At this time we need wisdom. Knowledge comes from thinking, not from intuition-they are not the same-but reason becomes wisdom.
COMPANIONS IN SATORI
It is written in Agama Sutra-it is very difficult to translate this primitive sutra, but anyway, here's what Buddha said after he had sat under the Bodhi tree (in this sutra the Bodhi tree is called the Nirodha tree, which is its true name): "Indeed, without a partner, without a companion to respect, to venerate, to continue living is very difficult. With which Brahman (Hindu monk), with which Shaman (Buddhist monk), should I be intimate and respectful?"
This was Shakyamuni Buddha's doubt.
After sitting under the Bodhi tree he received a big satori. From the outside. It arrived, this satori, while he was looking at the morning star. Mushotoku. Without his waiting for it, spontaneously. But later, had Shakyamuni kept it to himself, then it (i.e., his awakening) would have only been genjo. It would not have been sufficient, not satisfying. So he wished to communicate it, to share it, with a companion. He wanted to have a spiritual companion. To express himself, to express his satori. Doshu.
Complete solitude is difficult. Complete solitude becomes individualism. And Buddha had a need to help others, to share his satori, to certify it through expression, through doshu. This is very important in Mahayana Buddhism: not to be alone in solitude. "Gyatei, gyatei," says the sutra. Go, go, together to the other shore of satori.
Originality is always solitude.... Buddha had his true originality. In Shodoka it is written that we always go alone, that the steps we take are alone. But companions in satori play together.... Alone our lives are solitary. During zazen we are alone. But we are also with others in the dojo. And we do zazen together. Our inside mind becomes solitary: we become quiet. With two hundred others.
Companions in satori can play together. So, the holy solitude of originality (of genjo) must be accepted by other spiritual, sympathetic companions. One needs to express one's originality of genjo.... It is this doshu which promotes my mission, which educates and which edits books through intellectual reasoning. Inside genjo must be expressed outside.
So Buddha got up from beneath the Bodhi tree and soon (thereafter) he met five Brahmans, five friends who had followed him when he escaped from the palace...."
When the subjective genjo is expressed objectively, then at this time Buddha's satori is certified perfectly.
Chukai!
(B., the kyosakuman, intones the Hannya Shingyo:)
"Maka Hannya Hara..." Stop. Now again. "Maka Han..." Again, again! "Maka Ha..." Again. But from the belly, not from the nose. "Maka Hannya Haramita Shingyo-o-o-o... '
AUG. 16 / 7.30 A.M.
Listen to the voice of the valley.
(The door giving out over the river Isere, at the far end of the dojo, is open and one can hear the murmur of the current running over the stones in the riverbed, and the master says: "Listen to the voice of the valley, the voice of the river." Just after he says this, someone gets up and doses the door. "Ah? Stop! Now we can no longer hear the voice of the valley!")
The flowing stream never stops. The stream is never tired. Its water is always changing, always impermanent. The bubbles float on the stagnant pond, sometimes vanishing, sometimes arising, and never remaining in one place.'"
Our lives are like this. So are our minds, like the stream.
Open the door to the current. So we can hear the sound of the water. During zazen we can compare it with our minds. (The door is opened.)
In Buddhism Kannon is a very important Bodhisattva. Kannon is the Japanese for Avalokitesvara. Kan means observation, non means sound. He observes the sound.... of the drum of B. last night singing Hannya Haramita.
Do not make foolish sounds! (Sounds of many people blowing their noses.) There is no need to compete with one another in making these sounds. Make holy sounds. B.'s sutra voice is not so good, not so strong; but now he makes big noises.
The atmosphere of this dojo is not good. The shusso is responsible but he is no good. I just asked (i.e., signaled) the kyosakumen to stand up but they haven't stood up. The shusso must direct them.
People who have not received the permission to take photos in the dojo must not do so. (A new person has gotten up to take photos.) This is not a photo studio.
BUDDHA FINDS HIS COMPANIONS
and his realization becomes expression
In our lives it is very difficult to live alone. Not just because of material reasons, but for spiritual reasons too. Even for those who go into the mountains to live it is not easy. Because most of us need love, compassion, sympathy, comprehension from others. Without this most people's lives would be of no value. Philosophy, literature, art cannot be created by themselves alone. Even if genjo exists, one is not happy if others do not see it. If genjo is not certified it has no value. Of course there is Saint-solitude. It exists. Complete solitude, ecstatic solitude. But this too must be certified objectively before its value is perfectly realized.... Poems, literature, art, thought, religion too, must be created from genjo-then they can be communicated (shared) with others by doshu and so spread through society.
So, after his great satori under the Bodhi tree, under the Nirodha tree, Buddha went off to find his friends (the five Brahmans who had escaped with him from the palace), but they were not so impressed with Buddha. These Brahmans were completely ascetic monks..., and Buddha had drunk milk brought to him by Sudiata. And too, he had touched the skin of Sudiata, a farmer's daughter. (Sudiata had brought help to Buddha; every morning she came to see him-she did not come at night-and she helped him.) So, the five Brahmans refused to follow Buddha's teaching. Because he was not pure. He had given up the practice of asceticism. He had broken the Hindu precepts. Nonetheless, in the face of this, Buddha was peaceful. He had obtained a great satori. He did not certify himself, but the great satori had visited him, had penetrated him. In the end these five Brahmans became disciples of Buddha.
So Buddha gave conferences and spread the teaching and this became doshu. His great satori, his original solitude, his aesthetic solitude became genjo, became doshu. This is expressed in his conferences. We sing it every morning when we sing Bussho Kapila. (Chants:) Bussho Kapila, Jodo Makada, Seppo Harana, Nyumetsu Kuchira.... Buddha's life was very simple: He was born in Kapila, he got satori at Magada, he taught in Harana, and he died in Kuchira. This is all. C'est tout. His life was entirely dokan.
Dokan means: repetition, repetition in daily life. To repeat zazen, ceremony, samu, zazen, ceremony, samu. And so it becomes a habit. The body becomes spontaneous. And so you have wisdom. There is no need for the frontal brain.
Zazen is not a matter of steps. It is not a training in steps. Yoga people are always saying that zazen is of too high a dimension; and that steps are necessary at first. Mr. Blitz," who is involved in the education of forty people at Zinal this summer, said to me that yoga is a step towards zazen. Steps are necessary, he said. First step, second step.... I replied that zazen is a cablecar; it takes us rapidly and automatically to the top, it takes us seated to the top of the mountain.
It is not necessary for us to use our own proper will power. Use the cablecar, and with its power we are quickly on the mountain. Unconsciously, naturally, automatically. Zazen is not shuzen,1b zazen is not mortification, it is not a training in steps.
(Recites Fukanzazengi.) I always repeat this statement from Fukanzazengi during the final two sesshins: Zazen is not shuzen, it is the Dharma-gate to peacefulness, to true liberty. It attains to Bodhi (wisdom). Practiced and certified, it attains to Bodhisatori, to perfect wisdom.
Koans are eternal truths. Even eternal truth exists. Even God exists. If you do zazen then genjo is realized; the koans are realized; Buddha is realized. Our freedom then becomes exactly like the dragon who enters the water, or like the tiger who enters into the mountain. Such will be your freedom; it will be complete.
Those who wish to receive the kyosaku, please ask for it.
Today we rest
for the sesshin. Tonight it is not permitted that you go to the Santa Lucia. You must sleep. Those who are tired during sesshins, the cause is not from too much zazen, but from too much drinking. And too much dancing. Some of the permanents drink and dance until five in the morning. This is not possible. I must give you the rensaku. This is not the Club Mediterranee. Some here become strong through zazen, and then they lose their energy by going in many directions. Control is necessary.
Time is like an arrow, like the stream in the valley. It flows by quickly.
Chukai!
Kaijo! (Drum.)
Everyone here is completely tired! Drum! Drum!
AUG. 18 /7A.M.
The next two-and-a-half days is the sesshin. A true sesshin, not a preparation. This is the third sesshin, and after this one there is only one more left. The permanents and some others have been here since the beginning of July, along with myself. But most of you are only attending this third camp, and you will be leaving in three days.
Why have you come here, why have you taken the train up here to Val d'Isere?
THE WAVES STRIKE AND THE WAVES BREAK
Our lives are just like a trip to the coffin. From one hole to another. Out from the mother's opening, and into a hole in the earth. During the trip much phenomena arises. But you are thinking only of food and of sex and you forget about the hole at the end.
When we look at the landscape from the window of the train, it appears as if it is the landscape moving-we forget that it is the train itself which is moving-and so we forget that our object in traveling is to arrive at the station at the end of the line....
During these last ten days of preparation for this sesshin, there was no preparation....
I want to give the first kyosaku: the rensaku. To three people. One is for the young American female champion. But she hasn't come to zazen today. She is sleeping.
One person makes a mistake and it influences the others. With enough mistakes this will become like the Club Mediterranee.
Another girl here cut the American girl's hair." So they fought. The cause for the haircutting and the fight was over a young American boy. All three should receive the rensaku. The cutting of hair has to do with the seeking of the way, but they never think of this.18 They only cut hair for play. This is not good.
The American girl wants to leave. She has forgotten her goal. If the train stops for a bit in a tiny station on the way, and we step down on the quai for a moment, we forget the train.
Don't move, don't move.
Don't forget the course of the train. Don't forget the object, don't forget the station. You have only two-and-a-half days left here.
Some of you are sleeping, sleeping. Do not continue as though you were still in your beds. Those who are sleepy must receive the kyosaku.
(Kinhin:) You must not look at the others' faces when you are in kinhin.... Stretch your knees, stretch your necks.
(Zazen:) Last night was the full moon. It was very beautiful. It rose above the top of the mountain and I could see it from my window. It rose over the top and lit up the mountain. Then clouds passed in front of it and covered up the light of the moon.
We all possess Buddha's nature. Original mind is exactly like the light of the moon, of the full moon. Completely bright, shining. But sometimes clouds come and some minds become dark, dark.
(Chants from Sanshodoei.) This is Dogen's poem entitled "Zazen." What is zazen?
The first phrase is zazen. The moon means the zazen posture, zazen mind, hishiryo. The waves mean bonnos, delusion, the subconscious, bad karma, which arise during zazen. For example kontin and sanran.2° The light means satori. The waves arrive and illusion comes, and so we think of many things. Of what we are going to eat for lunch and so on. But continue zazen and the waves will break; they will pass on, pass on, and there will be light, illumination.
The light means satori; but this does not mean enlightenment. Satori is not enlightenment-as the word (enlightenment) is used and understood in Christianity. Satori is the return to our original, normal condition. This is hishiryo consciousness.
Chukai!
After the ceremony we will have a procession outside. Everyone is to follow, quickly. The kyosakumen are to take up the rear to keep the order.
Kaijo!
AUG. 18 /10-30 A.M.
MONDO
Big satori or small?
QUESTION: You said that Buddha had a great satori. What I would like to know is if there are degrees in satori.
Master: Degrees are not necessary. What is my degree now? It is of no use to think of degrees, nor to compare yourself with others. Because there are many kinds of satori. And besides, what is a big satori, a small satori? Which satori is the deeper? To make a comparison here is not possible.
"I must wash the toilet and arrange the shoes outside the dojo"-this is necessary, and if you realize this necessity and practice it, then this too is satori. A little one, but a great one. Understand this objectively and it will be big and deep.
Some people only understand the necessity of arranging shoes, and subjectively they have a great satori. But objective and subjective understanding is not the same, and one cannot compare the two.
Master Kyogen got satori objectively when he heard the sound made by a stone hitting a bamboo. But objectively speaking the sound is not so important. He got satori.... Master Gensha hurt his toe while traveling, and he wondered: "From where comes this pain?" and he got a big satori. Everybody wounds themselves, but they don't then get satori. But he did. Such a thing cannot be measured or described in degrees, subjectively or objectively. Understand?
In Tibetan Buddhism, in Yoga, in most religions they make steps. But not so in Zen. If you obtain true understanding, subjectively, then no steps are necessary. Another question? Monsieur?
Now is an inhalation, an exhalation
QUESTION: The important thing in zazen is here and now. What is the temporal time dimension of now?
Master: It is the instant, now. This moment now. But this instant now has already passed. This instant does not in reality exist.
So during zazen: now I breathe in, now I exhale. Concentration is on one breath after the other.
The instant, the right now, does not exist. Because the moment we think of the moment, it has already passed. The true now does not exist. This is important. So I say "point." Like connecting points in geometry-they make a line. If we concentrate on this point, which is related to the other points (in the line), it becomes a great concentration. Another question?
Christian enlightenment
QUESTION: Earlier you made a comparison with Christian enlightenment, saying that it was negative in Christianity. But what understanding do you have of Christianity to make such a comparison?
Master: Yes, I compare.... We all have a good occasion now to grasp the difference.... Yes madame, you must explain it to us.
Madame: Enlightenment is the meeting of God and the creature of God.
Master: Ah yes, communion. I studied it.
Father Lassalle2' wrote books on this subject, but he too is mistaken. Lassalle is not so deep concerning the true satori of Soto Zen.
I know both, so I can compare. But which is better, ah this I cannot say-nor did I say. Because the object is not the same.
In Christianity one wishes to communicate with God, yes? So when one communicates with God one gets satori. This is enlightenment, yes?
Madame: You are wrong. One cannot use words to describe this matter!
Master: If we do not use words we cannot discuss this matter. Yes? So what does enlightenment mean, what is true enlightenment?
The words enlightenment and satori are different in meaning and they cannot be translated.
But I do not translate the words enlightenment and satori. Satori is satori, enlightenment is enlightenment. Which is better? On this point I make no comment. For those who believe in enlightenment, enlightenment is better. Understand?
Madame: Yes, of course I unde
rstand!
Master: So there. These words cannot be translated.
On this point, though, many masters have made mistakes. Enlightenment is enlightenment.
To think during zazen that, "I must get enlightenment" is foolish.... But during prayer, perhaps it is alright to think this way. It is the Christian method.
A good question, madame.
Even Father Lassalle is mistaken here. During zazen he always seeks to communicate. "Ah, today it almost happened!" He wrote me this. It was very funny! "Now, now it is possible to get satori. Right now it is arising. Ah no.... I don't understand." (Sensei laughs.)
Me too, I don't understand what he is talking about!
If you continue zazen without eating, without sleeping, continue the sesshin for one week, for ten days, then surely you can see God. If you create an image of God-"This is my God, this is my Christ"-if you imagine this, and if you wish to meet with Him, then you can. It is very easy.
The brain becomes very sharp, and then it becomes tired and sick. And it is at this point that illusions arise, illusions of Buddha. Many people have experienced this. It is not so difficult to do. In one week or in ten days you will realize this. "I must meet with my father, with my mother." It is possible.
I experienced this. For three months I did zazen with only genmai (rice soup) and without sleep. My mind became special and anything was possible. Even a sound, a drop of dew falling....
But this is not true zazen. It is a bit crazy. It is only the arising of special mental phenomena. But sleep well and everything will return back to normal and it will all have seemed like a dream. It is like a dream.
Anyway, madame, after the sesshin is over you will no longer meet with God, with Buddha. Beefsteak will be better then. Understand? No? She cannot understand.
If you wish to meet with God, then it is with your imagination that you will meet with Him. But you must first have an object, an image of Him. If you do not imagine this in your head, then you will not meet with anyone, with anything. "This is God which has come to me." What has come to you? Only something of your own category.
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