Your Name is What?

On Friday mornings I’m in the habit of reflecting on the Thursday night study session and offering something here from there. This session was particularly fun with lots of laughter. I’ll share one story from the session in a minute.

My comments here serve the double purpose of an offering for the blog reader and a pointer for the small group of practitioners participating in the 100-day training, either via the internet or in person.

We’re just going by day 50 right now and we’re wrapping up our work with the first line of the Genjokoan. At this rate we might complete the first run through about the time my son graduates from high school in 2015 – if all goes well (for him and us).

Here it is:

When all dharmas are the buddha dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, life and death, buddhas and living beings.

And then the comment on this line from Kyogo, one generation removed from Dogen:

“All dharmas” is “What is it that thus comes? (是什麼物恁麼来)” The sentence which says, “The ten thousand dharmas have no fixed-self” points to, “If I point out one thing, I am off the mark (説似一物即不中).”

The above references to “what” and “missing” come from this excerpt from Dogen’s all time favorite koan:

Hueneng asked, “What is it that thus comes?”

Nanyueh did not know what to answer. For eight long years he pondered the question, then one day it dawned on him, and he exclaimed, “The moment I said ‘this’ I’d miss the mark.”

Simply put, all dharmas are What? and no dharmas are this misses it.

So its like this story that from a guy who I’ll call George. George is a real American Zen guy whom I like a lot. I heard George tell this story over ten years ago so the details may have gotten twisted in my twisted mind but I’ll do my best.

In the late 1960’s George had just finished his divinity degree from Yale and was hungry for some religious experience. George heard that there was a Zen master in San Franscisco so he drove across the county to Tassajara to meet the man.

George had to do a one-day sitting before being admitted to the monastery and meeting with Suzuki Roshi. George had never sat for a second so a full day of getting up only to pee had his mind whirling.

At the end of the day he was ushered into Suzuki Roshi’s cabin. Suzuki offered him tea and said, “What is your name?”

George took it like, “What is it that thus comes?”

His mind was launched into a swirl. He knew Zen through D.T. Suzuki and “knew” that there was no self. How could no self have a name? What could he say that wasn’t a lie? What was his true name? Nothing came to mind. But saying nothing didn’t seem to respond to the Roshi’s question so he felt that he had to say something, but what?

After a long, awkward pause, George gasped out, “George.”

“Hi,” said Suzuki Roshi, “my name’s Suzuki.”

It’s like our familiar name is “‘What?'” and our family name is “Ungraspable.”