Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
by Shunryu Suzuki
INTRODUCTION
The calligraphy on the front of the binding reads nyorai in Japanese or tathagata in Sanskrit. This is a name for Buddha which means “he who has followed the path, who has returned from muchness, or is muchness, thus-ness, is-ness, emptiness, the fully completed one.” It is the ground principle which makes thea appearance of a Buddha possible. It is Zen mind.
The practice of Zen mind is beginner’s mind. The innocence of the first inquiry—what am I?—is needed throughout Zen practice.
PROLOGUE
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”
shoshin, which means “beginner’s mind.”
For Zen students the most important thing is not to be dualistic. Our “original mind” includes everything within itself.
…self-sufficient state of mind. This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind.
When your mind becomes demanding, when you long for something, you will end up violating your own precepts: not to tell lies, not to steal, no to kill, not to be immoral, and so forth. If you keep your original mind, the precepts will keep themselves.
PART ONE Right Practice
POSTURE
Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature.
Now I would like to talk about our zazen practice. When you sit in the full lotus position, your left foot is on your right thigh, and your right foot is on your left thigh. When we cross our legs like this, even though we have a right leg and a left leg, they have become one. The position expresses the oneness of duality: not two, and not one. This is the most important teaching: not two, and not one.
Our body and mind are not two and not one. If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong; if you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one. We usually think that if something is not one, it is more than once; if it is not singular, it is plural. But in actual experience, our life is not only plural, but also singular. Each one of us is both dependent and independent.
…when we take this posture it symbolizes this truth.
…you should pull your child in. When your chin is tilted up, you have no strength in your posture; you are probably dreaming. Also to gain strength in your posture, press your diaphragm down towards your hara, or lower abdomen.
Your hands form the “cosmic Audra.”
It is a perfect expression of your Buddha nature. If you want true understanding of Buddhism, you should practice this way.
The most important point is to own your own physical body. If you slump, you will lose your self.
The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment. If you cannot be satisfied with the state of mind you have in zazen, it means your mind is still wandering about. Our body and mind should not be wobbling or wandering about. In this posture there is no need to talk about the right state of mind. You already have it. This is the conclusion of Buddhism.
BREATHING
“What we call “I” is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.”
So when we practice zazen, all that exists is the moment of the breathing, but we are aware of this movement. You should not be absent-minded.
When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything.
CONTROL
“To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.”
Suppose you are sitting under some extraordinary circumstances. If you try to calm your mind you will be unable to sit, and if you try not to be disturbed, your effort will not be the right effort. The only effort that will help you is to count your breathing, or to concentrate on your inhaling and exhaling. We say concentration, but to concentrate your mind on something is not the true purpose of Zen. The true purpose is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. This is to put everything under control in its widest sense. Zen practice is to open up our small mind. So concentration is just an aid to help you realize “big mind,” or the mind that is everything. If you want to discover the true meaning of Zen in your everyday life, you have to understand the meaning of keeping your mind on your breathing and your body in the right posture in zazen. You should follow the rules of practice and your study should become more subtle and careful. Only in this way can you experience the vital freedom of Zen.
As long as you have rules, you have a chance for freedom. To try to obtain freedom without being aware of the rules means nothing. It is to acquire this perfect freedom that we practice zazen.
MIND WAVES
“Because we enjoy all aspects of life as an unfolding of big mind, we do not care for any excessive joy. So we have imperturbable composure.”
Nothing comes from outside your mind. Usually we think of our mind as receiving impressions and experiences from outside, but that is not a true understanding of our mind. The true understanding is that the mind includes everything; when you think something comes from outside it means only that something appears in your mind. Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.
If your mind is related to something outside itself, that mind is a small mind, a limited mind. If your mind is not related to anything else, then there is no dualistic understanding in the activity of your mind.
That everything is included within your mind is the essence of mind. To experience this is to have religious feeling. Even though waves arise, the essence of your mind is pure; it is just like clear water with a few waves. Actually water always has waves. Waves are the practice of the water. To speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is delusion. Water and waves are one. Big mind and small mind are one. When you understand your mind in this way, you have some security in your feeling. As your mind does not expect anything from outside, it is always filled. A mind with waves in it is not a disturbed mind, but actually an amplified one. Whatever you experience is an expression of big mind.
It is with this imperturbable composure of big mind the we practice zazen.
MIND WAVES
“You should be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.”
If you have some experience of how the weeds in your mind change into mental nourishment, your practice will make remarkable progress.
Strictly speaking, any effort we make it not good for our practice because it creates waves in our mind. It is impossible, however, to attain absolute calmness of our mind without any effort. We must make some effort, but we must forget ourselves in the effort we make.
At first the effort you make is quite rough and impure, but by the power of practice the effort will become purer and purer. When your effort becomes pure, your body and mind become pure. This is the way we practice Zen.
THE MARROW OF ZEN
“In the zazen posture, your mind anybody have great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.”
Those who can sit perfectly physically usually take more time to obtain the true way of Zen the actual feeling of Zen, the marrow of Zen. But those who find great difficulties in practicing Zen will find more meaning in it.
So when we talk about Zen we cannot say, “He is good,” or “He is bad,” in the ordinary sense of the words. The posture taken in zazen is not the same for each of us. For some it may be impossible to take the cross-legged posture. But even though you cannot take the right posture, when you arouse your real, way-seeking mind, you can practice Zen in its true sense. Actually it is easier for those who have difficulties in sitting to arouse the true way-seeking mind than for those who can sit easily.
When you are sitting in the middle of your own problem, which is more real to you: your problem or you yourself? The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact. This is the point you will realize by zazen practice. In continuous practice, under a succession of agreeable and disagreeable situations, you will realize the marrow of Zen and acquire its true strength.
NO DUALISM
“To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body. With you full mind you form the mudra in your hands.”
Practice free from ganging ideas is based on the Prajna Paramita Sutta…It says, “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.” But if you attach to that statement, you are liable to be involved in dualistic ideas…“Form is form and emptiness is emptiness.” Here there is no dualism.
To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body. Your mind follows your breathing. With your full mind you form the mudra in your hands. With your whole mind you sit with painful legs without being disturbed by them. This is to sit without any gaining idea. At first you feel some restriction in your posture, but when you are not disturbed by the restriction, you have found the meaning of “emptiness is emptiness and form is form.” So to find your own way under some restriction is the way of practice.
As long as you are concerned about what you do, that is dualistic.
When you suffer from an illness like cancer, and you realize you cannot live more than two or three years, then seeking something upon which to rely, you may start practice. One person may rely on the el[p of God. Someone else may start the practice of zazen. His practice will be concentrated on obtaining emptiness of mind. That means he is trying to be free for the suffering of duality. This is the practice of “form is emptiness and emptiness is form.” Because of the truth of emptiness, he wants to have the actual realization of it in his life. If he practices in this way, believing and making an effort, it will help him, of course, but it is not perfect practice. Knowing that your life is short, to enjoy it day after day, moment after moment, is the life of “form is form and emptiness is emptiness.”
When you do something, just to do it should be your purpose.
BOWING
“Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. Even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to.”
When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.
You see something or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is.
When you are just yourself, you bow to yourself in its true sense, and you are one with everything. Only when you are yourself can you bow to everything in its true sense.
Each bow expresses one of the four Buddhist vows. These vows are: “Although sentient beings are innumerable, we vow to save them. Although our evil desires are limitless, we vow to be rid of them. Although the teaching is limitless, we vow to learn it all. Although Buddhism is unattainable, we vow to attain it.”
NOTHING SPECIAL
“If you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain some wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after you attain it, it is nothing special.”
When there is no gaining idea in what you do, then you do something.
It is a kind of mystery that for people who have no experience of enlightenment, enlightenment is something wonderful. But if they attain it, it is nothing. But yet it is not nothing. Do you understand? For a mother with children, having children is nothing special. That is zazen. So, if you continue this practice, more and more you will acquire something—nothing special, but nevertheless something. You may say “universal nature” or “Buddha nature” or “enlightenment.” You may call it by many names, but for the person who has it, it is nothing and it is something.
Buddha nature is just another name for human nature, our true human nature.
The most important thing is to express your true nature in the simplest, most adequate way and to appreciate it in the smallest existence.
Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself.
PART TWO
RIGHT ATTITUDE
The point we emphasize is strong confidence in our original nature.
SINGLE-MINDED WAY
“Even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way.”
REPETITION
“If you lose the spirit of reptiition, your practice will become quite difficult.”
ZEN AND EXCITEMENT
“Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”
RIGHT EFFORT
“If your practice is good, you may become proud of it. What you do is good, but something more is added to it. Pride is extra. Right effort is to get rid of something extra.”
The most important point in our practice is to have right or perfect effort.
When you are involved in some dualistic idea, it means your practice is not pure. By purity we do not mean to polish something, trying to make some impure thing pure. By purity we just mean things as they are. When something is added, that is impure.
NO TRACE
“When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”
When we practice zazen our mind is calm and quite simple. But usually our mind is very busy and complicated, and it is difficult to be concentrated on what we are doing. This is because before react we think, and this leaves some trace. Our activity is shadowed by some preconceived idea. The thinking not only leads some trace or shadow, but also gives us many other notions about other activities and things. These traces and notions make our minds very complicated. When we do something with a quite simple, clear mind, we have no notion or shadows, and our activity is strong and straightforward. But when we do something with a complicated mind, in relation to other things or people, or society, our activity becomes very complex.
Thinking which leaves traces comes out of your relative confused mind. Relative mind is the mind which sets itself in relation to other things, thus limiting itself. It is the small mind which creates gaining ideas and leaves traces of itself.
To leave a trace is not the same as to remember something. It is necessary to remember what we have done, but we should not become attached to what we have done in some special sense. What we call “attachment” is just these traces of our thought and activity. In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be let in what you do. You will have something remaining which is not completely burned out. Zen activity is activity which is completely burned out, with nothing remaining but ashes. This is the goal of our practice. That is what Dogen meant when he said, “Ashes do not come back to firewood.” Ash is ash. Ash should be completely ash. The firewood should be firewood. When this kind of activity takes place, one activity covers everything.
GOD GIVING“
“‘To give is non attachment,’ that is just not to attach to anything is to give.”
We have a saying, “Dana prajna paramita.” Dana means to give, prajna is wisdom, and paramita means to cross over, or to reach the other shore. Our life can be seen as a crossing of a river. The goal of our life’s effort is to reach the other shore, Nirvana. Prana paramita, the true wisdom of life, is that in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached. To reach the other shore with each step of the crossing is the way of true living. Dana prajna paramita is the first of the six ways of true living. The second is sila prajna paramita, or the Buddhist precepts. Then there is kshanti prajna paramita, or endurance; vireo prajan paramita, or ardor and constant effort; dhyana prajan paramita, or Zen practice and prajna paramita, or wisdom Actually these six prajna paramita are one, but as we can observe life from various sides, we count six.
Dogen-zenji said, “To give is non attachment.” That is, just not to attach to anything is to give.
And when we repeat, “I created, I create, I create,” soon we forget who is actually the “I” which creates the various things; we soon forget about God. This is the danger of human culture. Actually, to create with the “big I” is to give…
When we sit in the cross-legged posture, we resume our fundamental activity of creation. There are perhaps three kinds of creation. The first is to be aware of ourselves after we finish zazen. When we sit we are nothing, we do not even realize what we are; we just sit. But when we stand up, we are there! That is the first step in creation. When you are there, everything else is there; everything is created all at once. When we emerge from nothing, when everything emerges from nothing, we see it all as fresh new creation. This is non attachment. The second kind is to creation is when you act, or produce or prepare something like food or tea. The third kind is to create something within yourself, such as education, or culture, or art, or some system for our society. So there are three kinds of creation. But if you forget the first, the most important one, the other two will be like children who have lost their parents; their creation will mean nothing.
MISTAKES IN PRACTICE
“It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it. So you should be grateful that you have a sign or warning signal to show you the weak point in your practice.”
When you are idealistic, you have some gaining idea within yourself…
Another mistake will be to practice for the sake of the joy you find in it. Actually, when your practice is involved in a feeling of joy, it is not in very good shape either. Of course this is not poor practice, but compared to the true practice it is not so good. In Hinayana Buddhism, practice is classified in four ways. The best way is just to do it without having any joy in it, not even spiritual joy. This way is just to do it, forgetting your physical and mental feeling, forgetting all about yourself in your practice. This is the fourth stage, or the highest stage. The next highest stage is to have just physical joy in your practice. At this stage you find some pleasure in practice, and you will practice because of the pleasure you find in it. In the second stage, you have both mental and physical joy, or good feeling. These two middle stages are stages in which you practice zazen because you feel good in your practice. The first stage is when you have no thinking and no curiosity in your practice. These four stages also apply to our Mahayana practice, and the highest is just to practice it.
Our practice cannot be perfect, but without being discouraged by this we should continue it. This is the secret of practice.
There is no particular way in true practice. You should find your own way and you should know what kind of practice you have right now. Knowing both the advantages and disadvantages of some special practice, you can practice that special way without danger. But if you have a one-sided attitude, you will ignore the disadvantage of the practice, emphasizing only its good part.
LIMITING YOUR ACTIVITY
“Usually when someone believes in a particular religion, his attitude becomes more and more a sharp angle pointing away from himself. In our way the point of the angle is always toward ourselves.”
So as long as you have some particular goal in your practice, that practice will not help you completely. It may help as long as you are directed towards that goal, but when you resume your everyday life, it will not work.
When your mind is wandering about elsewhere you have no chance to express yourself. But if you limit your activity to what you can do just now, in this moment, then you can express fully your true nature, which is the universal Buddha nature. This is our way.
When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat. If you do this, the universal nature is there. In Japanese we call it ichigyo-zammai, or “one-act samadhi.” Sammai (or samadhi) is “concentration.” Ichigyo is “one practice.”
STUDY YOURSELF
“To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.”
The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study yourself. It is impossible to study ourselves without some teaching. If you want to know what water is you need science, and the scientist needs a laboratory. In the laboratory there are barrows ways in which to study what water is. Thus it is possible to know what kind of elements water has, the various forms it takes, and its nature. But it is impossible thereby to know water in itself. It is the same thing with us. We need some teaching, but just by studying the teaching alone, it is impossible to know what “I” in myself am. Through the teaching we may understand our human nature. But the teaching is not we ourselves; it is some explanation of ourselves. So if you are attached to the teaching, or to the teacher, that is a big mistake. The moment you meet a teacher, you should leave the teacher, and you should be independent. You need a teacher so that you can become independent. If you are not attached to him, the teacher will show you the way to yourself. You have a teacher for yourself, not for the teacher.
To find the meaning of your life in the kendo is to find the meaning of your everyday activity.
When I was at Eiheiji monastery in Japan, everyone was just doing what he should do. That is all. It is the same as waking up in the morning; we have to get up. At Eiheiji monastery, when we had to sit, we sat; when we had to bow to Buddha, we bowed to Buddha. That is all. And when we were practicing, we did not feel anything special. We did not even feel that we were leading a monastic life. For us, the monastic life was the usual life, and the people who came from the city were unusual people. When we saw them we felt, “Oh, some unusual people have come!” But one I had left Eiheiji and been away for some time, coming back was different. I heard the various sounds of practice—the bells and the monks reciting the sutra—and I had a deep feeling. There were tears flowing out of my eyes, nose, and mouth! It is the people who are outside of the monastery who feel its atmosphere. Those who are practicing actually do not feel anything. I think this is true for everything. When we hear the sound of the pine trees on a windy day, perhaps the wind is just blowing, and the pine tree is just standing in the wind. That is all that they are doing. But the people who listen to the wind in the tree will write a poem, or will feel something unusual. That is, I think, the way everything is.
When we forget ourselves, we actually are the true activity of the big existence, or reality itself.
TO POLISH A TILE
“When you become you, Zen becomes Zen. When you are you, you see things as they are, and you become one with your surroundings.”
When you are you, zazen becomes true zazen. So when you practice zazen, your problem will practice zazen, and everything else will practice zazen too. Even though your spouse is in bed, he or she is also practicing zazen—the you practice zazen! But when you do not practice true zazen, there there is your spouse, and there is yourself, each quite differing, quite separate from the other. So if you yourself have true practice, then everything else is practicing our way at the same time.
CONSTANCY
“People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.”
“Cultivate your own spirit.” It means not to go seeking for something outside yourself. This is a very important point, and it is the only way to practice Zen.
Instead of gathering knowledge, you should clear your mind. If your mind is clean, true knowledge is already yours.
This is called emptiness, or omnipotent self, or knowing everything. When you know everything, you are like a dark sky. Sometimes a flashing will come through the dark sky. After it passes, you forget all about it, and there is nothing left but the dark sky. The sky is never surprised when all of a sudden a thunderbolt breaks through. And when the lightning does flash, a wonderful sight may be seen. When we have emptiness we are always prepared for watching the flashing.
If you are ready to accept things as they are, you will receive them as old friends, even though you appreciate them with new feeling.
There is always a possibility of understanding as long as we exist in the utter darkness of the sky, as long as we live in emptiness.
People who know, eve if only intuitively, the state of emptiness always have open the possibility of accepting things as they are. They can appreciate everything. In everything they do, even though it may be very difficult, they will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.
We should always live in the dark empty sky. The sky is always the sky. Even though clouds and lighting come, the sky i not disturbed. Even if the flashing of enlightenment comes, our practice forgets all about it. Then it is ready for another enlightenment. It is necessary for us to have enlightenments one after another, if possible, moment after moment. This is what is called enlightenment before you attain it and after you attain it.
COMMUNICATION
“Without any intentional fancy way of adjusting yourself, to express yourself as you are is the most important thing.”
NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE
“Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for.”
NIRVANA, THE WATERFALL
“Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life.”
PART THREE
RIGHT UNDERSTANDING
TRADITIONAL ZEN SPIRIT
“If you are trying to attain enlightenment, you are creating and being driven by karma, and you are wasting your time on your black cushion.”
The most important things in our practice are our physical posture and our way of breathing. We are not so concerned about a deep understanding of Buddhism. As a philosophy, Buddhism is a very deep, wide, and firm system of thought, but Zen is not concerned about a philosophical understanding. We emphasize practice. We should understand why our physical posture and breathing exercise are so important. Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature. Our practice is based on faith.
According toe Bodhidharma’s understanding, practice based on any gaining idea is just a repetition of your karma.
More important than any stage which you will attain is your sincerity, your right effort.
If our practice is only a means to attain enlightenment, there is actually a no way to attain it!
TRANSIENCY
“We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.”
THE QUALITY OF BEING
“When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concerned on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity.”
The purpose of zazen is to attain the freedom of our being, physically and mentally.
Here we have the freedom of existence. And there is no quality connecting you and me; when I say “you,” there is no “I”; when I say “I,” there is not “you.” You are independent, and I am independent; each exists in a different moment. But this does not mean we are quite different beings. We are actually one and the same being. We are the same, and yet different. It is very paradoxical, but actually it is so. Because we are independent beings, each one of us is a complete flashing into the vast phenomenal world. When I am sitting, there is no other person, but this does not mean I ignore you. I am completely one with every existence in the phenomenal world. So when I sit, you sit; everything sits with me. That is our zazen. When you sit, everything sits with you. And everything makes up the quality of your being. So in this practice we have absolute liberation from everything else. If you understand this secret there is no difference between Zen practice and your everyday life. You can interpret everything as you wish.
Starting from the lonely feeling of the evanescence of life, he attained the powerful experience of the quality of his being.
NATURALNESS
“Moment after moment, everyone comes out from nothingness. This is the true joy of life.”
Naturalness is, I think, some feeling of being independent from everything, or some activity which is based on nothingness. Something which comes out of nothingness is naturalness, like a seed or plant coming out of the ground.
The true practice of zazen is to sit as if drinking water when you are thirsty.
If it comes out of nothingness, whatever you do is natural, and that is true activity.
Moment after moment we have true joy of life. So we say shin ku myo u, “from true emptiness, the wondrous being appears.” Shin is “true”; ku is “emptiness”; myo is “wondrous”; u is “being”: from true emptiness, wondrous being.
EMPTINESS
“When you study Buddhism you should have a general house cleaning of your mind.”
If you want to understand Buddhism it is necessary for you to forget your preconceived ideas. To begin with, you must give up the idea of substantiality or existence. The usual view of life is firmly rooted in the idea of existence. For most people everything exists; they think whatever they see and whatever they hear exists. Of course the bird we see and hear exists. It exists, but what I mean by that may not be exactly what you mean. The Buddhist understanding of life includes both existence and non-existence. The bird both exists and does not exist at the same time. We say that a view of life based on existence alone is heretical. If you take things too seriously, as if they existed substantially or permanently, you are called a heretic. Most people may be heretics.
We say true existence comes from emptiness and goes back again into emptiness.
As long as we have definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now. You may say, “I can do it tomorrow, or next year,” believing that something that exists today will exist tomorrow. Even though you are not trying so hard, you expect that some promising thing will come, as long as you follow a certain way. But there is no certain way that exists permanently. There is no way set up for us. Moment after moment we have to find our own way. Some idea of perfection, or some perfect way which is set up by someone else, is not the true way for us.
Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way. This is the mystery. When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything. So when you try hard to make your own way, you will help others, and you will be helped by others. Before you make your own way you cannot help anyone, and no one can help you. To be independent in this true sense, we have to forget everything which we have in our mind and discover something quite new and different moment after moment. This is how we live in this world.
So we say true understanding will come out of emptiness. When you study Buddhism, you should have a general house cleaning of your mind. You must take everything out of your room and clean it thoroughly. If it is necessary, you may bring everything back in again. You may want many things, so one by one you can bring them back. But if they are not necessary, there is non need to keep them.
We see the flying bird. Sometimes we see the trace of it. Actually we cannot see the trace of a flying bird, but sometimes we feel as if we could. [I’ve had this experience so many times]
Absolute freedom itself is necessary before you can acquire absolute freedom. That is our practice.
Concentration is not to try hard to watch something. In zazen if you try to look at one spot you will be tired in about five minutes. This is not concentration. Concentration means freedom. So your effort should be directed at nothing. You should be concentrated on nothing.
READINES, MINDFULNESS
“It is readiness of the mind that is wisdom.”
When we realize that everything we see is a part of emptiness, we can have no attachment to any existence; we realize that everything is just a tentative form and color. Thus we realize the true meaning of each tentative existence. When we first hear that everything is a tentative existence, most of us are disappointed; but this disappointment comes from a wrong view of man and nature. It is because our way of observing things is deeply rooted in our self-centered ideas that we are disappointed when we find everything has only a tentative existence. But when we actually realize this truth, we will have no suffering.
Even before we practice it, enlightenment is there. But usually we understand the practice of zazen and enlightenment as two different things: here is practice, like a pair of glasses, and when we use the practice, like putting glasses on, we see enlightenment. This is the wrong understanding. The glasses themselves are enlightenment, and to put them on is also enlightenment. So whatever you do, or even though you do not do anything, enlightenment is there, always. This is Bodhidharma’s understanding of enlightenment.
…emptiness means everything is always here.
It is impossible to divide one whole existence into parts.
When our thinking is soft, it is called imperturbable thinking. This kind of thinking is always stable. It is called mindfulness.
It is not necessary to make an effort to think in a particular way. Your thinking should not be one-sided. We just think with our whole mind, and see things as they are without any effort. Just to see, and to be ready to see things with our whole mind, is zazen practice. If we are prepared for thinking, there is no need to make an effort to think. This is called mindfulness. Mindfulness is, at the same time, wisdom. By wisdom we do not mean some particular faculty or philosophy. It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom. So wisdom could be various philosophies and teachings, and various kinds of research and studies. But we should not become attached to some particular wisdom, such as that which was taught by Buddha. Wisdom is not something to learn. Wisdom is something which will come out of your mindfulness.
BELIEVING IN NOTHING
“In our everyday life our thinking is ninety-nine percent self-centered. ‘Why do I have suffering? Why do I have trouble?’”
I discover that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color—something which exists before all forms and colors appear.
If you understand yourself as a temporal embodiment of the truth, you will have no difficulty whatsoever. You will appreciate your surroundings, and you will appreciate yourself as a wonderful part of Buddha’s great activity, even in the midst of difficulties.
But if enlightenment comes first, before thinking, before practice, your thinking and your practice will not be self-centered. By enlightenment I mean believing in nothing, believing in something which has no form or no color, which is ready to take form or color. This enlightenment is the immutable truth. It is on this original truth that our activity, our thinking, and our practice should be based.
ATTACHMENT, NONATTACHMENT
“That we are attached to some beauty is also Buddy’s activity.”
In activity there should be calmness, and in calmness there should be activity. Calmness and activity are not different.
Dogen-zenji said, “Although everything has Buddha nature, we love flowers, and we do not care for weeds.” This is true of human nature. But that we are attached to some beauty is itself Buddha’s activity. That we do not care for weeds is also Buddha’s activity. We should know that. If you know that, it is all right to attach to something. So in love there should be hate, or non attachment. And in hate there should be one, or acceptance. Love and hate are one thing. We should not attach to love alone. We should accept hate. We should accept weeds, despite how we feel about them. If you do not care for them, do not love them; if you love them, then love them.
Dogen said, “A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.”
In the thinking realm there is a difference between oneness and variety; but in actual experience, variety and unity are the same. Because you create some idea of unity or variety, you are caught by the idea.
CALMNESS
“For Zen students a weed is a treasure.”
Japanese saying, “For the moon there is a cloud. For the flower there is the wind.”
Usually we find it very difficult to live in the evanescence of life, but it is only within the evanescence of life that we can find the joy of eternal life.
EXPERIENCE, NOT PHILOSOPHY
“There is something blasphemous in talking about how Buddhism is perfect as a philosophy or teaching without knowing what it actually is.”
Zazen practice is the practice in which we resume our pure way of life, beyond any gaining idea, and beyond fame and profit…There is no need to intellectualize about what our pure original nature is, because it is beyond our intellectual understanding. And there is no need to appreciate it, because it is beyond our appreciation.
…purest intention, to remain as quiet as our original nature…
…maybe Zen Buddhism is religion before religion.
ORIGINAL BUDDHISM
“Actually, we are not the Soto school at all. We are just Buddhists. We are not even Zen Buddhists. If we understand this point, we are truly Buddhists.”
…zazen started even before Buddha, and will continue forever.
Zazen practice is the practice which includes the various activities of life.
To do something, to live in each monent, means to be the temporal activity of Buddha. To sit in this way is to be Buddha himself, to be as the historical Buddha was.
Each one of us has his own name, but those names are the many names of one Buddha. Each one of us has many activities, but those activities are all Buddha’s activities.
Zazen is all the postures, and each posture is Buddha’s posture.
There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment, and in every existence. That is the true teaching.
BEYOND CONSCIOUSNESS
“To realize pure mind in your delusion is practice. If you try to expel the delusion it will only persist the more. Just say, ‘Oh, this is just delusion,’ and do not be bothered by it.”
Believing firmly in the perfect rest of our mind, we should resume our pure original state.
BUDDHA’S ENLIGHTENMENT
“If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.”
EPILOGUE
Although you do not know your own mind, it is there—at the very moment you see something, it is there. Your mind is always with the things you observe. So you see, this mind is at the same time everything.
Reality cannot be caught by thinking or feeling mind. Moment after moment to watch your breathing, to watch your posture, is true nature. There is no secret beyond this point.
Enlightenment experience is to figure out, to understand, to realize this mind which is always with us and which we cannot see. Do you understand? If you try to attain enlightenment as if you see a bright star in the sky, it will be beautiful and you may think, “Ah, this is enlightenment,” but that is not enlightenment. That understanding is literally heresy.
Zen does no depend on a particular teaching nor does it substitute teaching for practice. We practice zazen to express our true nature, not to attain enlightenment. Bodhidharma’s Buddhism is to be practice, to be enlightenment. At first this may be a kind of belief, but later it is something the student feels or already has.
If we practice hard, concentrate on zazen, and organize our life so that we can sit well, we will find out what we are doing. But you have to be careful in the rules and way you establish. If it is too strict you will fail, if it is too loose, the rules will not work. Our way should be strict enough to have authority, an authority everyone should obey. The rules should be possible to observe.
Whether it is difficult or easy to practice, difficult or easy to understand, you can only practice it. Priest or layman is not the point. To find yourself as someone who is doing something is the point—to resume your actual being through practice, to resume the you which is always with everything, with Buddha, which is fully supported by everything. Right now! You may say it is impossible. But it is possible! Even in one moment you can do it! It is possible this moment! It is this moment! That you can do it in this moment means you can always do it. So if you have this confidence, this is your enlightenment experience. If you have this strong confidence in your big mind, you are already a Buddhist in the true sense, even though you do not attain enlightenment.
