Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition. Hisamatsu's Talks on Linji
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
,. l I. The Record of Linji stands as one of the great classics of the Zen I tradition, and modern Zen master and reformer Hisamatsu Shin'ichi offers a lively and penetrating exploration of the religious essence of the text. The Record is a compilation of the sayings of Linji, the Chinese founder of Rinzai Zen. Several decades ago, at a series of Zen retreats at the Myoshinji monastery in Kyoto, Hisamatsu gave the 22 talks translated here. The book features a preface by renowned Zen philosopher Abe Masao and an introduction by Yanagida Seizan, the foremost scholar of classical Zen texts. The translators have added annotations for technical terms and textual references. Christopher lves is Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College, in Massachusetts. His publications include Zen Awakening and Society, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-jewish-Christian Conversation (co-edited with John B. Cobb Jr), and Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness: A Buddhist-jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe (edited volume). Tokiwa Gishin, Professor Emeritus at Hanazono University, in Kyoto, began studying Buddhism in 1944, becoming a member of the forerunner of the F. A. S. Society. After graduation he taught English while continuing his studies of Buddhism. He has made English translations of Zen and the Fine Arts and the jueguan-lun, and modern Japanese translations of Sokkoroku-kaien-fusetsu by Hakuin and the Lankavatara-sutra. The jacket reproduces Hisamatsu's calligraphy mu-e (non-dependent), which constitutes the second half of the expression dokudatsu mu-e (solitarily emancipated and non-dependent); calligraphy courtesy of Tsujimura Koichi. D ISBN 0 - 333-962 72-9 294J85 I 90101 ......... 9 62725 I 90J~1 0 Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition Hisamatsu's Talks on Linji translated and edited by Christopher Ives and Tokiwa Gishin Dr Hisamatsu Shin'ichi, at age 87. Photograph taken by the late Professor Hyodo Shonosuke in 1976, at Dr Hisamatsu's residence in Gifu. ©Editorial matter and selection© Christopher lves and Tokiwa Gishin Chapters 1-22 © Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Together with Hisamatsu Shin'ichi All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this the ~an.slators dedicate this book t~ publication may be made without written permission. All Humankmd m their Depth Humanity ofNo-Rank No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other Countries. ISBN 0-333-962710 hardback ISBN 0-333-962729 paperback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne ~RV Contents Acknowledgements ix Notes on the Contributors xi Foreword XV Kitahara Ryittaro Preface xxii Abe Masao Introduction XXV Yanagida Seizan Zen Talks on the Record of Linji Hisamatsu Shin'ichi 1 1 I Simply Couldn't Open My Mouth 3 2 Who is Pure and Direct in His Behavior? 7 3 There's Nothing Special in the Buddha-Dharma 15 / 4 After Realizing the Great Block of Awakening 20 5 Leaving after the Summer Retreat 25 6 The One True Person without Rank 29 7 Speak, Speak! 34 8 The Mind-Dharma is without Form and Pervades the Ten Directions 38 9 You, the Follower of the Way Right Now before My Eyes Listening to the Dharma 45 10 Independent of All Things 53 11 Not at all Thus 63 12 I Do Not Pay Homage to the Buddha or the Founding Teacher 69 13 True Insight 75 vii viii Contents 14 The Meaning of the Founder's Coming from the West 82 Acknowledgements 15 The Three Vehicles' Twelve Divisions of Teachings 89 16 The Instant You Open Your Mouth You're Already 96 Way Off Like other projects of similar magJ!Jtude, this publication received 17 No Dividing into Categories 104 support from numerous directi6ns. Soon after the death of Dr Hisamatsu in 1980, Abe Masao played an instrumental role in initi 18 The Four Classifications: A General Outline 111 ating the translations of Hisamatsu's talks on the Record of Linji. 19 The Four Classifications: First Half 119 Norman Waddell, a member of the Eastern Buddhist editorial board, kindly holed up with Chris Ives for several days back in 1980 to help 20 The Four Classifications: Second Half 124 polish the translation of the first two talks. Over the following years, as 21 On the Way and at Home 130 the first fifteen talks were published serially in The Eastern Buddhist, Wayne Yokoyama provided- with his characteristic generosity- exten 22 The Buddha-Dharma is Deep and Mysterious 136 sive editorial input and bibliographical help. Dan Yukie, also formerly Notes 142 of The Eastern Buddhist, followed suit with her unstinting administra tive and logistical support. At several points Jeff Shore at Hanazono Index 159 University provided editorial and logistical assistance as well. In 1990 the Japan Foundation awarded Chris Ives a fellowship that enabled the translators to work together on this book for three months in Kyoto. The University of Puget Sound provided him with a travel grant for a short trip to Kyoto in 1997 as well as a long-term typing grant; Carol Avery in the Department of Religion at Puget Sound deserves high praise for her superb typing - and retyping - of the manuscript through its many incarnations and her adroit handling of diacritics software, file exchanges, and reformatting. This project has also benefited from the generosity of Hanazono University and its two outstanding Zen Studies institutes: the Zenbunka Kenkyusho (Institute for Zen Studies) and the Kokusai Zengaku Kenkyusho (International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism). While teaching at Hanazono and working on this transla tion, Tokiwa Gishin wrote the annotations for Hisamatsu's talks and Yanagida's introduction. Kitahara Ryutaro served as the main editor when Hisamatsu's talks on the Record of Linji were first published by the Risosha Publishing Company. The foreword to this volume, which is an abridged transla tion of Kitahara's postscript to the volume of Hisamatsu's collected writings in which the talks were first published, as well as the preface by Abe Masao and introduction by Yanagida Seizan, outline Hisamatsu's approach to Zen and the classical Zen text he explores in this book. ix x Acknowledgements The editors wish to thank Mr Kamibeppu Shigeru, Chief Editor of Notes on the Contributors Hozokan Publishing Company, for granting permission to publish this translation of Hisamatsu's talks, for which Hozokan currently holds the copyright; Mr Hisamatsu Sadaaki, inheritor of the author's rights, for agreeing to this publication; Professor Inoue Takami, Secretary of the Eastern Buddhist Society, for permission to republish the translations Hisamatsu Shin'ichi (1889-1980) studied philosophy at Kyoto of the first fifteen talks; and Professor Hirano Sojo, Director of the Imperial University from 1912 to 1915. After his graduation, he Zenbunka Kenkyilsho, holders of the copyright of Ruth F. Sasaki's The followed the advice of Nishida Kitaro, the professor in charge of the Record of"Lin-chi, portions of which were excerpted and adapted for this Department of Philosophy at that time, and in November 1915 began volume. Zen practice with Ikegami Shozan of the Myoshinji monastery. In the Any mistranslations, or inaccuracies in the annotations, are the full December retreat of that year he reportedly attained Awakening. He responsibility of the translators, who hope they have given Hisamatsu's remained a layperson throughout his life. words the faithful and dynamic rendering they deserve. From 1919 Dr Hisamatsu gave lectures on the philosophy of religion at private universities in Kyoto. In 1935 he became a full-time lecturer in the Department of Letters at Kyoto Imperial University, and from Japanese name order 1937, as an assistant professor, he offered sourses in Religious Studies The translators have followed the Japanese convention of ordering and Buddhist Studies. In January 1941 he started the Kyodai Shincha Japanese names with the surname followed by the given name, even kai, a Kyoto University student association for the study of "heart tea." when following an honorific: e.g. Professor Hisamatsu Shin'ichi. In April 1944 he founded Gakudo Dojo, an association of Kyoto University students and alumni for the "study and practice of the Way." He was promoted to full professor in 1946, and the following year he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Literature. In 1949 he retired from Kyoto University. From 1952 to 1963, as a professor at Kyoto Municipal University of the Fine Arts, he gave lectures on philosophy and religion.