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
Zen is not concerned about philosophical understanding
We emphasize practice
According to Bhodidarma's understanding
practice based on any gaining idea
is just a repetition of your karma
You may think that Buddha attained some stage
where he was free from karmic life
but it is not so
He was not at all different from us
He had a very scientific understanding that was his way of life
after he achieved enlightenment
Transiency
We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence
That everything changes is the basic truth of each existence
Because each existence is in constant change
there is no abiding self
The cause of suffering is our non-acceptance of this truth
The Quality of Being
For me the stars are not speedy beings
but calm, steady, and peaceful beings
We say,
"In calmness there should be activity
in activity there should be calmness"
Strictly speaking there is no connection between
I myself yesterday and
I myself in this moment
there is no connection whatsoever
Dogen-zenji became interested in Buddhism as a boy
as he watched the smoke from an incense stick
burning by his mother's dead body
and he felt the evanescence of our life
When he saw the smoke from thee incense stick
and felt the evanescence of life
he felt very lonely
But that lonely feeling became stronger and stronger
and flowered into enlightenment when he was 28 years old
And at the moment of enlightenment he exclaimed,
"There is no body and no mind!"
He said, "I have dropped off mind and body"
Naturalness
Naturalness is some feeling of being independent of everything
or some activity that is based on nothingness
For a plant or a stone to be natural is no problem
But for us there is a problem
indeed a big problem
To be natural is something we must work on
The true practice of zazen
is to sit as if drinking water when you are thirsty
There you have naturalness
Everyone comes out from nothingness
moment after moment
So we say Shin ku myo u
"From true emptiness the wondrous being appears
Emptiness
We say that a 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
True existence comes from emptiness
and goes back again into emptiness
we have to go through the gate of emptiness
Each one of us must make his own true way
and when we do that way will express the universal way
When you try to understand everything
you will not understand anything
the best way is to understand yourself
and then you will understand everything
As long are you are caught by duality
you cannot attain absolute freedom
and you cannot concentrate
Your effort should be directed at nothing
You should be concentrated on nothing
Readiness, Mindfulness
It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom
Our mind should be soft and open
enough to understand things as they are
Believing in Nothing
I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary
to believe in nothing
we have to believe in something which has no form and no color
something which exists before all forms and colors appear
I do not mean voidness
There is something but that something is something which is
always prepared for taking some particular form
and it has rules, or theory, or truth in its activity
This is called Buddha nature or Buddha himself
When this existence is personified we call it Buddha
When we understand it as the ultimate truth we call it Dharma
and when we accept the truth and act as part of the Buddha or according to the theory
we call ourselves Sangha
But even though there are three Buddha forms
it is one existence which has no form or color
and it is always ready to take form and color
This is not just theory
This is not just the teaching of Buddhism
This is the absolutely necessary understanding of our life
Attachment, Nonattachment
Dogen-zenji said
"Even though it is midnight, dawn is here
event though dawn comes, it is nighttime"
In activity there should be calmness
and in calmness there should be activity
calmness and activity are no different
Experience not Philosophy
To practice zazen with a group is the most important thing for Buddhism
and for us
because this practice is the original way of life
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
Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down
are the four activities or ways of behavior in Buddhism
Zazen is not one of the four ways of behavior
and according to Dogen-zenji
the Soto school is not one of the many schools of Buddhism
Zazen is a practice which contains innumerable activities
Zazen started even before Buddha
and will continue forever
Buddha's teaching is everywhere
Today it is raining
This is Buddha's teaching
Teaching is in each moment
in every existence
that is the true teaching
Beyond Consciousness
To realize pure mind in your delusion is practice
If you try to dispel the delusion it will only persist the more
Just say, "Oh, this is just delusion"
and do not be bothered by it
Buddhism emphasizes the world of unconsciousness
To sit in zazen is much better than
to read books or study the philosophy of Buddhism
Buddha's Enlightenment
If you take pride in your attainment
or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort
you practice will confine you by a thick wall
We do not talk so much
but through our activity we communicate with each other
intentionally or unintentionally
We should always be alert enough to communicate
with or without words
