[1]
When I decided to start studying Zen seriously at Busshinji (仏心寺, the Sōtō Zen temple where I used to practice in Brazil), I asked the layman working as jikidō (直堂) on a particular Saturday evening sitting: "Hey, I want to study here. What do I need to do?" To which he replied me: "Just come and sit along with us!" Now, that answer did not satisfy me, and I went on with my inquiry: "But, what about the lectures? When do they happen?". He looked at me and laughed. "There is no such a thing!" he replied. "Just come and sit!" Well, I had had previous experiences in a Chinese Rinzai Zen monastery (Zulai temple), and we always had lectures! How come they didn't have any? I was sort of disappointed.
Saikawa roshi (Busshinji's abbott) does not usually give talks, except during the intensive practice periods (sesshin, 攝心). I remember one time he started lecturing and, at a certain point, he just stopped and said "Oh, I talk too much! Please, forgive me! I am not training you well." That reminded me of the episode I described previously and made me smile. At that very moment, I understood it.
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We are used to acquire knowledge from other people through lectures. It has been like this throughout our whole life, from elementary school to PhD studies; particularly when it comes to philosophy and religion. Buddhism is no exception. However, when it comes to Zen, things get a little bit different. Buddhism has a lot of concepts, terminologies, theories, and peculiar ways of expressing them. Among these, the following image is one of my favorites:
The bhavacakra: "wheel of becoming".
This is an image commonly found within the Tibetan traditions of Buddhism and also in some Indian temples. It is a very concise way to explain the whole of Buddha's teachings. However, while most people look at the center of the image, Zen points to the upper-left corner of it: the moon. The drawn moon means nothing more than the moon itself: it's reality - as it is - here and now. You may call it Nirvana, enlightenment, God, or whatever you will, if you like to use some fancy terminologies. All the representations within the wheel in the middle of the picture regard things and phenomena that happen within our blind and confused minds, that prevent us from experiencing things as they are (to see the moon); and then, there is Buddha (in upper-right corner) trying to somehow help us do it. All of his practical teachings point us to the importance of the present moment, and this is something that we have to experience by ourselves. Likewise, I can spend hours trying to tell you how my gramma's orange cake is delicious: how it is crunchy outside, but soft and wet inside; sweet, but with some sourness here and there (if you are lucky enough to eat some of the small caramelized orange peel pieces she puts in the dough). However, no matter how much I write about it, you will never be able to fully experience the cake until you eat it. Buddha points to the cake on the table. We just have to go and eat it!
In the Zendō[2], every step is a teaching. Why do we walk around with the hands in that strange position? Why do we sit cross-legged? Why do we bow to the cushion a zillion of times? Why do we turn around clockwise? What about the white line on the zafu? Why do we sit staring at a wall for hours? What about the garments we wear? And the chantings? Every step, every movement and every non-movement is the fundamental teaching. Every single thing. We can only realize that when we let go of all our expectations of what teaching should be like and just take it as it is.
Going beyond our ideas, beyond our concepts and beyond our minds. This is the key point: go beyond, and then, go further. And then, go even further. That's wisdom on it's purest form. That's "enlightenment". An old traditional Buddhist text on wisdom (prajña, sk.), the teachings on the essence of the great perfection of wisdom - more widely known as Heart Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya sūtra in Sanskrit, or Hannya Shingyo [般若心経] in Japanese) - advocates that wisdom (arising from realizing that all phenomena are just as they are) is the key point to enlightenment (actually, it is enlightment itselt). It ends with the phrases:
Going beyond our ideas, beyond our concepts and beyond our minds. This is the key point: go beyond, and then, go further. And then, go even further. That's wisdom on it's purest form. That's "enlightenment". An old traditional Buddhist text on wisdom (prajña, sk.), the teachings on the essence of the great perfection of wisdom - more widely known as Heart Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya sūtra in Sanskrit, or Hannya Shingyo [般若心経] in Japanese) - advocates that wisdom (arising from realizing that all phenomena are just as they are) is the key point to enlightenment (actually, it is enlightment itselt). It ends with the phrases:
गते गते पारगते पारसंगते बोधि स्वाहा
(gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā)
meaning: "go, go, go beyond; go thoroughly beyond. Perfect realization!" That is it, simple like that. One does not have to study and recite pages and pages of old texts to realize it. On this sutra, the late master Rujing[3] says:
regardless of the wind from the east, west, south, or north,
joining the whole universe in chiming our prajña.
Ting-ting, ting-ting, ting-ting."[4]
to which Master Dogen adds: "the entire body is prajña. The entire other is prajña. The entire self is prajña. The entire east, west, south and north is prajña."[4]
That is it. Take it and cross it.
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Notes and references:
[1] The first patriarch recognized in Zen school after Shakyamuni Buddha was his disciple Mahakashapa. According to tradition, Buddha transmitted him his Dharma when, after a talk, he raised a flower and an eyebrow. Seeing that, Mahakashapa smiled and got great enlightenment. Following that, Buddha said: "I have the treasure of the True Dharma Eye and the wondrous Mind of Nirvana. I transmit the to Mahakashapa." Ref.: Jokin Keizan, "The Record of Transmitting the Light" (Denkouroku, 伝光録). Chapter 2: "Mahakasyapa". Transl: F. D. Cook. Wisdom Publications: Los Angeles, 1996.
[2] A typical western zendō. People sitting and holding their hands in unusual position, and sometimes wearing fancy clothes too! But, really, every detail has a meaning.
[3] Master Rujing (Jp. Nyōjo, 1162-1228) was a Chinese monk from the Caodong school of Zen. Master Dōgen studied with him in China, and brought his teachings to Japan, founding the Sōtō school.
[4] In: Eihei Dogen, "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye" (Shoubougenzou, 正法眼蔵). Chapter 2: "Manifestation of Great Prajna" (摩訶般若波羅蜜). K. Tanahashi (Ed.) Shambhala: Los Angeles, 2010.
