StrangeMed

“There is an extremely easy way to become Buddha. Refraining from all evil, not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and having pity for those below you, without any detesting or desiring, worrying or lamentation—this is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it. “

“We may believe them to be the most important elements of this life, but in reality we are all just a tiny part of the universe. Each of us is a combination of causes and conditions, a product of the evolution of life and the earth. I, for example, am made up of things that are not 'me'. The food I eat, the air I breathe and the water I drink are not 'me', yet I cannot live without all these things. In fact, all the things that keep us alive, and even life itself, are gifts we receive from the universe. If we reflect on human life, it is easy to realise that even the basic elements of our existence are given to us. For example, at birth, human beings are not at all self-sufficient, and in order to survive, children must be cared for over a long period of time. Before the age of one, infants cannot even stand up and are totally helpless, and later, children, unable to earn a living, must be fed and cared for at least until adolescence. To become truly independent members of society, human beings must study for perhaps twenty years or more. Until we are able to think for ourselves, we are essentially supported and cared for by society. Even language, the essential tool of thought, is a gift from society, and the education that society gives us teaches us to think and behave well. Since I was born and raised in Japan, I think in Japanese and act mostly in accordance with Japanese values. The Japanese language and value system derive from the culture created by all the people who have lived in Japan throughout history, so my way of speaking, thinking, and behaving is the result of all their lives. Each of us is connected to all beings past, present and future in the entire universe. This is not some mysterious truth that can only be understood through special spiritual insight, trance or some other extraordinary mental state. It is a very simple, obvious reality that we can understand rationally, yet we lose sight of it because we cling to words and concepts, separating ourselves from it with discriminating thoughts.”

Joshu once asked Nansen “What is Tao?”

Nansen answered “Ordinary Mind is Tao.”

“Then should we seek it or not?” asked Joshu.

"If you try to move toward it, you move away from it” answered Nansen.

Joshu continued “ If we do not direct ourselves toward it, how can we know it is the Tao?”

Nansen replied. “The Tao does not belong to knowing or to not-knowing, Knowing is illusion, And not knowing is blankness. If you really aim to attain the Tao of no doubt, it is like the great void so vast and boundless. How then can there be right and wrong in the Tao?”

At these words Joshu was suddenly enlightened!

Short, alas, is this life; you die before a hundred years. Even if you live a little longer, you still die of old age.

People grieve over belongings, yet there is no such thing as permanent possessions. Separation is a fact of life; when you see this, you wouldn’t stay living at home.

Whatever a person thinks of as belonging to them, that too is given up when they die. Knowing this, an astute follower of mine would not be bent on ownership.

Just as, upon awakening, a person does not see what they encountered in a dream; so too you do not see your loved ones when they are dead and gone.

You used to see and hear those folk, and call them by their name. Yet the name is all that’s left to tell of a person when they’re gone.

Those who are greedy for belongings don’t give up sorrow, lamentation, and stinginess. That’s why the sages, seers of sanctuary, left possessions behind and wandered.

For a mendicant who lives withdrawn, frequenting a secluded seat, they say it’s fitting to not show themselves in a home.

The sage is independent everywhere, they don’t form likes or dislikes. Lamentation and stinginess slip off them like water from a leaf.

Like a droplet slips from a lotus-leaf, like water from a lotus flower; the sage doesn’t cling to that which is seen or heard or thought.

For the one who is cleansed does not conceive in terms of things seen, heard, or thought. They do not wish to be purified by another; they are neither passionate nor growing dispassioned.

Outside let go of all involvement, inside be immovable, when your mind is like a wall, then you are on the path. Letting go of the outside means, to not get involved in praise or blame, in win or loss. Don’t be involved in how the outside situation is. Inside joy, sorrow, thought of what I should be doing next don’t tie yourself down with your emotions. When your mind is quiet like a wall, then you are on the path to enlightenment. Building monasteries, supporting monks and nuns, translating sutras and making Buddhist statues counting all the things one has done we have to let go of this outside involvement. To think one’s name might remain after life if we think like this, we will never understand Zen or even live an honest life. That is why Bodhidharuma said: No virtue. When doing something for others, to right away forget about these deeds, that is important. To keep talking about it is like having taken a good step and one more step backwards into confusion and attachment. That is no true virtue. By letting go of these attachments, we can arrive at the other shore of the awakened mind.

“People who sit for zazen trying to become something, not letting go of the things they are holding on to but trying to obtain or attain a certain state of mind, move further and further away from what this clarifying of mind, this repentance, can do. When we try to find some sate of mind that we have experienced before, or we have an idea about what our state of mind should be and strive to attain that goal, our sitting becomes more and more cumbersome; when we cannot the state of mind we think we should be attaining, the weight of the ego becomes heavier and heavier. This process I am describing

of clarifying our behavior

is a way of emptying rather than of putting on. I try always to bring this into my teaching because people are often unaware of this way of practicing. I feel that much of the behavior that creates problems in the monastery comes from the lack of this type of practice, from people doing their practice without ever reviewing their behavior or looking carefully at how the behavior is reflecting their zazen. We have a great gift from society to be able to spend so much time doing zazen, but zazen also allows us the opportunity to look at our behavior and clearly see how we are manifesting our practice. If we do not use it for that, we are wasting an excellent chance and will be endlessly doing a form of dead-end, closed-circuit zazen that exists only as an idea of something we think we are tying to pursue.”

There are many ways of entering into enlightenment, but all of them may effectively be subsumed under two categories: the "entrance of principle" and the "entrance of practice".

The entrance of principle is to become enlightened to the Truth on the basis of the teaching. One must have a profound faith in the fact that one and the same True Nature is possessed of all sentient beings, both ordinary and enlightened, and that this True Nature is only covered up and made imperceptible by false sense impressions.

If one discards the false and takes refuge in the True, one resides frozen in "wall contemplation", in which self and other, ordinary person and sage, are one and the same; one resides fixedly without wavering, never again to be swayed by written teachings. To be thus mysteriously identified with the True Principle, to be without discrimination, serene and inactive: This is called the entrance of principle.

The entrance of practice refers to the "four practices" which encompass all other practices. They are the "practice of retribution of enmity," the "practice of acceptance of circumstances," the "practice of the absence of craving," and the "practice of accordance with the Dharma."

What is the practice of the retribution of enmity? When the practitioner of Buddhist spiritual training experiences suffering, he should think to himself:

"For innumerable eons I have wandered through the various states of existence, forsaking the fundamental for the derivative, generating a great deal of enmity and distaste and bringing an unlimited amount of injury and discord upon others. My present suffering constitutes the fruition of my past crimes and karma, rather than anything bequeathed to me from any heavenly or human being. I shall accept it patiently and contentedly, without complaint."

When you react to events in this fashion, you can be in accord with Principle, therefore this is called practice of the retribution of enmity.

The second is the practice of the acceptance of circumstances. Sentient beings have no unchanging self and are entirely subject to the impact of their circumstances. Whether one experiences suffering or pleasure, both are generated from one’s circumstances. If one experiences fame, fortune, and other forms of superior karmic retribution, this is the result of past causes.

Although one may experience good fortune now, when the circumstances responsible for its present manifestation are exhausted, it will disappear. How could one take joy in good fortune? Since success and failure depend on circumstances, the mind should remain unchanged. It should be unmoved even by the winds of good fortune, but mysteriously in accordance with the Tao. Therefore, this is called the practice of acceptance of circumstances.

The third is the practice of the absence of craving. The various kinds of covetousness and attachment that people experience in their never-ending ignorance are referred to as craving. The wise person is enlightened to the Truth, the essential principle which is contrary to human convention. He pacifies his mind in inactivity and accepts whatever happens to him. Understanding that all existence is nonsubstantial, he is without desire. The sutra says: "To have craving entails suffering; to be without craving means joy." Understand clearly that to be without craving is equivalent to the true practice of the Path.

The fourth is the practice of accordance with the Dharma. The absolute principle of essential purity is called Dharma. According to this principle, all characteristics are nonsubstantial and there is no defilement and no attachment, no "this" and "that." Since this Dharma is without parsimony, one should practice the perfection of dana (selfless giving), giving of one’s body, life, and possessions without any regret. In this way one benefits self as well as others ornamenting the path of enlightenment.

All sentient beings are essentially Buddhas. As with water and ice, there is no ice without water; apart from sentient beings, there are no Buddhas. Not knowing how close the truth is, we seek it far away

what a pity! We are like a one who in the midst of water cries out desperately in thirst. We are like the son of a rich man who wandered away among the poor. The reason we transmigrate through the Six Realms is because we are lost in the darkness of ignorance. Going further and further in the darkness, how can we ever be free from birth-and-death? As for the Mahayana practice of zazen, there are no words to praise it fully. The Six Paramitas, such as giving, maintaining the precepts, and various other good deeds like invoking the Buddha’s name, repentance, and spiritual training, all finally return to the practice of zazen. Even those who have sat zazen only once will see all karma erased. Nowhere will they find evil paths, and the Pure Land will not be far away. If we listen even once with open heart to this truth, then praise it and gladly embrace it, how much more so then, if on reflecting within ourselves we directly realize Self-nature is no-nature. We will have gone far beyond idle speculation. The gate of the oneness of cause and effect is thereby opened, and not-two, not-three, straight ahead runs the Way. Realizing the form of no-form as form, whether going or returning we cannot be any place else. Realizing the thought of no-thought as thought, whether singing or dancing, we are the voice of the Dharma. How vast and wide the unobstructed sky of Samadhi!

Then Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! To one who eats flesh, we should not give flesh. Why not? I see a great virtue arising out of abstention from eating flesh." The Buddha praised Kasyapa and said: "Well said, well said! You now come to know my mind well. A Bodhisattva who protects Dharma should be thus. O good man! From now on, I do not permit my sravaka disciples to eat meat. When receiving from a danapati a pristine dana [gift] of faith, think that one is eating the flesh of one's own son." Bodhisattva Kasyapa said further to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! Why is it that the Tathagata does not allow us to eat meat?" "O good man! “’One who eats meat kills the seed of great compassion."“’

Then Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! To one who eats flesh, we should not give flesh. Why not? I see a great virtue arising out of abstention from eating flesh." The Buddha praised Kasyapa and said: "Well said, well said! You now come to know my mind well. A Bodhisattva who protects Dharma should be thus. O good man! From now on, I do not permit my sravaka disciples to eat meat. When receiving from a danapati a pristine dana [gift] of faith, think that one is eating the flesh of one's own son." Bodhisattva Kasyapa said further to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! Why is it that the Tathagata does not allow us to eat meat?" "O good man! “’One who eats meat kills the seed of great compassion."“’

Kasyapa said again: "Why did you first allow the bhiksus to eat three kinds of pure meat?" "O Kasyapa! These three kinds of pure meat were so instituted following the need of the occasion." Bodhisattva Kasyapa said again to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! In what circumstances do you not allow the ten impurities or the nine kinds of what is pure?" The Buddha said to Kasyapa: "This also is permitted by gradual steps following the need of the occasion. This is what applies in the actual segregation from eating meat."

Question: If the mind ceases to be, what will become of its continuity? If there is continuity of mind, how can you explain its final cessation?

Answer: What we speak of as “cessation” is the cessation of the marks of [the deluded] mind only and not the cessation of its essence. It is like the case of the wind which, following the surface of the water, leaves the marks of its movement. If the water should cease to be, then the marks of the wind would be nullified and the wind would have no support [on which to display its movement]. But since the water does not cease to be, the marks of the wind may continue. Because only the wind ceases, the marks of its movement cease accordingly. This is not the cessation of water. So it is with ignorance; on the ground of the essence of Mind there is movement. If the essence of Mind were to cease, then people would be nullified and they would have no support. But since the essence does not cease to be, the mind may continue. Because only stupidity ceases to be, the marks of the [stupidity of the] mind cease accordingly. It is not that the wisdom (i.e., the essence) of Mind ceases.

In my case I follow both Zen and Pure Land, consequently I do both Nembutsu and Zazen. I attend a Soto Zen temple currently.