The sixth koan is how to sit. Dogen Zenji says, “Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Nonthinking. This is in itself the essential art of zazen.” This refers to a famous koan by Master Yakusan Igen. A monk asks Master Yakusan, “When we do zazen, what do we think about?” We have the same question, don’t we? When we sit, how do we think about sitting? Master Yakusan says, “Think of the unthinkable.” In other words, think of not-thinking, or no-thinking. The monk’s question naturally follows: “How can we think of not-thinking?” Or of the unthinkable, or no-thinking? Master Yakusan replies, “Nonthinking.”
We could penetrate this essence of zazen endlessly. What is non-thinking? Think without thinking! Sit without sitting. What kind of thinking is this? What kind of zazen is this? Or, what is the thinking of zazen? What does zazen think when zazen is doing zazen?
Dogen Zenji tells you to really drop body and mind. This is the most important way to do zazen. What is he talking about? And what is the difference between koan and zazen in dropping body and mind? Maintain this one Buddha-mind seal. What is this Buddha-mind seal? I say it’s koan. It’s shikantaza. It’s shobogenzo, the treasury of the true dharma eye and subtle mind of nirvana. And how to maintain this one Buddha-mind seal is our practice, our life! Our vows, our aspirations, are to truly maintain this Buddha-mind seal. Do not let this torch die out!
The next koan is: “Practice-realization is naturally undefiled.” This is obvious. When you do this kind of zazen, there is no defilement. In fact, there is no such thing as practice or realization, as such. Dogen Zenji says further, “Going forward in practice is a matter of everyday-ness.” Regardless of how far you go in practice-realization, it is ordinary, it is not anything special. In other words, it does not matter whether this is your first zazen, or zazen of ten years, fifty years, it is just ordinary life. So how is that practice-realization not defiled?
The last koan is, “Your treasure store will open of itself and you will use it at will.” How does your treasure house open by itself? How do you appreciate it and use it?
Isn’t this something? Every sentence has beautiful, marvelous points that we can work with carefully as koans, as guides for our life. I encourage you to read the Universal Promotion of the Principles of Zazen at least once a day; digest it well, even memorize it. Then penetrate it, touch the heart of what Dogen Zenji is saying. What kind of zazen does he want us to do? And when we do such zazen, Dogen Zenji says body and mind naturally drop off and our original face manifests. In other words, our true life will manifest by itself.
1. Waddell and Abe, 13–16.
PURE IN HEART
I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU my experience during a Zen and Christian Life worship service. We chanted Buddhist sutras and each person also read a passage from the Beatitudes. The passage I happened to read was, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” I had heard this passage before, but it made a very strong impression upon me this time. What does it mean, to be pure in heart? This is a wonderful koan.
What does heart mean? It definitely does not mean our physical hearts. Heart is simply heart. Mind, a key term in Buddhism, is a synonym for the same thing. The Beatitudes also speak of spirit: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Do you distinguish between spirit, heart, and mind? I do not.
Of course, we can make up definitions, but these definitions will not reveal the true meaning of spirit, heart, or mind. In the Heart Sutra, or Hannya Shingyo, shin literally means “mind.” It also has another implication, which is “center.” Spirit also has many implications. If you were asked to define what spirit is, I am sure all of you would say different things.
At one extreme in our tradition, we say mushin, no-mind. At the other extreme, we say everything is shin, mind. Are that one mind and no-mind the same mind or different? If you say different, what is the difference? If you say the same, how is it the same? When we say body and mind, is that mind the same as no-mind, as one mind, as my mind, your mind?
“Blessed are the pure in heart.” What is heart? I feel that this heart must be the heart of God. Blessed is the one who is genuine enough to be in the heart of God. The Beatitude actually says, “They shall see God.” This is very interesting!
“They shall see God.” What does it mean? What is God? You might have a definition, but that is a definition, not God. We have a similar saying about seeing the Tathagata. “When you try to see the Tathagata with the forms, you won’t see him.” Form is the object of our senses, our perceptions. So how can you see God? Do you realize that everything you see is God?
We could rephrase it, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see the Buddha,” or “they shall see the dharma.” Consider what Dogen Zenji says about the Dharma Treasure. He says that the Dharma Treasure is pure and genuine, apart from dust.
When you see the dharma, you see the purity. When you are pure in heart, I am sure you also see the dharma. However, if you think to yourself, “I am pure,” to that degree you are still stained. That is because you hold on to your ideas about what is pure and what is not pure. You are comparing something that you think is pure with what you think is defiled. In other words, the relative is not truly pure. When you are pure in heart, when you do not hold on to such ideas and do not make comparisons, you see God, you see Buddha.
What is this defilement that is the opposite of purity? What defiles our hearts? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We have almost the same teaching in Buddhism. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Lotus Land.” Isn’t it beautiful?
What does poor mean? Usually we say that having less than the average amount may be called poor. But what does it mean to be poor in spirit? We can say it means to have nothing in spirit. Nothing in spirit, nothing in mind, no-mind, no spirit. Then what remains? Just as it says: “the kingdom of heaven.” What a beautiful way to say it!
Usually we think of heaven as something limited, but these days even scientists are finding that the universe is constantly expanding. Can you imagine? It has no end. It is literally boundless. The kingdom of heaven literally means the kingdom of no limit. Boundlessness! No-mind, or we can say one mind. Everything is literally boundless, limitless. That is poor!
In Case 10 of the Gateless Gate,1 monk Seizei begs Master Sozan, “I am poor and destitute. Please give me something.” Of course, Seizei is not literally begging for food or money. “I have nothing,” he says, “do you have something to give me?” And Master Sozan answers, “You have drunk three cups of the best wine, and still you say that your lips are not yet moistened.” There is a beautiful connection between this koan and the Beatitudes. How can you be poor in spirit? The kingdom of God is in your heart. What does this mean?
For me, these Beatitudes are truly wonderful koans. Of course, we can say very superficially that in Christianity there is the dichotomy between creator and creation, but I do not agree. If you appreciate it only in this way, then you, like monk Seizei, are the one who will never be completely satisfied. I am sure of this. Maybe this is why some of you are doing Zen practice. If so, I guarantee that as long as you are in this frame of mind, you will not get much out of Zen practice, either.
See this purity. Be pure in heart. And if you truly want to realize the Lotus Land, be poor in spirit. How do you see the Way, the Lotus Land? How do you see the kingdom of heaven or see God? As Dogen Zenji says, “Forget the self.” This is the way to be pure. Drop off body and mind. This is the way to be poor. Christ says poor in spirit. Dogen Zenji repeatedly emphasizes that body and mind are not two separate things. When you say, “I am poor,” you are still carrying something. If you say, “I am genuine” or “I am pure,” to that degree something is still attached. So truly drop off body and mind, really forget the self.
Our very nature is poverty. We call this no-mind. Genuineness and purity, this is our nature. When you are really pure in heart, I am sure you will see your true nature. That is what each one of us should
clearly experience. In a way we are doing it, but we must clarify the difference between the life that breathes and is alive at this very moment, and our thoughts of what and how it is. When we are truly humble, thoroughly surrendering to the dharma, then we are able to be poor, to be pure.
In our tradition, our practice focuses on this point. When you see the no-mind that is poor in spirit and when you see the no-nature that is pure in heart, surely you see the Buddha. That is your true nature, the best Way. If you do not experience this for yourself, it does not matter whether you are Christian or Buddhist, you will struggle with yourself.
As a human being, what is the difference between you and me or between Buddhist and Christian? Even among Buddhists and among Christians there are different approaches. But what we appreciate should not be different, however we express it. If we can selflessly experience the existence of God, I am sure we will know the Savior.
So it seems to me that we should be aware of how each one of us, as an individual, can literally be pure in heart. How can we be poor in spirit, humble? When we suffer, what really causes our pain? There is separation, alienation. Why does it happen? Because we are not poor, we are not humble, we are not pure. When you take care of this, it is what we call kensho, seeing God, realizing the kingdom in your heart as the place where you live. This is the Lotus Land.
Of course, just seeing this is not enough. You must live that life. When we have difficulties or troubles, peace of mind is not something that comes from outside, but something you find inside yourself. How can we open up this limitless life and extend this boundless land? This is our practice.
1. The Mumonkan, a famous collection of Zen koans—Eds.
COPYING SUTRAS
WHAT IS THE PRACTICE of copying sutras? The Lotus Sutra says repeatedly that those who copy the Lotus Sutra will accomplish supreme enlightenment. Copying is an excellent way to put yourself fully into a sutra. You are one with copying and one with the sutra, truly sensing and feeling it. The action and object are easily unified. When you are copying, there is a sense of copying and also of the sutra allowing you to copy it. The sutra is copying you, too! This interrelationship is felt intimately, and such a state of being is itself supreme enlightenment.
Which sutra should you copy? You can copy any sutra or even part of a long one. Copying the Heart Sutra is a very common practice in Japan these days. Of course this is copied in Chinese, but there is no reason for you not to copy the sutra in English. There are different ways to copy a sutra. Some people copy one stroke or one word, do three bows, sit down, write another stroke or word, and then do three bows again. Others write one character or one word, then make a bow. Others simply copy. However you express your respect toward the sutra, please do it with sincere devotion and reverence.
In his writings on the Lotus Sutra, Dogen Zenji wrote of the lotus as the blossom of the subtle dharma. The lotus is a very unusual flower. Do you know its unique characteristics? When a lotus blooms, the seeds grow together with the flower. Usually a flower blossoms and after that turns into seed. But not so with the lotus. It is amazing. When the lotus blooms, big lotus seeds are already growing in the bottom of the flower.
Consider these seeds and flower as an analogy for our life and its blossoming. If we say that the major part of our life extends for twenty, forty, or fifty years, that period could be called the flowering. But the result, or the seed, does not necessarily come after the flowering as such. It exists now within our life; it is always existing. The result is already here with us!
Another characteristic of the lotus is that it grows in the mud and yet is not defiled. At the end of our meals, we chant: “May we exist in muddy water with purity like a lotus, thus we bow to Buddha.” This is a good translation, but there is another translation that makes a different point. Chinese is a very rich language. The same words are pronounced in a different way according to the different dynasties. Personally, I like to chant this verse with the T’ang dynasty pronunciation instead of how we do it in Japanese, which is more like the Han dynasty pronunciation.
Using the T’ang dynasty pronunciation, this verse can also mean: “May we live in the world with purity like a lotus.” While living in the world, live like the lotus flower, not attached to the water or the mud. When water drops on the lotus leaf, the water rolls off right away. The analogy for us is to live like the water droplet, not attaching anywhere. So consider both implications, that of being pure and genuine, and at the same time that of being free. Not being attached, the mind is kept in a pure and free way.
What does the lotus flower stand for? The subtle dharma. We chant the “Gatha on Opening the Sutra” before every talk in the zendo:
The dharma, incomparably profound and infinitely subtle,
Is rarely encountered even in millions of ages.
Now we see it, hear it, receive and maintain it.
May we completely realize the Tathagata’s true meaning.
That subtle dharma is this subtle dharma of the lotus blossom. How do you receive it? How do you maintain it? Living this subtle dharma every day, how do you see it? When chanting, we experience it. When reading, we experience it. When writing and copying, we experience it. What are we truly copying? We can say that I am literally writing my life through copying this most precious subtle dharma.
So what is truly the sutra? And how do you truly read or copy the sutra? How do you see it, hear it, and maintain it now as the subtle dharma? The sutra must be alive as the functioning of your life! Please trust yourself. Trust in yourself as the sutra, as the dynamic, boundless dharma itself. This is what I mean when I say be nice to yourself. Trusting your life as the sutra is the best way to be nice to yourself.
This practice of sutra copying has wonderful merit. I encourage you to do it and enjoy it. By copying, you will enrich your life, and you will experience yourself being revolved by the sutra. Unify yourself with what you do! This is actually the key, this unity of your true life and the life of literally everything. Do you see?
PART THREE
Where Is the Hindrance?
WHERE IS THE HINDRANCE?
OUR LIFE IS USUALLY SO HECTIC that we quite easily lose ourselves. Zazen is a wonderful opportunity to face and closely study ourselves. In a way, it is almost a joke to have to find out who we are or to realize what our life is. Our life, this life, is already in realization. It is already manifesting, so what is there to look for? When we look for something, Buddha calls this delusion. Unfortunately, this is what all of us do in one way or another.
There is an interesting koan in the Blue Cliff Record, a dialogue between Master Kyosei and a monk. The monk asks, “I want to peck from the inside. Would you please tap from the outside?” When an egg is ready to hatch, the chick inside pecks at the shell. The mother hen senses it and taps on the outside. When it is time, just a little tap on the outside breaks the shell and the chick hatches. If the shell breaks too soon or too late, the chick dies. So the monk said, “Please tap from the outside.” Master Kyosei asks, “Will you be alive?” The monk answers, “If not, I’ll be ridiculed.” Master Kosei replies, “You also are one of those in the weeds.”
What is the point of this koan? “I am ready, please let me come out.” Where is the shell? Where is the hindrance? What is keeping you imprisoned? There is an expression in Japanese, “Without a rope, people bind themselves.” You do not think you are completely free, so you practice trying to liberate yourself. But what is binding you? Look around you. Nothing is binding you, and yet you cannot see it. You feel as if you are bound by something. Buddha calls this delusion. Your mind is not in the right place.
In our practice we hold sesshin, an intensive Zen retreat. Sesshin means to join or unify the mind. It can also mean to put the mind in the place where the mind belongs. Of course the mind is already unified or in the right place, but nevertheless, we practice in this way. How do you put your mind in the right place? Where is the right place? Right here is always the place. This
place or space of right here extends endlessly throughout the ten directions, the whole universe. This limited place of right here becomes universal, the existence of the cosmos. It is not limited to a particular race, culture, or country. And right now is the time. The infinite time span from past to future is reduced to this very moment, right now! Vice versa is also true. The moment of right now contains all the beginningless past and the endless future. It is universal.
For instance, one of the most important dharmas is the law of causation, of cause and effect. Everything is the cause of something and the effect of something. So in one way or another, everything is connected. The Japanese word for “karma” is innen. In is a direct cause or causes, and nen is an indirect cause or causes. All of these direct and indirect causes are present for each action.
We say “cause and effect are not two separate things” or “cause and effect are one.” For example, when the teacher rings the bell, the student goes to dokusan, or interview. The conventional way of seeing this is that the ringing of the bell is the cause, and the effect is that the student goes into the dokusan room. But in Zen we say that the world is completely interconnected, that everything happens right here, right now. So the student goes into the dokusan room not just because the bell has been rung but because of all actions—not just actions in the past but actions in the present and future, too, because time is just a mental concept. Everything we do affects everything in the world. For this reason, none of us can do anything just by ourselves. Think of all the direct and the indirect causes that have influenced us.
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