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<\/a>Thoughts on Zen<\/span> from a Therav\u0101din perspective<\/span>*<\/p>\nStudents of Therav\u0101din Buddhism<\/a> will no doubt find such statements to be a bit peculiar. In Therav\u0101da, as well as most Tibetan Buddhism<\/a>, their is an emphasis on gradual personal\/moral\/spiritual development on the path to awakening. Teachings of a gradual path are found throughout the P\u0101li Canon,<\/span> the preserved teachings of the Buddha from the Therav\u0101din tradition. Indeed the Buddha\u2019s own life, and numerous past lives, reflect this gradual perfection of virtues en route to nibb\u0101na<\/span>. \u201cLuminous, monks, is the mind.1<\/a> And it is defiled by incoming defilements.\u201d {I,v,9}<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLuminous, monks, is the mind. And it is freed from incoming defilements.\u201d {I,v,10}<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLuminous, monks, is the mind. And it is defiled by incoming defilements. The uninstructed run-of-the-mill person doesn\u2019t discern that as it actually is present, which is why I tell you that \u2014 for the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person \u2014 there is no development of the mind.\u201d {I,vi,1}<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLuminous, monks, is the mind. And it is freed from incoming defilements. The well-instructed disciple of the noble ones discerns that as it actually is present, which is why I tell you that \u2014 for the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones \u2014 there is development of the mind.\u201d {I,vi,2}<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/p>\n And the P\u0101li (from AN i 5 and 6, here<\/a> and here<\/a>): 49<\/span>. \u2018\u2018Pabhassaramida\u1e43, bhikkhave, citta\u1e43. Ta\u00f1ca kho \u0101gantukehi upakkilesehi upakkili\u1e6d\u1e6dha\u2019\u2019nti. Navama\u1e43. <\/p>\n <\/a>50<\/span>. \u2018\u2018Pabhassaramida\u1e43, bhikkhave, citta\u1e43. Ta\u00f1ca kho \u0101gantukehi upakkilesehi vippamutta\u2019\u2019nti. Dasama\u1e43.<\/p>\n 51<\/span>. \u2018\u2018Pabhassaramida\u1e43 <\/a>, bhikkhave, citta\u1e43. Ta\u00f1ca kho \u0101gantukehi upakkilesehi upakkili\u1e6d\u1e6dha\u1e43. Ta\u1e43 assutav\u0101 puthujjano yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 nappaj\u0101n\u0101ti. Tasm\u0101 \u2018assutavato puthujjanassa cittabh\u0101van\u0101 natth\u012b\u2019ti vad\u0101m\u012b\u2019\u2019ti. Pa\u1e6dhama\u1e43. <\/p>\n <\/a>52<\/span>. \u2018\u2018Pabhassaramida\u1e43 <\/a>, bhikkhave, citta\u1e43. Ta\u00f1ca kho \u0101gantukehi upakkilesehi vippamutta\u1e43. Ta\u1e43 sutav\u0101 ariyas\u0101vako yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 paj\u0101n\u0101ti. Tasm\u0101 \u2018sutavato ariyas\u0101vakassa cittabh\u0101van\u0101 atth\u012b\u2019ti vad\u0101m\u012b\u2019\u2019ti.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \n<\/p> No time now for linguistic analysis, but Thanissaro Bhikkhu\u2019s comments (see link above) on this statement are helpful for understanding it in the Ther\u0101vadin context. But in the developing Mah\u0101y\u0101na thought, this statement pointed to a profound truth in the nature of the individual: that we all have within us an essence of awakening<\/a>.<\/span> To realize this, not just intellectually but in one\u2019s whole being, would be awakening<\/span>.<\/p>\n The statement: \u201cWhen you are you, Zen is Zen\u201d points to that original nature. It points to the <\/span>fact that<\/span> no defilement is essential, none of your problems are <\/span>yours<\/span> or <\/span>you<\/span>. <\/span>YOU are not an angry person or a jealous person or a depressed person. You are you.<\/p>\n The answer is, \u201cNo. When you are you, Zen is Zen.\u201d<\/p>\n We think we are the vase, this delicate collection of clay and mineral and colors and polish. Just like we think we are our possessions, our career, our family, our spirituality. But this is all mere self-cherishing; the very activity that Buddhism seeks to undercut. And if your practice doesn\u2019t undercut it, reality will for you.<\/span> Possessions will fade, careers will be lost, people will die or slip out of touch. In self-cherishing we scramble to fill the hole, find new things and activities and people. And this can fill one\u2019s whole life: getting, losing, getting new, losing again. A life of reactivity.<\/p>\n You are the space that the vase occupied<\/span>: unfettered, unbounded, undefiled, free.<\/p>\n As Dogen Zenji wrote in his Genjo Koan<\/span>:<\/p>\n To study the Buddha way is to study the self. * The post is subtitled, <\/span>Thoughts on Zen<\/span> <\/span>from a Therav\u0101din perspective<\/span>, but even \u201c<\/span>Therav\u0101din<\/span>\u201d is of course a piece of that vase that one can cling to, polishing it with P\u0101li studies, Vipassan\u0101 meditation, and visits with this or that teacher. The quote, \u201cWhen You are You, Zen is Zen\u201d is from <\/span>Shunryu Suzuki Roshi<\/span>, quoted in a wonderful talk by Edward Brown on Facets of Self<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n
However, over time in Buddhism there developed an idea of sudden awakening.<\/span> Whether this development was primarily made by philosophical-literary monks such as those who wrangled over the vast Abhidharma literature, or by so-called forest meditators, alone in deep practice, is unknown. In fact these divisions may themselves be false and unhelpful. In either case, the basic idea behind sudden awakening<\/span> is that the mind is primordialy pure, only shrouded by later defilements<\/span>. This idea itself is found in the P\u0101li Canon (from Accesstoinsight.org<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s like taking a hammer to a beautiful porcelain vase.<\/span> Tap it and cracks begin to appear. Tap more and the whole thing begins to fall apart, pieces falling to the ground. The vase is the you<\/span> that has been constructed through a thousand-million thoughts and actions and words. Thinking, \u201cI am a depressed person\u201d and saying to others \u201cOh, I have depression\u201d and acting this out, we polish our vase of depression. This is not to minimize the reality, for us, of depression. But it is only a reality <\/span>for you<\/span> because it has been constructed and maintained all this time.<\/span> It is not you.<\/p>\n<\/a>The statement, \u201cWhen you are you, Zen is Zen\u201d tries to stop another kind of vase-building, spiritual vase-building. When we enter on the path, it is easy to desperately <\/span>want<\/span> to get it right, to have profound realizations, to make progress. <\/span>We can strive and set goals, and strive toward them. As we do so, we may wonder, \u201cis this right? Is this \u2018Zen\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>This life of scrambling is not only exhausting and unfulfilling, it cuts us off fundamentally from others and the world. We are so busy cramming everything into our gaps that we too rarely stop to look closely at who we are with, what we are doing. Look closely. Slow down. It is only when you look fully that you are you and Zen is Zen. tap the vase. Watch it crack and crumble.<\/span> As the pieces of the vase fall to the ground, you see that you were not the vase all along. <\/span><\/p>\n
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand dharmas.
To be enlightened by the ten thousand dharmas is to free one\u2019s body and mind and those of others.
No trace of enlightenment remains,and this no-trace continues endlessly. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n