The main point of this post is the importance of continuing to work the edge of life-death with the keyword (e.g., 無, mu/no) even when it gets scary, even when it becomes a matter of letting go of life-death – that is, letting go of old fixed stances, of attachment to body-mind, and dropping body-mind. While digging into this point, though, a common issue arises – “I’m too dumb.” So I’ll... Read more
In 1144, Zen master Dàhuì received a letter from a fairly high-ranking official (a drafter of imperial proclamations), a fellow named Zong, that seems to have been what we might call a practice check-in. Among other things, Zong reports: “In responding to conditions in my daily wading through the differentiated sense objects I am always in the midst of the buddhadharma.” And “In the midst of my daily activities, my movements and various demeanors, I use... Read more
Awakening is a lot about energy. Slump and sniff in zazen and daily life and that’s what you get. Burn like a Buddha in flames and that’s what you are. “This energy,” wrote my old teacher Katagiri Rōshi, “appears in every aspect of human life; gassho, a cushion, a cup. Within each single form of being we can see this total dynamic life. This is seeing something with our whole body and mind. At that time we become one with... Read more
How to cross the flood of sense desires, becoming, views, and ignorance? Let’s give the Buddha of the Pali Canon the first crack at answering – seems fair given that he is credited with identifying the four contaminants (sense desires, becoming, views, and ignornace). Here’s his old tune from the Samyutta Nikaya: “The Flood” Thus have I heard. The Exalted One was once staying near Savatthi at Jeta Grove, in Anathapindika’s Park. Now a... Read more
“When you truly understand this fundamental principle you will not be anxious about your life and death. You will then attain a steadfast mind and be happy in your daily life. Even though heaven and earth were turned upside down, you would have no fear. And if an atom bomb went off, you would not quake in terror.” – Yasutani Rōshi (1) When I read those words in 1977, they seemed so outrageous that I immediately sought out a teacher, and became... Read more
“The mind that is not baffled is not employed.” My first real baffling encounter with Great Uncertainty (aka, Great Doubt) came near the beginning of my Zen practice, probably in about ’78 or ’79. I was walking home from a sesshin with another student and I asked him, “How’d your sesshin go?” He looked at me with the kind of rawness that takes a seven-day sesshin to reveal, and said, “I don’t know shit. I really don’t know shit.... Read more
Some years ago, a Zen teacher was leading a sesshin for Catholic monastics. In the thick of third day, within the challenges of waking up early, sitting after sitting, rounds of the awakening stick, and vigorous face-to-face meetings, one of the brothers said, “Roshi, in our tradition, we rest in the silence of prayer, and let God work in us. Why is Zen so difficult?” The Roshi responded, “In our tradition, we believe that God has already done the work.”... Read more
Now that I’ve completed the manuscript edits for The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans, the section of The Record of Xutang with his unexcelled capping phrases, translated and with comments by yours truly (coming to you in early 2021 from Shambhala), I’m back to doing some dharma study not directly related that project or to what I’m teaching on Vine of Obstacles. What fell in my cyber lap is a newish (2017) version of The Letters of Chan Master... Read more
I recently met with a student (via Zoom, of course) who was recovering from the coronavirus. With a wool hat pulled over his head and half his face, with blanket wrap-around, looking really weak, he told me about being sick. He had all the now common symptoms – fever, muscle ache, cough and breathing difficulties. “Never felt anything like this,” he said. “And then there was my reaction,” he confessed. After several years of regular secular mindfulness practice and about a... Read more
I hope you will find this post as grist for your dharma-reflection mill. You see, a couple things that have to do with the teacher-student relationship have come up in my translation work, and I’d like to share them with you. The first is a line from Tōngxuán One Hundred Questions (通玄百問), “Question 54: What Phrase Is Most Wonderful?” The text features three Cáodòng (Japanese, “Sōtō”) teachers from the Thirteenth Century – Tōngxuán (Going Through the Mystery) asks the questions; Wànsōng (Ten Thousand Pines)... Read more
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