The following article was written by Sozui-sensei stition and frequently encouraged his students to have faith in themselves, to just be ordinary and Rinzai —The Supernatural Power of Walking not to seek elsewhere but gain true insight. He is upon the Earth famous for his use of the shout in encounters with his students, as is Master Tokusan for the use of “You say, ‘A buddha has six supernatu- his stick—both the stick and the shout, being used ral powers. ...the six supernatural powers to cut through intellectualization, probe the depth of of a buddha, which are entering the understanding, point to the immediate experience world of color yet not being deluded of the present moment and awaken students. by color; entering the world of sound yet not being deluded by sound; en- tering the world of odor yet not being deluded by odor; entering the world of taste yet not being deluded by taste; entering the world of touch yet not being deluded by touch; entering the world of dharmas yet not being de- luded by dharmas. Therefore, when it is realized that these six—color, sound, odor, taste, touch, and dharmas are all empty forms, they cannot bind the man of the Way, dependent upon nothing. Constituted though he is of the seepage of the five skandhas, he [or she] has the supernatural power of walking upon the The Linji Lu, in Japanese Rinzai Roku, is the re- earth. cord of Rinzai’s words and deeds. It consists of the —pp 19-20 Discourses, Critical Examinations and the Record The Record of Linji (Rinzai), translation and of Pilgrimages and ends with the Preface to the commentary by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Linji Huizhao edited by Thomas Yuho Kirchner, of Zhenzhou(Zen Master Rinzai), which we chant University of Hawaii Press 2009, p19-20 during choka (morning service). The Linji or Rinzai school of Zen begins with the Nishida Kitaro, the great Japanese philosopher figure of priest Linji Yixuan (J. Rinzai Gigen; d. and lifelong friend of the late Suzuki Daisetz, was 866); it emerged toward the end of the T’ang Dy- known to hold the Linji Lu in special regard. In his nasty (618-907). Rinzai’s lifetime coincided with the foreword to the Rinzai Roku translation mentioned declining years of the powerful T’ang empire, when below, Yamada Mumon Roshi writes: Chinese society was in a state of great turmoil. Rinzai shook himself free from the standardized ... I believe that Zen, particularly Rinzai views of humanity and religion prevalent during Zen, has a significant role in the present his time, and proclaimed a Buddhism based on world. Modern people are adrift amid the personal experience of reality in a free and the great confusion and uncertainty of independent way. He rejected blind belief, super- contemporary life. The Linji Lu can give Oak Tree in the Garden January/February 2020 page 1 us a foundation on which to construct do, do they? Somewhere deep down we sense a new and powerful view of human that none of this provides lasting happiness, but we existence... rarely stop and ask the deeper questions. It often —Ibid takes a life event that shakes us, a divorce, a sud- den illness or death, worsening stress, depression Let’s continue, quoting from the Rinzai Roku and anxiety, to wake us up. Discourses: Once we start questioning, we can easily feel like Followers of the Way,,, Unwilling to we are swimming against a momentous stream. believe in what you have in your own It takes much effort. One of the few symbols that house, you do nothing but seek outside, one finds in Zen practice is the carp that swims go clambering after the worthless say- upstream. It is swimming upstream of our own incli- ings of the men of old, rely upon yin and nations and upstream of the propaganda of society depend upon yang ... that feeds, uses and profits from those inclinations. ....On meeting [outer] circumstances, Swimming upstream the carp gains strength. So you establish relationship with them; much so that it is able to jump up a huge waterfall on meeting [sense-]dusts you cling to where it turns into a dragon. them; wherever you are doubts arise, and you yourselves have no standard of At times practice it is hard work and it can really judgment. feel like we are swimming against the common current. Here is where sitting in a group and doing Followers of the Way, don’t accept it with Dharma friends on the Path is so valuable. what I state. Why? Statements have It gives us strength, encouragement, joy, guidance no proof. They are pictures temporarily and helps us through difficult times. drawn in the empty sky, as in the meta- phor of the painted figures. It also helps to remember that especially at times --op.cit., p 31 when we find it hard to bring ourselves to the cushion, when our ego-conditioning is being chal- He is saying, Don’t take the finger pointing at the lenged, when we don’t want to feel what is coming moon for the moon itself. That’s one of the things up, when we sit anyway, the benefits can be great, that attracted me to Zen. We are being encouraged though we may not, or at least not fully, realize it at to find out for ourselves, to question, to investigate the time. thoroughly, rather than blindly believe. Having realized that Throughout our whole life we have been subjected seeking external gain to the views and opinions of others. When Rinzai does not bring us says deluded views he means that we are biased peace or happiness, by this unconscious conditioning. For example, we we tend to turn in- live in a society where everyone is trying to “get side and often end up ahead”. There is a lot of competition and compar- seeking spiritual gain ing. We are encouraged to strive to be the first and instead. When we turn the best, the most beautiful, earn the most money... to the Path we natural- Nowadays it starts in kindergarten or even before ly tend to approach it that and it goes like that throughout the whole of with all the same striv- our school career. In the business world it often ing and expectation: gets even worse. Over time, we absorb this view We assume that the and end up joining the competition, joining the herd, problem is us, that we trying to be top of the class and get ahead. We need a tool to remedy find ourselves striving desperately to find meaning in our lives, to experience a little peace, pleasure, some basic flaw in our comfort, and security. We chase after fleeting ex- mind, and we then go periences with the hope that somehow, someday, to work, using meditation to try and fix an unceas- they’ll lead us to lasting happiness. But they never ingly imperfect present moment. Oak Tree in the Garden January/February 2020 page 2 such [practices] as these are artificial Usually we are quite unaware that that’s what we striving.’ are doing. And as long as we are trying to push the practice in a certain direction and it cannot go in This very you, the man who right now is that direction, we then feel that we are not getting thus listening to my discourse, how is he anywhere in our practice. It helps to remember that to be cultivated, to be enlightened, to anything that we seek, both externally and internal- be adorned? He is not one to ly, is going to bind us. That’s why Rinzai famously be cultivated, he is not one to be says, If you meet the to Buddha kill the Buddha. adorned. But if you let him do the adorning, then everything would be Followers of the Way, if you want in- adorned. Don’t be mistaken! sight into dharma as it is, just don’t be —op.cit. p17 taken in by the deluded views of others. Whatever you encounter, eitherwithin Rinzai is of course not saying to not make efforts at or without, slay it at once. On meeting a all, both on and off the cushion. But he reminds us buddha slay the buddha, on meeting a what Right Effort requires: letting go of everything patriarch slay the patriarch, on meeting and everyone we put on a pedestal. Letting go of an arhat slay the arhat, on meeting your anything we add to our present experience. Letting parents slay your parents, on meeting go of all of our favourite ideas, assumptions, judg- your kinsman slay your kinsman, and you ment. Basically, letting go of everything that holds attain emancipation. By not cleaving to the misperception that there is an “I” that is pain- things, you freely pass through... fully separate from everything and everyone else, op.cit., p22 together. Be careful not to take his words as an invitation to suppress anything. Rinzai instructs us Outside mind there’s no dharma, nor not to cleave and cling, not to get stuck and stag- is there anything to be gained within nant, but to see through our own fixed views and it. What are you seeking? Everywhere stuck places and let go so we can live freely and you say, ‘There’s something to practice, fully. something to obtain.’ Make no mistake! Even if there were something to be The true student of the Way has nothing gained by practice, it would be nothing to do with buddhas and nothing to do but birth-and-death karma..