Even if you read books on Zen, such as Professor Durkheim's and Violet's (there are many books on Zen, especially in the German language) the matter only becomes more complicated for their direction is wrong-and so, among your one hundred practices, one hundred lectures, one hundred books, you will not score a single hit.
But after following the master, following the teachings, reading the sutras, the kusens, after reading Shin Jin Mei, Hokyo Zan Mai, Shodoka, San Do Kai23 and their commentaries, then it is possible to hit the target. One hit comes from the force of the previous one hundred misses.
I am looking. Some people come here to seek the way. Some to do zazen. Some come here for a vacation. Some want to dance and they count the days, the hours, right up to the last lunch, before they can again go off to the Santa Lucia. Then they start all over again and prepare for the next sesshin. 'It is difficult, I am tired. I must escape, I must go once more into town...."' But being here is not like being at the Club Mediterranee.
Some have come for one, two, three years and they still do not understand. There is no hit. "Zazen is good. If I continue I can become a 'permanent,' and then I will only have to pay 840 francs for the forty days 24 That's cheap. Cheaper than other summer camps." These people do not hit the mark. And some of them become even worse! Their direction is mistaken. It is like someone who wants to go to Marseille, heads off in the direction of Paris.
AUG. 7/4 P.M.
BUDDHA FINDS THE ESSENCE
Zazen is to be intimate with oneself, with one's ego. Zazen is to discover the true deep deep ego.
The old monk of the mushrooms had taught Dogen. And he was completely impressed. So he visited Nyojo's temple, and again he was impressed. This temple was not like a Rinzai temple.
Then Dogen met Nyojo, and at this time the most important thing (obstruction) in Dogen's life vanished-all his doubts vanished.
Dogen also noticed that Nyojo was different than Rinzai. There were no kwat! No mondo. Only zazen, from morning to night.
Nyojo rarely became angry. And he chanted Bussho Kapila at meal times: Buddha was born in Kapila, he had satori in Magada, he taught in Benares, and he died in Kuchira....
This was all there was to Buddha's life. There was nothing in particular. He did not seek after success; he did not seek to become famous; he did not seek glory.
Like the Buddha, Nyojo did zazen from morning till night. There were no discussions.
Nyojo Zen was not at all famous. But Rinzai Zen was; it was completely famous in China at that time. Rinzai Zen was captivating, dramatic, shocking. Nyojo Zen was not. It was Indian Buddhism, and especially its meditation, its zazen, which Bodhidharma had brought with him into China in the 500s.
So the essence of Buddhism, plus the Chinese continental characteristics-its naturalism and its wild, barbaric and dramatic sides-were combined together.
THE INDIAN WAS MYSTERIOUS
In all religions the essence is essential. Why did Buddha appear?
In India at that time there existed the traditional meditations, and they each developed in their own special way. Hinduism. Vedanta. The Indian characteristics had influenced their meditation.
Biographies and places influence people. The geography, the heat. So even today Indians are special. They don't want to work too much. Their food, too, is different. They are very poor, and there are many workers. And their traditional morals are very strong.
So you have the essence of the religion, plus the geography, plus the traditions of the people, plus their customs.
Buddha wanted to revolutionize this. He had discovered the essence of religions.
The Indian religions had become something special. Its meditation had become special and they were no longer a true meditation. They sought after magic powers, and they had become mysterious, mystical, ecstatic and tantric.
So what Buddha did, finally, was zazen. He did samadhi, the perfect posture, under the Bodhi tree.
Before this, Buddha had experienced all the traditional meditations of his time. He had experienced Yoga. And he had experienced asceticism and mortification for six years. But in the end he did nothing but zazen. It sufficed him. It was the finale. Zazen is the end of all religions, of all meditations.
This (i.e., the true practice) lasted up until Bodhidharma, the 28th Patriarch, or the 1st Zen
During the time of Bodhidharma many different kinds of Buddhism had developed. There was much dirt. There existed a traditional Buddhism-a traditional mistake. So Bodhidharma wanted to leave India and go somewhere else. To plant in a new, fresh earth. So he visited China.
THE CHINESE WERE DRAMATIC
But then after master Eno, the 6th Patriarch who died in 713, and his successors Seigen and Nangaku, the pure Zen of Bodhidharma began to combine with the Chinese characteristics, with its dramatic and barbaric sides.
The Soto line (however) stayed normal up to the time of Nyojo.
The essence of a religion is very difficult to preserve. And sometimes it becomes necessary to vulgarize for it to spread. But by Nyojo's time, Rinzai Zen which had developed about three or four hundred years ago, had no more sense to it. This Zen had developed into a method for succeeding as a governor.
Zen had penetrated all Chinese culture. It had become a culture. It was no longer zazen. Zen consisted in discussions and in mondos, and these mondos have become very interesting.... Zen had become a method, a technique on how to swim to live. And Rinzai Zen today is a method for succeeding in our lives.
Dogen respected the Rinzai master Eisai, and he did not criticize him. Because he had received his ordination from Eisai. But Eisai had asked the emperor for offers-this is historical (an historical fact). He had asked to be made a monk of the highest order.
It is said in Japan that Rinzai is the general and Soto the farmer. Rinzai followers are close to the emperor. Their temples are beautiful. Visit Kyoto and you will see the beautiful Rinzai temples. So the Rinzai sect succeeded. They made much money and they held power.
Dogen escaped into the mountains. Nyojo had influenced him.
Before his departure for Japan, Nyojo had said: "As much as possible you must live in the mountains, and you must educate true disciples."
Master Nyojo's conferences were not so passionate, and not so interesting: "You must wash your bowls, you must do zazen. And after zazen you must clean your rooms...." This Zen was not zusan, it was men-mistu.
Nyojo did not often become angry, but when an error was made then he became completely so.
One day the monk sitting in zazen next to Dogen was sleeping, and Nyojo became completely angry. (When Nyojo became this way, which was only once or twice a year, then he became more angry than a kwat!) So Nyojo took off his shoe and he hit the sleeping monk. He hit him very hard, and not on an acupuncture point. He grabbed the monk, knocked him off the tan (raised platform) and shouted.
Dogen was completely shocked. He had known that Rinzai masters were very strong-and that all Zen masters should be strong-but in Rinzai all this had become mere formalism. The big Rinzai kyosakus and the loud kwat! But now all this was pure formalism. So Dogen was impressed, troubled.
"Shin jin datsu raku!" (Mind and body throw down!) Nyojo shouted and hit the monk.
"A true master!" Dogen thought.
Right after this incident Dogen went to Nyojo's room. And he did totally sampai. He did nine pai. Maybe he did ninety pai.... This scene was very dramatic. Dogen said: "Shin jin datsu raku. My body and my mind have been completely shocked, completely metamorphosed, totally changed." There was nothing left.
After anger passes, one becomes passionate. So Nyojo replied the opposite: "Datsu raku shin jin!" (Throw down mind and body!)
Nyojo was very deep. What he was saying was that Dogen must again metamorphose body and mind. He must again do datsu raku (i.e., throw away). Nyojo was saying that you must not stop there. There is no satori. Satori does not finish. When you enter the coffin, then it finishes.
Dogen was deeply impressed.
Nyojo once wrote a poem called "Furin." A furin is a little windbell. When the wind blows, the bell rings. I have one in the Paris dojo. The windbell rings, reciting the Hannya Haramita. A simple poem but very beautiful.
Nyojo is explaining that we are all free. This is true Hannya, true wisdom. Please, madame, do not sit here; sit there. D 'accord.26
Mind never stays on anything. This is true wisdom. When a person stays on one point, he is attached to this point and so he cannot create wisdom. Stay on one point, on one thing, and fresh wisdom will not arise. Stay on one point and you become too individualistic, too egoistic. And you are not at all soft. Stay on one point and intuition will not arise.
Zazen is not only tension. During zazen your shoulders must fall. Your thumbs must not be pressed too tightly together, they must not create a mountain. Nor must they be too loosely in contact, they must not create a valley. The chin must be in. Fools always do the opposite. Chin out, thumbs up or down.
THE JAPANESE ARE DECORATIVE
In Japan, Soto and Rinzai Zen is essence plus decoration. Only Kodo Sawaki's Zen was true. Before him, Japanese monks did not even know what was a zafu (zazen cushion). In their minds they understood zazen to be sleeping while seated.27 They did not know the posture. What is the zazen posture? Kodo Sawaki reintroduced it.
There are some who do zazen at the Japanese temples of Eiheiji and Sojiji. But their practice is not taken seriously. They do a little zazen, followed by two or three hours of ceremonies.
The practice at Eiheiji28 is very severe. The kyosaku is very strong. And the rensaku is always being given, even for the smallest mistake. Formalism.
When Westerners visit the temples in Japan, they become spoiled and they all make mistakes. All those whom I have introduced to the Japanese temples have gone wrong. Even the very strong, like M., like Madame S., and like my old secretary. This is very strange.
There are many who want to go to the Japanese temples. The Paris dojo is not enough for them. Stupid, I tell them. But if you want to go, then go. So I bring them back with me to Japan. I introduce them to the temples. They all got worse!
Before going to Japan my disciple M. was pure. So too was my disciple Madame S. But when later they returned to Europe they were crazy. Why? Because along with the essence of Zen was the decoration.
RETURN TO THE ESSENCE
So I teach only zazen. Shikantaza. This is enough.
When I first arrived in Europe I practiced only zazen, only shikantaza. And after zazen I sang, alone, Hannya Shingyo, in a big voice. My disciple Etienne one day said that he too would like to sing Hannya Shingyo. So he typed it up and gave it to others, and then everybody was singing it. Naturally.29
What is the essence of religion? Of Buddhism? Of Zen?
After fifteen or sixteen years Dogen's Zen developed and arose in Japan. He had the Japanese trait of delicateness and now his Zen had become completely delicate, men-mitsu. His complexity, his delicateness, had increased through the years and all he wanted was to return to the essence of Shakyamuni- the only essence-under the Bodhi tree. Through the posture of zazen Buddha had obtained satori. This meditation was enough. It resolves everything.
Once the martial arts arrived in the West, its essence was completely lost. It became a sport. Westerners like sports. So the master becomes a sportsman. Aikido has become a dance, a martial arts dance. The essence has escaped. I always speak of master Tamura who is a very strong master.10 He has been trying very hard to introduce the true essence of the martial arts in Europe. Very hard, very difficult. It would be better if he taught gymnastics.
Only force, only power, is important in the West. The essence has escaped. The martial arts today in the west are not at all effective.
Don't move! Don't move! Patience is effective.
After zazen there will be a mondo. Everyone is waiting for this. Mondos are better than zazen. They wait for the foolish questions....
MONDO
On dreams
QUESTION: What should be done with dreams one remembers? Should one attach importance to them or not?
Master: People who remember their dreams have tired brains.
If the brain is healthy you will not remember them.
QUESTION: But what should I do when I remember a particular dream? I want to think about it.
Master: Forget it. Let it pass. Don't think about it. You just perpetuate the dream by thinking about it.
QUESTION: But can't thinking of one's dreams help?
Master: Dreams are of no use, and to think about them is idiotic. They will only make you more complicated. Dreams are recollections of shocks, of impressions received, which arise in sleep. It is the karma of the brain. Your neurons have received a shock, and so you dream. Tired neurons, karma arises.
It is the same during zazen. The subconscious arises, illusions arise. During zazen you can look objectively at your illusions, but during sleep you cannot look at your dream: "Look at this wallet I have found." (The wallet is full of money, but it is stuck in the ice and hard to get out.) "I should get a hammer. But if I get a hammer then someone else will find the money. What should I do? I will pee-pee on the ice." Psssss. "The ice has melted; now I can pick it up." Then, suddenly, he realizes it was only a dream. He is cold and wet. Pee-pee. Only the peepee is real.
You cannot see your dreams. But during zazen you can see your illusions objectively. And your karma too. But not with dreams. Dreams are not real.
During dreams it is the bad karma which arises. To recall them, to repeat them, only perpetuates the bad karma.
QUESTION: What do you think of dreams that come true?
Master: A metaphysical problem.
These things cannot be denied. If people think, think, think, then it becomes the seed of the neuron, and so it can be realized. Think always the same thing, think that you want someone killed and this person will be influenced by your thinking. It is possible to kill this way, but it is no good. If you concentrate on some one thing, it is possible. This can even be realized without the use of your consciousness (but unconsciously too). Another question?
Karma
QUESTION: Can you say something about karma?
Master: Always questions about karma. Last year I spoke on karma for forty days. And my disciple Philippe Coupey wrote down my teaching on karma in The Voice of the Valley. You must read it. Anyway, karma is action. You create an action and it influences. If you do zazen, this act of doing zazen influences. If you do sampai, this too influences. It influences the body. There are three sorts of karma, that of the body, that of the mouth, and that of our thinking. The actions of our body influence our future. If we speak, if we criticize, or tell a lie, this influences the future. If we think with our consciousness, this too influences our future. Our dreams can influence others. This is karma. If you kill somebody and do not get caught, this karma will still manifest itself. The same with stealing. Exactly it arises, in the future. There is good karma too. But the best, the highest karma is zazen. No consciousness. The posture of the body is the best-you don't speak.
So, if you do zazen it sweeps away the other karma. You must not escape from karma. Continue zazen and the bad karma decreases.
Unconsciously, naturally, automatically, karma changes.
AUG. 7 / 8.30 P.M.
PSYCHOANALYSIS:
An inside spiritual mistake
The manifest karma of some of you is coming out. The neck is not straight, the chin is out."
Do not move. Some here are always doing gymnastics. They move their heads about like marionettes. Like A. It influences others. The slightest movement influences. Many karmic influences are in us. Zazen means to throw out the bad karma.
Zazen is not the same as psychoanalysis. Modern psychoanalysis makes a big mistake. With materialism, with outside materialism, psychoanalysis influences an inside mistake, an inside spiritual mistake.
If people think too much their brains become complicated.
Don't m
ove! Don't move!
Western philosophers, western intellectuals, think too much. So Kant's philosophy has become complicated. In Asiatic philosophies (however), in their education, in Zen: as much as possible don't think. Think important things. Selective memory.
My mother educated me when I was a child. When I had a bad dream she would say: "A dream is a dream. It is not important. There is no reason to be anxious over it." She was very intelligent.
Dreams are not at all important. You must abandon the past. You must concentrate here and now. But this is not the way with psychoanalyists like Freud and Jung.
"What did you dream?" the western mother asks her child. "You must remember it." So all day long the boy tries to recall his dream. This is a total mistake. Psychoanalyists are, I think, the cause of the crisis in modern civilization.
Do not run after something, do not escape something. This does not mean that one does not think. It is possible to think during zazen. Hishiryo: absolute thinking, beyond thinking. This is the secret of zazen.
We always dream during sleep. We sleep deeply for two hours, then we dream. Then we fall again into a deep sleep, for another two hours. The brain again awakes and again we dream.... Sometimes it is the body which wakes up, and not the brain. When this happens the body moves, its scratches itself, rubs its nose, massages its genitals. But when the mind is awake and the body is asleep, dreams appear. The dream is realized, the devil is coming, and the mind wants to escape. But the body which is asleep doesn't move, doesn't follow the mind, and the person suffers.
Zazen is the opposite to modern psychoanalysis. Surely the psychoanalyists will not be happy if I spread zazen. They will lose their work. So surely they will be against me. But it is not me, it is the essence of traditional Zen; it is this which I spread.
Pascal says that man is a roseau pensant (a thinking reed). This is the European-style philosophy.
Thinking is necessary. Do not negate thinking. But here and now, what is thinking? This is important. It is not necessary to recall past thoughts. Of course, when it is necessary to make use of past memory, here and now, then we must think.
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