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Dharma Inquiry
One = Zero = Infinity
Shohaku Okumura gave this lecture on September 5, 1999, at the Minnesota Zen Meditation
Center in Minneapolis. This morning I will talk about a story written by Dogen.
It is very short, but given careful understanding, it has a very deep and interesting
meaning. The story is from the Tenzo Kyokun, Instructions for the Cook.
The tenzo is the cook in a Zen monastery. The story is about a real experience
Dogen had as a young monk while visiting China with his teacher, Myozen. Born
in the year 1200, Dogen was 23 years old at the time.
The Story of Tenzo Yong
“When this mountain monk [meaning Dogen himself] was at Tiantong Monastery [in China], the position
of tenzo was held by a person whose name was Yong of the same province as the mo nastery. Once after
the midday meal, I was passing through the east corridor on my way to the room [where my teacher, Myozen,
was being nursed,] when I saw the tenzo in front of the Buddha Hall drying mushrooms. He carried a bamboo
staff in his hand, but had no hat on his head. The sun was hot. The ground tiles [pavement of the courtyard]
were hot. Sweat streamed over him as he worked diligently to dry the mushrooms. [Working on such a hot
day, he was suffering to some degree.] With his backbone bent like a bow and his shaggy eyebrows, he
resembled a crane [a bird].
I approached and asked the Tenzo his dharma age. The Tenzo said, “68 years.” [This
is the number of years after his ordination as a priest. Traditionally, people were
ordained once they reached 18 or 20 years old, so the tenzo must have been in his
eighties.]
I asked, “Why do you not employ laborers?” [Since the Tenzo is one of
six major officers of the monastery, he must have had a group of people working under
him to whom he could to delegate tasks.]
The Tenzo said, “Others are not me,” [meaning “I have to do it
by myself; I cannot ask others to do this work.”]
I then said, “Venerable sir, your attitude is indeed proper, but the sun is
so hot, why are you doing this work now?” [instead of after the day cooled
down].
The Tenzo replied, “What time shall I wait for?” [This means, “I
should do this right now, right here. I cannot wait for sometime in the future.”]
I took my leave of him and immediately stopped questioning. As I walked along the
corridor, I began to realize how important an opportunity his position affords. (translation
by Griffith Foulk)
Functioning Essence and Essential Functioning
In the last line of the story, the words “how important an opportunity” are
translated from the phrase kiyo. This phrase is important in Dogen's teaching. Ki means
function. Yo means essence. Kiyo means “functioning essence.” Dogen
realized that the work of the Tenzo is “functioning essence.” Essence
of what? The dharma.
The 12th CenturyChinese Soto Zen master Wanshi Shogaku originally wrote the verse Zazenshin about
the meaning of zazen. (Shin means acupuncture needle here.) At the beginning
of Wanshi's poem, zazen is called the kiyo (functioning essence) of Buddhas
and the yoki (essential function) of Ancestors. In his Shobogenzo Zazenshin,
Dogen praised Wanshi's poem and he also composed a poem of the same title. In their
poems entitled Zazenshin, Wanshi and Dogen reversed the order of the same
characters --- yoki (essential functioning) and kiyo (functioning essence).
Using the word play, Wanshi and Dogen expressed that zazen is the essence and also
function or work of Dharma. By using the two phrases together, Wanshi and Dogen meant
that zazen was not a kind of essence that never moved or changed. Zazen as the essential
functioning is always moving, changing, and working.
The important point here in the Tenzokyokun is that the same expression (kiyo)
was used to speak about the Tenzo's work. Although little knowledge, technique, or
education is required to dry mushrooms, it can be difficult and hard work, especially
on hot summer days. At the hottest time of the day, this old tenzo stood in the sun
drying mushrooms, even though he could have assigned the task to someone else and
avoided it himself. He explained, though, that because others are not he, he should
do the work himself and he should do it at this moment right now. Had he waited until
a cooler part of the day the mushrooms would not have dried. Even though it is very
difficult, he was the person and this was the time to carry out this task.
This seems like a simple story; nothing difficult to understand. In a practical sense,
Dogen learned that when you are in charge of something you should do it yourself,
carry out your own responsibility at the time that favors successful completion.
You shouldn't waste your time. Consider whether it is hot or cold or raining ---
you should do things at the best time. Timing is a practical teaching from this story.
Taking a Closer Look
When I was 17 years old, I read my teacher's book and somehow I knew I wanted to
become his disciple. I didn't know why. When I was 19 years old, I sat my first
5-day sesshin at Antaiji with my teacher. The sesshins at Antaiji were kind of
unique. We just sat: 50-minute periods with 10 minutes of kinhin (walking meditation)
--- fourteen periods of zazen per day with just a short break after each meal.
We sat in this way for 5 days. There was no lecture, no chanting, no work period;
completely no speaking. This sesshin, my first, was in January 1969. Cold air
seeped into the zendo where the walls and pillars had separated. The temperature
inside was nearly the same as outside. Fifty or sixty people sat in the small
zendo. I didn't know much about Zen or Dogen's teaching at that point. My feet,
knees and back were in pain much of the time and it was very cold. It was a very
difficult experience for me. Somehow, though, I felt that this was where I should
be. Nothing interesting happened during the sesshin except for eating meals.
When we ate, we had to sit in seiza position, which is much more painful than
the lotus posture used in zazen. Without understanding the meaning of sesshin
and sitting zazen, I felt this was where I belonged - -- not the cold zendo,
but rather at the place on the cushion doing zazen. Since then I have been practicing
zazen more than 30 years. This is where I return, despite the pain, cold and
boredom.
In the beginning, because I wanted to be my teacher's student, somehow I sat the
5-day sesshin without understanding anything about sitting. I experienced a feeling
that this was where I belonged and where I was sustained. Always returning to the
cushion became a way of life for me then and there. Afterwards, I tried to understand
what all of it meant. I studied Buddhism and Zen at Komazawa University, which is
affiliated with Soto Zen. One of my professors advised us not to read Dogen because
his writing is difficult to understand. He advised, instead, to first study languages
in order to become a scholar. Despite his advice, I felt compelled to read Dogen
to understand the meaning of zazen. I was not a good student for ignoring his counsel.
Among the first texts I read were Tenzokyokun, Genjo Koan (Manifestation
of Reality), Bendowa (Wholehearted Practice of the Way) and Zuimonki,
a collection of Dogen's informal talks. These are relatively easy to understand.
When I first read this story of the monk Yong, I felt that what Dogen wanted to say
was not difficult to understand. After all, the story is short, simple and understandable.
Essentially, I understood it to say that you should carry out your responsibility
by yourself at the most appropriate time. But each time I read the story, the meaning
changed. My initial understanding took in only the practical teaching of the story
without its depth.
The older tenzo said, “Others are not me.” Well, this certainly is true,
but there is more to it in the context of Buddhist teachings. While in Bloomington,
Indiana, last month, four of us (John McRae, Jisho Warner, Taigen Dan Leighton and
myself) held a translation workshop on a collection of essays published in 1978 on
the Tenzokyokun by Japanese modern scholars and Zen masters, including my
teacher, Uchiyama Roshi and Katagiri Roshi. In the midst of the 3-week workshop,
I had the opportunity to speak about this story at a sesshin. At that time I felt
that my talk did not reach the profundity we should penetrate, so today I have another
chance.
Three Aspects of Self
One of the most important teachings of Buddha is the reality of impermanence and
no-self (egolessness, nonsubstantiality). If there is no self, not just me, but
others also are empty in our self-nature. During the translation workshop, we
talked about a title for the book we were working on. We considered using an
expression from the Tenzokyokun. I suggested “Others are not me.” The
rest of the group didn't like it. Somehow the phrase “others are not me” doesn't
sound like Buddhism. For some, the phrase might sound like it negates the teaching
of Buddhism or Zen that contradicts the common idea of individualism in modern
society. Buddhist teaching is that there is no separation between self and others.
Each individual and others should be one.
We can talk about three possible ideas about the self. There is no self, self which
is not others, and self which has no separation with others. These are the three
aspects of only one reality of the self. When we think of each of these statements
one by one, all three seem really true. Logically speaking, the three together are
contradictory.
The first aspect: “No self” means there is no such thing as self. As
a Buddhist philosophical term, the phrase “no-self” is taken from the
Sanskrit term or concept of anatman, which means no-atman. Atman is
an important concept in Indian philosophy meaning something which is only one, which
is permanent and does not change and which owns our body and mind. Both body and
mind are always changing, like the five skandhas. Even though body and mind are always
changing, we feel there is something that doesn't change, which is only one, which
is the owner of this body and mind and which is driving or operating this body and
mind. That is the definition of atman.
Buddha taught instead that there is no such thing. Atman is often translated into
English as soul or spirit that does not change even when the body and mind change
and which does not perish even when body and mind perish at death. The common idea
of atman and this body is that atman is pure, but that while we are alive our atman
is imprisoned in our body. Some Hindu practitioners tried to weaken their bodily
power to restore the purity of atman. This was the basic idea of the Indian acetic
once practiced by Shakyamuni Buddha. According to Shakyamuni Buddha, the reality
is only body and mind, the ever changing function or movement of body and mind. The
function and movement of body and mind means the five skandhas. In the Heart Sutra
it is said, “Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva when practicing deeply the prajna
paramita, clearly sees the emptiness of the five skandhas.” The first of the
five skandhas, rupa, is the material element which has color and shape. In the case
of human beings this is body. The other four skandhas (feeling, perception, impulse
and consciousness) are functions of mind. The phrase, “empty of the skandhas,” means
empty of body and mind. In other words, there is no such thing called atman that
is the owner of body and mind or that controls this body and mind. The reality is
only the function of this body and mind, which is always changing and without any
substance. This is a logical and philosophical explanation of no-self.
The second aspect: “Others are not me” means that this “self” is
one that is separate from others: I am I and you are you. I am Shohaku and I was
born 50 years ago. I grew up in Japan and I have my own karma as a “Japanese”
“Buddhist”
“priest.” Everyone of us has our own unique karma as our own body and mind. Each one of us
is different and separate from others. I cannot drink water for you. I cannot sit for you and you cannot
talk for me. So I am I and you are you. Others are not me; that is true. And this self that is one arouses
bodhi mind, takes vows, practices and makes mistakes. This is the actual living-self as a part of the
society. The self is one out of many people. Though noself, and universal-self are true self, we actually
have to live as this one-self which has different karma, different ideas, and different ways of viewing
things from others. Because it often has conflicts with others and makes mistakes, this self needs to
practice repentance.
The third aspect: In the chapter of Shobogenzo entitled Yuibutsu-yobutsu
(Only Buddha Together with Buddha), Dogen said that the self that Buddhas and
Ancestors are talking about is the self which is with all beings (jin-issaijiko).
Buddhas, Ancestors and all of us practice together with the entire great earth. We
are really one with whole world or, to put it another way, we are just a part of
the whole universe. There is no separation between self and others. This self is
one with all beings. Uchiyama Roshi called this interpenetrating, universal self.
Chinese Zen masters used expressions such as “the ten direction world is the
true human body” or “the ten direction world is one bright pearl” or “one
mind is all myriad dharma, all myriad dharmas are one mind.”
Consider the three aspects of the self using me as an example. Buddha taught there's
no self. I think that is true. There is no such thing called Shohaku Okumura beside
this body, mind and karma. We cannot grasp this as Shohaku. My body is not Shohaku.
If my body is Shohaku, when I die and that body is there, is that Shohaku or not?
I don't know. If I don't breathe and I don't think, this is just a thing that used
to be Shohaku. Also, my mind is always changing. The way I thought when I was 3 years
old; the way I thought when I was in my twenties; and the way I think when I'm 50
are different. Mind is always changing. What you feel or think of as something called
Shohaku besides this body, mind, and the karma (action and its influence) is atman
that is negated by the Buddha. There is no fixed self beside the five skandhas.
In the second aspect of the self, this body, mind and karma is something unique to
me. No two individuals are exactly the same. I am here and now I am talking. I believe
I am talking about Dharma. I am trying to make the most sense to American people
using my poor English. I am trying to do my best, whether it is successful or not.
This is my responsibility. Since my karma is that of a Japanese person -- - born
in Japan, grown up in Japan, educated in Japan --- my way of thinking is Japanese
and I think using Japanese language, but I have to talk in English. This is my karma
and no one else can do this for me. I have to do this by myself. I have to carry
out my responsibility by myself using my own particular body, mind and karma.
I am also one with all beings in the third aspect of the self. I think what I am
talking about is Buddha's teaching or Bodhidharma's teaching, the person who transmitted
Zen from India to China. I think I am talking about Dogen's teaching after he brought
Zen from China to Japan. My understanding of their teachings is based on my teacher's
direct teaching and practice. Yet, what I am talking about or practicing is not Buddha's
or Bodhidharma's or Dogen's or my teacher's teaching and practice. Shakyamuni Buddha's
time is over; it is already in the past. Bodhidharma's time is over; it is in the
past. Dogen is not here anymore and my teacher died last year. They are already gone.
I have to do this by myself. My teacher cannot speak for me or sit for me. Buddha
cannot sit for me. Even though I am studying Buddha's teaching and practicing in
the way I was taught by my teacher, I still have to practice by myself and speak
through my own limited capability. I am really just one person who can speak and
sit for this person named Shohaku. So, I am one.
Yet what I am doing here is not a result of my own personal effort. Without Buddha's
or Dogen's or my teacher's teachings, I couldn't speak in this way. Without a practice
with American people and studying the American language, I couldn't speak in this
way. Without Buddha, without Bodhidharma, without Dogen, without my teacher, and
without all my friends, teachers and other people, I cannot sit here and speak of
Dharma in English. My action is really together with all beings. In that sense, Buddha
is speaking, and Bodhidharma is speaking right now or my teacher is speaking through
my body, mind and thought. My teacher is sitting through Shohaku's body and mind.
In that sense, there is no such thing called Shohaku, but Shohaku is really connected
with all beings. This network of all beings is only one reality of Shohaku. In other
words, my personal effort or willpower and determination are really just a tiny part
of this whole movement.
One = Zero = Infinity
The teaching through this very short story of Dogen's concrete experience is, for
me, “zero = one = infinity.” This is a strange thought, but I think
this equation --- zero = one = infinity --- expresses reality. Each of us will
uniquely manifest this simple reality that can be expressed as zero or one or
infinity. In other words, we are not others. I am not you and you are not me,
but this me includes all beings and is connected with all beings. Stated differently,
others are not me and others are me simultaneously. I am not others, but without
others there is no me.
Buddhism or Zen tends to place an emphasis on waking to the reality before separation
of self and others. While this is true, we should express or actualize the self,
which is before separation of self and others, through this actual person as one
unique self. Others cannot do this for us. The practice is very individual. Oneness
is not complete reality. Between one and infinity there are finite numbers. There
are many things and each of these many things has their particular way of being.
One cannot be exchanged for others. I have to practice; I have to live out my life.
The important point is that we have to live out the reality before separation of
self and others through the self. Although this is a strange expression, it is what
this story teaches. Others are not me, so I have to practice, but this practice should
be connected with all beings.
Old Chinese Tenzo Yong said, essentially, “Others are not me and other times
are not right now.” He was drying mushrooms, but the act was not for himself.
He was a tenzo or cook, so he dried the mushrooms and used them to serve others.
Through his practice of drying mushrooms and cooking the mushrooms into a meal, then
offering it to the monks, he expressed his reality of his life, which is before separation
of self and others. In order to express the reality beyond separation of self and
others, we have to practice individually. I have 100% responsibility to express the
reality of no self and universal self. This talk is my attempt, for the moment, to
explain the relationship of those three aspects of our life: No-self, one-self and
universal-self.
In my understanding, this sitting practice of facing the wall and letting go of whatever
comes up inside my mind, dropping off these thoughts that are a result of my karma
is to express the reality of living out the reality before separation of self and
others through the self. Karma means action. All of my experiences are accumulated
within myself. In Buddhism, this has been referred to as alaya consciousness. Alaya
means storehouse. Experiences are stored within alaya consciousness as seeds. When
we encounter a situation or object, certain seeds sprout and cause a person to take
a particular action. The action depends on the object or situation and the condition
of the self. When we are sitting facing the wall there is no object. Even though
our mind is still functioning and moving, and many thoughts, emotions and daydreaming
arise, because the white wall is absent of any object, we can see those thoughts
are merely an illusion or kind of idling of our mind. We don't need to take action,
rather we cannot take action. We can only sit facing the wall and let go. In this
way, we can be free from our individuality that is karma. Our thought is the result
of our individual experiences, so by letting go, we really put our whole body and
mind in the reality before separation of self and others. Only oneself can do this.
Universal reality is actualized in this way through sitting and facing the wall.
This is a very simple practice; one that is very deep with no end. When we stand
up and leave the zendo, we encounter objects and situations. We think external objects
or other people cause our feelings and thoughts. In the zendo, facing the wall, in
the absence of an object, the feelings and thoughts --- maybe anger or greediness
--- still arise. This experience suggests the possibility that anger or greediness
can spring from our consciousness. Rather than a daily situation or another person,
these feelings might arise from something inside you. Another person might have contributed
to your feelings, but this is not likely to be the entire cause. We even begin to
understand that to change others is more difficult than changing oneself. Each of
us can begin to work with our self and begin to change because there is no self.
No fixed self means everything is changing. We don't grasp our self, instead we understand
that our self can change. Of course, we need to work; devote energy and effort.
Koan Study
This is how I understand this story. While it is short and simple, many interesting
and important messages are contained within it. It is considered a koan. When
studying or reading koans, one should be very careful to put oneself into the
story. We can experience or see this story as if you are the Tenzo Yong or Dogen,
the young monk who came from Japan to search for the truth or Dharma while his
teacher was dying before his very eyes. We can feel the heat of that situation.
Alternatively, we can experience this story from the viewpoint held by the Buddha
enshrined in the Buddha Hall. Going about studying the koan in this way, we can
see the different aspects or meaning of the very short conversation between the
Tenzo and Dogen.
Dogen gave two short questions and the Tenzo gave two very short replies. There is
nothing difficult to understand. Even so, if each of us puts ourselves in the different
roles represented in the story, the story is revealed in different ways from different
vantage points --- Dogen's, the tenzo's, and the Buddha's points of view. We can
see the whole situation in different ways. It would be as if you were the sun or
a bird or a rock seeing the story from a totally different perspective than originally.
I think this is the way we study the Dharma through koans or other written text.
We don't use a koan in our zazen or as a tool to attain enlightenment. As Dogen did,
we study koans in the same way we would study the Dharma by reading sutras and other
books or as we would study from our own experiences. Becoming accustomed to “thinking” (not
theoretical thinking, but something more like a feeling or ordinary experience),
then we can find very different aspects of our own life. When I see this story from
the part of the Tenzo, I wonder if I would have been able to say, “Others are
not me.” If I had found myself under those conditions with someone to ask to
do the work, I might assign the work and then go take a nap. We can discover a lot
about ourselves from this kind of simple story.
Question and Answer
Question: If there is no self driving this body and mind, then what does it mean
to say I take refuge in the Buddha?
Answer: Buddha is the one which awakened to that reality, who taught us and expressed
and lived out that reality to teach us how to express, live out or awaken to that
reality. He taught us how to live based on that reality. Especially in Mahayana Buddhism,
Buddha is not a person who lived in India, but is the reality of impermanence and
egolessness, the dharma itself is Buddha as Buddha's Dharma-kaya (dharma body). So
we take refuge in that reality beyond self and others. We are living together with
all beings. That reality is called dharma or truth. Truth was expressed or taught
by Buddha as his teaching, so his teaching was also called Dharma. Dharma, his teaching,
is an expression of that reality. We take refuge in Buddha and Dharma and Sangha.
Sangha is group of people who practice and study Buddha's teaching. Sangha is also
the network of all beings. That is also the reality of all beings, that is also dharma.
We take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, but ultimately speaking, they are one
thing, not three separate things. And we are the part of the reality before separation.
Three treasures take refuge in the three treasures.
From the Editor
Material for the newsletter is always needed. You may contact the editor about sending
drawings, poems, photos, letters, articles, etc. (Cindy Hilmoe, 3133 38th Ave.
S, Minneapolis, MN 55406, (612) 729-7064) Dharma talks shared in this newsletter
are often selected from lectures given during events listed in the Practice Calendar.
Edited or unedited transcripts of taped lectures may be submitted. Alternatively,
copies of the tapes can be submitted to the newsletter editor for transcribing.
Transcripts provided for the newsletter may be original publications or can be
reprints from local sangha newsletters. Deadlines for submission of material
are usually late winter and late summer.
What (and Who) is Sanshin Zen Community?
Sanshin Zen Community was founded by Rev. Shohaku Okumura in 1996 to continue the
work of translating and studying the writings of Dogen Zenji and to cultivate
shikantaza practice as taught by Eihei Dogen Zenji and as practiced in the style
of Rev. Okumura's teacher, the late Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. Rev. Okumura named
the community Sanshin, the Japanese expression for three mental attitudes: joyful
mind, parental mind and magnanimous mind, which Dogen Zenji mentioned in the Tenzo
Kyokun (Instructions for the Tenzo). These three concrete attitudes are most
essential for community practice with the Bodhisattva spirit.
Sanshin Zen Community is a network of people whose aspirations involve joyful mind,
parental mind and magnanimous mind. The practice benefits from participants representing
a wide range of geographic locations, diverse Zen lineages and varied backgrounds.
All people, even those who are not Buddhist, can participate. This network of individual
seekers and practitioners, local sanghas, academicians, and those who consider themselves
to be students and Dharma friends of Rev. Okumura express the community's identity.
Currently the practice of Sanshin Zen Community revolves around activities announced
in this newsletter. People practicing in different places and with different sanghas
share the spirit of Sanshin when they participate in the sesshins offered in various
areas of the country and work on translation projects with Rev. Okumura. The future
vision is to establish a residential practice center where people can go to practice
for certain periods, then return to their daily work and daily practice. Those wanting
to stay longer will also have the opportunity.
Rev. Okumura's vision for Sanshin Zen Community can be understood in terms of the
analogy of Indra's Net. Indra's Net is symbolic of interdependent origination. Each
thing is independent from other beings, but actually everything is connected with
a transparent thread. We don't see the thread, we only see the knot, so we think
our nets are independent of each other. And yet, when we see with wisdom, we can
see that everything is really connected with a transparent thread. This whole universe
is one net and so if we pick one knot, we pick everything. This is a way of explaining
the interpenetrated reality of our life. As one aspect of Sanshin Zen Community,
the practice center is one knot connected with all the other Zen Centers, the sanghas,
the groups, and also individuals.
Rev. Okumura is the Head Teacher for Sanshin Zen Community. Currently, he lives in
San Francisco and works as the Director of the Soto Zen Education Center. Please
check future issues of this newsletter for more information about related topics,
including the "practice style" of Uchiyama Roshi. A detailed discussion
of the concept of sanshin can be found in the Spring 1998 issue of The Bridgeless
Bridge.
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