Path: Supernews70!Supernews69!not-for-mail From: i@no.self (!) Newsgroups: alt.zen,alt.philosophy.zen,alt.consciousness.mysticism,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.religion.buddhism,talk.religion.buddhism Subject: Types and Meditation, Zen and Reason (was Re: Reason ....) Date: 2 Mar 1998 13:54:40 -0800 Organization: Access Internet Communications, Inc. Lines: 278 Message-ID: <6df9r0$mms$1@shell.accesscom.com> References: <6dcnce$mbg@dfw-ixnews3.ix.netcom.com> <6dd34g$odk$3@gte2.gte.net> <6dd6vf$2u0@sjx-ixn4.ix.netcom.com> Reply-To: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (!) NNTP-Posting-Host: 1271@205.226.156.10 X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 (NOV) Xref: Supernews70 alt.zen:88321 alt.philosophy.zen:17551 alt.consciousness.mysticism:16524 alt.magick.tyagi:14930 alt.religion.buddhism:1871 talk.religion.buddhism:49304 nedludd@ix.netcom.com (Ned Ludd): # ...Buddha, and the sixth patriarch, and Huang Po. The 6th # patriarch, Hui Neng, has been taking some heat here lately, # and I can see why. It's absurd to think that an illiterate # who hadn't meditated (he just cleaned the stables and pounded # rice) and hadn't read the scriptures could inherit the robe # [or/and?] bowl of Bodhidharma, right? not absurd, just unusual, thus the tradition doesn't support it directly but occasionally makes exceptions for it (as did the master who recognized Hui Neng and sent him packing to another region). how long had Hui Neng been abstaining from meditation? did he practice something which was not recognized as meditation even while attending kitchen duty? # ...it could only happen in literature, right, not in real life? you have picked at this sore spot for several years, let this roshi apply a salve: I shall now enumerate on the differnet kinds of Zen. Unless you learn to distinguish between them, you are likely to err on decisive points, such as whether or not satori is necessary to Zen, whether Zen involves the complete absence of discursive thought, and the like. The truth is that among the many types of Zen there are some which are profound and some shallow, some that lead to enlightenment and some that do not. It is said that during the time of the Buddha there were ninety or ninety-five schools of philosophy or religion in existence. Each school had its particular mode of Zen, and each was slightly different from the others. All great religions embrace some measure of Zen, since religion needs prayer and prayer needs concentration of mind. The teachings of Confucius and Mencius, of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, all these have their own elements of Zen. Indeed, Zen is spread over many different activities of life, such as the tea ceremony, Noh, kendo, judo. In Japan, starting with the Meiji Restoration, less than a hundred years ago, and continuing up to the present, there have sprung up a number of teachings and disciplines with elements of Zen in them.... All these different methods of concentration, almost limitless in number, come under the broad heading of Zen. Rather than try to specify them all, I am going to discuss the five main divisions of Zen as classified by Keiho-zenji, one of the early Zen masters in China, whose categories, I feel, are still valid and useful. Outwardly these five kinds of Zen scarcely differ. There may be slight variations in the way the legs are crossed, the hands folded, or the breathing regulated, but common to all are the three basic elements: an erect sitting posture, correct control of breathing, and concentration (unification) of mind.... The first of [the five] types [of Zen] we call *bompu* or "ordinary" Zen as opposed to the other four, each of which can be thought of as a special kind of Zen suitable for the particular aims of different individuals. Bompu Zen, being free from any philosophic or religious content, is for anybody and everybody. It is a Zen practiced purely in the belief that it can improve both physical and mental health. Since it can almost certainly have no ill effects, anyone can under- take it, whatever religious beliefs he happens to hold or if he holds none at all. Bompu Zen is bound to eliminate sickness of a psychosomatic nature and to improve the health generally. Through the practice of bompu Zen you learn to concentrate and control your mind. It never occurs to most people to try to contend with their minds, and unfortunately this basic training is left out of contemporary education, not being part of what is called the acquisition of knowledge. Yet without it what we learn is difficult to retain because we learn it improperly, wasting much energy in the process. Indeed, we are virtually crippled unless we know how to restrain our thoughts and concentrate our minds. -------------------------------------------------- _The Three Pillars of Zen_, by Philip Kapleau, Harper and Row, 1965; pp. 41-6. __________________________________________________ limited forms of bompu could be accomplished outside strict sitting practice, as when one focusses on a specific task, such as washing dishes, counting fish, cleaning stables or pounding rice The second of the five kinds of Zen is called *gedo*. Gedo means literally "an outside way" and so implies, from the Buddhist point of view, teachings other than Buddhist. Here we have a Zen related to religion and philosophy but not yet a Buddhist Zen. Hindu yoga, the quietest sitting of Confucianism, contemplation practices in Christianity, all these belong to the category of gedo Zen. ----------------------------------------------- Ibid., p. 43. _____________ this practice appears to exclude daily activities, since it enters into a specific quietness of mind and body The third type of Zen is *shojo*, literally meaning 'Small Vehicle' {Hinayana}. This is the vehicle or teaching which is to take you from one state of mind {delusion} to another {enlightenment}. This small vehicle is so named because it is designed to accommodate only one's self. You can perhaps compare it to a bicycle. The large vehicle {Mahayana}, on the other hand, is more like a car or bus; it takes on others as well. Hence shojo is a Zen which looks only to one's own peace of mind. Here we have a Zen which is Buddhist but a Zen not in accord with the Buddha's highest teaching. It is rather an expedient Zen for those unable to grasp the innermost meaning of the Buddha's enlightenment, i.e., that existence is an inseparable whole, each one of us embracing the cosmos in its totality. This being true, it follows that we cannot attain genuine peace of mind merely by seeking our own salvation while remaining indifferent to the welfare of others. ... Shojo Zen .... has as its aim the stopping of all thoughts so that the mind becomes a complete blank and enters into a state called *mushinjo*, a condition in which all the sense functions have been eliminated and the faculty of consciousness suspended. With practice this power can be cultivated by anyone. ------------------------------------------------- Ibid., pp. 44-5. ________________ given the lack of practical limitation set forward in the description of this third type, it would seem possible that a monk predisposed to rote activity might stumble upon this type of zen during its performance, though the trance would seem a distinct interruption unless the activities could be continued through an interruption of the sense functions The fourth classification is called *daijo*, Great Vehicle {Mahayana} Zen, and this is a truly Buddhist Zen, for it has as its central purpose *kensho-godo*, i.e. seeing into your essential nature and realizing the Way in your daily life. For those able to comprehend the import of the Buddha's own enlightenment experience and with a desire to break through their own illusory view of the universe and experience absolute, undifferentiated Reality, the Buddha taught this mode of Zen.... In the practice of daijo Zen your aim in the beginning is to awaken to your True-nature, but upon enlightenment you realize that zazen is more than a means to enlightenment -- it is the actualization of your True-nature.... ----------------------------------------------- Ibid., pp. 45. ______________ there is no reason beyond the proclamation of this roshi why seeing into one's true nature could not occur within active forms of meditation ('mindfulness'), and yet if the emphasis here is upon the WHOLE, then certain basic instructions and practical institutions may be extremely important to the task. for this reason, while Hui Neng may well have seen deeply in his buddha-nature, if he was not participating in the sangha, it could be said that he had not recognized the need for the Great Vehicle and thereby was not awakened via the practice of daijo zen of course it is quite possible that this description is colored by the fact that roshi Kapleau and Keiho-zenji, whose categories the roshi is using in his instruction, were of the nominal 'Mahayana' Buddhist tradition seeing that your question is about bowls and robes, then, Hui Neng would appear to be an anamoly when considered by the constraints of this scheme, possibly recognized DESPITE the typical methods and their perceived success (thus provided with clear incentive to conceal this fact and send him to another location to begin instruction as the sixth patriarch without the prejudice against him) *Saijojo* Zen, the last of the five types, is the highest vehicle, the culmination and crown of Buddhist Zen. This Zen was practiced by all the Buddhas of the past -- viz, Shakyamuni and Amida -- and is the experession of Absolute Life, life in its purest form. It is the zazen which Dogen-zenji chiefly advocated and it involves no strugle for satori or any other object. We call it shikan-taza.... In this highest practice, means and ends coalesce. Daijo Zen and saijojo Zen are, in point of fact, complementary. The Rinzai sect places daijo uppermost and saijojo beneath, whereas the Soto sect does the reverse. In saijojo, when rightly practiced, you sit in the firm conviction that zazen is the actualization of your undefiled True-nature, *and at the same time you sit in complete faith that the day will come when, explaiming, "Oh, this is it!" you will unmistakably realize this True-nature*. Therefore you need not self-consciously strive for enlightenment. --------------------------------------------------- Ibid., p. 46. _____________ given the qualification of the roshi above that it resides as a practical requirement of the zazen instructed by Dogen-zenji, it seems that sitting (as compared to daily activities) is an important prerequisite to awakening via this type of Zen, and Hui Neng could not qualify with his rice pounding and dishwashing > Anyway, could any of those three people be accused of being subject > to reason? I don't think so. Gautama Buddha abandoned the caste of his origin (kshatrya lord, husband, father) after having been inspired through exposure to sickness, old age, death and the monastic (samana) path; is said to have studied with many masters, sometimes said to have completed training quickly with them and then moving on to more adept or important pursuits the problem we shall encounter in asking the question 'are they subject to reason?' is that 'reason' is of variable quality. surely Gautama did not consider himself, as portrayed by many Buddhists, subject to the conventional social rationale or even the traditional samana limitations (installing an alternative) Hui Neng portrayed as eshewing conventional Ch'an meditation and the studies of important Buddhist classics; said to refute via negation the inferior wisdom of his sangha and thereafter recognized as the lineage-bearer surely Hui Neng did not consider himself to be subject to the Buddhist reasoning prevalent in China at the time, and his exaltation of the power and value of activity (esp. work which serves the sangha, note) as a role within which to awaken appears to be antagonistic to much Zen expression (as it focusses, like the above roshi, on sitting zazen) Huang Po associated with the founding of the Lin Chi (Rinzai) sect of Zen; the koan tradition associated with him instructs us that he was keen to hit his students at times without explanation; some expositors take this to mean that he emphasized the obliteration of anything (including reason, presumably) which lies between the monk and nirvana given the accuracy of the above accounts, none of these three individuals can be claimed 'subject to reason', no