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Zazen Practice a Guideline for Beginners

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Zazen Practice a Guideline for Beginners ZAZEN PRACTICE A GUIDELINE FOR BEGINNERS the fire of emptiness blazes out his beard ZAZEN PRACTICE A Note to Readers: From May, 1999 to the present day, I have had many opportunities to talk to about five hundred persons who are interested in learning and practicing what the Buddha and Zen masters teach, and given answers to their questions about Buddhism and Zen on this website [Zenguide.com] on daily basis. I saw the need for an introductory guideline on zazen practice that would help. Therefore, I have tried to put some words down here as a guideline for those who would like to see into their own nature or Buddha-nature, to free themselves from suffering caused by our own greed, anger, and ignorance, and would provide a guide to practicing the very first steps. If he or she would like to help others wanting to achieve the same things, these guidelines will allow them to do this. Actually, most of what I put them together here already appear in the answers mentioned above. What I put down in these guidelines, in the main part, I received from my own Zen teacher Thong Lac, under whom I practiced, and by his compassion and skillful teachings, my mind’s eye opens at some degree. I deeply bow my thanks to him here. This was about twenty-five years ago and I have kept doing it by myself so far. The other part I have gleaned from different books on Zen and zazen practice by other Zen teachers of both old and recent times, and also from the Buddhist Scriptures (Sutras and Sastras). So, it might be said that nothing here is my own. As you already see, this guideline may be described as, ‘Scratching the surface.’ Therefore, it may be revised and added as and when needed. Any comments or suggestions from anyone of you will be welcomed and appreciated. You can forward them to me with the E-mail address below. Thank you in advance. Finally, I would like to deeply say thanks to my friends John Charlson (U.K), Joeri Van den Broeck (Belgium), each of them with great heartedness and talent, helping in editing my English. All of these make this guide easier to read, understand, and practice to our readers. And I also deeply thanks to all the authors, the translators, and the editors of the sources that I quote and cite in this guide. 05/09/2001 Take care, ChonTri [email protected] 2 ZAZEN PRACTICE MY DEAR FRIEND: BEFORE YOU CONTINUE TO READ WHAT IS POSTED BELOW. PLEASE ASK YOURSELF: “WHAT DO I REALLY WANT IN MY LIFE, PRACTICE AND ENLIGHTENMENT?” IF YOUR ANSWER IS “YES.” JUST KEEP GOING ON. IF IT IS “NO.” PLEASE DISREGARD IT. 3 ZAZEN PRACTICE Bodhidharma (ca. 470 - 543?) Founder of Zen Buddhism. “Not establishing words and letters, Teachings transmitted outside the Scriptures. Directly pointing to humans’ mind, To see into their own nature and attain the Buddhahood.” Master Thong Lac (photo 1985) 1. What is Zazen? 4 ZAZEN PRACTICE Zazen is a romanized Japanese term. “Za” literally means to sit or sitting; “zen” means to meditate or concentrate. Actually, “zazen” is much more than “sitting in meditation”. In short, “zazen” is a Buddhist practice to settle your mind in its original state: purity and clarity, and from that you can see everything in the world as it is. “Zen” is a Japanese pronunciation for the Chinese word “Ch’an”, and “Ch’an” is in turn a Chinese pronunciation of the word “Dhyana” in Sanskrit or “Jhana” in Pali, the two ancient forms of the language used in India, in the time of the Buddha, more than 2,500 years ago. It was also known as “Yoga”, another Sanskrit term, which is a method of mental practice used by Brahmins before the time of the Buddha. Originally, “Dhyana” is a practice for settling the mind, which is usually wandering around at all time and leads us into confusion state. However, “Ch’an” or “Zen” is something more than meditation or concentration. It combines the threefold practice of Bodhisattva’s Way: Observing Sila (Precepts) Developing Samadhi (Power of Mind Focusing) Practicing Prajna (Wisdom). “Zen” is not simply a device for centering and calming the mind but also embracing the wisdom of enlightenment. We also recognize the five different types of Zen. In his “Ch’an-yuan-chu- ch’uan-chi”, a collection of sayings of Chinese Ch’an masters and brief histories of various Ch’an sects, Tsung-mi (780-841), a Ch’an master and Hua-yen patriarch, listed the five different types of Zen as follows: (1) non-Buddhist zen: for example: the zen practiced in other religions than Buddhism like Brahmanism, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism, Sufism… (2) Ordinary zen: the zen as in haiku poems, William Blake’s poems, Henry D. Thoreau’s works… (3) Hinayana Zen: the zen which a Buddhist Elder practices to attain sainthood, often for the practitioner only. 5 ZAZEN PRACTICE (4) Mahayana Zen: the zen which a Bodhisattva (a candidate of Buddhahood) practices to attain enlightenment not only for himself but also for others. (5) The last one is the Zen of the Highest Vehicle. It emphasizes on the quality and the characteristics of enlightenment achieved through the type of zen practice and the degree of wisdom embraced in that enlightenment. It includes the Zen of the Tagathatas and the Zen of the Patriarchs, the Zen of the highest quality of wisdom emanating from the highest enlightenment. When asked about what is the difference between the Zen of the Tagathatas and the Zen of the Patriarchs, a Zen master replied: “Mountain is blue; snow is white.” For me, I would say: “The white cloud covering the snow mountain, their colors are not the same.” 2. Purposes in Zazen: In his “Zen Fables for Today”, Richards McLean retells the following story: “Why must I meditate in order to achieve enlightenment?” demanded the prince of the teacher. “I can study, I can pray. I can think on issues clearly. Why this silly emptying of mind?” “I will show you,” said the teacher, taking a bucket of water into the garden under the full moon. “Now I stir the surface and what do you see?” “Ribbons of light,” answered the prince. “Now wait,” said the teacher setting the bucket down. Both teacher and boy watched the calming surface of the water in the bamboo bucket for many minutes. “Now what do you see?” asked the teacher. “The moon,” replied the prince. “So, too, young master, the only way to grasp enlightenment is through a calm and settled mind.” This simple story is telling us the purpose and the way of zazen very clearly. To practice “Zazen” is to see into one’s “own nature” or Buddha-nature, which is from the very beginning, pure and calm, and every being in the world has it. 6 ZAZEN PRACTICE This is what the Buddha declared when he had just attained his Supreme Enlightenment and was recorded in the Avatamsaka-sutra (The Flower Ornament Scripture) and repeated in the Mahaparinirvana-sutra. When you see into your own nature, you know who you are, you know what and how every thing and being in the world really is. From this, your action and reaction will be in harmony with the whole and in situations around you. I have some words for you that will help you avoid the following situation: You may have already heard someone who has misunderstood or mistaken the declaration of the Buddha about the Buddha-nature, and said: “We all are Buddhas, we are already enlightened…so, we do not need to practice zazen at all.” This person might think himself or herself already enlightened, does not practice zazen, and indulges in many wrong things which he or she doesn’t realize. These words would be correct for anyone who already sees into his or her own nature, knows where it is, and what it looks like. If anyone who does not yet see into his or her own nature, does not know where it is, what it looks like, and cannot prove this through his or her own experience of awakening before a real Zen teacher, then he or she is not an enlightened one. They just speak about something borrowed from the Buddha or a Zen master, not of his or her own experience of enlightenment. This is considered the biggest type of zen-sickness. Words and experience are not in accordance. Recently, there are people who did not have any experience of enlightenment but often criticized others: “You are attaching to enlightenment!” or “You are clinging to detachment!” when they heard someone said something about enlightenment or detachment. This is even more ridiculous than the ones who thought that “I am already a Buddha” or “I am already enlightened,” because they do not know what the true enlightenment is or what the real detachment is. This is also called a zen-sickness of words and action do not match each other. 7 ZAZEN PRACTICE In case you really think you are an awakened one, test yourself with these questions: Master Yueh of Toushuai set up three barriers to question students: Crossing rivers and passing through mountains to learn and search out the hidden, is only for seeing into the own-nature. Right now, where is your own nature? Only when you know your own-nature then you can be freed from birth and death. When you are dying,, how will you be free? When you are freed from birth and death, then you will know where you are from and going to.
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