Bankei Zen

by Peter Haskel

  “Hoping to meet Gudō and speak with him, I followed my teacher’s instructions and set out to visit him in Mino, only to find that he wasn’t at home, being just then in Edo.44 So, as it turned out, we never met, and I hadn’t any chance to talk with him.

  “Having come all this way and not spoken to anyone, I decided that, rather than just going back with nothing accomplished, I’d visit the Zen teachers in the area.

  “‘I’m a Zen monk from Banshū,’45 I said when I met them, ‘and I’ve come here solely in hope of meeting you and receiving your teaching.’

  “When the teachers had presented their instruction, I took the liberty of putting in a word myself. ‘I realize it’s impertinent of me,’ I told them, ‘but please excuse me when I say that, while I’m not ungrateful for the instruction you’ve given, I get a feeling as if someone were trying to scratch an itchy spot through my shoe. Unless you reach right in and scratch, you won’t get to my real bones and marrow,46 and things won’t be settled through and through.’

  “Like the honest teachers they were, they told me: ‘Yes, it’s just as you say. Even though we’re teaching others, all we do is memorize the words in the sutras and records and teach people what the old masters said. But, shameful though it is, we haven’t actually realized enlightenment ourselves, so when we speak, our teaching is indeed like trying to scratch an itchy spot through your shoe—naturally, it’s never satisfying. You understand us well,’ they said, ‘you can’t be just an ordinary man!’

  “So, without having managed to get anyone to confirm my experience for me, I returned home and went into retreat, shutting my door to the world. As I was observing the needs of the people then, considering the means to present my teaching and help to save them, I learned that [the Zen priest] Dōsha had come from China, having arrived at Nagasaki, where he was staying. On my teacher’s instructions, I went to see Dōsha, and when I told him what I’d realized, he declared: ‘You are a man who has transcended birth and death!’ So, only at Dōsha’s did I finally receive some small confirmation of my enlightenment. At that time, it was hard to find anyone who could testify with certainty to my experience, and I had quite a lot of trouble. That’s why, thinking back now over what it was like for me, I come out like this every day to meet with all of you, ailing though I am.47 If there’s anyone here now who’s experienced enlightenment—whoever he is—the only reason I’ve come out like this is so that I can be your witness. You people certainly are lucky! Since you have someone who can testify to your experience through and through, if there’s anyone here who’s been enlightened or who thinks he’s understood this matter, step forward and let’s hear from you. I’m ready to be your witness! However, if there’s no one who’s understood yet, listen to what I have to say, and realize conclusively. . . .

  “Now, about what it means to realize conclusively that what is unborn and marvelously illuminating is truly the Buddha Mind: Suppose ten million people got together and unanimously declared that a crow was a heron. A crow is black, without having to be dyed that way, just as a heron is white48—that’s something we always see for ourselves and know for a fact. So even if, not only ten million people, but everyone in the land were to get together and tell you a crow was a heron, you still wouldn’t be fooled, but remain absolutely sure of yourself. That’s what it means to have a conclusive realization. Conclusively realize that what is unborn is the Buddha Mind and that the Buddha Mind is truly unborn and marvelously illuminating, and everything will be perfectly managed with the Unborn, so that, whatever people try to tell you, you won’t let yourself be fooled by them. You won’t accept other people’s delusions.

  “At the time I was young and first began to teach this true teaching of the Unborn, no one was able to understand. When they heard me, people seemed to think I was some sort of heretic or Christian,49 so they were frightened off, and no one would go near me. But in time they realized they were wrong and saw that what I was teaching was the true Dharma itself. Now, instead of my original situation where no one would even go near me, I’m swamped with people coming to see me, anxious to meet me and listen to my teaching, after me continually, so that they don’t leave me in peace even a single day! Things come in their own due time.

  “From time to time in the forty years I’ve been here,50 I’ve taught others this true teaching of the Unborn, and as a result this area has produced lots of people who are superior to teachers of Buddhism. So, for you people too, let the reward for your trouble in coming here all this way now be that you’ll return home having experienced complete realization of the Dharma, thoroughly and conclusively realizing the principle of the Unborn without switching it for thoughts.”

  Growing up deluded

  “ . . . What everyone has from his parents innately is the Buddha Mind alone. But since your parents themselves fail to realize this, you become deluded too, and then display this delusion in raising your own children. Even the nursemaids and baby-sitters lose their temper, so that the people involved in bringing up children display every sort of deluded behavior, including stupidity, selfish desire and the [anger of] fighting demons.51 Growing up with deluded people surrounding them, children develop a first-rate set of bad habits, becoming quite proficient at being deluded themselves, and turning into unenlightened beings. Originally, when you’re born, you’re without delusion. But on account of the faults of the people who raise you, someone abiding in the Buddha Mind is turned into a first-rate unenlightened being. This is something I’m sure you all know from your own experience.

  “Your parents didn’t give you any delusions whatever when you were born, no bad habits, no selfish desires. But afterward, once you’d come into the world, you picked up all different sorts of delusions, which then developed into bad habits, so that you couldn’t help becoming deluded. That which you didn’t pick up from outside is the Unborn Buddha Mind, and here no delusions exist. Since the Buddha Mind is marvelously illuminating, you’re able to learn things, even to the point of thoroughly learning all sorts of deluded behavior. [At the same time,] since it’s marvelously illuminating, when you hear this, you’ll resolve not to be deluded, and from today on cease creating delusion, abiding in the Unborn Buddha Mind as it is. Just as before you applied yourself skillfully to picking up delusions and made yourself deluded, now you’ll use the same skill to listen to this and stop being deluded—that’s what a splendid thing the Buddha Mind is. Listen and you’ll realize the preciousness of Buddha Mind. Then, since there’s nothing that can take the place of this precious Buddha Mind, even if you want to be deluded, you won’t be able to be anymore!

  “It’s because you don’t realize the preciousness of Buddha Mind that you indulge in self-centeredness, creating delusions that do you harm. Yet those delusions are so precious to you that all of you actually want to become deluded, even at the risk of your own life! Foolish, isn’t it? Unable to withstand the base impulses produced by your selfish desires, you become deluded. With all delusions it’s the same.

  “Everyone insists that the way he likes to behave is his innate character, so he can’t do anything about it. He’ll never tell you how, actually, he indulges in self-centeredness because of his selfish desires, holding on to those kinds of behavior he likes; instead, he tries to sound clever and talk about how it’s all innate! To falsely accuse your own parents of something you never got from them is terribly unfilial. Is there anyone who’s born a drunkard, a gambler or a thief—who’s born with any sort of vice? No one’s born that way. Once you pick up a taste for liquor, it promptly develops into a drinking habit, and then, because of selfish desire, you find yourself unable to stop, without realizing you’ve become deluded. It’s only foolishness, so you’ve no cause to claim it’s innate and pass off the blame on your parents!

  “When you hear this, I want you all from today on to abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind just as it is—the Unborn Buddha Mind you have from your parents innately. Then, you won’t create delusions about anything, and, si
nce no delusions will remain, you’ll be living buddhas from today forever after. Nothing could be more direct! You’ve all got to realize this conclusively.”

  Thirty days in the Unborn

  “Everyone, do exactly as I’m telling you, and, following my instructions, start by trying to abide in the Unborn for thirty days. Learn to abide in the Unborn for thirty days, and from there on, even if you don’t want to—whether you like it or not—you’ll just naturally have to abide in the Unborn. You’ll be a success at abiding in the Unborn! Since that which is unborn is the Buddha Mind, you’ll be functioning with the Buddha Mind at all times. That way you’ll be living buddhas here today, won’t you? So listen to my teaching just as if today you were all born anew and starting afresh. When you’ve got some fixed notion, you won’t take in what you hear. Listen as if you were newly born right now and it will be like hearing my teaching for the first time. If you don’t have any fixed notion in your mind, at a single word you’ll instantly understand and attain complete realization of the Dharma.”

  Ask me and I’ll tell you

  One day, the Master said: “I simply come out here like this each day to meet with you all; I haven’t anything particular in mind I want to tell you. So if you’ve got anything to ask—whatever it is—everyone step right up and ask! Ask me and I’ll tell you, no matter what it is. I’ve got nothing special in mind I want to say.”

  “The Kappa”

  “ . . . When I was young, there was a notorious thief in these parts called ‘the Kappa,’52 a fellow on the order of Kumasaka Chōhan,53 who would boldly rob people on the highway, seizing their money. He had remarkable genius as a thief: when he caught sight of someone coming from across the way, he could tell exactly how much money he had on him and was never off by even a hair—that’s what a formidable fellow he was. However, one day he got himself nabbed and served a long term in the prison at Osaka. The years passed, and then, because he was such an expert as a thief, he found himself at an advantage and was spared execution to become an informer for the police.54 Later, he was excused from being an informer as well and became a free man. Afterward, he learned to carve Buddhist images, becoming a maker of Buddhist statues and settling in Osaka, an expert now at carving buddhas. Completely reversing his former wicked state of mind, he devoted himself to salvation, and ended his days absorbed in chanting the nembutsu.

  “So, even such a notorious brigand as ‘the Kappa,’ once he’d reformed, ended his days in religious devotion. Where can you find anyone who steals because his karma is deep or his sins heavy? Stealing is the karma, stealing is the sin! If it weren’t for stealing, that sin and karma couldn’t exist. Whether you steal or whether you don’t depends on the present state of your own mind, not on your past karma. And what I’m telling you now doesn’t go only for stealing. Generally speaking, all delusions are just the same as stealing. Whether you’re going to be deluded or you’re not going to, all depends on the present state of your own mind. When you’re deluded, you’re an unenlightened being; when you’re not deluded, you’re a buddha. There’s no special shortcut to being a buddha beyond this. Isn’t it so? Everyone, realize this conclusively!”

  Don’t beat sleeping monks

  On the opening day of rōhatsu,55 the Master addressed the assembly: “In my place, our normal everyday life is meditation; so it’s not like everywhere else where they announce: ‘From today on, meditation!’ and everyone specially hurls himself into frantic practice.”

  The Master then went on to say: “Once, while I was in Dōsha’s assembly,56 a monk was sleeping seated in meditation. Another monk there suddenly struck him, but I scolded him for doing this.

  “‘Why should you hit someone who’s pleasantly sleeping?’ I said. ‘When that monk is sleeping, do you think he’s a different person!’

  “I’m not encouraging people to sleep, but to hit them because they do is terribly wrong. Here in my place now, I don’t allow that sort of thing. While I’m not encouraging people to sleep, I don’t hit them or scold them for doing so. I don’t scold or praise sleeping, and I don’t scold or praise not sleeping. Whether people happen to be asleep or awake, just let them be as they are. When they’re asleep, they’re sleeping in the Buddha Mind they were awake in; when they’re awake, they’re awake in the Buddha Mind they were sleeping in. When people are asleep, they’re sleeping in the Buddha Mind; when they’re awake, they’re awake in the Buddha Mind. They’re always abiding in the Buddha Mind, and there’s not a moment when they’re ever abiding in anything else. So it’s mistaken to think that when a person is asleep he turns into something different. If you believe that people abide in the Buddha Mind only when they’re awake and that when they’re asleep they turn into something different, that’s not the ultimate truth, but an endless transformation.

  “You’re all exerting yourselves trying to realize buddhahood, so if someone is sleeping, it’s wrong to beat him or scold him. What you all have from your parents innately is the Unborn Buddha Mind alone and nothing else, so instead of trying to realize buddhahood, always abide in that Unborn Buddha Mind. Then, when you’re asleep, you’re sleeping in the Buddha Mind, and when you’re awake, you’re awake in the Buddha Mind; you’re always a living buddha, and there’s no time when you don’t remain a buddha. Since you’re a buddha all the time, there’s no other special buddhahood for you to realize. Rather than trying to become a buddha, nothing could be simpler than taking the shortcut of remaining a buddha!”

  Mind reading

  Someone asked: “Everybody says your Reverence has the power to read people’s minds.57 Is it true?”

  The Master said: “In my school, we don’t have such extraordinary things. And even if we did, since the Buddha Mind is unborn, we wouldn’t use them. When I’m speaking to you, I deal with your own selves, so you imagine I’ve got the power to read people’s minds. But I haven’t any mind-reading powers. I’m just the same as all of you. When you abide in the Unborn, you’re at the source of the supernatural powers of all the buddhas, and without even having to seek supernatural power, all things are perfectly managed and smoothly dealt with. In the true teaching of the Unborn, you can manage everything by dealing with your own self, without bringing in all sorts of extraneous matters.”

  Moving ahead/sliding back

  A certain man asked: “I’ve practiced as hard as I can, trying to advance without slipping back. But no matter what I do, the tendency to backslide is strong, and there are times when I regress. However much I try to advance, I only fall back again. How can I keep from regressing?”

  The Master said: “Abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind! When you do, you won’t need to bother about advancing or regressing. In fact, when you abide in the Unborn, trying to advance is to instantly regress from the place of the Unborn. The man of the Unborn has nothing to do with advancing or regressing, but always transcends them both.”

  Old wastepaper

  A certain monk said: “For a long time now I’ve been working on the koan ‘Hyakujō and the Wild Fox,’58 but in spite of all my efforts, I still haven’t solved it. I suspect this is simply because my practice isn’t pure. I beg your Reverence to instruct me.”

  The Master said: “Here in my place we don’t engage in such studies of old wastepaper!59 Since you haven’t yet realized that what is unborn and marvelously illuminating is the Buddha Mind, let me tell you, and then everything will be straightened out. So listen carefully to what I say.”

  The Master then presented his teaching of the Unborn, just as usual. The monk, having listened attentively, profoundly acknowledged it, and thereafter is said to have distinguished himself as an outstanding figure.

  Then, a monk who was [seated] nearby asked: “In that case, are the koans of the old masters useless and unnecessary?”

  The Master said: “The responses of the old masters were only to shut off questions from individual students by confronting them immediately, face to face;60 they have no particular usefulness [in themselv
es]. There’s no way for me to say whether they’re necessary or superfluous, helpful or useless.61 When people just abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind, that’s all there is to it, and there’s no longer any way they can be sidetracked. So abide in the Unborn! In your case, you’ve been so carried away in sidetracking yourself, it’s made you deluded. So give it up, and since that which is unborn and marvelously illuminating is the Buddha Mind and nothing else, abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind!”

  Self-centeredness

  One day, the Master addressed the assembly: “All delusions, without exception, are created as a result of self-centeredness. When you’re free from self-centeredness, delusions won’t be produced. For example, suppose your neighbors are having a quarrel: if you’re not personally involved, you just hear what’s going on and don’t get angry. Not only do you not get angry, but you can plainly tell the rights and wrongs of the case—it’s clear to you as you listen who’s right and who’s wrong. But let it be something that concerns you personally, and you find yourself getting involved with what the other party [says or does], attaching to it and obscuring the marvelously illuminating [function of the Buddha Mind]. Before, you could clearly tell wrong from right; but now, led by self-centeredness, you insist that your own idea of what’s right is right, whether it is or not. Becoming angry, you thoughtlessly switch your Buddha Mind for a fighting demon, and everyone takes to arguing bitterly with each other.

  “Because the Buddha Mind is marvelously illuminating, the traces of everything you’ve done are [spontaneously] reflected. Its when you attach to these reflected traces that you produce delusion. Thoughts don’t actually exist in the place where the traces are reflected, and then arise. We retain the things we saw and heard in the past, and when these come up, they appear as traces and are reflected. Originally, thoughts have no real substance. So if they’re reflected, just let them be reflected; if they arise, just let them arise; if they stop, just let them stop. As long as you’re not attaching to these reflected traces, delusions won’t be produced. So long as you’re not attaching to them, you won’t be deluded, and then, no matter how many traces are reflected, it will be just as if they weren’t reflected at all. Even if a hundred, or a thousand thoughts spring up, it will be just the same as if they never arose. It won’t be any problem for you—no thoughts to ‘clear away,’ no thoughts to ‘cut off.’ So understand this well!”