Zen enlightenment is merely becoming what we already are from the begining

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Zen

 

When the Chinese mind came in contact with Indian thought in the form

of Buddhism, around the first century A.D., two parallel developments

took place. On the one hand, the translation of the Buddhist sutras

stimulated Chinese thinkers and led them to interpret the teachings

of the Indian Buddha in the light of their own philosophies. Thus

arose an immensely fruitful exchange of ideas which culminated in the

Hua-yen (Sanskrit: Avatamsaka) school of Buddhism in China and in the

Kegon school in Japan.

 

On the other hand, the pragmatic side of the Chinese mentality

responded to the impact of Indian Buddhism by concentrating on its

practical aspects and developing them into a special kind of

spiritual discipline which was given the name Ch'an, a word usually

translated as " meditation. " This Ch'an philosophy was eventually

adopted by Japan, around A.D. 1200, and has been cultivated there,

under the name of Zen, as a living tradition up to the present day.

 

Zen is thus a unique blend of the philosophies and idiosyncrasies of

three different cultures. It is a way of life which is typically

Japanese, and yet it reflects the mysticism of India, the Taoists'

love of naturalness and spontaneity and the thorough pragmatism of

the Confucian mind.

 

In spite of its rather special character, Zen is purely Buddhistic in

its essence because its aim is no other than that of the Buddha

himself: the attainment of enlightenment, an experience known in Zen

as satori. The enlightenment experience is the essence of all schools

of Eastern philosophy, but Zen is unique in that it concentrates

exclusively on this experience and is not interested in any further

interpretations. In the words of Suzuki, " Zen is discipline in

enlightenment. " From the standpoint of Zen, the awakening of the

Buddha and the Buddha's teaching that everybody has the potential of

attaining this awakening are the essence of Buddhism. The rest of the

doctrine, as expounded in the voluminous sutras, is seen as

supplementary.

 

The experience of Zen is thus the experience of satori, and since

this experience, ultimately, transcends all categories of thought,

Zen is not interested in any abstraction or conceptualization. It has

no special doctrine or philosophy, no formal creeds or dogmas, and it

asserts that this freedom from all fixed beliefs makes it truly

spiritual.

 

More than any other school of Eastern mysticism, Zen is convinced

that words can never express the ultimate truth. it must have

inherited this conviction from Taoism, which showed the same

uncompromising attitude. " If one asks about the Tao and another

answers him, " said Chuang Tzu, " neither of them knows it. " '

 

Yet the Zen experience can be passed on from teacher to pupil, and it

has, in fact, been transmitted for many centuries by special methods

proper to Zen. In a classic summary of four lines, Zen is described

as:

 

A special transmission outside the scriptures,

Not founded upon words and letters,

Pointing directly to the human mind,

Seeing into one's nature and attaining Buddhahood.

 

This technique of " direct pointing " constitutes the special flavor of

Zen. It is typical of the Japanese mind which is more intuitive than

intellectual and likes to give out facts as facts without much

comment. The Zen masters were not given to verbosity and despised all

theorizing and speculation. Thus they developed methods of pointing

directly to the truth, with sudden and spontaneous actions or words,

which expose the paradoxes of conceptual thinking and, like the koans

I have already mentioned, are meant to stop the thought process to

make the student ready for the mystical experience. This technique is

well illustrated by the following examples of short conversations

between master and disciple. In these conversations, which make up

most of the Zen literature, the masters talk as little as possible

and use their words to shift the disciples' attention from abstract

thoughts to the concrete reality.

 

A monk, asking for instruction, said to Bodhidharma: " I have no peace

of mind. Please pacify my mind. "

" Bring your mind here before me, " replied Bodhidharma, " and I will

pacify it! "

" But when I seek my own mind, " said the monk, " I cannot find it. "

" There! " snapped Bodhidharma, " I have pacified your mind! "

 

A monk told Joshu: " I have just entered the monastery. Please teach

me. "

Joshu asked: " Have you eaten your rice porridge? "

The monk replied: " I have eaten "

Joshu said " Then you had better wash your bowl "

 

These dialogues bring out another aspect which is characteristic of

Zen. Enlightenment in Zen does not mean withdrawal from the world but

means, on the contrary, active participation in everyday affairs.

This viewpoint appealed very much to the Chinese mentality which

attached great importance to a practical, productive life and to the

idea of family perpetuation, and could not accept the monastic

character of Indian Buddhism. The Chinese masters always stressed

that Ch'an, or Zen, is our daily experience, the 'everyday mind' as

Ma-tsu proclaimed. Their emphasis was on awakening in the midst of

everyday affairs and they made it clear that they saw everyday life

not only as the way to enlightnment but as enlightment itself.

In Zen, satori means the immediate experience of the Buddha nature of

all things first and foremost among these things are the objects,

affairs and people involved in everyday life, so that while it

emphasizes life's practicalities, Zen is nevertheless profoundly

mystical. Living entirely in the present and giving full attention to

everyday affairs, one who has attained satori, experiences the wonder

and mystery of life in every single act.

 

How wondrous this, how mysterious!

I carry fuel, I draw water.

 

The perfection of Zen is thus to live one's everyday life naturally

and spontaneously. When Po-chang was asked to difine Zen, he

said, " When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep. " Although this sounds

simple and obvious, like so much in Zen, it is in fact quite a

difficult task. To regain the naturalness of our original nature

requires long training and constitutes a great spritual achievement.

In the words of a famous Zen saying,

 

Before you study Zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers;

while you are studying Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and

rivers are no longer rivers; but once you have had enlightenment

mountains are once again mountains and rivers again rivers.

 

Zen's emphasis on naturalness and spontaneity certainly shows it

Taoist roots but the basis for this emphasis is strictly Buddhistic.

It is the belief in the perfection of our original nature, the

realization that the process of enlightenment consists merely in

becoming what we already are from the beginning. When the Zen master

Po-chang was asked about seeking for the Buddha nature, he

answered, " It's much like riding an ox in search of the ox. "

 

Zen