Writings of Suzuki Shosan - II

A warrior asked Suzuki Shosan, "They say the law of Buddha and the law of the world are like the two wheels of a chariot. But nothing would be lacking in the world even without Buddhism. Why liken them to two wheels of a chariot?”

Shosan replied, ‘The law of Buddha and the law of the world are not two separate things. According to a saying of Buddha, if you can enter the world successfully there is nothing more to leaving the world.

“Whether Buddhism or worldly law, there is nothing more than reasoning correctly, acting justly, and practicing honesty.

“There are differences in depth of honesty. Not twisting reason, preserving justice, correctness in social relations, not crossing people, not being egotistical - these constitute honesty in the worldly sense. This is a way into the deep via the shallow.

“Honesty in the context of Buddhism means realizing that all conditioned phenomena are illusions, and using the original reality-body in its natural state. This is true honesty.

“The fact is that the ordinary people are very sick patients, while the Buddha is a very great physician. Ordinary people ought to recognize sickness first. In the ignorant mind that fluctuates, there is the sickness of delusion, there are sicknesses of greed and false views, there are sicknesses of weakness and injustice. Based on the mind infected by the three poisons, there are diseases of eighty-four thousand afflictions. Getting rid of this mind is called Buddhism. How is this any different from worldly law?

“People who attain the Way know the principle of fundamental emptiness, use principle and duty as a forge to temper this mind day and night, get rid of the residue of impurities, make it a pure unhindered mind-sword, cut through the root of selfish and obsessive thoughts, overcome all thoughts, surmount everything, and are unfazed by anything, unborn and undying. These are called people of the Way.

“Now, then, ordinary people are those who take the falsehood of illusions to be true, produce a selfish mind attached to what has form, develop greedy, angry, and ignorant thoughts, create all sorts of afflictions and lose their basic mind, always distracted, overcome by thoughts as they occur, racking their brains and belaboring their bodies, without buoyancy of mind, vainly passing the time benighted, alienated from themselves and fixated on things. This is called the mind of ordinary people.

‘That being so, you should know the different terms for the original mind. It is called the adamantine actuality, the indestructible body of reality, This mind is not hung up on things; it is unafraid, unshakable, undismayed, unfazed, undisturbed, and unchanged, master of all. Those who realize this and use it effectively are called great; they are said to have iron guts, and to have attained the Way. People like this are not obstructed by myriad thoughts; able to let go of all things, they are very independent.

“However, people who would practice the Way of Buddha will be unable to succeed unless they have an intrepid mind first. It is impossible to gain access to the Way of Buddha with a weak mind. If you are not rigorously observant and do not practice vigorously, you will experience misery along with those afflictions.

“One who overcomes all things with a firm mind is called a wayfarer. One who has thoughts fixated on appearances, is burdened by everything, and so suffers misery is called an ordinary person.

“So people who work up the courage of violence with an afflicted mind may have the force to’ break through iron walls for the moment, but violence ‘eventually comes to an end. The mind of a strong person, being immovable, does not change. If men who are warriors cultivate this, why would they not attain a strong mind?

“Even people of outstanding heroism, when the killing demon of impermanence comes lose their usual power, their ferocity, and ability to exert any effort. When they try to open their eyes they cannot see anything; their ears can't hear, their tongues shrivel and can't speak. When the killing demon enters the heart and destroys the internal organs, breathing becomes difficult, pain invades their bodies, and under it they become unable to overcome and kill the demon of impermanence, unable to bear the great hardships of the mountain of death, drowning in the river between here and the afterlife, shamed at the court of the king of death, falling forever into the three evils and four dispositions, disgraced generation to generation, lifetime after lifetime, as self and as other, unable to escape. 

Would you say this disgrace is insignificant because shallow people don’t know of it ? Even in the illusory human society disgrace is nothing to take lightly; how much the more so is eternal disgrace ?

“Can someone ignorant of this logic be called someone who knows principle or embodies justice? Think ahead before you act.

If you know the principle, you should fear it. If you embody justice, use the fierce and firm mind-sword to cut down the enemy of birth and death and live in great peace.”

Somehow, this story reminds me of the - probably apocryphal - episode of the viper coming upon Takuan Soho and Miyamoto Musashi meditating together.

How about that ?

Modern Taoist and Zen Practices

When Buddhism arrived in China, Taoism had been established there for a long time, with a tradition of spiritual practices somehow similar to the yogic meditative practices of India. The similarities between the 2 great traditions helped the spread of Buddhism in China. It was also the reason why Taoism greatly influenced the practices of Buddhism in general, and of Chan (that branch of Buddhism mostly interested in sitting meditation) in particular.

A clear example of this influence is to be found in the healing techniques  (So Cream method) described by 17th century Japanese Zen Master Hakuin in his Yasenkana. What Hakuin used to heal himself from what he called « Meditation disease » are classical Qi Gong techniques.

Unfortunately the influence of Taoism in Japanese Zen slowly decreased. There might be several reasons for this.

• Taoism was usually not interested in being spread to the general population, so its higher teachings are usually recorded in very esoteric language that only initiates can understand.
• Although there are clearly very valuable practices in Taoism, there are also lots of magical and superstitious practices detrimental to Meditation practices.
• It may not have been easy to find qualified teachers.

This is unfortunate for us, who mostly have learned Zen through the Japanese influence, for some techniques developed by Taoists are very valuable to Zen practice.

Techniques that request the total participation of our bodies to harness the mind.

Even if harnessing the mind is not the goal, but a tool of Zen practice, it is an important one. The ability to quiet the mind – to harness the Monkey - can bring lots of relief to people who need that before they can concentrate on anything else. After all, most of us came to Zen because of a suffering induced by our inability to control our wandering mind.

Today, I see a strong intellectual current in Zen, people want to understand everything, they read complicated books about everything, and do not spend enough time practicing. I am not sure this is going in the right direction. There are limits to what can be achieved through intellectual understanding. Intellectual, analytical understanding uses systems of words and ideas to explain them. These ideas or words are just symbols, they point to the moon, they are not the moon, but we tend to believe they are the real thing, and we get lost. We are like some food critic who know everything about French cheeses, who could not taste the difference between a Camembert and a Roquefort. There is a time where you need to quit asking questions about this or that, and start doing it. Taoist techniques are here for that.

Most of Taoist practices are related to Qi Gong – a term that can be translated as «Exercises in Energy or Vital Force). Tai Chi – practiced for health purposes – is a Qi Gong. Our Karate Sanchin Kata is also a Qi Gong.

Taoists have developed coherent theories and terminologies to guide the practitioner and describe what is happening during practice. Some of these theories use are highly esoteric and possibly misleading. Fortunately, some of them are easier to use, and their understanding makes practice easier. So they are a good tool to achieve a goal. It does not mean that they are «true». They simply are a description of reality. Once again, the Map is not the Territory, but it can be useful to deal with it.

Note: The practice of the "So Cream" or "Soft Butter" described by Master Hakuin in Yasenkana is inspired from the basic Small Circulation practice of Taoist Yoga.

The WAY things are - Mysticism and Institutions.

It would seem that Communism and Buddhism do not really fit together well. Or is it that Dictature and Buddhism do not fit together well ?  

 

In Hanoi, Vietnam last week a group of young monks and nuns devotees of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, had to leave the Pagoda where they had taken refuge for the past 3 month following government efforts to disband their community.

 

 

Also last week, in the town of Kangding, Tibet, the Tibetan Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail on charges of illegally occupying government land and possession of weapons.

 

 

 

This is not just about Buddhism, Communism or Dictature, but a general trend. The WAY the world evolves... Chaos follows order, which turns into Chaos again... 

Introspection  - the search for truth by an individual inside himself rather than outside - is a threat to institutions. 

 

Most Religions were originally "launched" by individuals : Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohamed... These individuals, having been raised in a traditional religion and not being satisfied with it, through introspection reached a different level of "knowledge" or experience of Reality, and had the audacity to start teaching to others what they had experienced. All of them got in trouble with local authorities, because they were threatening their stability.

 

This seems to always be the problem. One guy gets a great idea to help people . He starts teaching. His teachings threaten the established orders, he gets in trouble, might even get killed. But then his followers grow and grow and grow in number and strength, till the people in charge realize that if they want to control what is going on, they better work with the movement than against it. And so they do. (This is what Roman Emperor Constantine did in 313). 

A new institution is created, which needs Organization, Structures, Laws, Rules, Holly Scriptures... And here we go again, quickly the original vision of the founder (who was not looking to found anything) is lost under red tape, bureaucracy, and personal interest of dignitaries. 

 

Interestingly enough, this is not limited to religion... We can see the same thing happen in Martial Arts. When the Okinawan Masters (Gichin Funakoshi, Tsuyoshi Chitose, Chojun Miyagi, Choki Motobu, Kenwa Mabuni...) brought Karate to mainland Japan, the new Art was recuperated by the Dai Nippon Butokukai.

 

From an obscure "Chinese Hand" collection of (extremely efficient) fighting techniques, practiced without specific uniform, belt or rank system, Karate became Karate-Do - the way of EMPTY Hand, a mainstream Budo, soon recognized wordly. 

 

Whichever creativity involved in the beginning of Karate when students would travel to China so study under various masters and when back tn Okinawa would synthesize or modify what they had learn to adapt it to new conditions was pretty much lost. 

 

Nowadays, most Schools ans Styles emphasize the extreme importance to stick to the FORM (Kata) without deviating at all from the way they should be performed. Because this is the way it was always done. 

 

Comes a new idea, it is used and contaminates society. Little by little it becomes stronger and stronger until it prevails and society gets reorganized according to it. Strength brings Rigidity : the inability to adapt. Conditions change, the now old order is not adapted anymore, comes a new idea...

 

A baby is born, so flexible, in body as well as in spirit, it becomes stronger and stronger, he grows up, develops an ego and a strong sense of himself...

 

There is no point fighting the Tao.