossal vows ? Now and then someone, usually The great way of Buddha I vow to attain. someone new to practice, comes to dokusan and For centuries, the monastics have chanted these asks, ‘How can I, with all my defilements and Four Bodhisattvic Vows several times a day, limitations, presume to take this vow when it is always three times in succession. We do this obviously so completely beyond me to fulfill ?’ at the Rochester Zen Center, and other Zen Such uneasiness with the Four Vows, although 7 grounded in a distorted view, reveals a kind of ’s statement is profoundly radical. His honest engagement. At least such people are assertion clearly points to the transcendent na- hearing the vows and not just repeating them in ture of . a merely mechanical way. This Will to Enlightenment, latent in all liv- When this question about the vows comes up, ing beings but easily drowned out by the noise it is usually in . Not only do we chant of our everyday consciousness, needs constant the vows more frequently during sesshin, but nurturing to be brought to awareness. Doing za- in these deep, extended periods of zazen we zen, as well as reciting the Four Vows, chanting inevitably run smack into our ego—and find sutras, and performing prostrations, can all help ourselves face-to-face with our own very unbo- to open this Bodhi-heart. By giving ourselves dhisattvic motivations for spiritual practice : our fully to these activities—and to the changing craving for approval, the need to be special, to circumstances of our daily lives, without retreat- be admired, to get something that will ensure ing from them—we arouse and give expression our permanent personal ease and success. Our to the Mind that seeks the Way, establishing it habitual posturing, half-heartedness, heaviness, firmly in our own body-mind. pride, and competitiveness may all come into Here, in the bodhicitta, we find the true well- painfully sharp focus, along with so many other spring of our being—and the source and sub- permutations of our ingrained self-partiality. stance of the Four Vows. Here we contact the Not a pretty sight—no wonder doubts arise in warm beating heart of the Bodhisattva, the ar- the mind about our ability to liberate ‘all beings chetypal hero of Buddhism. Is there without number’ ! anything as uplifting, as sublimely ennobling as Clearly, as long as we identify the ‘I’ of the the Bodhisattva Ideal ? When we are moved, Four Vows with this mass of delusion, we can- sometimes to tears, by stories of humans and not accomplish the task of the Bodhisattva. It animals who risk or sacrifice their lives to save remains light-years beyond us. But all this greed, others, by scenes of self-transcendence in films, hostility, and ignorance is just flotsam tossing even by someone simply going out of his or her about on top of the waves, debris that has only way to help another—this ineffable upsurge of now been churned up and brought to the surface feeling is the Bodhi-heart both recognizing and through zazen. These afflictions begin to lose rejoicing in itself. their strong grip on us as soon as we recognize The Buddha himself never explicitly formu- them—as long as we neither act on them, nor lated a teaching of the Bodhisattva Ideal. This allow ourselves to be paralyzed by self-loathing is part of the , which were born and doubts. As we continue to dive into the si- several centuries after the Buddha’s Parinirva- lent depths of our being, beyond thought, we na. But the archetype of the Bodhisattva is un- eventually discover treasure : genuine compas- mistakably clear in the Jataka tales, which com- sion and love growing out of direct experience prise some of the earliest teachings of classical of our boundless connectedness with all life. Buddhism. And, of course, we have the vivid ex- This experience and the force of compassion ample of Shakyamuni himself. He was no cool, it releases is known as bodhicitta, translated as detached , standing alone and aloof on the the ‘Bodhi-heart’ or the ‘Will to Enlightenment highest mountain peak, serenely surveying the for the sake of all beings.’ Nagarjuna, one of the saha world, and passing blissfully into . most prominent figures in the history of Bud- He might have chosen to live out the remain- dhism, declared that bodhicitta is not included der of his life, after his Great Awakening, in this in the five skhandas of form, sensation, thought, way. According to the story, he very nearly did. volition, and consciousness. Since the Bud- Instead, he took the next crucial step. dha taught that all phenomena could be bro- With clear eyes and a heart and mind wide ken down into these five primary constituents, open, the Buddha walked down the mountain 8 and plunged into the marketplace. And here he Buddha’s time. In Zen, this ‘entering the mar- spent the rest of his life, shirt sleeves rolled up, ketplace with helping hands,’ depicted in the last ‘mingling with snakes and dragons,’ teaching, re- frame of the Ten Oxherding Pictures, is upheld sponding, totally involved. With unlimited wis- as the highest level of human functioning. And dom and skillful means, he embraced whatever it is exactly this heart of boundless wisdom and or whomever came before him : mothers stricken compassion that the Four Vows, in the vastness with grief, serial killers, murderous cousins and of their scope, challenge us to live up to. In re- charging elephants, armies and prostitutes and citing these vows, not with our mouths but with troublesome monks. Like the ultimate country our tissues and bones, we pledge ourselves to ac- doctor, the Buddha walked throughout India, complish the seemingly impossible. To prevail, working tirelessly to heal the sicknesses and up- we must leap beyond the narrow constraints of root the sufferings of countless beings, exhort- conceptual thought and self-absorption, let go ing his awakened disciples to do the same. of doubts and fears rooted in our supposed iden- Even if the story of the Buddha were to be dis- tity with this finite body-mind, and allow this ‘I’ proved as historical fact, what would it matter ? to return to its natural, all-embracing condition. As Black Elk put it, ‘I cannot tell you whether The Four Vows call on us to realize and live this actually happened, but if you think about up to the actual truth of our being—to be the it, you will know that it is true.’ The Bodhisat- Great Way of the Buddha. When this true No- tva Ideal, so beautifully demonstrated in the life self ‘covers and permeates the sky and the earth,’ of Shakyamuni, only mirrors our own essential what Dharma gates are not penetrated ? What nature. It is an ideal that has been actually expe- blind passions are not uprooted ? And where do rienced and lived by countless people since the we find any beings outside ourselves to liberate ?

Right Livelihood : The Thousand Arms of Kannon

randy baker

Editor’s note : Randy Baker is a former student of that seeks the Way,’ the effort to penetrate be- Roshi Philip Kapleau who trained at the Roches- yond the veil of illusory thought. The inherent ter Zen Center. After twenty years of Zen practice, promise is that thoroughgoing commitment to he took up the practice of Vipassana Buddhism. He this exertion will unerringly result in the awak- is currently a teacher at Satipañña Insight Medi- ening of our True Mind. tation in Toronto, Canada. The following article Throughout the earlier centuries of Buddhist appeared in Zen Bow in 1990 (vol. XI, no. 4). history, the path of the monastic was often un- derstood as the sole mode of life truly conducive Subject to decay are all composite things. to enlightenment. In modern times, the Mahay- Strive diligently for liberation. ana conception of liberation as available to any- one willing to seek it assiduously is coming to These words, the Buddha’s last, cleanly sum up the fore as lay people from all walks of life seek both the difficulty and the promise of Buddhist to integrate practice and realization into their teaching from his time down to our own. Re- lives. In this context, the fifth item of the Eight- quired of us is unceasing arousal of ‘the Mind fold Path, Right Livelihood, gains tremendous 9 Tom Kowal significance for people concerned with the es- be aware of compromises—ethical or otherwise, tablishment of the Buddhadharma in the West. however slight—that one makes in work no The Dharma is said to be ‘incomparably pro- matter what the nature of the work may be (this found and minutely subtle.’ Buddhist doctrine, point will be addressed in more detail later). the outward form given to express this mind, re- However, there are some jobs or vocations that veals new and deeper levels as practice continues, seem more than others to live up to the standards and Right Livelihood may be seen from many of the Precepts due to their obvious benefits to aspects. From one crucial standpoint, Right sentient beings. Among these might be work- Livelihood is approached through the Precepts. ing for the preservation of the environment, as Thus certain occupations are undesirable due to a doctor or a nurse, or on staff at a Zen center. their contributing to pain or degradation in the Most types of work might seem to live between lives of others. Any work involving killing, the the two extremes, more or less in a kind of ‘kar- sale of weapons, sexual impropriety, or the pur- mic neutral zone.’ However, while the negativity veying of ‘substances that impair the mind’ is a of those occupations which clearly violate the breach of the Precepts bearing on these matters. Precepts is undeniable, the relative ‘goodness’ of Needless to say, consideration of one’s liveli- other types of work really depends not on what hood in light of the Precepts may be very com- the work is so much as on how one performs it. plex in today’s endlessly interwoven civilization. This matter of how we work is an essential For example, people involved in marketing or one, one that is often overlooked ; unless we ac- sales might consider the ecological and social ef- knowledge its importance and seek to practice fects of the products or services they promote. it, there are at least two mistakes, opposites of Actually, if one is even a little sensitive, one will each other, that we can fall into. The first is an

10 all-too-common feeling that one’s work is in- compassion and the most effectual execution of significant or of indifferent value in the larger the work at hand. picture. Yet the Dharma teaches that, from the It may be difficult to find the faith to act absolute standpoint, the whole universe is pres- on the above truths, to begin taking the steps ent in each and every thing, and all time in a necessary to shatter the ego’s iron hold on our moment. Thus our own ideas of limitation are consciousness. Similarly, people new to practice the only limits on the significance of our every often feel doubts about their ability to ‘live up action. The more we succeed in shedding these to’ some of the new things they are learning. For ideas, the more we live and act out of the truth. example, they may feel ‘How can I “liberate all How can we work in this way ? beings without number”’ ? As always, one is en- A master said : Do not be attached to the couraged to simply put oneself as fully as pos- events of your daily life, but never separate your- sible into the chanting of the Four Vows—time self from them. and time again. Doing so, one gradually learns All practices in Zen are in essence the prac- in the best way possible—through one’s own tice of attention. practice, too, in its utter deepening experience—that one is actually un- questioning, is simply a means to free the mind limited. ‘My body is so big I don’t know where of its intense ego-involvement, thereby to open to put it,’ in Zen master Mumon’s phrase. More it to what is. This questioning is in fact the es- and more one realizes that benefit flows out- sence of attention : if attention to things is to- ward at the deepest levels from such no-minded tal, their ineffability—their actual nature—is activity, benefit that embraces ‘all sentient be- revealed. In giving ourselves fully to each mo- ings and inanimate things,’ as we chant in the ment, each activity, we are cultivating , Repentance Ceremony. just as when we sit. In The Wheel of Life and But it is relatively easy to do this in special Death, Roshi Kapleau defines ‘limited, or posi- situations such as chanting, ceremonies, and ses- tive, samadhi’ as ‘partial unity with an object or shin. It may be harder to practice in the more action.’ Moreover, he says, ‘The more you culti- mundane circumstances of work, but we can act vate oneness in your life, the easier it becomes out of the awareness that in our True Nature to achieve positive samadhi.’ The effort to live there is no ‘hierarchy of activities.’ If we focus in this manner is inseparable from the concen- our minds as thoroughly in all our activities, the trative work one does on the mat and from the same benefit flows as fully. And it is precisely deeper states one may attain there. due to its greater difficulty that in Attention in the midst of activity must be in- activity can be even more strengthening. Every ner as well as outer. States of mind and body, as activity, every motion, imperceptibly becomes they arise, can be experienced fully and, to one the healing work of Kannon. degree or another, transcended. What better But if every activity may foster practice and environment for working on these things than realization, there is no activity or type of work that of our jobs ? There is no individual, and no that does so inherently : the work of arousing workplace, that is without difficulty and chal- the Mind must be present. The danger opposite lenge. Yet when we face others, we are present- that of downgrading one’s work is thinking that, ed only with ourselves. Speaking from the rela- because one works in a certain environment, tive standpoint, when attention is removed from one is automatically engaged in Right Liveli- consideration of the ego-self, from the sense of hood. One may work for a peace organization, self-and-other, responses to all situations be- but Solzhenitsyn’s point that ‘the line between come clean and forthright, fitting naturally to good and evil runs down the middle of every circumstances and the people involved in them. human heart’ demonstrates that, if such a person When the mind is clarified the direct result is is not working on himself or herself, the cause of

11 peace is not served. Again, working as a doctor some level of waste to be effective. To act re- or at a Zen center, does not, of itself, guarantee sponsibly in the midst of this means to be thor- that one is working for the welfare of others, or oughly but unselfishly involved, as informed as even for one’s own welfare. The key is self-culti- possible about the effects of one’s actions, and vation. Or its absence. seeking to minimize their negative impact. This Another aspect of Right Livelihood involves is really to find a ‘.’ But to bring out the effort to find work for which one is suited fully the compassion and wisdom that is the (which may be different from work which suits highest potential of our lives, even a further step oneself ). It is, of course, appropriate to seek work is needed. that accords with one’s talents and affinities. Our teachers point out that internal and ex- But here, as always, one must seek the Middle ternal conflicts will arise as long as there are Way. If one hopes for an ideal work situation, traces of self-and-other in our perceptions. As one will find only barriers. Moreover, there may long as we live even partially through this de- be times in our lives when we feel compelled to lusion—for example, thinking ‘I must be en- accept the work that is available for financial or vironmentally responsible’—we act out of ego, other reasons. In any case, one must realize that augmenting separation. Moreover, still bound ultimately there is no such thing as an alienat- by judgments, we perceive actions and beings ing situation—or a boring one, for that matter. through this lens of separation, even as our True There are only alienated, or bored, people ; and Nature is beyond all distinctions. Until we un- both of these mind-states arise, again, from in- derstand this last point fully, the struggle to act sufficient attention to inner and outer circum- and live rightly continues : it is in this very strug- stances. Where the mind is fully honed, there gle that liberation is uncovered. is no difficulty. Of course, this line of reasoning The mind of actualized practice at work is could easily be misused to harmful ends by those beyond ideas of Right Livelihood, and beyond seeking to exploit others. It should be used rath- all other ideas as well. It is aptly summed up by er as a reminder to ourselves of the potential for a true story, here paraphrased, in Zen : Merging awakening in every situation. Each person alone of East and West. In the 1950’s, a young Philip must find this balance. Kapleau met a Japanese doctor who was also a Having said this, we can again touch upon a member of Yasutani-Roshi’s zazen group. The point mentioned earlier. In the present world, man had begun practicing medicine during it is probably inevitable that one’s work, and wwii, his first patients victims of the unimagi- one’s life generally, involve many compromises. nable sufferings of war. After the war he had As any sensitive person will be aware, few if any almost given up medicine in despair : ‘Why of our choices are without repercussions some- should I practice medicine when people are all where in the vast and complex ecological, social, going to suffer and die anyway ?’ After having and political networks in which we live. Even devoted himself to zazen, seated and active, for those directly working for environmental causes some years, he came to kensho and found the must use electricity and automobiles, and create answer to his question : ‘Because you’re a doctor !’

12 Amaury Cruz Kyogen’s Man Up a Tree

roshi philip kapleau

Editor’s note : This article is based on a teisho given Kyogen, who is eleventh in the line of Zen af- by Roshi Philip Kapleau during a seven-day sesshin ter , was a disciple of Zen master in October 1972. The teisho also appeared in Zen Isan. He is said to have been seven feet tall, very Bow in 1972 (vol. V, no. 4). clever and learned, and that this stood in the way of his enlightenment. Our koan today, case number 5 in the Mumonk- When he came before his teacher Isan for the an, is titled ‘Kyogen’s Man Up a Tree.’ It reads : first time, Isan, recognizing his innate capabili- ‘Kyogen said, “It [meaning Zen] is like a man ties—that is, capability of grasping the truth— up a tree hanging from a branch with his mouth. said to him, ‘I do not ask you concerning the His hands can’t grasp a bough, his feet won’t learning and book-knowledge you have accu- reach one. Under the tree there is another man mulated during your life. Before you came out who asks him the meaning of Bodhidharma’s of your mother’s womb, before you knew this coming from the West. If he doesn’t answer, he from that, give me an original word from the evades his duty. If he does answer, he may lose bottom of your mind showing the genuine re- his life. What should he do ?’” alization of Truth. Tell me, what is it ?’ Kyogen As I am more familiar with the Japanese stood there stupidly, unable to answer. Then af- pronunciation of the Chinese masters’ names, I ter remaining silent for some time he began to will refer to them in that manner throughout. explain, in many words, his view of the matter. 13 But Isan wouldn’t listen. At last Kyogen said, need feel discouraged. Since this enlightened ‘Please explain to me.’ Isan said, ‘My explanation Mind is common to all existence, each of us has would express my own realization. Of what use the capability of awakening to it. Concerning would it be to you ?’ So Kyogen went back to his this Mind we can say what a mystic in another room and searched among his books and lecture tradition said of God : ‘Of all things it is impos- notes for some sentence, some passage, to use as sible to seek God without having already found an answer. But not one could he find. So he said, Him.’ This, in fact, is the impetus toward zazen. ‘You can’t fill an empty stomach with a picture To return to the case : ‘Under the tree there of food,’ and burned up all his books and note- is another man who asks him, “What is the books and decided, ‘In this life it will be impos- meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the sible for me to come to a knowledge of Truth, West ?’”—that is, from India to China. When so I will spend the rest of my days as a rice-gruel I was training in Japan, ordinary Japanese were monk and avoid troubling my peace of mind.’ constantly asking me, ‘Why did you come to Ja- (A rice-gruel monk is one who’s not good for pan to study and practice Zen ? Why did you anything except eating.) And with tears he left leave the comforts of your American way of life Isan and settled down in Nanyang. Here he for the austerities of a Japanese monastery ?’ Why simply gave up all his intellectual work and just indeed ? Why did Bodhidharma, who is said to took care of his small place. One day as he was have been a prince, leave his royal life of ease in clearing the undergrowth and sweeping, a stone India and, at an advanced age, risk the dangers struck a bamboo. Bursting into a loud shout of of the hazardous journey to China in the sixth joy at the sound, he suddenly became enlight- century ? What meaning did his coming, his do- ened. Returning to his hut he made prostrations, ing zazen for nine years facing the wall, have for offered incense, and then, prostrating himself in the Chinese ? What meaning has it for us ? Had the direction of Isan’s temple, said, ‘Thanks to he realized something profound and mysterious the deep kindness of the Master, I have returned and wonderful which he wanted to communi- to my parents. If at that time he had explained cate ? And how did he convey it ? Don’t imagine things to me, this would never have happened.’ this koan is just a teaser having nothing to do My teacher Harada-Roshi used to say that with the realities of your life. If you truly under- because scholars and intellectuals are always stand, you know it does nothing less than point trafficking in ideas, it is more difficult for them to your all-embracing True Mind. to reach Awakening than for those not so bur- So here is this hapless monk holding on with dened. He would also say that women usually all his might to a branch with his teeth—obvi- come to enlightenment quicker than men main- ously those teeth are not false ones. What a di- ly because their minds do not harbor and play lemma ! Zen Master Dogen says, ‘When a man with concepts the way men’s do. But then he gives you the Truth from your right shoulder, it would add—after all, Harada-Roshi had been is your duty to pass it on to someone who asks a college professor himself for fourteen years— for it on your left. If you hear the Truth from ‘When the highly intellectual person does break a man in front, you are obliged to pass it on to through, usually it’s a very thorough break- someone back of you.’ And if you are up a tree through.’ Furthermore, the individual with the hanging by your teeth and someone below sin- keen mind, the sort who loves to engage in sub- cerely asks for the truth, you must respond ! Just tle arguments and close reasoning, when he does look at that tree-hanger—grrrr, swinging and open his Mind’s eye can more effectively teach trying to hold on ! And yet, and yet—might he than one whose mind is not so subtle. The point somehow be answering that momentous ques- is that no one, neither the dull nor the bright, tion ? If so, in what way ?

14 Before enlightenment we are all up a tree dozen well-chosen words or would you, your hanging on by the skin of our teeth. Whenever face wreathed in an archaic smile, remain silent ? we open our mouths to explain or complain, we Would that last really be an answer ? What is fall from grace into a painful world of fear and the meaning of the sun’s shining ? What is the suspicion, loneliness and grief. ‘Fools will give meaning of rain or thunder ? What is the mean- you reasons, wise men never try,’ as the old song ing of a squirrel having a bushy tail, a dog a had it. Then what to do ? What to do ? straight one ? What is the meaning of Bodhid- Are we to remain forever silent ? After all, our harma’s coming from the West ? ability to think and speak is what distinguishes The story is told of a famous concert pia- us from animals. So it is not silence or speech nist who once played a dissonant contempo- but the understanding, the egolessness, infusing rary piece at a private gathering. After he had our stillness or talking that matters. When we finished, an old lady came up to him and said, are being abused do we argue and fight back or ‘I just don’t understand that piece. What does do we stand humbly mute ? When we see evil it mean ?’ Without a word the pianist played and violence being perpetrated, do we remain it again. Then turning to the old lady, he said silent or do we speak out against it ? Silence may sweetly, ‘That’s what it means !’ be golden but it can also be yellow. Now Mumon’s verse : ‘Though your elo- What would you say if someone asked about quence flows like a river, it is all of no avail. the innermost truth of Zen—for that is the Even if you can explain the whole body of the problem the koan is posing. Would you elo- Buddha’s sutras, that also is useless. If you can quently discourse on the Buddha’s Dharma ? Or answer the problem properly, you can kill the would you shout ‘Kwatz ! ’ ? Of course, up a tree living, bring the dead to life. But if you can’t hanging by your teeth you could make that mis- answer, you must ask when he comes.’ take only once. Or in another situation would The sutras are the entombed words which you make like a ‘liberated’ Zen man and slam once issued from the realized Mind of the Bud- the table with your fist ? Don’t be a phony ! Be a dha. They tilt in the direction of Truth but must man ‘without rank,’ as Zen Master Rinzai puts not be mistaken for it. Zen, mind you, does not it, a man who denies ‘I’ and rises above his fel- put down or discard the sutras ; it simply warns low man, free from all airs. A man who at every that they are the finger pointing to the Moon, moment, whether walking or sitting, eating or but not the Moon (Mind) itself. This is why excreting, blends in, blends with every situation. Zen alone of all the Buddhist sects does not base A man whose mind is not captive to thoughts of itself on one or more sutras. past glories and failures or present worries and The truth is more than anything that can be future hopes. A man without opinions or ideals. said about it. The dead word is the explanatory Sounds bleak, does it ? ‘Opinion,’ says Voltaire, word, devoid of flesh and blood and marrow. All ‘has caused more suffering then all the epidem- explanations and descriptions are a peephole on ics put together.’ As for ideals, be a real man, a limitless universe. Says Zen Master Hakuin : not an ideal one, for the real man is all right, The measure of words the ideal one all wrong. Train yourself through is like the seas and the mountains— zazen to feel and act instead of merely to think nothing but an overflow of delusions. and talk. Another thing : people are forever asking, ‘If you can answer the problem properly ‘What is the meaning of life ?’ If you, a Zen you can kill the living, bring the dead to life.’ practitioner, were asked that question, how Those who live in their egos are already as good would you respond ? Would you explain in a few as dead, their enormous potential for love and

15 creativity throttled. They dig their graves with the monks’ mouths and then watches them in- their heads, with their weighing and analyz- tensely with the black, piercing eyes of a devil.’ ing, their reasoning and explaining, their likes This praise-by-slander is characteristic of Zen. and dislikes. Others with maddeningly active The masters abhor what Harada-Roshi used to egos live scattered, hustling lives, always on the call ‘powder-and-rouge’ expressions, endearing go, like a stirring spoon. Outwardly they seem terms which lead to bedeviling attachments. If brimful of energy and purpose, yet inwardly they we habitually speak of our True-mind as the are confused and uncertain, dominated by drives ‘Treasure Gem of Freewill,’ for example, or if we and corroding fears. When they cease judging idolize the Buddha as the ‘Savior of the World,’ and weighing, arguing and game playing, and or if we eulogize Bodhidharma as our ‘Glori- become quiet and centered, they experience a ous Founder,’ we gild the lily, defiling our mind. world new to them in peace and wonder. That Elsewhere Mumon says of Bodhidharma : ‘That is, once they slay this cancerous self called ‘I,’ broken-toothed old foreigner who importantly the product of ignorance and fear, and bring to crossed the sea from 100,000 miles away ... He life in themselves their true, unblemished Mind, had only one disciple and even he was a cripple. they experience a living ‘we’ instead of a dead Well, well !’ Isn’t that marvelous ? Where but in ‘me.’ This is killing the living, bringing the dead Zen can you find such ‘respectful disrespect’ and to life. This is the miracle of zazen. such ‘disrespectful respect’ ? ‘But if you can’t answer, you must ask Mai- Actually Mumon is praising Kyogen in re- treya when he comes.’ Maitreya—Miroku in verse for his compassion and wisdom, for his Japanese—is the Bodhisattva who will become courage to dramatically cut from under his dis- the Buddha of the next world cycle. He is now ciples their ego props of endless verbalizing, said to be in the Tushita Heaven, where he will of clinging to names and forms and concepts. remain for some 5,000 years until his Buddha- Having done that, Kyogen, concerned master hood has matured. So here’s the message : If you that he is, intently watches them for the telltale think you can come to Enlightenment riding signs of awakened Understanding. on the back of explanations and conceptions— forget it ! You’ve got about as much chance as a Reference : , compiled by Zen Mas- snowflake in hell ! ter Mumonkan (Ch. Wu-men) in the year 1229. English Now Mumon’s verse : ‘Kyogen really has bad translation by R.H. Blyth. taste. He is endlessly malicious. He stops up

16 Letters to Roshi Philip Kapleau

Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede’s note : During the Zen with sense objects, like forms, sounds, physical Center’s early years, it was a common practice for pain, or mental anguish, we slowly learn to be- Zen Bow to feature letters written to Roshi Ka- come ever increasingly quiet and motionless in pleau about sesshin experiences. The experiences the face of these, until, eventually, we reach such recounted in the following letters, all published in a degree of inner silence and stillness, that we 1971 (vol. IV, no. 6), are not unique to that time. merely experience ourselves as the most infini- They are also the experiences of sesshin participants tesimally minute vibration. Strangely enough, before then and since then. If not common, they are this very pinpoint existence flows directly out of timeless. But the fact that so many appeared in Zen monumental, convulsive, back, heart, and mind- Bow at that time does reflect something particular breaking exertion during Zen sitting. When, to the Center’s earlier years. Sesshin was still some- at some instant, we have vanished entirely, the what new to the West, and Roshi Kapleau evident- sound of the gong drowns the entire universe, ly felt that, just as the enlightenment accounts in flowers leap out of the vase, and every footstep The Three Pillars of Zen had led so many of us radiates throughout the ten quarters. to practice Zen, these later letters could lead Cen- On this Path, all sense objects, all sufferings ter members to venture into this most concentrated and all pains, can be used as the most welcome, form of Zen practice. Though meant for inspiration, helpful tools. We use them tirelessly to learn letters like these, which have appeared since ancient to become ever increasingly noiseless, still, and times in the texts of our tradition, regrettably can motionless in their very presence. Only when leave readers without similar experiences feeling di- utterly diminished ourselves can we thoroughly minished by comparison. We can only hope that far penetrate and understand them. At this moment more people will derive sustenance from these ac- of oneness they are clearly realized for what they counts. After all, what one person has done, anyone are : entirely without substance, entirely without can do. threat and without harm. This is the meaning 0c- of the Buddha’s and the end of all suffering. All there remains is an over- January 12, 1970 whelming outflow of bliss, vigor, gratitude, and infinite, all-embracing love. Dear Roshi : This is inexpressibly marvelous. Infinite Here are a few lines that emerged after the last thanks for the last sesshin. sesshin. In the beginning, when hearing of Zen mas- Lovingly, ters saying : ‘You are that mass of yellow flowers,’ ___ or ‘You must become that sound of the bell,’ we 0c- regard this as utterly fantastic, mysterious, and unfathomable. Mistakenly we think that we, as January 11, 1971 we know ourselves right then and there, in our most everyday aspects, will at some time expe- Dear Roshi : rience a sudden transformation into sounds or How can one help but write to you after this flowers that are essentially outside of ourselves. past sesshin and say thank you, to you and all This is not so. In Zen practice, while in contact buddhas and bodhisattvas everywhere. 17 Danne Eriksson

These last four days of sesshin have been It is so hard to contain this joy, except to offer somewhat like a miracle, and because of the ef- it back to the earth and sky and countless uni- fort of all these people, the Buddha-seed has verses from where it came. sprouted above the dark, damp earth and grown Never before have I seen so clearly the impor- in leaps and bounds. tance of the continued deepening and strength- Never again could I possibly doubt the sus- ening of one’s practice and realized the appall- taining power that one’s zazen has on all sentient ing short-sightedness of my aspiration to be a beings everywhere. It is completely amazing to teacher. me how, during this past sesshin, my practice What a wonderful gift have been these last deepened and deepened—but not through my four days. own efforts, only through the efforts of everyone Thank you ! Thank you everyone ! working hard at the sesshin ! How all the buddhas must sing praises as ___ loud and clear as they can as they feel us clearing 0c- our minds and purifying our hearts ! And how May 5, 1971 wonderful that our efforts are the life-giving nu- triments which sustain all buddhas ! How won- Dear Roshi : derful indeed ! With every sesshin, like the one just past, 10, Please forgive the rather confused letter I sent to or 100, or 10,000 buddhas are born in all the you right after the January sesshin. I was still so ten directions. I say thank you again and again ! excited when I wrote it that I am afraid it didn’t 18 make much sense. There is no doubt, howev- accomplishment was learning to count to ten, I er, that the sesshin had a tremendous impact. really feel renewed—more buoyant and awake Something happened at the end that defies de- and full of energy and determination to do za- scription, but that felt like an explosion of joy. zen more faithfully, to keep random thoughts at Since then many things have been different. I a minimum, and to live more closely by the Zen am beginning to discover the true meaning of precepts. ‘attention’ and can at times stay in the present Your always inspiring words, the beautiful for appreciable periods of time. rituals, and the whole way of life at the Center Some attachments have dropped away al- all work together to create an atmosphere where ready, others have nearly gone. You predicted the smallest thing can move one to tears of won- correctly that I would not even be aware of them der, appreciation, love or compassion—you’re when they left, but would later miss them. The not sure which, exactly. I kept my tears bottled most important ones that have gone are the at- up, however, not realizing until near the end tachments to mother, father, and sex. Their dis- that one is just supposed to let them flow. Next appearance has created a new horizon of free- time I’ll probably produce a junior Niagara ! dom. Almost gone is an old pattern of behavior I thank you again for opening my eyes to new that has always been self-defeating. ways of thinking, and providing my life with a Sitting in zazen is now quite different. It feels greater sense of purpose and direction. perfectly natural to sit 35 to 45 minutes without strain … . I discovered recently that I am no Sincerely, longer frantically striving for enlightenment, but ___ am content to become wholly absorbed in my practice … . 0c- My gratitude knows no limits. I have received November 4, 1971 so much more than I have been able to give, that the only way I can repay you is to help others. Dear Roshi : The vow of the Bodhisattva seems very compel- ling and the only path to follow … . Such a great sesshin ! (Not that I could imagine any that would be otherwise !) Gassho, One of the highlights occurred for me when I ___ was in a moment of utter despair. I was so des- 0c- perate to get rid of my proud, selfish, and com- plaining, niggling ego for once and for all, and May 11, 1971 to free my mind finally from the anguish of its torturing concepts. I could smell that ‘cheese’ Dear Mr. Kapleau : you mentioned so very close, yet I couldn’t seem to do the thing that would get me through that I’m sorry we didn’t have an opportunity to say wall. Was it an act of grace, I wondered, that I goodbye at the end of sesshin. I was too near was waiting for ? But grace from where ? I felt tears to be able to speak to you immediately af- the awful bind of man : frozen in time and place, ter sesshin (being still much too egotistical to he knows nothing, can do nothing ! Then loomed cry in public) and after dinner we went to ___’s the devastating possibility of having to return house … so I missed any chance later to talk to home and continue my practice without any dis- you. cernible signs of progress whatsoever. Yet I must I just want to thank you for the most wonder- persist. But how ? I was desperate for all the help ful experience of my life. Even though my only I could get, so I kept asking for the kyosaku. For

19 most of the sesshin it seemed like a mere mos- der the tendency to overeat—when one’s habit quito bite compared to the excruciating pain in has been to blindly and irreverently gulp down my legs, and neither seemed enough (although one’s meal with scarcely a glance at what one the monitors’ presence was sustaining). In the is so busily shoveling in ! The formality of the last few hours the stick was laid on with a heavi- tea ceremony seemed such an excellent way to er hand. But finally I reached a point where I begin the sesshin. Somehow it seemed so much felt too physically shattered to be able to ask for more satisfying, too, for us to share our first full it anymore. Anyhow, I thought, in utter (blind) meal together only after we have all been work- despair, even if they broke my collarbone, it still ing together for some time. wouldn’t be any use. No one can help me to get Another insight came through the work pe- through that wall. Suddenly I felt the touch of riod. For years that Biblical story about Martha your compassionate hands very gently adjusting and Mary has been perplexing me. If you recall, my posture. I was so grateful I cried. Martha bitterly complained that her sister Mary It seems that each sesshin provides the insight was talking with Christ instead of helping her in necessary to one at that particularly needful mo- the kitchen. I always tended to sympathize with ment of his practice. The first sesshin gave me Martha. This sesshin my work assignment was the awakening jolt necessary to show me the in the kitchen, and while I was mindful of the path I must take in the way of life possible to one great importance the kitchen has in Zen and a through Zen. The great lesson I learned from little nervous about being assigned there, I must this most recent sesshin … was that ‘last month’s confess that I was also somewhat resentful that effort was not true effort,’ and I see how much the greater and more complicated work load harder I will have to exert myself in the future. If depleted my rest periods, which I had so been you recall, you said to me at one dokusan as I sat counting on. I was peeved, too, when an anxiety before you without a cushion, that my legs must about some complication of the work schedule be stronger than I thought. When I was back would suddenly bother me during zazen. I felt I down in the zendo doing zazen again—and not had already enough problems of my own to cope lying down as I had hoped you would suggest with ! On one occasion, too, for some reason— when I complained of nausea—not even with possibly confusion due to fatigue—my attention a chair, as you advised me to use one only as wasn’t quite with the task I was doing and I un- an extreme last resort—I decided that you must intentionally didn’t do it as carefully as it’s re- mean for me to stop babying myself and that my quired. It was nothing that anyone would know endurance too was greater than I had believed. about, or could possibly notice—but it bothered This acted as a spur to enable me to discover a me so much as to seriously interfere with my depth of strength I didn’t know existed. practice. Suddenly then I realized that why, yes, Even though life’s meaningfulness to me is in of course—it is for ourselves that we are doing the act of trying, the concept of ‘trying’ has now the work ! I see, too, that I had been making a taken on new dimensions ! sort of idol of the zendo, regarding work done How relieved I was this sesshin to be able there as somehow more special. But now I see to eat the food ! Was it possible, I continually that the kitchen and zendo are one ! wondered, that this was the same food that had Now that I am back home again I panic. Sud- made me ill during my first sesshin ? Those ap- denly I am aware that here there is no Roshi, no ples and bananas tasted like pure ambrosia ! I see dokusan, no monitors with their kyosakus, no now that it is just yet another aspect of one’s ideal sesshin conditions. How especially grate- awakening mind. It was so wonderful to have ful I am now to have brought back with me this that silence at meals, too, and thus the oppor- lesson of perseverance to sustain me during the tunity to fully experience the eating. No won- difficult days I anticipate ahead. Yet others, I -re der that one has stomach complaints, no won- mind myself, must be returning to more difficult 20 and isolated circumstances. I, fortunately, have Now to continue the work on myself in prep- the ___ zendo, and my friends in the ___ Zen aration for my next sesshin, which I am deter- group here to encourage me. The excruciating mined must be a seven-day one. But, of course, pain persists, but I perceive it as really a bless- one works not just for another sesshin. Rather, ing—the necessary prod for my self-indulgent as a friend said, ‘It is a way of life.’ nature. All distractions, I now see, must be used It was such a privilege and joy to be able to in this way to urge one to a deeper effort. Before participate with you and the other Center resi- this week I used to think that the ‘battle to the dence and members at this sesshin. death’ occurred only at , but now I see it My warm wishes to all. continues every second, every day ! I am selfishly glad that you yourself went through a long and Gratefully, arduous trial before you reached enlightenment. Yours in gassho, How deeply comforting it is to see your foot- prints before me on the path ! ___

Bowing : An Unsolicited Contribution from One Who Cares for the Way

john blofeld Editor’s note : John Blofeld (1913-1987) was a tice. Without it, Enlightenment can never be scholar, writer, and translator of Asian philoso- attained !’ phy and religion, especially Buddhism and Taoism. Prostrations and offerings are admittedly just His books include The Zen Teaching of Huang forms—just a human way of expressing what Po : On the Transmission of Mind (1958), The cats express by rubbing themselves against a Wheel of Life : The Autobiography of a West- beloved person’s legs. If it were a natural for ern Buddhist (1959), Bodhisattva of Compas- humans to stand on their heads or stick out sion : The Mystical Tradition of Kwan Yin their rumps to express reverence, then Bud- (1970), and many others. The following article ap- dhists would stand on their heads or stick out peared in Zen Bow in 1982 (vol. IV, no. 4). their rumps as a matter of course. Forms do not matter in themselves, but the attitude of mind Since Buddhism arrived in the West, inevitably symbolized by prostrations, etc. is of stupendous some people have felt, ‘Zazen is good, compas- importance to followers of the Way. sion is good, self-discipline is good, but why all My Tibetan told me at a very early stage this bowing and incense ? To whom does one of my training : ‘Ignorant people adopt the at- offer incense and flowers ?’ To this all the Bud- titude of subject to king before a Buddha statue. dhists of the past and all Asian Buddhists today Higher-level practice is performed wholly in the would answer with one voice : ‘Dear friends, a mind. Yet even if you attain the highest possible spirit of reverence is essential to successful prac- level—hard indeed to reach in one lifetime—you 21 must daily alternate formless, wordless, above- The Buddha is not a god and long ago passed conceptual practice with bowing down and into ultimate Nirvana. When we make pros- making offerings. Never fail in that.’ My Chi- trations and offer flowers, not only is there no nese Ch’an (Zen) teacher told me : ‘In between one to demand, require, or relish our obeisances, your rounds of meditation, practice bowing, of- but also no one but ourselves and possibly some fering incense, and making circumambulations. onlookers to know that we have made them ! If you have no spirit of reverence, no feeling of Even so, they must be made if we are to attain awe for all that lies beyond the confines of that Enlightenment. Why ? Because our ghostly ‘I’ miserably circumscribed illusion you suppose to must be humbled to the point of extinction be- be your ‘me,’ you will make no progress. Why ? fore Enlightenment is won ; because that ghost Because, when your practice improves you will is enormously powerful and positively thrives reflect : ‘I did better in my meditation just now’ on such thoughts as ‘I have no need of outward and by so thinking, fall back to the lowest level forms’ ; because it is a simple and wholesome of ignorance owing to the consequent inflation practice to show gratitude to our benefactors by of your devilish ‘I’ ! outward forms (as is done at Arlington Cem- Those Zen monks who said, ‘meet the Bud- etery and London’s Cenotaph to the Unknown dha, kill the Buddha’ or advocated using Bud- Soldier, though he is not expected to be aware dha figures as firewood, etc. were not talking to of the reverence so offered) ; and because stat- Americans or to new Buddhists, but to Chinese ues of buddhas and bodhisattvas are symbols of or followers who could be count- exalted possibilities and ideals, so charged with ed upon to understand the meaning of such in- power by the thoughts and aspirations of their structions, which really amounted to : ‘Never for creators and beholders, that the positive ener- one moment suppose that veneration of sutras gies flow from them to us, imbuing us with joy ; or images is of much use in itself, so don’t let it giving rise to higher levels of intuitive under- replace the rest of your practice, as it often does standing ; augmenting our realization of unity with ignorant people.’ I doubt if it ever entered with all the millions of beings, past and present, their minds that one day there would be people who have trod or are now treading the selfsame in the world who would take these powerful Path toward the summit of Wisdom and Com- (and humorous) injunctions literally ! passion ; and thereby greatly strengthening our If it is wrong to have and to symbolize atti- resolve to leap from the confines of illusory ego- tudes of reverence, awe, and gratitude by prostra- hood into reality so vast that the entire universe tions and offerings, then all Buddhists have been is found to be no other than our true self. wrong since the Dharma was first preached in Humbly I prostrate myself before the Blessed this current 2500 and more years ago. Can One, the Holy One, the Supremely Enlightened it be possible that those hundreds of millions of One, and thus express my admiration of, and people at all levels of dedication to the practice true identity with, all sentient beings. May all of we so greatly value included no single man or them win happiness ! woman until Buddhism reached America ?

22 Amaury Cruz Bodhisattva of Infinite Love and Compassion

toni packer

Editor’s note : As a student of Roshi Kapleau, Toni cupying center stage ? Listening carefully, atten- Packer (1927-2013) was given permission to teach tively, not only to familiar words, but also seeing in 1979. She also served as director of the Zen Center what is going on within oneself ? When there is for a brief period while Roshi Kapleau was in New this total listening, then there is neither teacher Mexico. Toni eventually decided to depart from Zen nor student—no one who talks and no one who Buddhiism and founded the Springwater Center listens. for Meditative Inquiry. Adapted from a teisho she Two of the daily chants, the Kanzeon and the gave in July 1980, this short piece appeared in Zen Prajna Paramita, are about the Bodhisattva of Bow in spring 1981 (vol. III, no. 2). Compassion—Avalokite�vara in , Kuan Yin in Chinese, and Kanzeon or Kannon in Jap- Listening to teisho (reading these words), can anese. And in English ? No name—how won- one be all there, completely undivided ? Not get- derful ! Just love and compassion. Infinite love ting entangled in personal concerns, one’s favor- and compassion. A wellspring of unceasing love ite ideas and opinions, all the images one has and compassion. That is what the Bodhisattva about oneself and others ? Not comparing what stands for, sits for, lives for. Just lives—not for one hears with what one already knows from anything. memory—not resisting in any way ? Simply It is not any love for which one bargains. ‘I listening, wholeheartedly, without the ‘me’ oc- have done this for you and now, please, will you 23 do this for me ?’ Is there love in making deals ? Is it possible just to sit there quietly for some Be a good boy or girl and then mommy and moments, not asking for anything—asking for daddy will love you. If you do what I don’t like, nothing ? Kannon has nothing to give. Take I’ll get angry, disappointed, hurt. Or, if you do a look at her—she has nothing to give. She is this to me, I’ll do the same thing back to you, just standing there, utterly unassuming, empty, grossly, or in subtle ways. open—all embracing, all compassion. She is This sort of thing is not inexhaustible love you. She is everyone. She is no one special. Do which knows no reprisals, no reward and pun- you see ? She holds a little black clump in one of ishment, praise, blame, sentimentality or con- her hands—don’t really know what it is. It looks ventionality, no lavishing and withholding, no like something one could pick up anywhere on domination or submission. this earth. Can human beings love without any strings Can one just sit there, not wanting anything ? attached, without wanting to get anything out Not wanting ! Not fearing ! Not running away ! of it for themselves, without fear of any kind— Just sitting the way one happens to be at the simply love ? moment—joyous, maybe, or sad, strong or We do confuse love with the pride and joy of weak, discouraged, anxious, in sorrow, pain, or possession. We love to possess, and we love our in despair—it doesn’t really matter. No need to possessions—material, ideological, spiritual, and give a name to one’s ever-changing condition. sentient. Underneath remains the nagging un- Naming is ever-dividing. Can one just sit there, certainty that we may not keep what we believe completely as one is, not judging how one is, or we own. Fear of loss, insecurity, suspicion, and how one should be, or should not be, or how one jealousy rack the possessive mind. Poets have would like to be or feel ? Just sitting, not know- assumed that great jealousy is proof of great ing ? Not knowing ? Not fearing ? Not choosing ? love. Is it really ? Can it possibly be ? Jealousy is Not escaping ? jealousy, and with it go hatred, cruelty, endless In such sitting there may be an ending of ev- scheming, and suffering in oneself and others. erything that distorts, confuses, and isolates the Waves that touch countless others. human heart and mind, and a welling up of this There is a Kannon room right off the zen- ineffable love and compassion which knows no do where you can sit anytime it is unoccupied. ‘me’ and no ‘other.’

24 Cold Butter on Soft Bread and Other Anguish

roshi bodhin kjolhede

Editor’s note : The following essay by Roshi (then ing inevitability of old age, disease, and death, Sensei) Bodhin Kjolhede appeared in Zen Bow in to feel dissatisfied with our life. Some people 1991 (vol. VIII, no. 4). seek the Dharma after suffering the break-up of a relationship, in hopes of assuaging the pain For the young Siddhartha Gautama it was (or perhaps finding a new, spiritual lover). For seeing old age, disease, and death for the first some it is recognizing the psychosomatic aspect time, concretely, before his eyes. For most of us, of common physical ailments such as headaches though, such sights seldom present themselves. and stomach problems, and hoping to find in It is true that homelessness is increasingly vis- meditation their cure. It was ulcers and insom- ible in urban areas, where poverty also glares. nia, in no small part, that drove the 41-year-old But chances are a practitioner of Zen will have Philip Kapleau to Japan after having forced him been led to the recognition of dukkha (suffering) to see that something was wrong with his life. through sources of misery less dramatic, less It may be that more people have been driven universal than these. Instead of encountering into Zen practice by emotional anxiety than for the first time a man or woman, as described spiritual angst. Not having found relief from in a sutra, ‘eighty, ninety, or a hundred years old, loneliness, depression, fear, or general anxiety frail, crooked as a gable roof, bent down, sup- through other means, they turned to medita- ported on a staff … wrinkled … with blotched tion. One man credits a high school tennis limbs,’ one is shocked one morning by the man match with having set him on his path to Zen : in the mirror who has a new gray hair or two. he had eliminated his team from the state tour- Or by the woman there with the cellulite. Time nament by double-faulting away the deciding steals over us, unnoticed, until we see the slip- singles match in the quarter-finals, a loss that page : in eyesight, short-term memory, muscle haunted him for years. Even the petty stresses tone, resilience. Or, though removed from any- of daily life can, when added together, mount one ‘sick, afflicted, and grievously ill, and wal- into enough frustration to drive one into prac- lowing in one’s own filth,’ we notice our medi- tice. One very senior member of the Zen Cen- cine cabinet filling with a wider array of pills, ter, when asked what had got him into Zen, was ointments, and other medicines as pesky ail- only half-joking when he replied, ‘Cold butter ments and pains become chronic, and injuries on soft bread.’ One comes to know suffering in hang on. one’s own time, in one’s own way. Nor are we likely to confront, as did the If the vexations and nuisances of life are the Shakya prince, a human corpse ‘one or two or ‘sticks’ that propel one into practice, the carrot is three days after death, swollen up, blue-black in often nothing more than a calmer, quieter mind. color, and full of corruption.’ Instead, the truth Never mind any exalted urge toward liberation of mortality may hit us as at an uncle’s funeral, from birth-and-death. If Zen practice is under- or the death of the family dog, or even upon taken simply to soothe a mind tossing with psy- finding a squirrel flattened in the road. chological problems or other stress, it may well Grasping the truth of dukkha, the unsatisfac- be discontinued once the inner turmoil has sub- tory nature of existence, is the starting point of sided. Each of us has our threshold of pain be- spiritual practice. But we need not be struck by low which our motivation to work on ourselves the pathos of the human condition, the crush- disappears. But in prying open the mind, our 25 Richard von Sturmer zazen may expose previously unconscious trau- has no self, mistaking what is impermanent for ma or other unresolved issues, so that even after permanent. Some millennia of millennia ago our original source of distress has been relieved, we picked up a bifurcating intellect and split we continue to excavate new veins of toxic ma- the world into self and other, and as long as we terial that keep us sitting. cling to this illusory perspective we feel insuffi- Those who do manage in their zazen to work cient. Incomplete. Unable to be enough, we can through the psychological pain and confusion never get enough, and bind ourselves to misery that propelled them into practice sometimes find through our desires and attachments. We want that in the process their aspiration has changed. things to work for us, but they don’t. We have Despite having ground down the rough edges to do what we don’t want to do, or we can’t do and sharp corners of their personalities, which what we want to do. We are separated from had led them to practice, they are still wanting. those we want to be with, or stuck with those What remains is a dissatisfaction that dwells at we would rather not be with. Or if things do go a deeper stratum then psychological or philo- our way for a while, sooner or later they change. sophical or physical disease, a bedrock of exis- Whatever we acquire will eventually be lost. tential angst. This is what the Buddha meant The recognition of this fundamental human by dukkha. predicament, dukkha, may be seen as a climatic The root suffering of human beings arises point in an evolutionary spiritual process, for from ignorance, seeing a self-identity in what only when we become aware that we are caught 26 in this net can we consciously set about to free when he said, ‘In this world there are only two ourselves from it. But this most basic suffering tragedies : one is not getting what you want, and need not have been preceded by one’s own psy- the other is getting it.’ chological or physical pain. Someone endowed But it is not necessary always to have been with health and happiness but also an especially saturated with either the happiness or the misery sympathetic nature will, like the Buddha, come of life, to have experienced it as heaven or hell in to see that life is indeed a bitter sea of suffer- this lifetime, to see through the ordinary world ing. In this age of almost instantaneous com- and seek out what lies beyond it. Sometimes munication, unless one lives in strict isolation, the very absence of significant pain or joy can it is all but impossible not to see and hear about lead us to discover, in Shakespeare’s words, ‘how the pitiable state of sentient beings. Although stale, flat, weary, and unprofitable … [are] the the ‘three poisons’ of greed, hatred, and delusion uses of this world.’ One may find anguish even may be no more rife today than in the Buddha’s in the apparent banality of life’s daily rhythms day or, say, the 14th century, surely their daily and routines. I clearly remember as an adoles- manifestations are brought to us now in far more cent being struck, almost with despair, by the vivid detail than in previous ages. To receive senselessness of making my bed each morning news via television, newspapers, or magazines is when it would only be used again that night, and to be exposed to old age, disease, and death on a dusting regularly when everything would only scale the Buddha-to-be could hardly have imag- get dusty again, and having to get dressed and ined in 500 bce. We absorb on a daily basis the undressed for decades to come—and to what most graphic evidence of suffering : not only end ? The questioning that underlies this tragi- the uniquely human barbarisms of war, crime, comic sense of alienation was later to emerge as cruelty, and other depravities, but also floods, spiritual searching, but only after more years of droughts, and earthquakes. It is a wonder that, heedless living and needless pain. with such widespread media exposure to the There are, however, those rare individuals pitiable state of samsara and its multitudinous whose karma is already ripe for spiritual pick- forms, so few people do grasp the First Noble ing. One appears in Case 32 of the Mumonkan, Truth. But then our ongoing development of a non-Buddhist who awakens when the Buddha new diversions and escapes from suffering has responds to his question with silence. Ananda, kept pace with our exposure to life’s pathos. As flabbergasted at witnessing this, asks for an ex- suggested in the Lotus Sutra, we are like chil- planation, to which the Buddha replies, ‘A first- dren playing with toys in a burning house. class horse moves at even the shadow of the In the Buddha’s early life we see that even whip.’ He is referring here to a fuller metaphor without much pain of one’s own or the aware- that later made it into a sutra : ness of others,’ there are still those whose karma The one who learns that someone in another vil- will bring them to the Truth of Suffering. Even lage is about to die, and reflects on the transient the healthy, privileged, and admired, while still nature of all life, is like a horse who runs when it young enough to be unscarred by life’s blows, sees the shadow of the whip. may recognize the ultimately unsatisfactory na- The one who learns that someone in his own vil- ture of existence. They may be helped along, lage is about to die, and reflects on the transient like Siddhartha, by a youth steeped in comfort, nature of all life, is like a horse who runs when it ease, and pleasure, in which they are left with, is whipped to the hair. as George Bernard Shaw put it, ‘the ennui of The one who learns that someone in his family a crushing satiety.’ Even when we have ‘every- is about to die, and reflects on the transient na- thing’—every thing—we want more. We lack ture of all life, is like a horse who runs when it is Nothing, the realization of no-thing. Oscar whipped to the flesh. Wilde recognized the pathos of human desire 27 And finally, the one who learns that he himself selves, and feel the pain of others more keenly. is about to die, and reflects on the transient na- This would be a disconcerting progression in- ture of all life, is like a horse who runs when it is deed were it not for a parallel development in whipped to the bone. our ability to transcend pain. We learn that pain is a condition of existence, and that if we re- Why are some of us horses so slow to do any- flexively try to remove ourselves from it whole- thing about our pain ? Because the prospect of sale, we pile ‘suffering on top of suffering,’ as it living without it may appear even worse. We is sometimes said in Buddhism. If on the other can grow so habituated to our suffering that we hand we squarely face our spiritual, mental, or identify with it, weaving it into our ego struc- physical suffering, we move through it. Pain ture. It serves to block out our terror of noth- goes on, but our relationship to it changes, and it ingness, a.k.a The Void. What would I be, after becomes a no-pain, a pain without roots. ‘Suf- all, without my pain ? Such are the labyrinthine fering,’ someone once said, ‘is like a match— workings of the human mind. light it and it will show you the way out of the As we go on in practice and our awareness darkness.’ Dukkha is then transmuted into op- deepens, we grow more sensitive to suffering. portunity, and our supreme human gift. We discover previously unknown pain in our-

Grace

sensei amala wrightson

Editor’s note : Sensei Amala Wrightson (formerly only how my father’s love was (and is) freely Charlotte Wrightson) was given permission to given to my brother and me, without expecta- teach by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede in 2004 and sanc- tion of reward ; his own parents are there too, tioned as a Dharma heir in 2012. She teaches at the in the background. Even though I never met Auckland Zen Center, which she founded with her them (they both died before I was born), I am husband Richard von Sturmer in 2004. This article a beneficiary of their love. My father’s gratitude appeared in Zen Bow in 1997 (vol. XIX, no. 3). to them has been embodied in his giving to me, and so their giving lives on. Behind my grand- What it is parents and their parents, and theirs, and so on, I know not, endlessly. And in the picture appear not only But with gratitude my ancestors, but also generations of their care- My tears fall. givers, teachers, and mentors ; the priests, poets, —Saigyo and artists who inspired them and made the cul- One day years ago I said to my father, ‘How can ture that formed them ; the animals who carried I ever hope to repay you and Mum for all that them ; the bricks that sheltered them ; the food you have done for me ?’ And he replied, ‘You’ll that fed them—the list is boundless. All of this repay us when you have your own children.’ The and more has contributed to my existence. And simple words say so much. In them I hear not while I don’t have any children of my own, I

28 Richard von Sturmer hope that through me this great stream of giv- ing. It is a living, vivid mirror in which giving and ing will continue to flow on to others. receiving form a dynamic practice of interaction. It is no wonder that the first of theParamitas For receiving, too, is a practice. Look at the word (perfections of the Bodhisattva) is dana, or giv- arigato, Japanese for ‘thank you.’ It means literally, ing. There can be few more powerful or inde- ‘I have difficulty.’ In other words, ‘Your kindness structible forces in the universe—or perhaps it makes it hard for me to respond with equal grace.’ … The word arigato expresses the practice of re- would be more accurate to say that dana is one ceiving. way of describing how the universe operates. My father understood, as the Bodhisattva does, In receiving we experience our dependence, that to give is to receive. And his words helped which the ego, with its fantasy of separation, me to understand that to receive is both to give hates to acknowledge, but secretly believes in (an opportunity to the giver) and to be schooled and finds disconcerting. When one holds tightly in the art of giving. Giving and receiving arise to notions of self and other, receiving gracefully together and depend on each other. Robert Ait- can be extremely difficult ; for some people it’s ken sums this up beautifully when he writes in harder than giving (which at least offers some his book The Practice of Perfection : ego gratification). But when we do allow our- selves to feel genuine gratitude rather than anxi- The English word gratitude is related to grace. It ety, giving will grow naturally out of it, and it is the enjoyment of receiving as expressed in giv- becomes a joy to be able to repay a debt or re-

29 turn a favor, directly or indirectly. Grace flows monplace, to accept with good grace even dis- from gratitude. agreeable things. The word ‘grace’ has rich associations in our Grace is related to the word for ‘thank you’ in culture, and can perhaps contribute to Western- several romance languages—a meaning that lin- ers’ understanding of dana. One aspect of grace gers in our use of the word to mean a prayer of is its grounding in the physical. We use it to thanks for a meal (more about that later)—but describe seemingly effortless beauty in the way it can also mean the gift itself, as in the Chris- a person moves or in a work of art. It is also tian concept of God’s grace. And while we may everywhere in nature, from a squirrel scamper- not believe in a personified supreme being who ing along a branch to the spirals of a falling leaf, bestows favors upon us, more sophisticated un- but in human affairs grace is often the result of derstandings of grace accord with the way we long and arduous cultivation. A renowned voice experience change : the suddenness and ease of teacher, Cecily Berry, said that there was no transformation when it comes (in its own time), right way to say a particular line of text, but one its brilliance and beauty ; the gratuitousness of thousand wrong ways, and that voice training a flower blooming, the appearance of a friend, consisted simply in eliminating them. Training or a cool breeze on a hot day ; the way the most in any discipline moves from this kind of effort important things happen not because we will towards harmony and freedom from obstruc- them to, but because … we know not. That is tions, and it is sustained throughout by love for often how we experience an insight that occurs the discipline itself—a love which is given form during sitting—as a gift and as a ‘given’—there and communicated to others in the work of art all along, but up until that moment unnoticed that results. because we weren’t ready to notice. Receptivity The Latin gratus, from which both grace and is the key. gratitude are derived, means ‘pleasing’ and ‘be- One of the most primal ways in which we loved.’ Other related words are ‘agree’ and ‘bard’ experience the mystery of transformation is in (‘he who praises’). A work of art, which often relation to food. In our grace we chant, ‘This deals with the direst sufferings and the darkest meal is the labor of countless beings, let us re- human impulses, still gives aesthetic pleasure member their toil !’ We eat, and the toil of the because, through the beauty of its form, it ac- sun, earthworms, farmers, truckers, road main- knowledges and brings clarity to those negative tenance crews, oil companies, and supermarket aspects of existence. Through our enjoyment we check-out workers … of cooks, cabbages, and are brought into a kind of harmony with even tax collectors, becomes our very cells. Thich the most hard-to-accept aspects of life (for art- Nhat Hahn describes this as the way in which ists with a revolutionary agenda this presents a the so-called self is made up entirely of ‘non-self thorny koan—can art give pleasure and galva- elements.’ And so we continue our chant, ‘Our nize into action at the same time ?) Before I got meal (that is, ourselves) is offered to Buddha, into Zen, the most samadhi-like experiences Dharma, and . With teachers and family, I had had were while reading poetry—but at with nations and all life let us equally share. To a certain point I realized I was depending on beings throughout the six worlds we offer this someone else’s affirmations. Poetry was fine for meal.’ No other response would be sufficient, pointing me in the right direction, but I wanted and to be insensible to this endless process of to experience that kind of agreement in life it- transubstantiation is pathological. Josef Stalin is self, and so I was led to Zen practice. Zen trains reported to have said, ‘Gratitude … is a sickness us to live gracefully, to find poetry in the com- suffered by dogs.’

30 Discovery of the Dharma arouses in us the patriarchs had not directly transmitted the Law, strongest gratitude of all, and the Sangha is built how could it have come down to us today ? We on it. Chanting the Ancestral Line gives expres- should be grateful for even a single phrase or por- sion to this foundation. It starts with our invok- tion of the Law, still more for the great benefits ing the support of our ancestors : accruing from the highest supreme teaching—the Storehouse of the True Dharma Eye. … The true way of expressing this gratitude is not to be found O Awakened ones, may the power of your in anything other than our daily Buddhist practice Samadhi sustain us ! itself. … Each day’s life should be esteemed ; the and ends with a vow : body should be respected. It is through our body and mind that we are able to practice the Way ; this is why they should be loved and respected. It You who have handed down the light of Dharma, is through our own practice that the practice of We shall repay your benevolence ! the various Buddhas appears and their great Way Dogen elaborates : reaches us. Therefore each day of our practice is the same as theirs, the seed of realizing Buddha- Quietly consider the fact that if this were a time hood. when the true Law had not yet spread through- out the world, it would be impossible for us to Receiving and giving are one. Meister Eck- come into contact with it, even if we were willing hart has said, ‘If the only prayer you say in your to sacrifice our lives to do so. How fortunate to whole life is “thank you,” that would suffice.’ But have been born in the present day, when we are in truth that prayer has to be our life. This is the able to make this encounter ! … If the Buddha and life of the Bodhisattva.

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