anjusri with wisk M These wabbit ears are confused... THE SUTRA OF Tuned to 2011, but picking up 2010? PERFECT AWAKENING The thwee times are twuly mysterious... FIFTY-THIRD LECTURE Wednesday October 4th, 1939 "O Obedient One! Because of great compassion alone, bodhisattvas suffer themselves to return to the various lives of the world. In order to cultivate the minds of unenlight- ened sentient beings, by such expedients as manifesting many kinds of appearances and circumstances, either fa- vorable or unfavorable to their wishes; and mutually coop- erating with them in the pursuit of their daily life, the bodhisattvas cause the sentient beings to attain Buddha's A limited number of complete sets of Zen Notes enlightenment. The bodhisattvas, as the result of the pure (from Vol. I, 1954 to Vol. LV, 2008) vows which they have taken in the beginningless past, re- are available for sale. Price - $300.00. gard living beings thus compassionately. If the sentient be- ings of the future world desire to make further and further If you are interested, contact the Institute at the phone progress in the attainment of the great Perfect Awakening, number below. they must vow thus: 'May we reside in the Buddha's Perfect Awakening, and may we meet a good friend who possesses true knowledge.'" SOKEI-AN SAYS: In this part of the sutra are many important Mahayana doc- trines. The sutra was written in India, according to chronologists, about six or seven hundred years after the Buddha's death—so it Copyright 2010 was written between the second and third centuries A.D. The Bud- PUBLISHED BY dha was born 2,500 years ago and he died in his eightieth year. "O Obedient One!" —The Buddha is addressing his disciple FIRST ZEN INSTITUTE OF AMERICA, INC. Maitreya. The significance of this name is the meaning "sympathetic friend.” Maitreya knows that the law in the universe, 113 East 30th Street in nature, an in man are operated within the same law—and Mai- New York City, New York 10016 treya obeys the law. Therefore the Buddha calls this enlightened (212) 686-2520 gentleman "Obedient One." VOLUME LVII, NUMBER 1 Winter 2010 "Because of great compassion alone, bodhisattvas suffer Editor, usually anonymous artist, poet... Peeter Lamp themselves to return to the various lives of the world." —European scholars think "bodhisattvas” are Buddhist angels or demigods! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED But to us, bodhisattvas are enlightened gentlemen and ladies. "Bodhi” means "enlightenment” and "sattva” means "human being.” Europeans translate this word from the Christian How a Comic Book led me to the Zen Institute viewpoint—but to us, the bodhisattvas are living right here among by Naomi J. Reyes us. People come to Zen in many ways. Sometimes they’re seek- The line "suffer themselves to return to the various lives of the ing, sometimes a friend introduces them, and sometimes they just world” suggest that the bodhisattvas are waiting somewhere in the walk by the building and get curious. I found Zen twice – when I sky—but the meaning is not so metaphysical or mythological as was younger and my dad took me to Zen meditation at the uni- that. These bodhisattvas were ignorant men in the beginning, lead- versity, and in a comic book. One of my best friends gave me Ka- ing the usual worldly life. Then they attained enlightenment, Per- buki – The Alchemy- by David Mack during an extremely tumul- fect Knowledge—not some queer knowledge—but Perfect Knowl- tuous time in my life – my dear father had just been killed by my edge. They are now living among the people. mother, and I had dropped out of engineering school to both get a break and to pursue fashion design. The Alchemy is not your av- When you have gone through primary school and high school erage super-hero, beat-em-up comic… it is actually the last chap- and the university, have become a teacher—you will come back ter in a story about a fictional Japanese black ops agent. With the again among the children. You must not harbor some queer notion help of the mysterious letter-writer Akemi, she escapes a world of about enlightened men. Many of you have superstitious ideas killing for a living to ultimately become a children’s book author. about supernatural powers; you carry them from Christianity into The book is more like a portable gallery of watercolor collages, Buddhism. poetry, and David Mack’s various treatises on the Artist’s Way. It helped steel my resolve to come to New York and study fashion The Bodhisattva re-enters the world as you return again to the design as I had always dreamed. immature children; he does not attain knowledge and shine some- where in the sky! If you think in this way, the latter, you will distort After I moved to New York, I was flipping through The Al- your Buddhism. chemy and my eyes fell upon one of the many fan letter envelopes David Mack incorporated within the pages. The return address These sutras are written in an impressive, elevated style and the read “First Zen Institute of America”. I realized that the address people of that day understood. was mere blocks from my new abode, and in an unusual fit of bold curiosity, I walked over. When I came to the weekly open "In order to cultivate the minds of unenlightened sentient be- house, I was delighted to meet so many interesting people who ings, "—In these days we have University education—and then have dedicated their time to studying Zen… as well as some inter- you study by yourself the rarer cultures and the highest philoso- esting background to the comic. It turns out that Mr. Mack and phy. But in those days there were no schools; the people lived al- Miss Fumiko, the granddaughter of the founder, Sokei-an, had most like animals. However, there were shining men among them. exchanged letters for a while. In fact, some of the folks at the Zen Institute remembered David, but they had no idea they’d made it "... by such expedients as manifesting many kinds of appear- into his comic book! I started coming every week, making it part ances and circumstances, either favorable or unfavorable to their of my routine of rest, learning more. I wrote David a letter, telling wishes;" —The bodhisattvas work in the most advantageous ways him what I’d learned… which ultimately led to us meeting! It was to give the sentient beings perfect awakening. They will sometimes amazing to talk casually with someone who had inspired me so appear as a fish-monger, a warrior—sometimes as a monk or a much. I am so thankful that this book and the Institute came to- diplomat. As Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva appears in many ways, gether to give me new friends and one more perspective on life both male and female—transforms into thirty-two different shapes. and the mind. This is "manifesting many kinds of appearances." Universal knowledge, knowledge itself, exists and it appears in The Cover a man as the light appears in a lamp. Knowledge is a power that exists in the universe and appears in many different forms. And in "circumstances either favorable or unfavorable.” Sometimes we The coverpicture is a scroll of Manjusri, gifted to the First are living in very favorable circumstances, and sometimes they are Zen Institute by the late Anthony Tudor who was a former presi- unfavorable. Today, it is unfavorable because there is war every- dent of the Institute. where and there are no jobs in the city; but it is favorable that you and I are good friends and that we love one another. "... and mutually cooperating with them in the pursuit of their many show a similar pattern, with mondo containing common or daily life, the bodhisattvas make the sentient beings attain Bud- analogous capping words and glosses. While a large number of dha's enlightenment." —The Bodhisattva has four ways to ap- the missancho are of unknown origin, those identified as belong- proach the human beings: the first is charity, giving; the second is ing to Myoshinji teaching lines for the most part offer similar an- affability, to know the right word spoken tenderly; the third is to swers to the same koans. These, in turn, are very close to answers help and to share with people; the fourth is to be together as provided in Daitokuji-line missancho, which are also generally friends. So there are four ways, and giving is the first. alike. "The bodhisattvas, as the result of their pure vows which they As previously noted, missan Zen seems to have been strongly took in the beginningless past, regard the living beings thus com- influenced by Esoteric Buddhism. Outwardly, missan teachings passionately." —The "thus” means as written in the previous preserved many of the distinctive features of Chinese Zen, such as lines. And the "beginningless past" —they begin with the vow; it is koans, capping words and mondo; but the animating spirit behind intrinsic—it is not taking any vow in this life as, all of a sudden, "I missan study, with its ritualized transmission of esoteric "secrets," take a vow to enlighten all sentient beings.” It does not spring was often closer to Esoteric Buddhist than to Zen traditions. There from a desire, "Oh, take all this agony away!” It is natural. Other- seems to have been a progressive "esotericization" of missan Zen, wise it will not be pure. such that in the sixteenth century, certain Zen transmissions in Ja- pan completely assumed the form of an Esoteric Buddhist initia- Artificiality must not come into your relationship with others.