HISHIRYO, beyond thinking. Hi means beyond, shiryo means thinking. Hishiryo is the secret of Zen, and it means thinking not-thinking thinking. Thinking without thinking. Thinking from the bottom of non-thinking. Thinking not thinking, hearing not hearing, looking not looking, smelling not smelling, etc.
To stop the thinking process which occurs in the frontal brain (as opposed to the central or primitive brain, the hypothalamus) and to think instead with the body.
Hishiryo-consciousness occurs when one's personal consciousness follows cosmic consciousness. Hishiryo-consciousness is mind in complete harmony, complete unity, with the cosmic order.
First used by Master Sosan (d. 606) in his Shin Jin Mei, and later taken up by Master Yakusan (d. 834). One day, while Yakusan was sitting in zazen, a monk came up to him and said: "Master, what do you think when you sit?" "I think not-thinking," Yakusan replied. "How do you think not-thinking?" "Hishityo," Yakusan replied.
HOKYO ZAN MAI. Literally, the Samadhi of the Precious Mirror. Poem composed by Soto master Tozan (d. 869) and one of the four oldest Zen writings. Considered by all masters to be the textual embodiment of the essence of Zen. Recited in Zen monasteries in Japan.
HOSSU. A short staff used primarily by the master during the ordination ceremony, and not to be confused with kotsu, the curvetopped staff the master carries with him in the dojo, at the table and elsewhere. About a foot long, with a tuft of horse or yak hair knotted at one end.
HYAKUJO (Huai-hai in Chinese, 720-814). Disciple of Baso and master of Obaku. A kind and gentle man (men mitsu) and rather different in temperament to his own master, Baso, who was more prone to the roughhouse methods (zusan), later to characterize the Rinzai school. In fact, one day Baso shouted so loudly in his ear, that Hyakujo remained deaf for three days. Known today for, among other things, his celebrated Shingi, the Holy Rules of the dojo. "Chan schools all over the land," goes one account, "followed this example like grass bending in the wind." In fact, he had established the basic rules as they are still practiced today in all Zen dojos and temples, in both Rinzai and Soto alike. One of the most outstanding chap masters of the Golden Tang dynasty, he taught the Buddhist Dharma for forty years, had one thousand disciples, thirty of whom received his transmission, including Issan and Obaku.
HYPOTHALAMUS. The instinctive, primitive, central brain as opposed to the rational, intellectual, frontal brain. Located approximately in the lower rear of the head, somewhat below the thalamus and directly above the spinal column. The hypothalamus is the connecting point of body and mind, for it directs the senses, and controls homeostasis (i.e., the tendency for the internal environment of the body to remain constant in spite of varying external conditions). The brain center which opens during zazen. (See thalamus.)
IMMO. Tathata, suchness, "that," "it. " That which is. The body and mind of the eternal present. Immo (truth) is sometimes called "that" or "it" because if any name or label is given at all, "it" is already missed. Immo is the symbol of the authentic Buddhist way. Immo nin: the man of satori.
INKIN. Small, delicately shaped bell-with-handle. Carried in the hand and struck with a tiny bronze rod attached to the inkin by a string. When the bell is held upright, a silk cloth falls about the handle covering the hand. Struck with measured cadence by the inkin-ringer, when accompanying the master to the dojo, after the beginning of zazen. Its resonance, when struck, is faint and pure.
I SHIN DEN SHIN. (I means with; shin means mind; den means to transmit). Thus from mind to mind, from master's mind to disciple's mind. Kodo Sawaki once identified this expression with "heartmind to heart-mind. " In fact, I shin den shin is the key factor in the teachings of both Kodo Sawaki and Taisen Deshimaru.
First used by the 6th patriarch, Eno.
IWAZU, "I won't say." One day the monk Zangen pointed to a coffin containing the body of a man recently deceased, and addressing his master, he said: "In this coffin: is there life or death?"
Master Dogo replied: "Iwazu! Iwazu!"
The Iwazu koan is often used in the Soto school.
JOSHU (Chao-chou, 778-897). Disciple of Nansen, and one of the great Chinese Rinzai masters. Much admired by Soto masters Dogen, Kodo Sawaki and Deshimaru.
Joshu met Nansen when he was sixty-one years old, followed him for more than twenty years, and establishing himself as his own master at the age of eighty, he set about "instructing men and gods for the next forty years. " He died in 897 at the ripe old age of one hundred twenty.
Joshu's teaching was somewhat uncharacteristic of his own Rinzai school, indeed it was men mitsu, very soft and gentle and Soto-like. Joshu was mild-mannered and he did not use the stick-and-fist to teach his disciples, nor was he ever known to shout, "KWAT!"Joshu was beloved by all, and greatly admired by Rinzai and Soto masters, even today. "Joshu received the Dharma from his master," writes Dogen, "and correctly transmitted it to others. Everyone called him an ancient Buddha."
KAI (Sila, in Sanskrit). The precepts, morality. The three most important kai are: avoid doing the bad, practice doing the good, and help others. In Theravada Buddhism the monks follow two hundred fifty kai and the nuns five hundred (forty-eight of which they both share together). In Mahayana Buddhism, and particularly in Zen, the monks follow only ten kai, which they take at ordination time (don't kill, don't steal, don't be sexually abusive, don't talk triviality, swear or lie, don't take drugs which trouble the mind, don't praise yourself and/or revile others, don't be vain, don't indulge in wordly amusements, don't get angry, and don't blaspheme the Three Treasures, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha).
These kai or precepts are not taken upon oneself as "commands" coming from without, but rather as "aspirations" or "vows" coming from within. In Zen, the kai are considered as "natural" morality, not as "prescribed. "
The kai are of use only for those who need them, for the killer who kills, for the thief who steals, for the blasphemer who blasphemes. Only the killer need know the precept "not to kill," the thief "not to steal," the blasphemer "not to blaspheme. " One must live the precepts to know them, and this means: one can only know a precept once one has stopped breaking it.
Indeed, when you sit in the manner of the masters and the patriarchs, what precept are you not oberving, what merit are you not actualizing?
KAIJO. Kai means open, free; jo means zazen. Kaijo is the moment the drum is struck to indicate the end of zazen; and to indicate the hour of the day. When the master says: "Kaijo!, " a monk strikes the drum, and depending upon the given hour of the day-be it 9 A.M. or 10 P.M.-the drum is struck nine or ten times to correspond to that hour.
KAN. A great vow. All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas make them. A solemn promise or pledge. Kan usually comes from within oneself. The vow to live according to one's own true ideal, this is kan.
KANNA-ZEN. Another name for Rinzai or koan Zen. "Kanna " means: observing the spoken word-so you have "Kanna-Zen" or "SpokenZen. " Also refers to discussion, "debate" and "Dharma-combat" Zen. First promulgated by Rinzai master Daie in twelfth century China. (See also Mokusho-Zen.)
KARMA, action. The totality of all one's acts, plus the consequences. Karma is created through the action of body, mouth and mind; and when created, it is forever, for what has happened has happened and cannot be undone. Karma is the law of cause and effect, and from karma we have transmigration and samsara-the chain of existences, or rebirths, resulting from one's past actions.
And yet karma is beyond causality, beyond destiny (it includes both). It has nothing to do with destiny, predeterminism, fatalism, or nihilism, for though karma cannot be done away with (i.e., erased), it can indeed be changed. "All great religious leaders transform the bad karma of mankind," said master Deshimaru.
KATSU or kwatz, and again "Kwaat!"when shouted. An exclamation which has no particular meaning. Used primarily by Rinzai masters to shock the mind out of its "dualistic ego-centered thoughts."
The kwatz is a cry which, when uttered on the exhalation, says Master Deshimaru (in his Zen and the
Martial Arts), can paralyze one's opponent. Conversely, it is the cry of universal energy ("pure energy without cause and effect," says Deshimaru), and can bring back to life someone who has just died.
Also a technique for re-awakening the H.
Most often associated with master Rinzai. First used, however, one hundred years before him, by master Baso.
KEIZAN (1268-1325). Great Japanese Soto master, practiced under both Ejo and Gikai (two of Master Dogen's closest disciples), founder of Sojiji (one of the two head Soto temples), author of the intuitive and almost mystical Dendoroku, and responsible for the initial and widespread promulgation of the Soto teachings throughout Japan.
KENSHO. A technical Rinzai term which means to look at your true nature, or to find the Buddha nature in your own mind (Ken: seeing into, and sho: one's own nature), and sometimes described as a "small" or "preparatory" satori-and quite unlike anything you might find in Soto Zen.
KENTAN. Inspection at the beginning of zazen. (Ken: to examine, to inspect, and tan: the raised zazen platform.) The master passes through the dojo, observing those who are present. He examines the seated postures and looks to see if anyone is sick.
KESA (Kasaya in Sanskrit). Monk's robe usually received during the monk ordination. It is worn over the left shoulder and symbolic of the first robe worn by the Buddha (directly after his great satori) and made by him from old rags he picked up in a cemetery. Actually the kesa is more a sacred garment than a "robe" per say, as it is worn over the kolomo and only covers one shoulder and has no sleeves.
The kesa means faith, the essential force in Zen; also monks prostrate themselves (sampai) before the kesa as they would before the master or the Buddha-for nothing is so highly venerated in Zen as this kesa; on the other hand, those who practice zazen for long years, while never once wearing the kesa itself, let alone receiving it, their practice remains only a training method for obtaining good mental and physical health, like Yoga.
The kesa is symbolic of eternal life and all masters of the transmission believe this. The kesa brings you nourishment in time of need (it is designed with vertical and horizontal lines depicting the patterns in a rice field), it protects you from accidents, can cut off sickness of the mind, can cut off bad karma, and can bring infinite good merit in the three worlds. To use Yoka Daishi's expression: "The kesa is the mist, dew, rain and fog which clothe the body." (See rakusu.)
KETSUMYAKU. Certificate of lineage, of geneology, transmitted from Buddha and the patriarchs to the disciple. Given by the master when the disciple receives the monk ordination.
KI. Body energy, activity, vitality, force. Located not simply in the mind, nor in the kikai tanden (hara), but in all the nerves, fibers and cells of the entire body.
In Buddhism, ki is a technical term signifying the mind capable of responding to the spiritual impulsion. Comfort and the material life dull man's ki; ki is the source of life-it is manifested by means of the breathing and if you lose ki, you lose life.
KIKAI TANDEN. Ki means activity, energy; kai means ocean (so kikai means ocean of energy); tan means essence; and den means field. Kikai tanden is the essential source or center of energy, and it is located approximately two inches below the navel.
KINHIN. Zazen in motion. Practiced between periods of sitting. One steps forward about half a foot, presses down on the ground, particularly at that point where the big toe begins, and stretches the knee. The backbone is straight, chin in, neck taut, and eyes lowered. The thumb of the left hand is enclosed in its fist (which is held within the palm of the right hand), and together the hands are pressed against the solar plexis, just below the breastbone. The back of the hands are facing upward, the lower arms horizontal to the ground, and the elbows out. The exhalation of air begins with the first step, and at this moment the body is in tension. The inhalation then occurs with a relaxation of tension. Kinhin is practiced in a line, one person behind the other, and it lasts for five or so minutes.
KITO CEREMONY. Ceremony of ancient origins which the master or abbot sometimes performs upon request. Kito means grace, and to ask for a kito is, in a way, to ask the grace of the gods; it is to make a special petition to heaven.
Kito has to do with metaphysics and psychology and is considered in Mahayana to be of low dimension. Also being that the kito ceremony is directed, not to Buddha but to man, for his personal needs, and has to do not with wisdom but with phenomena, kito is not considered to be the embodiment of the essence of Buddhism. Nevertheless, when a believer asks the master for a kito (say, for a relative who is sick) then, with the master's consent, a photo of the relative is placed on the altar and the service is performed.
For those who believe in this sutra, and who have faith in this ceremony, the kito can be very effective.
KOAN. A statement, a saying, an act or gesture that can bring one to an understanding of the truth. An absolute, eternal truth transmitted by the master. Also, a tool used to educate a disciple.
Koans are generally construed from earlier mondos which occurred between ancient chan masters and their disciples, and which are used today, particularly in the Rinzai tradition, as a means of study and/or as a way to obtain satori. In Soto, both the use of koans and the interpretation of satori are quite different. Koans are used in Soto, but in a very free and open fashion and not at all like in Rinzai whereby the koan-solving procedure is carried out in a much more formalized fashion, along with private meetings with the master, and so on.
KONTIN. When the mind, during zazen, falls into obscurity, doubt, delusion, melancholia, or into just plain dullness. (Kon means darkness, tin means to sink.) Characterized by fatigue both mental and physical. During zazen the chin falls, the thumbs drop, the backbone slumps. The cutting off of all thoughts; kontin resembles a state of mind similar to sleep. (See sanran for the opposite.)
KOTSU. Curve-topped staff the master carries with him in the dojo, the dining room and elsewhere. Less than two feet in length and curved in a form that resembles the human spinal column. Not to be confused with hossu, a yak-haired staff used during certain ceremonies.
KU (Sunyata in Sanskrit). Emptiness. Not, however, in the sense of "nothing" as opposed to "something. ° Indeed, ku is something, for it includes all things, all phenomena, even the phenomena of mind. All things come from ku. It is the pure source, the essence. Literally, ku means sky.
While most Buddhist schools primarily teach the doctrine of karma, Zen teaches ku.
KUSEN. The oral teaching given by the master in the dojo, during zazen. (Ku means mouth, sen means teaching.) The teaching transmitted to the master by his own master. The long line of the oral transmission of the Buddha's teaching.
The kusen is not a teisho, a lecture or a conference.
KU SOKU ZE SHIKI. Emptiness becomes phenomena, form. Shiki soku ze ku: phenomena, or form, becomes emptiness. Said differently, the object is in the subject, the subject in the object. Ku (emptiness) and shiki (phenomena) are inseparable.
KWATZ, see katsu.
KYO GE BETSUDEN. The special teaching outside the scriptures. (Kyo means teaching, or scripture-teaching; ge means outside; betsuden means another transmission, or a special transmission.) This expression is often used in the Rinzai school, and it underscores one of the fundamental differences between Rinzai and Soto. It is said that in Rinzai, as opposed to Soto, the sutras and other ancient texts are not so much studied and respected.
KYOSAKU. The wake-up stick. (Kyo means attention, saku means stick.) Stick with which the master or KYOSAKUMAN strikes the disciple on each shoulder near the neck, on points corresponding to two principle acupuncture meridians. A long, tapered stick flattened at one end, and usually made of oak. Calligraphied on one side with the name of the temple, the master's signature, stamp and date; on the other with a poem. (On Kodo Sawaki's kyosaku was the calligraphy: "Yesterday my body was a stinking sack of flesh and bones; today, on the mountain of bonnos, I attack the clouds and the thunder.") Administered when the monk falls into either sanra
n or kontin, and regarded as the stick which promotes satori. Used both in Rinzai and Soto-though, traditionally the Rinzai kyosaku is much bigger and heavier than the Soto kyosaku.
MAHAKASYAPA. Dates uncertain; however, he lived during the time of the Buddha, in the fourth century B.C. Came from a rich and comfortable background (he was born to a Brahmin family from Magadha), left his home and entered the mountains of northern India where he practiced yoga asceticism and mortification. He then met the Buddha Shakyamuni, practiced with him the Middle Way, and became one of the Buddha's ten great disciples. Also, he is considered the 1st Indian Patriarch in the Zen tradition. After the Buddha's death, Mahakasyapa continued the teaching, bringing about him an immense number of disciples. Convened the First Buddhist Council in 483 B.C., expressly "to preserve the teaching.' Passed on the transmision to Ananda.
MAHAYANA. The Greater Vehicle of Buddhism. (Maha means great, yana means salvation.) One of the two major branches of Buddhism-Hinayana or the Lesser Vehicle being the other. Also known as the Northern School, for unlike Hinayana, it originated in Northern India from where it spread to Tibet, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. In India the two principle schools of Mahayana were the Madyamikas and the Yogacaras. While in China, Tibet and Japan, the principle schools were, respectively, Tendai, Vajrayana, Pureland, Shingon and Zen. Noted for the emphasis it places on wisdom plus compassion, and also for the bodhisattva ideal (i.e., the renunciation of nirvana until all beings have been led to enlightenment themselves: Shu jo muhen seigan do, Beings, however many they be, I vow to save them all). Sometimes refered to as the "Middle Way" (i.e., without the extremes found in all pairs). The great spokesmen and Bodhisattvas of early Mahayana were Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandu and Santideva.
Sit Page 27
