Kensh: Seeing Nature Lets get right down to it

Break through is a must if you want to verify the truth of this one great life and not just take others words for it, hiding behind the Buddhas robes, as it were. Or hiding inside your own robes. Hiding in the bells and smells of Zen orthodoxy. Or spending a dharma career trying to talk others into believing that non-enlightenment is really enlightenment. Exhausting!

Rather than just do a little bit of good for a short period of time, the aspiring bodhisattva vows to profoundly benefit living beings by helping them awaken. As I said above, for this, break through is a must. You cant help beings break through unless youve done it your-nonself. Then, in addition to the exquisite joy that comes from doing what can be done with this life, blabbing on about it might just flow from your heart.

A more typical message in contrast to saying break through is a must was exemplified in a dharma talk I recently heard from a teacher in one of the large St centers in America. The speaker said that because aspiring to awaken is a desire like any other desire, and that awakening doesnt come when we want it, and when some people awaken and others do not, it creates an unsettling power dynamic in the community, they do not emphasize break through at all in their community, and instead emphasize how were all already Buddhas.

First, if you cannot tell the difference between the desire for fame and gain and aspiring to awaken for the benefit of all living beings, Id suggest attending to these feelings with more subtle mindfulness, and see what you find.

Just because you can quote Sawaki Rshi doesnt make it true.

And, yes, there are issues that arise when we focus on kensh, but if Buddhism stops being about awakening, whats the point? We have psychotherapy, secular mindfulness, pharmacology, Netflix, and many other things to help people feel better, so if Zen practice is not about awakening, and instead is about becoming a ceremonial technician, for example, the end of Zen is near at hand. And appropriately so.

Dont throw awakening out with the bathwater!

In contrast, here is the attitude that Dhu recommends:

I vow that this mind of mine will be firm and will never retrogress. Relying on the protection of the buddhas, I will meet a good teacher, at a single word from them forget life-death, realize unexcelled perfect awakening, and perpetuate the wisdom-life of the buddhas, in order to repay my debt of enormous gratitude to the buddhas. (1)

So refreshing!

Dhu himself made this additional vow:

I would rather substitute this body of mine for that of all sentient beings and undergo sufferings in the hells than ever with my words compromise the buddhadharma [by bending to accommodate] customary etiquette and in the process blinding everyone [i.e., what I am about to say to you is not a case of bending to accommodate your feelings]. (2)

Well, Ive totally jumped the gun of this post, placing the cart in front of the horse. To paraphrase the translators bracketed clarification, what Ive said to you is not a case of bending to accommodate your feelings. But I grew up with in-depth training in Northern Minnesota nice, which means Ive just got to add, Sorry about that.

Before this kensh rant, I should have said that this is the ninth of ten posts in this series, so now, after the horse left the barn nearly six-hundred words ago, Ill share the usual series introduction and disclaimer:

In the recent translation ofThe Letters of Chan Master Dhu Pju,translators Jeffrey L. Broughton and Elise Yoko Watanabe offer nine themes, motifs, that emerge in the letters about how to do keyword practice ( hutu, Japanese,wat). Ive been sharing them on theVine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Trainingfor students working with keywords (e.g., mu), and Ill also be sharing them here for others who might be interested. Close study of an ancient text can help both students and teachers notice details of the method and refresh their practice spirit. If you are working with a keyword with another teacher, consult with them, of course, and rely on their guidance.

This breaking through or passing through leads to a state wherein you dont have to ask anything of anybodyyou know for yourself:

Letter #29.3: Also, if your mind is agitated, just lift to awareness the keyword of dog has no buddha-nature [i.e., wu/mu/no ]. The words of the buddhas, the words of the ancestors, the words of the old monks of all the regions have myriad differences; but, if you can break through this word mu , youll break through all of them at the very same time, without having to ask anyone anything. If you intently ask questions of other people about the words of the buddhas, about the words of the ancestors, and about the words of the old monks of all the regions, then in endless aeons youll never attain awakening! (3)

Some of the practitioners Ive met who have come to me reporting a previous kensh, actually have. And a fair number, the majority, have mistaken samadhi or boon experiences for kensh. Others seem to have had a glimpse of true nature, but its become a calcified part of their identity, and so putting it to use in ongoing practice verification to benefit others, takes some time and skillful practice.

But despite whatDhu seems to be saying from this extract about not needing to ask anyone anything, the full text and annotations makes it clear that he is addressing another issue instead of doing the practice of lifting the keyword, Secretariat Drafter L, to whom letter #29 is addressed, was inquiring about traveling around asking questions of various teachers, depleting his energy for the Way. In that context,Dhu encourages him to do diligent keyword practice and see for himself.

Just like old Dgen said, Why abandon your own sitting place, disrespectfully wandering through another countrys dust? If you make one mistaken step, you miss the crossing over that is in your face. (4)

Traveling around with straw sandals, or via Zoom, in order to collect an impressive bevy of stories, Teachers Ive Asked About the Dharma, is a waste of precious time. Focus! Only doing diligent practice will open up awakening, not the number of hours you log on Facebook or Twitter either! And with awakening, personally knowing the truth of the buddhadharma, rather than relying on the words of others, no matter how venerable they might be, such that you can truly be of service to the many beings wandering in life-death.

In other words, asking a well-trained and clear-eyed teacher about the dharma aint going to magically awaken you.

Usually.

Unless and until you do the work and suddenly are ready, like the persimmon that goes SPLAT! Working with a teacher, breaking through, verifying your kensh in face-to-face meetings, and benefiting others is the Way.

Secretariat Drafter L might be the type of guy (yes, theyre almost always guys), who after a dharma talk begin a question with, Well, Katagiri/Suzuki/Uchiyama/Maezumi (etc.) Rshi once said, Blah, blah, blah.

Where does this end?

(1)The Letters of Chan Master Dhu Pju,1.4: Shows the mental work necessary to extinguish habit-energy from past lives,trans. Jeffrey L. Broughton and Elise Yoko Watanabe. Modified.

(2) Op. cit., 7.1: Dahui certifies Lis awakening.

(3) Op. cit., Introduction: Recurring Motifs in Huatou Practice.

(4)Eihei Dgen, Fukanzazengi, (General Advice for the Zazen Ceremony),trans. Dosho Port.

Dsh Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teaches at theNebraska Zen Centerwith his wife, Tetsugan Zummach sh. Dsh also teaches with theVine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training,an internet-based Zen community. Dsh received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri Rshi and inka shmei from James Myun Ford Rshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. Dshs translation and commentary onThe Record of Empty Hallis due out in early 2021 (Shambhala). He is also the authorofKeep Me In Your Heart a While: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri.

Read more from the original source:
Break Through Is A Must: More On The Keyword Instruction Of Dhu - Patheos