Beneath an empty autumn sky stretch endless wastes where no one goes.

Who is that horseman riding from the West?

 - Wang Changling, eighth century Chinese poet, quoted by Hakuin in Zen Words for the Heart.

(For Vicki)

ORDINARY MIND IS THE WAY

Gateless Gate, Case 19  

Chao-chou asked Nan-ch’uan, “What is the Tao?”

Nan-ch’uan said, “Ordinary mind is the Tao.”

Chao-chou said, “Should I direct myself toward it, or not?”

Nan-ch’uan said, “If you try to direct yourself, then you deviate.”

                                   

Chao-chou asked, “How can I know the Tao if I don’t direct myself?”

Nan-ch’uan said, “The Tao is not subject to knowing or not knowing.  Knowing is delusion; not knowing is blankness.  If you truly reach the genuine Tao, you will find it is as vast and boundless as outer space.  How can this be discussed at the level of affirmation and negation?”

With these words, Chao-chou had sudden realisation.

 WU-MEN’S COMMENT:

Questioned by Chao-chou, Nan-ch’uan lost no time in showing the smashed tile and the melted ice, where no explanation is possible.  Though Chao-chou had realisation, he could confirm it only after another thirty years of practice.

WU-MEN’S VERSE:

Spring comes with flowers, autumn with the moon,

summer with breeze, winter with snow.

When idle concerns don’t hang in your mind,

that is your best season.

-Honolulu Diamond Sangha

LIN-CHI  (Rinzai)
Translated from the Chinese by Ruth Fuller Sasaki

"You belittle yourselves and modestly withdraw, saying, ‘We are but commoners; he is a sage.’ Bald idiots! What’s the frantic hurry to wrap yourselves in lions’ skins while you’re yapping like jackals!

“Resolute fellows [though you are], you do not draw the breath of the resolute. Unwilling to believe in what you have in your own house, you do nothing but seek outside, go clambering after the worthless sayings of the men of old, rely upon yin and depend upon yang and are unable to achieve [by yourselves]. On meeting [outer] circumstances, you establish relationship with them; on meeting [sense-] dusts you cling to them; wherever you are doubts arise, and you yourselves have no standard of judgment.

“Followers of the Way, don’t accept what I state. Why? Statements have no proof. They are pictures temporarily drawn in the empty sky, as in the metaphor of the painted figures.

“Followers of the Way, there is no Buddha to be obtained. Even the doctrines [including those] of the Three Vehicles, the five natures, and complete and immediate enlightenment — all these are but provisional medicines for the treatment of symptoms. In no sense do any real dharmas exist. Even if they were to exist, they would all be nothing but imitations, publicly displayed proclamations, arrangements of letters stated that way just for the time being.

“Followers of the Way, there’re a bunch of shave-pates who try to seek a transcendental dharma by directing their efforts inward. A great mistake! If you seek buddha you lose buddha, if you seek the Way you lose the Way, if you seek the patriarchs you lose the patriarchs.

“Virtuous monks, make no mistake. I don’t care whether you understand the sutras and śāstras, whether you’re a king or a high minister, whether you’re as eloquent as a rushing torrent, or whether you’re clever or wise. I only want you to have true insight.

“Followers of the Way, even if you should master a hundred sutras and śāstras, you’re not as good as a teacher with nothing to do. If you do master them, you’ll regard others with contempt. Asura-like conflict and egotistical ignorance increase the karma that leads to hell. Such was the case of Sunakṣātra bhikku—though he understood the twelve divisions of the teachings, he fell alive into hell. The great earth had no place for him.

It’s better to do nothing and take it easy.  When hunger comes I eat my rice; when sleep comes I close my eyes. Fools laugh at me, but the wise man understands.

“Followers of the Way, don’t seek within words, for when the mind is stirred you become wearied, and there’s no benefit t in gulping icy air. Its better, by the single thought that causal relations are [fundamentally] birth-less, to surpass the bodhisattvas who depend upon the provisional teaching of the Three Vehicles.

“Virtuous monks, don’t spend your days drifting along. In the past when I had as yet no understanding, all about me was utter darkness. But I wasn’t one to waste time, so with a burning belly and a turbulent mind, I ran around inquiring about the Way. Later, however, I got some help and finally today I can talk to you like this. I advise all you followers of the Way not to live for food and clothes. Look! The world passes swiftly away, and meeting a good teacher is as rare as the flowering of the Udumbara tree.

“As for the Way of ultimate truth, it is not something that seeks to arouse enthusiasm through arguments and disputes, nor that uses resounding oratory to refute heretics. As for the transmission of the buddhas and the patriarchs, it has no special purpose. Even though there are verbal teachings, they all fall into [the category of] such formulas for salvation as the Three Vehicles, the five natures, and the cause-and-effect that leads to [rebirth as] men or gods. But in the case of the teaching of the complete and immediate enlightenment this isn’t so; Sudhana did not go around seeking any of these. 

“Virtuous monks, don’t use your minds mistakenly. The great sea does not detain dead bodies, but all you do is rush about the world carrying them on your shoulders. You yourselves raise the obstructions that impede your minds. When the sun above has no clouds, the bright heavens shine everywhere. When there is no cataract on the eye, there are no [imaginary] flowers in the sky. 

“Followers of the Way, if you wish to be dharma as is, just have no doubts. ‘Spread out, it fills the entire dharma realm; gathered in, the smallest hair cannot stand upon it.’ Distinctly and radiantly shining alone, it has never lacked anything. No eye can see it, no ear can hear it—then by what name can it be called? A man of old said, ‘To speak about a thing is to miss the mark.’

“Just see for yourselves—what is there! I can keep on talking forever. Each one of you must strive individually. Take care of yourselves.

ZAZEN YOJINKI

(ADVICE ON THE PRACTICE OF ZAZEN)

By Keizan Jokin, monk of Tokokuji

Zazen (seated meditation) allows people to directly enlighten the primordial mind and to abide peacefully in their original state. This is known as realizing one’s original face, or manifesting the true nature of the primordial mind. Zazen is the dropping off of body and mind and remaining detached, whether seated or lying down. It is not concerned with good or evil, and transcends the distinctions of worldly and sacred, delusion and enlightenment, sentient beings and Buddhas. It relinquishes the ten thousand things, renounces all conditions, casts aside everything, and does not rely on the six senses.

What is this that is nameless and cannot be identified with either body or mind? If you try to conceive of it, it is beyond thought; if you try to express it, words are exhausted. It appears both foolish and saintly. It is as high as the mountain and as deep as the ocean, yet discloses neither its full height nor depth. It is illuminatively unbound by conditions, displaying a radiance that cannot be discerned by the naked eye. It penetrates beyond thought and has a clarity above the entanglements of speech. It transcends both heaven and earth and is realized only by the entire person.

It is like an immeasurably perfected person who has experienced the great death (parinirvana) and has unobstructed vision and unhindered action. What dust defiles it, and what obstacle can block it? Clear water originally has neither front nor back, and empty space is not bound by inside or outside. Zazen has a pristine clarity that is self-illuminating prior to distinctions of form and emptiness, subject and object. It is eternal but has never been named. The Third Patriarch (Sengcan) [provisionally] referred to it as “mind,” and Nagarjuna [provisionally] referred to it as “body.” It manifests the form of Buddha-nature and actualizes the body of all Buddhas. Like the full moon, it is without absence or excess. This mind itself is nothing other than Buddha. Self-illumination shines from the past through the present, realizing the transformation of Nagarjuna [who manifested himself as the moon, symbolizing Buddha-nature] and attaining the samadhi of all Buddhas.

Mind originally is undifferentiated, and the body manifests various forms. Mind-only and body-only cannot be explained in terms of sameness or difference. Mind transforms itself and becomes body, and the manifest body has deferent forms. When one wave is generated, ten thousand waves appear; when mental discrimination arises, ten thousand dharmas appear. That is, the four elements and five skandhas interdependently originate, and the four limbs and five senses become manifest. Furthermore, the thirty six parts [of the body] and the twelve conditions ceaselessly continue to appear. In explaining the interdependence of phenomena, the mind can be compared to ocean water and the body to waves. There are no waves without water, and no water without waves. Water and waves are inseparable, motion and stillness are indistinguishable. Therefore it is said, “The true man [who comprehends] life and death, coming and going, realizes the imperishable body of the four elements and the five skandhas.”

Now, [practicing] zazen is directly entering into the ocean of Buddha-nature and manifesting the body of all Buddhas. The fundamental purity of the radiant mind is disclosed, and the original brightness shines forth without limit. There is no increase or decrease in the waters of the ocean, and the waves are never distracted in their course. Therefore, all Buddhas appear in the world for the single-minded function of causing sentient beings to realize Buddha [hood] and to attain and manifest enlightenment. Their incomparably tranquil and wondrous technique is known as zazen. It is also known as the self-fulfilling samadhi, or the king of all samadhis.

If you abide tranquilly in samadhi, it directly enlightens the primordial mind and is the true gate to the attainment of the way of Buddhas. If you wish to enlighten the primordial mind, renounce discriminative knowledge and interpretation, cast away [the distinctions between] worldly and Buddhist principles, and remove all attachments. If you manifest the One True Mind, the clouds of delusion will be dispersed and the mind will be as clear as the new moon. The Buddha said, “Listening and thinking are standing outside the gate, zazen is sitting calmly in one’s own home.” How true! For listening and thinking perpetuate [one-sided] views, leaving the primordial mind in turmoil, just like being outside the gate. But zazen creates an all-pervasive restfulness, just like sitting calmly at home.

The attachments of the five desires all arise from ignorance, ignorance is due to a lack of clarity about the self, and zazen illuminates the self. For example, although the five desires may be removed, if ignorance is not yet removed that is not yet [the attainment] of a Buddha or patriarch. If you want to remove ignorance, the diligent practice of zazen is the key. An ancient said, “If distraction is removed tranquillity arises, and if tranquillity arises wisdom is attained, and if wisdom is attained the truth is clearly seen.” If you want to remove distractions, you must be free from thoughts of [the distinction of] good and evil, and renounce all involvement in karmic relations. The most important concern is that the mind be free from thinking and the body free from acting. When distracting relations are ended mental disturbances are subdued, and when mental disturbances are subdued the unchanging body is manifest. You continuously realize its clarity as neither extinction nor commotion.

Therefore, you must not be involved in arts and crafts or healing and divination. Furthermore, song, dance, and music, debate and rhetoric, as well as the pursuit of fame and fortune must be completely avoided. Although eulogy and lyrical poetry can in themselves contribute to calming the mind, you must not indulge in writing them. The renunciation of literature and calligraphy is a priority for seekers of the Way, and is the most effective means of regulating the mind.

Do not wear clothing that is either elegant or tattered. Fine clothes give rise to greed as well as the fear of being robbed, and this becomes an obstacle to the pursuit of the Way. To refuse clothes if offered as alms has always been a praiseworthy practice since ancient times. Even if you already own such clothes, do not indulge in wearing them. If thieves come to steal the clothes, do not bother to chase after them or regret the loss. You should wear old clothes that have been washed and mended till completely clean. If you do not clean [and mend] the clothes you will get cold and sick, and that is also an obstacle to the pursuit of the Way. Although we should not be overly concerned with physical conditions, the lack of food, clothing, and shelter is known as the three insufficiencies, all of which are obstructive conditions.

Do not eat food that is either raw or tough, stale or spoiled, for intestinal rumbling is a discomfort for the body and mind and an obstacle to zazen. Do not indulge in eating fine food. That is not only an obstruction for the body and mind but indicates that you have not overcome greed. Eat enough food to maintain your vitality but do not relish it. If you try to sit in meditation after you have eaten until you are full, it can cause illness. Do not attempt meditation immediately after either a large or small meal; you must wait awhile to be ready to sit. Generally, mendicants and monks should eat sparingly. That means that they should limit their portions, for example, eating two parts of three and leaving the rest. The usual medicinal foods, such as sesame and yams, should be eaten. That is an effective means of regulating the body.

When sitting in meditation, you must not lean against a wall, support, or screen to prop yourself up. Do not sit in a place susceptible to wind and storm, or in a high and exposed spot, for that can lead to illness. When sitting in meditation, your body may feel hot or cold, tight or slack, stiff or loose, heavy or light, or you may feel abruptly awakened, all because the breath is not regulated and must be controlled. The method for regulating the breath is to keep your mouth open for a while, holding deep breaths and short breaths alternately until your breathing is gradually regulated and controlled for a period of time. When awareness comes, it means that breathing is spontaneously regulated. After this, let the breath pass naturally through the nose.

The mind may feel depressed or flighty, foggy or clear. Or, sometimes it may see outside the room or inside your body. Or, it may visualize the bodies of Buddhas or the forms of bodhisattvas, advice on the Practice of Zazen or it may formulate theories, or evaluate the sutra or sastra literature. Such types of miraculous and unusual behaviour result from a lack of regulating one’s consciousness and breathing. When attachments such as this arise, focus attention on your lap. When the mind lapses into bewilderment, focus attention on the middle of your forehead (three inches above the centre of the eyebrows). When the mind is distracted, focus attention on the tip of your nose or your lower abdomen (one and a half inches below the navel). As you remain seated, focus attention on the left palm. When sitting for a long time, although you will not necessarily reach a state of tranquillity, your mind will on its own be freed from distraction.

Although the traditional precepts are instructions for illuminating the mind, you must not read, write, or listen to them too much, for that will cause mental disturbances. Generally, weariness of the body and mind is the cause of illness. Do not practice zazen in a place where there may be danger from fire, flood, storms, or robbers, or near the seashore, a liquor store, or brothel; or where you may meet a widow, virgin, or geisha. Do not visit the homes of kings, important officials, or powerful people, or associate with people who indulge in their desires or who gossip. Although attending a large congregation of monks or engaging in full-scale construction projects may be of great importance, you must avoid such practices in order to concentrate on zazen. Do not be attached to explanations and [intellectual activity], for a distracted mind and confused thinking will arise from them. Do not take pleasure [in attracting] crowds or seek out disciples. Do not be distracted by various sorts of practices or learning. Do not practice zazen where it is extremely light or dark, cold or hot, or in the vicinity of rowdy men and indecent women.

You must spend time in a monastery, among wise and compassionate people. Or, you must travel deep into the mountains and valleys, practicing concentration next to flowing streams amid the mountains or clearing the mind by sitting in meditation in a valley. You must carefully observe impermanence and never forget its significance, for this inspires the mind in the pursuit of the Way. You must lay out a thick meditation cushion so as to be comfortable during zazen. The zazen area must be perfectly clean, and if you always burn incense and o›er flowers, the good spirits who guard the Dharma, as well as Buddhas and bodhisattvas, will cast a protective aura around it. If you install an image of a Buddha, bodhisattva, or arhat there, no mischievous demons will be able to harm you. Always abide in great compassion and pity, and dedicate the immeasurable merit of zazen to all sentient beings. Do not develop pride, conceit, or self-righteousness, for these are the ways of non-Buddhists and ordinary people. Be concerned only with efforts to end attachment and realize enlightenment. The single-minded concentration of zazen is the most effective means of practicing Zen. You must always wash your eyes and feet, and act with dignity and compassion to keep body and mind tranquil. You must renounce both worldly attachments and any clinging to the pursuit of the Way.

Although you must not be stingy with the Dharma, do not offer explanations of it to anyone unless you are asked about it. Then, wait until the inquirer has asked three times and respond only if the fourth request is sincere. Of ten things you may wish to say, hold back nine. The method of followers of the Way can be likened to a winter fan waved around the mouth, or to a bell hanging in the air which does not wonder about the breeze blowing from all directions. Do not rely upon anyone in pursuing the Dharma, and do not overestimate yourself because of the Way—this is the most important consideration. Although zazen is not just a matter of teaching, practice, or realization, it encompasses all three ideals. That is, to evaluate realization only in terms of attaining enlightenment is not the essence of zazen; to evaluate practice only as following the true path is not the essence of zazen; and to evaluate teaching only as cutting o› evil and practicing good is not the essence of zazen. Although the establishment of teaching lies within Zen, it is not ordinary teaching. Rather, the Way of simple transmission through direct pointing is an expression demonstrated by the entire body. Advice on the Practice of Zazen Advice on the Practice of Zazen It is speaking without phrases. At the point where thought and reason are exhausted, a single word conveys the totality of the world, and yet not a single hair is raised—isn’t this the true teaching of the Buddhas and patriarchs? Although practice is realized [in Zen], it is the practice of non-action. The body functions spontaneously, the mouth does not chant esoteric doctrine, the mind is not preoccupied with thoughts, the six senses are naturally clear and unaffected by anything. This is not the sixteen-fold practice of the Buddha’s disciples, the twelvefold practice of dependent origination, or the myriad practices of the six stages of the bodhisattva. Because it is not doing any [particular] thing, it is known as acting as a Buddha. Only abiding tranquilly in the self-fulfilling samadhi of all Buddhas, or resonating in the four peaceful reposes of the bodhisattva—is this not the profound and marvellous practice of the Buddhas and patriarchs? Although realization is realized [in Zen], it is the realization of non-realization, the king of all samadhis, the samadhi that realizes the unborn, comprehensive, and spontaneous wisdom, the gate to disclosing the Tathagata’s wisdom and the path of great tranquillity and harmony. It transcends the distinction between sacred and mundane, goes beyond delusion and enlightenment—is this not the realization of original enlightenment?

Although zazen is not restricted to discipline (sila), concentration (samadhi), or wisdom (prajna), it encompasses all three goals. That is, although discipline is to prevent or stop evil, in zazen we observe the principle of complete non-duality, renounce the ten thousand things, put an end to all entanglements, abandon the distinction between Buddhist and worldly principles, forget attachments to the Way as well as to the world, and acknowledge neither a‡rmation nor denial, neither good nor evil—so what is there to prevent or stop? That is the formless discipline of the primordial mind. Concentration is undivided contemplation. Zazen is the dropping off of body and mind, renouncing [the distinction between] delusion and enlightenment. It is neither motionless nor active, neither creative nor quiescent, and resembles both fool and saint, mountain and ocean. No trace of movement or stillness originates from it. Concentration functions without form. Because it is formless, it is known as great concentration. Wisdom is discriminative awareness. In zazen, subject and object disappear on their own and mental discriminations are forever forgotten. The eye of wisdom pervades the body. Although it makes no discriminations, it clearly sees Buddha-nature. Originally without delusion, zazen cuts o› conceptualization and remains unbound and clear. Wisdom is formless; because it is formless, it is known as great wisdom.

The teaching of all Buddhas, as expressed in their own lifetimes, is nothing other than what is included in discipline (sila), concentration (samadhi), or wisdom (prajna). Now, in zazen, there is no discipline that is not cultivated, no concentration that is not observed, no wisdom that is not realized. Overcoming suffering, attaining the Way, turning the wheel [of the Dharma], and the attainment of enlightenment all depend on its power. Supernatural powers and illuminating the Dharma are fully rooted in zazen. Studying Zen is also based on zazen.

If you want to practice zazen, you must first be in a quiet place and lay out a firm cushion. Do not let in either wind, smoke, rain, or dew. Keep a clean place to sit with plenty of room for your knees. Although ancient monks were reported to have sat on a diamond seat or on a huge rock, there were none who did not use a cushion. The place for sitting should not be too bright in the daytime or too dark at night, and must be kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer. That is the method [for zazen].

Renounce discriminative consciousness and terminate conceptualization. Do not try to gauge the activities of a Buddha or to judge good and evil. Make the most of your time as if your own life was at stake. The Tathagata practiced zazen in an upright position, Bodhidharma sat with single-minded attention and no other concerns, Sekiso resembled a withered tree, and [Tiantong] Rujing was critical of those who sleep while doing zazen. Rujing counselled: “Attainment is reached through zazen only, not by burning incense, worship, repetition of the nembutsu, repentance, or Advice on the Practice of Zazen Advice on the Practice of Zazen reading or reciting sutras.” Whenever you practice zazen, you must wear the kesa (kasaya) robe (except during the night and upon arising from sleep, as per the schedule). Do not neglect to do this. The cushion (twelve inches across, thirty-six inches in diameter) should not support the entire leg. It should extend from the middle of the leg to the base of the spine. That is the zazen method of the Buddhas and patriarchs.

You may sit in either the full-lotus or half-lotus position. The method for the full-lotus is to put the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh. Loosen your robe and let it hang neatly around you. Then, put your right hand on your left foot and your left hand on your right foot, keeping the thumbs together, close to the body at the navel. Sit perfectly upright without leaning left or right, forward or backward. The ears and shoulders, nose and navel must be perfectly aligned. The tongue should rest on the roof of the mouth and the breath pass through the nose. The mouth is closed but the eyes are left open. Having regulated the body so that it is neither stiff nor limp, breathe deeply through the mouth one time. Then, while sitting in concentration, sway your body [to the left and right] seven or eight times, going from a greater to smaller [range of motion]. Sit upright with lofty dedication.

So, how does one think of that which is beyond thinking? By non-thinking—that is the fundamental method of zazen. You must directly break through all attachments and realize enlightenment. If you want to rise from concentration [practice], put your hands on your knees and sway the body seven or eight times, going from a smaller to greater [range of motion]. Breathe through the mouth, put your hands on the ground, and simply raise yourself from your seat. Walk deliberately to the left or the right. If drowsiness threatens while sitting, always sway the body or open your eyes wide. Also, focus attention on the top of the head, the hairline, or the forehead. If you still do not feel awake, wipe your eyes or rub your body. If that still does not awaken you, get up from your seat and walk around in the correct manner. After walking about a hundred steps, your drowsiness should surely be overcome. The method [of walking meditation] is to take a half step with each breath. Walk as if you are not walking—calm and undistracted.

If you are still not awake after walking around in this way, rinse your eyes or cool o› your head, or recite the preface to the bodhisattva vow. Or do any combination of these things so that you do not fall asleep. You must consider the Great Matter of life and death and the swift changes of impermanence and ask yourself, “How can I sleep when the insight of the eye of the Dharma is not yet illuminated?” If drowsiness continues to threaten to overtake you, you must recite, “Because my karmic tendencies are so deeply rooted, I am now lost in the veil of fatigue—when will I awaken from my ignorance? I beg for the great compassion of the Buddhas and patriarchs to remove my suffering.”

If your mind is distracted, focus attention on the tip of your nose or your lower abdomen and count the breaths coming in and out. If the distractions continue, then reflect on an instruction koan for awakening, such as “What is it that thus comes?”, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature?”, “Unmon’s Mount Sumeru” koan, and “Doshu’s cypress tree in the garden” koan. Artless dialogues such as these are suitable. If the distractions still persist, then meditate by concentrating directly on stopping your breath or keeping your eyes shut. Or focus on the state prior to conception, before a single thought has been produced.

If you follow Buddhist practice, the twofold emptiness [of self and dharmas] spontaneously arises and mental attachments are necessarily dispersed. After emerging from concentration, to realize the majestic activities [of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down] without thought is the spontaneous manifestation of Zen enlightenment. When you actualize the undifferentiated differentiation of practice-in-realization, Zen enlightenment is spontaneously manifest. The primordial state before anything appeared, the condition prior to the formation of heaven and earth—the ultimate concern of the Buddhas and patriarchs is nothing other than this one thing.

Be still and calm, indifferent and free of passion, letting ten thousand years pass in an instant, like cool ashes or a withered tree, like incense burning without smoke in an ancient temple, or a piece of white silk. May this be realized!

(Translated by Steven Heine)

Sankon-Zazen-Setsu 

(Theory of Zazen for Three Personality Types)

by Keizan Yokin 

The zazen of the most superior person does not concern itself with questions about why the Buddhas appeared in this world. He does not think about the excellence that even the Buddhas and patriarchs cannot transmit. When hungry, he eats; when tired, he sleeps. He does not insist that all appearances are the self. He stands above both enlightenment and delusion. Naturally and effectively, he just does right zazen. And despite of this, the myriad things are not dualistically considered. Even if differentiations would arise, the most superior person does not let them enslave him.

The zazen of the less superior person forsakes all things and cuts off all relations. In the 12 hours there is no idle moment. As he inhales and exhales, he meditates each moment on truth. Or picking up a single Koan, he focuses his eyes on the tip of his nose. His natural face is not conditioned by life and death or by going and coming. The superior truth of the eternal reality and Buddha-nature cannot be grasped by the discriminating mind. While not thinking dualistically, he is not unenlightened. The wisdom clearly and brightly radiates from ancient times to now. The head sharply illuminates the 10 directions of the world; the whole body is manifested individually in all phenomena.

The zazen of the ordinary person weighs myriad relations and breaks free from the karma of good and evil. Our mind itself expresses the basic nature of the various Buddhas. Our feet are linked to the Buddha's position, and we stay away from evil places. Our hands are held in the meditative sign. There is no sutra in our hands. Our mouth is sewn shut, and our lips are sealed. Not even one doctrine is preached. Our eyes are open, but neither wide nor narrow. We do not differentiate the myriad things; we do not listen to the voice of good or evil. Our nose does not discriminate between good and bad smells. Our body does not rely on things. We abruptly stop all delusive activities. With no delusions stirring up our mind, sorrow and joy both drops away. Like a wooden Buddha, body and form naturally harmonize with truth. Even though various deluded and inverted thoughts arise, they do not take possession. It is like a clear mirror that holds no waving shadows. The five precepts, the eight precepts, the Great Precepts of the Bodhisattvas, all the precepts of monks, 3,000 behaviors, the 80,000 thorough practices, the superior true law of the various Buddhas and patriarchs - all these arise from zazen limitlessly. Within the sphere of training, zazen alone is the most superior practice.

If we practice zazen and accumulate even a single merit, it is better than to build 100, 1,000, or innumerable halls and towers. In short, do zazen continually and don't give it up. We free ourselves from birth and death forever and penetrate to the Buddha in our own mind. The four activities of going, staying, sitting, and lying are nothing but natural and unexcelled functions. Seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, are all the light of original nature. There is no choice between the beginning mind and the ripened mind. Knowledge and ignorance are not open to argument.

Just do zazen wholeheartedly. Do not forget it or lose it.

- Translated by Prof. Masunaga Reiho

In Zazen, 
leave your front door

and your back door 
open. 

Let your thoughts 
come and go. 

Just don't 
serve them tea.

 -Shunryu Suzuki

Shodo Harada Roshi:

In Buddhism, its often said that humans’ Original Mind, that Mind we have at birth, is like a clear mirror, pure and uncluttered, without shape, form, or color, with nothing in it whatsoever. If something comes before it, the mirror reflects it exactly, but the mirror itself gives birth to nothing. If what has been reflected leaves, its image disappears, but the mirror itself loses nothing. Within the mirror there is no birth, no death. No matter how dirty a thing that is reflected might be, the mirror doesn’t get dirty, nor does it become beautiful because something beautiful is reflected in it. Just because additional things are reflected, that doesn’t mean anything increases in the mirror itself, nor does anything ever decrease when fewer objects are reflected. A mirror is without increase or decrease.

Humans’ pure Original Nature is just this. Without shape, form, or color; without birth and death; not clean or dirty; not increasing or decreasing; not male or female; not young, not old; not intelligent, not stupid; not rich, not poor. There are no words, no explanation possible, no description that will apply here, only a pure mirror-like base. This is humans’ true quality; this is an actual experience. From our zazen (sitting meditation), cut all nen (mind-instants), dig down completely to the source of those nen—dig, dig, dig until we reach the place where the human character has been totally cleared. When the source point is reached, this state of Mind can be touched.

This clear human character, which is like a mirror, can accept and receive everything, but nothing that is reflected can get stuck to this mirror. It reflects everything exactly as it is, but the mirror itself stays untouched. This mirror-like Mind has no sense of "that’s me" or "that’s him, not me." It has no dualism; it makes no distinctions like that. At that true base, there actually is no differentiation between self and others. The world that is reflected in—reflected by—that mirror is not one of self and other; it has no such separation, it accepts everything as one unified whole. From the origin there is only one world, with no division into "my" world and "your" world.

To understand this as an actual fact with your own experience is the wisdom of the Buddha. From there arises the functioning of the human Mind that naturally feels another’s pain as one’s own pain, feels another’s joy as one’s own joy. A warm, encompassing Mind naturally arises from this wisdom and experience. That is what is called the compassion of the Buddha.

If we can realize the source point of our human character, then naturally all of the world becomes One. Not divided, it is encountered as one unified Whole, a great, expansive, and huge world of One. Wisdom works here and humans’ joy, suffering, and sadness become our own joy, suffering, and sadness. It is not somebody else’s joy; it is one’s very own joy as well. This is how a warm, all-encompassing Mind becomes naturally revealed and serves as the source of our action. Simply put, this is what the Buddha meant when he said, "Seek the light within yourself."

Rindo Fujimoto, Roshi

In Rinzai training, the kôan is used to quiet (to clear) the mind. This is a good way to cultivate the Zen way of seeing; however, I think it is better to develop the Zen condition by shikantaza. This means devoting oneself solely to sitting; by quieting the mind and putting it in the left hand. In Sôtô Zen we just sit; this is the most natural way. If one puts his mind in the left hand with conscious attention on the mind or on the left hand, relativity results. We should sit in zazen forgetting the mind and the left hand.

The main aim of zazen is to “let go of mind and body”; however, Buddhists sometimes pay too much attention to the mind and therefore they cannot get rid of it. The kôan may be useful; however, shikantaza is better because one has a tendency to cling to the kôan and to one’s mind. Although we should “put the mind in the left hand,” we must not pay attention to the mind. When we pay too much attention to the left hand, we are preventing satori. When we consciously put the mind in the hand, it is wrong. There are various kinds of good meditation. Satori is beyond all of these, and it is necessary to pass through the many regions of the mind before enlightenment.

There are several stages of good meditation. These stages are only views on the way to the real satori experience. It is only possible to go through different kinds of meditation (states of mind) if one is faithful and keeps courage, and these states of mind are transcendable if we sit in right zazen. However they are not ideal states of mind, but states of mind on the way to enlightenment. Sometimes, they are wrongly understood as conditions of great satori, and one is apt to remain in them because they are happy conditions. However, a static enlightenment is an impurity. There is the Absolute Reality when we continue on, abandoning all.

(From THE WAY OF ZAZEN by Rindo Fujimoto, Roshi). 

Rindo Fujimoto began studying with the great Sogaku Harada at Hosshinji. He continued his studies with Toin Iida, and succeeded him as master of Shorinji temple.

Essentials of Mind

by Yuan wu (1063-1135)

When the founder of Zen came to China from India, he did not set up written or spoken formulations; he only pointed directly to the human mind. Direct pointing just refers to what is inherent in everyone: the whole being appearing responsively from within the shell of ignorance, it is not different from the sages of time immemorial. That is what we call the natural, real, inherent nature, fundamentally pure, luminous and sublime, swallowing and spitting out all of space, the single solid realm alone and free of the senses and objects.

With great capacity and great wisdom, just detach from thought and cut off sentiments, utterly transcending ordinary conventions. Using your own inherent power, take it up directly where you are, like letting go your hold over a mile-high cliff, freeing yourself and not relying on anything anymore, causing all obstruction by views and understanding to be thoroughly removed, so that you are like a dead person without breath, and reach the original ground, attaining great cessation and great rest, which the senses fundamentally do not know and which consciousness, perception, feelings, and thoughts do not reach.

After that, in the cold ashes of a dead fire, it is clear everywhere; among the stumps of dead trees everything illumines; then you merge with solitary transcendence, unapproachably high. Then there is no more need to seek mind or seek Buddha: you meet them everywhere and find they are not obtained from outside.

The hundred aspects and thousand facets of perennial enlightenment are all just this: it is mind, so there is no need to still seek mind; it is Buddha, so why trouble to seek Buddha anymore? If you make slogans of words and produce interpretations on top of objects, then you will fall into a bag of antiques and after all never find what you are looking for.

This is the realm of true reality where you forget what is on your mind and stop looking. In a wild field, not choosing, picking up whatever comes to hand, the obvious meaning of Zen is clear in the hundred grasses. Indeed, the green bamboo, the clusters of yellow flowers, fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles use the teaching of the inanimate; rivers, birds, trees, and groves expound suffering, emptiness, and selflessness. This is based on the one true reality, producing unconditional compassion, manifesting uncontrived, supremely wondrous power in the great jewel light of nirvana.

An ancient master said, "Meeting a companion on the Way, spending a life together, the whole task of study is done." Another master said, "If I pick up a single leaf and go into the city, I move the whole mountain."

That is why one ancient adept was enlightened on hearing the sound of pebbles striking bamboo, while another was awakened on seeing peach trees in bloom. One Zen master attained enlightenment on seeing the flagpole of a teaching centre from the other side of a river. Another spoke of the staff of the spirit. One adept illustrated Zen realization by planting a hoe in the ground; another master spoke of Zen in terms of sowing the fields.

All these instances were bringing out this indestructible true being, allowing people to visit a greatly liberated true teacher without moving a step.

Carrying out the unspoken teaching, attaining unhindered eloquence, thus they forever studied all over from all things, embracing the all-inclusive universe, detaching from both abstract and concrete definitions of buddhahood, and transcendentally realizing universal, all pervasive Zen in the midst of all activities.

Why necessarily consider holy places, teachers' abodes or religious organizations and forms prerequisite to personal familiarity and attainment of realization?

Once a seeker asked a great Zen teacher, "I, so-and-so, ask: what is the truth of Buddhism?" The teacher said, "You are so-and-so." At that moment the seeker was enlightened. As it is said, "What comes from you returns to you."

An ancient worthy, working in the fields in his youth, was breaking up clumps of earth when he saw a big clod which he playfully smashed with a fierce blow. As it shattered, he was suddenly greatly enlightened.

After this he acted freely, becoming an unfathomable person, often manifesting wonders. An old master brought this up and said, "Mountains and rivers, indeed the whole earth was shattered by this man's blow. Making offerings to the buddhas does not require a lot of incense." How true these words are.

The ultimate Way is simple and easy, yet profoundly deep. From the beginning it does not set up steps—standing like a wall a mile high is called the basic fodder. Therefore ancient buddhas have been known to carry out this teaching by silence.

Still there are adepts who wouldn’t let them go at that, much less if they got into the marvelous and searched for the mysterious, spoke of mind and discoursed on nature, having sweaty shirts sticking to their flesh, unable to remove them—that would just seem all the more decrepit.

The example of the early Zen founders was exceptionally outstanding. The practical strategies of the classical masters were immediately liberating. Like dragons racing, tigers running, like the earth turning and the heavens revolving, in all circumstances they vivified people, ultimately without trailing mud and water. As soon as they penetrated the ultimate point in truth, those since time immemorial who have realized great enlightenment have been fast as falcons, swift as hawks, riding the wind, dazzling in the sun, their backs brushing the blue sky.

Penetrate directly through to freedom and make it so that there is not the slightest obstruction at any time, twenty-four hours a day, with the realization pervading in all directions, rolling up and rolling out, capturing and releasing, not occupying even the rank of sage, much less being in the ordinary current.

Then your heart will be clear, comprehending the present and the past. Picking up a blade of grass, you can use it for the body of Buddha; taking the body of Buddha, you can use it as a blade of grass. From the first there is no superiority or inferiority, no grasping or rejection. It is simply a matter of being alive to meet the situation: sometimes you take away the person but not the world; sometimes you take away the world but not the person; and sometimes both are taken away; and sometimes neither is taken away.

Transcending convention and sect, completely clear and free, how could you just want to trap people, to pull the wool over their eyes, to turn them around, to derail them? It is necessary to get to the reality and show them the fundamental thing in each of them, which is independent and uncontrived, which has nothing to it at all, and which is great liberation. This is why the ancients, while in the midst of activity in the world, would first illuminate it, and as soon as there was the slightest obstruction, they would cut it off entirely. Even so they could hardly find anyone who could manage to learn this—how could they compare to these people who drag each other through the weeds, draw each other into assessments and judgments of words and deeds, make nests, and bury the sons and daughters of others? Clearly we know that these latter people are “wetting the bed with their eyes open,” while those other, clear-eyed people would never make such slogans and conventions. With a robust and powerful spirit that astounds everyone, you should aim to truly inherit this school of Zen: with every exclamation, every stroke, every act, every objective, you face reality absolutely and annihilate all falsehood. As it is said, “Once the sharp sword has been used, you should hone it right away.”

When your insight penetrates freely and its application is clear, then when going into action in the midst of all kinds of complexity and complication, you yourself can turn freely without sticking or lingering and without setting up any views or maintaining any state, flowing freely: “When the wind blows, the grasses bend.”

When you enter enlightenment in actual practice, you penetrate to the profound source, cultivating this until you realize freedom of mind, harbouring nothing in your heart. Here even understanding cannot attain it, much less not understanding. Just be this way twenty-four hours a day, unfettered, free from bondage. From the first do not keep thoughts of subject and object, of self and senses, or even of Buddhism. This is the realm of no mind, no fabrication, no object—how could it be fathomed or measured by worldly brilliance, knowledge, intelligence, or learning, without the fundamental basis?

Did the Zen founder actually “bring” this teaching when he came to China from India? He just pointed directly to the inherent nature in every one of us, to let us get out completely, clear and clean, and not be stained by so much false knowledge and false consciousness, delusory conceptions, and judgments.

Study must be true study. A true teacher does not lead you into a nest of weeds but cuts directly through so that you meet with realization, shedding the sweaty shirt sticking to your skin, making the heart empty and open, without the slightest sense of the ordinary or the holy. Since you do not seek outside, real truth is there, resting peacefully, immutable. No one can push you away, even a thousand sages—having attained a pure, clean, and naked state, you pass through the other side of the empty eon, and even the prehistoric buddhas are your descendants. Why even speak of seeking from others?

The Zen masters were all like this, ever since the founders. Take the example of the Sixth Grand Master: he was an illiterate woodcutter in south China, but when he came and met the Fifth Grand Master, at their first meeting he opened his heart and clearly passed through to freedom. So even though the saints and sages are mixed in with others, one should employ appropriate means to clearly point out what is inherent in everyone, regardless of their level of intelligence.

Once you merge your tracks in the stream of Zen, spend the days silencing your mind and studying with your whole being, knowing this great cause is not gotten from anyone else. It is just a matter of bearing up bravely and strongly, ever progressing, day by day shedding, day by day improving, like pure gold smelted and refined hundreds and thousands of times.

As it is essential to getting out of the dusts and it is basic to helping people, it is most necessary to be thoroughly penetrating and free in all ways, reaching to peace without doubt and realizing great potential and great action.

This work lies in one’s inner conduct: in everyday life’s varied mix of myriad circumstances, in the dusty hubbub, amidst the ups and downs and conditions, appear and disappear without being turned around by any of it. Instead, you can actively turn it around. Full of life, immune to outside influences, this is your own measure of power.

On reaching empty, frozen silence, there is no duality between noise and quiet. Even when it comes to extraordinary words, marvelous statements, unique acts, and absolute perspectives, you just level them with one measure. Ultimately they have no right or wrong, it’s all in how you use them.

When you have continued grinding and polishing yourself like this for a long time, you will be free in the midst of birth and death and look upon society’s useless honour and ruinous profit as like dust in the wind, phantoms in dreams, flowers in the sky. Passing unattached through the world, would you not then be a great saint who has left the dusts?

Whenever the Zen master known as the Bone Breaker was asked a question, he would just answer, “Bone’s broken.” This is like an iron pill, undeniably strict. If you can fully comprehend it, you will be a true lion of the Zen school.

Once a great National Teacher of Zen asked another Zen master, “How do you see all extraordinary words and marvelous expressions?” The Zen master said, “I have no fondness for them.” The National Teacher said, “This is your own business.” When Zen study reaches this point, one is pure, clean, and dry, not susceptible to human deceptions.

From: FIVE HOUSES of ZEN - by Thomas Cleary, 1997