Zen versus Ch'an

I have known a number of Zen teachers/authors who claim that there is a difference between Chinese Ch’an and Japanese Zen, and say that the two are not the same. Is this because one person says “to-may-to” and the other “to-ma-to” or are Zen and Chan actually different?

Reality

"Reality is an illusion brought on by lack of alcohol."     Discuss.

(You may consider "alcohol" a metaphor, if you wish.)

Oneness!

Yesterday heading home after retreat, standing on a ferry between the two shores, I felt the pleasure of silence, of practice: sitting meditation, walking meditation, cooking and drinking coffee meditation. There in the ferry I saw how important it is, how much we have to do of it; a clear insight that dismantles the argument of those practitioners who explain their lazyness by saying that ”just being” is enough, or ”being natural” or ”mindfull”. This is not so.

One should sit for aeons in order to have a glimpse of what is not bound by views and practices. Moreover, one should walk for aeons, should stand, should lie down, should sweep the floor, wash the dishes, clean the toilet for a million kalpas in order to realize that practice and life are not different.

Half an hour, won't do.

20 years won't do.

Smart answers won't do either.

Will that turn you into a statue? Those who think this spend more time imagining what sitting meditation is than actually sitting in meditation, while those who sit for kalpas are the ones who walk, stand, sweep and wash for kalpas. Imagining what sitting meditation is, is being a statue (a stone with unmovable views); sitting in meditation is discoverying the constant flow, essenceless and change of every breath, thought, action, view...

The ferry, the sun is shining, spring is welcome and the same sea that two days ago wanted to eat me with its brave waves is in calm today, sparkling, throwing stars, playing with the sun.

I'm in peace, dancing peace, at ease and refreshed as if I had slept for thousand years. I love and kiss with tonge that light-play between the sea, the sky and the sun.

Then, as a fish jumping out of the water, a question arises: ”Oneness, oneness, where is oneness?” And I search for it with the mind-eye, with an open heart, confident in the practice, resting in this peace. I look, I see the sea north and south and the plain and dizzy coast east and west. I look but I don't see this oneness. I scan perception, what is seen, what is heard, what is felt and thought... and I can't find it.

This beauty, this magic moment and yet without oneness?

Wonderfull! Then I know I'm free.

Just like those who don't practice buddhism & zen are bound by their sense of separation, the sickness that is consuming zenbuddhists is that of emptiness, no self and oneness. It made us vomit blood and flowers (and worse things).

In those inspiring moments I could only think of two words to express my insight. Just imagine the setting up: a sunny day, the deck of an old ferry boat, the fresh wind, the taste of meditation, the two words:

Fuck Oneness

In awe, I bow.

Compassion

I'm struggling with the notion of "compassion" at the moment. It is said that compassion should arise naturally from enlightenment. Why?

I understand that a sense of no-self will create a sense of unity with all sentient life - no problem there. But why should one then feel compassion for it all? Why that particular emotion?

Za-zen Buddhism?

“The history of Chinese Zen raises one problem of great fascination. Both Rinzai and Soto Zen as we find them in Japanese monasteries today put enormous emphasis on za-zen or sitting meditation . . . We have already mentioned the incident between Ma-tsu and Huai-jang, in which the latter compared sitting in meditation to polishing a tile for a mirror. On another occasion Huai-Jang said:

To train yourself in sitting meditation [za­-zen] is to train yourself to be a sitting Buddha. If you train yourself in za-zen, (you should know that) Zen is neither sitting nor lying. If you train yourself to be a sitting Buddha, (you should know that) the Buddha is not a fixed form. Since the Dharma has no (fixed) abode, it is not a matter of making choices. If you (make yourself) a sitting Buddha this is precisely killing the Buddha. If you adhere to the sitting position, you will not attain the principle (of Zen).

This seems to be the consistent doctrine of all the T’ang masters from Hui-neng to Lin-chi. Nowhere in their teachings have I been able to find any instruction in or recommendation of the type of za-zen which is today the principal occupation of Zen monks. On the contrary, the practice is discussed time after time in the apparently negative fashion of the two quotations just cited . . . Perhaps, then, the exaggeration of za-zen in later times is part and parcel of the conversion of the Zen monastery into a boys’ training school. To have them sit still for hours on end under the watchful eyes of monitors with sticks is certainly a sure method of keeping them out of mischief.”

From The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts


Zen is a collection of practices and teachings that help us remember who we really are and how we naturally fit into the infinitely complex and miraculously simple web of existence. Zen aims to do this, as its very name implies, through the practice of meditation. And though it can be any activity, we have, by and large, come to think of meditation almost exclusively as a seated practice (aided, no doubt, by the Japanese addition of the prefix za-, meaning seated or sitting.) In this way, we limit ourselves. Learning to be a sitting Buddha is only useful to the extent that it helps us to become a walking Buddha, an eating Buddha, a sleeping Buddha, and so on and on to everything that we do. If we never move beyond the sitting, we are as children that have never learned to walk, even convincing ourselves that walking is unnecessary – “there is only sitting”.

Why would we do this to ourselves? Is it ignorance? Is it a method of control? Is Alan Watts right – are we merely wayward children that can do no more than hope to be kept out of mischief?

Hakuin

"Once, after I (Hakuin) had set forth my understanding to the master (Etan Zosu) during dokusan, he said to me, 'Commitment to the study of Zen must be genuine. How do you understand the koan about the dog and Buddha-nature?'
'No way to lay a hand or foot on that,' I replied.
He abruptly reached out and caught my nose. Giving it a sharp push with his hand, he said, 'Got a pretty good hand on it there!' "

Some people use shock therapy to transmit dharma; others feel placid serenity is more the trademark of one ready to share enlightened understanding. Participants in this blog cover the full range. In fact, I've had the Dojin Roku representative of each extreme sitting here in sangha at the same sesshin!

Which approach do you find most awakening - the warm smile or the bucket of icy water?

Effort is Superfluous

Once true-nature is recognized, one can harmonize with one’s environment yet remain undefiled. This is to already be a Buddha. At this point there is no need to put forth effort and be diligent. Any action is superfluous. No need to bother with the slightest thought or word. Therefore, to become a Buddha is the easiest, most unobstructed task. Do it by yourself. Do not seek outside yourself for it.

Hsu Yun

Buddhism

Today a friend came for our regular Sunday sitting. She asked what I'd been doing since last weekend. I replied that the most exciting event had been on Wednesday, when I'd fulfilled an invitation to spend 15 minutes explaining Buddhism to 400 teenagers.
"What did you say to them?" she asked.
"I spent 12 minutes explaining why and how to do anapanasati. Then we all meditated for three minutes."
"That's not Buddhism," she commented.

What do you think?

Past Lives?

I am told by many of my Buddhist friends that our current situation is results of the accumulation of our Karma from past lives.

What “past lives” are they referring too?

If Zen Buddhists say there is “No Self” who is there to have past lives?

Can anyone explain this?

Listen!

Sitting, listening to the speech of Huike.

I come now here and write it down

Are you a Bodhisattva?

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

So, Third World hunger. How would a modern Bodhisattva be part of the solution?

Popular Delusions

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? Why do financially sensible people jump lemming-like into hare-brained speculative frenzies--only to jump broker-like out of windows when their fantasies dissolve? How do men of letters become religious fanatics, when faced with contradictory facts and reason? (Charles MacKay, Author of- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds)

Corporate delusions are the most blinding of all. Whenever a given group begins thinking collectively, the collective consciousness becomes and entity of its own, a Hungry Ghost with its own corporate delusions; delusions of power, delusions of authority, delusions of self righteousness.

How can we find truth, when those we consider the authorities are among the deluded masses? Where is our awakening to be found?

“…Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
-the Kalama Sutra

Nothing is Hidden!

A student once asked Ts' ui-wei “What is the real meaning of Buddhism?” Ts' ui-wei answered: "Wait until there is no one around and I will tell you." Later that evening the monk again approached him and said, "There is nobody here now. Please tell me, what is the real meaning of Buddhism?" Ts'ui-wei led him into the garden and went over to some bamboo and pointed. "Here is a tall bamboo; there is a short one!"

A fundamental tenet of Zen is that there are no hidden teachings. Everything is free and presented openly. Within these open teachings lie both the esoteric and exoteric teachings, only the student's understanding separates one from the other. Anyone who claims that there are hidden teachings beyond this, knows nothing of Zen.

Nothing is hidden!

A Zen Christmas Carol

Oh, the ego inside is frightful,
It can makes us mean and spiteful,
If True Nature you wish to know,
Let it go! Let it go! Let it go!

Happy Holidays!

Winter retreat

I'll be on retreat from Wednesday to Tuesday. Being alone is always a test for one self-confidence, especially on these days, when one gets the message that one should be in company of others, having fun and being compassionate. Even my 7 year old daughter is beginning to challenge my decision of going in solitude. She too feels the pressure.

Maybe you think I'm being selfish, but I'm only acting without further hesitation in order to face affliction. Maybe my "selfishness" today is a way of showing that it is possible to live in such a way as not to be confused by others, so the teacher teaches without being bound to better answers and transmission is realized, the one that was not invented.

My stuff and bowl are ready. So is my cushion.

For those of you who will be celebrating, it is also there.

Gassho

Confused by Others

I was contacted by a student of Zen who was greatly confused by a conversation with another Zen teacher. This other teacher told him that because he lacked sufficient training, that he could not be enlightened. The student asked me if I thought this was correct. To which I replied, “Yes, he was correct.”
“How can he make this judgment, he doesn’t even know me?”
“Apparently he does, or you wouldn’t be telling me this.” I affirmed.
“Why do you agree with him?
“Because you did.”
“I didn’t agree! I was insulted!” he argued.
“And, that’s what made him correct.”

“What I point out to you is only that you shouldn't allow yourselves to be confused by others. Act when you need to, without further hesitation or doubt. People today can't do this—what is their affliction? Their affliction is in their lack of self-confidence.”
–Lin Chi

So, what’s your excuse?

Perspective

I've just come across a photo which I thought I'd share. It's helping me not to attach excessive importance to things - a sort of visual "Mu!" Here it is:

Build at hut

Sometimes we build a house, a zendo, a hut to practice meditation. We adopt some rules and etiquette and keep the place going. It may be not necessary, but it is a good help in the practice.

Sometimes we build a house, a zendo, a hut when we practice meditation. The only rules and etiquette is keeping the practice constant and steady. It may be not necessary, but it is a good help in the practice.

Every inhalation and every exhalation are stone blocks. They come in and out of your nose.

The house is built and destroyed in a moment. We build it up again and again until eventually it founds its foundation and it cannot be shaken anymore. From the outside it is small, almost invisible.

From the inside, it is boundless.

Weeds growing in the ceiling.

No study

I have no time to study this days. Working in finding a work, working in developing my skills as a programmer, working in painting the bathroom, working in samsara.

I say I have no time to study and no time to practice. So when I sit, I'm worried. When I paint, I'm thinking I'd like to be "practising".

Then it happens again. Almost like a patient and compasive friend patting you softly in the back, as to wake you up: I can see the brush in my hand, my hand is white and moving up and down by the wall. There is this quality in the light, I AM PRACTICING. The wall is a book, the chair I'm standing on is my cushion, the bottom of the bucket is my teacher and he asks: "what is your practice?" And my hand answers, up and down, left and right, up and down.

Later, going for a walk, hard walk on the new snow, my nose says thanks to the cold, my chins cry in joy. The bent old tree asks again: "what is your practice?" I turn my head, three swans flying by, and I know I'm practicing, the swans can testify it.

I come home, wonderfully warm, I pick up the Dhammapada because I'm thirsty, as if had been to long away from my lover and I needed a kiss. I open the little book and read:

Those who awaken
Never rest in one place
Like swans they rise,
and leave the lake

Maybe there is no study, but there is practice

All the time

Words in Dokusan

“What books on Buddhism should I read?”
“All of them.”
“No really, which ones specifically?”
“None of them.”

Zen is the path of direct experience and to me this includes the direct experience of the copious writings beginning with the sutras. Those many times when I was practicing in solitude; books brought me the words of the Buddha as well as the countless teachings that have come since.

It is said that Zen is "not founded on words and letters” but this does not mean avoiding words and letters. If this were true, Zen would be a totally silent practice without dharma talks, gathas, koans, dokusan or sanzen. All of which are dependent on words. Who among us today would have come to Zen if we had never read anything about it?

I think I like Chuang-Tzu’s perspective on this-

The purpose of a fishtrap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
I would like to have a talk with him!