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Online Newsletter of the Prairie Zen Center - 515 S. Prospect, Champaign, IL 61821 July 2004 |
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Online Newsletter of the Prairie Zen Center - 515 S. Prospect, Champaign, IL 61821 July 2004 |
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Zendo Schedule (Summer)
(cleaning/set up)
(sitting and walking meditiation)
Phone, Web & E-Mail
Web Site - http://www.prairiezen.org
Website Articles For your information, our website has Dharma talks and other material not included in newsletters. Please visit at your leisure. |
“Holding
to reason, feelings, habits of mind, of itself poisons life.” Exploring Dying,
Death and Funeral
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by Elihu
Genmyo Smith Our practice is being who we are. It is not something extra, not something added on. As Dogen Zenji says, “From the beginning, practice is in realization.” This is what we are, throughout sesshin: sitting, walking, eating. Being who we are; and yet, we find ways to go off, so to speak, to get caught up in what we think and believe. Attachment, being caught up, blinds us. Noticing being caught up is a wonderful practice opportunity, one of the supports for being as we are. This morning, I will discuss case 80 of the Blue Cliff Record (Biyen-lu in Chinese, Haikeigan-roku in Sino-Japanese). This is a collection of a hundred cases edited by Xuedou (Setcho) with comments and verses. Later, Yuanwu (Engo) added introductions, capping phrases and commentary. In the Ch’an and Zen tradition, these cases have been brought up because of the value for our practice-life in clarifying what is said, how it is expressed and handled. The 80th case is “Zhaozhou’s (Joshu, 778-897) newborn baby”. A monk asked Joshu, “Does a newborn infant have six consciousnesses?” Joshu said, “A ball tossed on rushing water.” The monk went on to ask Touzi (Toshi, 819-914), “What is the meaning of a ball tossed on rushing water?” Toshi said, “Moment to moment, non-stop flowing.”
The
verse: “Sixth consciousness inactive, he puts forth a question. Joshu’s exquisite verbal expressions led to his being described as having “golden lips, golden tongue.” “Sixth consciousnesses” comes from various forms of Buddhist teachings describing mind functioning. Often sixth consciousness is connected to conceptual thinking. The monk is speaking about practice, attainment, comparing it to a baby. This monk is good but slightly off. He equates practice with a mindlessness, as if the six senses are cut off, as way to understand a phrase like “no mind.” He is saying that practice has something to do with annihilating, getting rid of emotion-thought. He is not asking about some newborn baby somewhere else. Is he saying “this is how I am?” Maybe he has had certain insight in his practice and is asking “What do I do here? Or is he challenging, “How can you, Joshu, express this to me - show me this state? Hakuin Zenji (1686-1769) says of Joshu’s response: “He has lots of breasts producing sweet and sour at will… It is verbal samadhi.” Hakuin is praising Joshu’s immediate response, directly appropriate to the monk. The response shows and expresses for the monk what he is asking, - though the monk may be looking for a conceptual answer, with some idea about non-activity. “A ball tossed on rushing water.” Joshu’s response is just that – ball tossed on rushing water – demonstrating it very directly in functioning. This is the compassionate answer that Joshu gives, breast milk produced to nurture our life. Where is there room to attach and spin with “A ball tossed on rushing water?” Not a matter of traces from the past. Not a matter of planning for the future. Not a matter of trying to copy something else. The monk goes on to ask Toshi. “What’s the meaning of this ball tossed on rushing water?” Again, he wants to understand it. How do you see this? Is the monk testing and challenging Toshi, or is it more conceptual thinking about the phrase? Toshi’s answer fits exactly with Joshu: “Moment to moment, non-stop flowing”. Toshi comes right out and expresses this directly: “Moment to moment, non-stop flowing.” Do not be trapped by the words. He is cutting off all this monk is sticking to. Not only this monk – he is talking to us. Moment to moment, non-stop flowing, our life. This is what we are doing, sitting here, period ends – “Ching!” – we stand up, we walk. In the midst of this stream of flowing, where there is no trace, traces of all sorts arise. In the midst of all the streams of our life, seemingly bringing us here, seemingly carrying us from here, our practice is being exactly this, functioning now. Life activity in the midst of this traceless universe. Sitting here, we are in the midst traffic, bustle, light, cold. Responding in the midst of circumstances, freely functioning is exactly our life. Let us look at this verse: “Sixth consciousness inactive, he puts a forth a question.” In a way, the monk is trying to test Joshu, yet he is also showing his own state, where he is stuck, where the words of the Sutras and commentaries have become more ideas. His thoughts about how other people practice and understand this may be strongly held ideas. We all have heard and seen many things: in books, Dharma talks. They may be wonderful, but only if they support us in doing what we need to do. What do we need to do? To be exactly right here now. Always. Be exactly this life-functioning that we are. Don’t need anything else. Don’t need my words, don’t need this new phrase, don’t need to know any thing. You don’t need any of that. Do you believe it? You don’t need anything. The stream presents right here, this rushing water. Here. Ball bounces one way, bounces another way. That is our life. The stream, the ball, the water, all of it is nothing but our life. That is what they are talking about. “The adepts both discern where it [the question] is coming from. A ball tossed on boundless rushing water. It doesn’t stay where it lands. Who can watch?” As soon as we try to grab and figure out, that much we miss our life. Our life, our practice, is not to figure out. Not to figure out life, practice, much less to figure out and compare with someone else’s practice. That is why it can be so poisonous when someone explains to you, much less brags, about their practice and understanding. It does not serve you. “If you want to see it right now,” Tenkai Denson Zenji (1648-1735) says, “Focus your eyes quickly and look! Arising, passing. Starting, stopping. See it right now.” If you get any ideas about starting, stopping – who is starting, who is stopping? It doesn’t stay where it lands, right here, right now. Right here, right now is exactly our life. Not sixth consciousness, seventh consciousness, eighth consciousness. All these different ways of explaining are all just guides and supports to be exactly who you are. Being exactly who you are, it all takes care of itself very well. Then you get to taste it, to appreciate who you are. When you’re asked for sweet milk, you produce sweet milk. When you’re asked for sour milk, you produce sour milk. That’s what Hakuin is saying about Joshu. Lots of breasts producing sweet and sour at will, responding to circumstances. Responding is exactly our opportunity. And yet, we are caught up in ideas about how I am and how I am not, how I should be, how I should not be. That much we miss this ball bouncing on water, this life that we are. In a way, this is a very simple case, simple and straightforward, and not much needs to be said about it. And yet, in its simplicity, the point is very direct. Over and over, we jump into, are thrown into, find our self in the midst of this rushing water. The more we stick and hold to, try to go in a certain way, the more we are bumped by the water current. Not even moment by moment – moment, moment; non-stop flowing, be this that you are. This sesshin is the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful milk of our life. Thank you. © 2004 Elihu Genmyo Smith
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