A longer talk on Master Keizan's Sankon-Zazen-Setsu ... ... A Theory of Zazen for Three Personality Types ... lower middle and higher ...
In traditional Buddhist descriptions, there the three levels of capacity that Buddhist practitioners exhibit (sankon 三根; Sk. trīṇi indriyāṇi): low/dull (donkon 鈍根), middling (chūkon 中根; Sk. madhya indriya), and high/sharp (rikon 利根; Sk. tīskṣṇa indriya) capacities. These are three different capacities that Buddhist practitioners exhibit.
But my questions is: Is there really a “high” and “low” and “middle” here?
It is available as a downloadable audio file from TREELEAF Podcast ...
... or even better, please sit all our Zazenkai this month (or the talk is from the 1:50:00 mark, lasts about 30 minutes or so) ...
The text is a little complicated, so I recommend printing and reading along with the talk.
三根坐禅説
Theory of Zazen for Three Personality Types
Sankon-Zazen-Setsu by Keizan Zenji
(translation by YASUDA & ANZAN, with some adjustments from Masunaga and Kennett)
Theory of Zazen for Three Personality Types
Sankon-Zazen-Setsu by Keizan Zenji
(translation by YASUDA & ANZAN, with some adjustments from Masunaga and Kennett)
I.
The person whose zazen is of the most profound type has no interest in [questions such as] how the Buddhas [appeared] in this present world. Such a one doesn’t speculate about the truths which cannot even be transmitted by the Buddhas and Ancestors. She doesn’t [doctrinalize] about "all things being the expression of the self" because she is beyond "enlightenment" and "delusion". Since his views never fall into dualistic angles, nothing obstructs him, even when distinctions appear. She just eats when she is hungry. He just sleeps when he is tired.
II.
The person whose zazen is of a medium type abandons everything and cuts all ties. Throughout the day she is never idle and so every moment of life, every breath, is practice of the Dharma. Or else [as an alternative] he might concentrate on a koan, eyes fixed, his view in one place such as the tip of the nose. Considerations of life and death, going and staying, are not seen on her face. The mind of discrimination can never see into the deepest unchanging truth [of Buddha nature]. [While not thinking dualistically, he is not unenlightened]. From the far past up to right now, wisdom is always brilliant, clear, shining. The whole universe throughout the ten directions is illuminated suddenly from her brow, all things are seen in detail within her body.
III.
The person whose zazen is just ordinary views all things from all sides and frees herself from good and bad conditions [from the karma of good and evil]. The mind naturally expresses the True Nature of all the Buddhas because Buddha stands right where your own feet are. Thus wrong action does not arise. The hands are held in Reality mudra [position for Zazen] and do not hold onto any scriptures. The mouth is tightly closed, as if the lips were sealed, and no word of doctrine is spoken. The eyes are neither wide open nor shut. Nothing is ever seen from the point of view of fragmentation and good and evil words are left unheard. The nose doesn’t choose one smell as good, another as bad. The body is not propped up [the body relies upon nothing whatsoever] and all delusion is ended. Since delusion does not disturb the mind, neither sorrow nor glee appear [sorrow and joy both drops away]. Just like a wooden carving of the Buddha, both the substance and the form are true. Worldly thoughts might arise but they do not disturb because the mind is a bright mirror with no trace of shadows.
IV.
The Precepts arise naturally from zazen whether they are the five, eight, the Great Bodhisattva Precepts, the monastic Precepts, the three thousand rules of deportment, the eighty thousand Teachings, or the supreme Dharma of the Buddhas and Awakened Ancestors. No practice whatsover can be measured against zazen [all these arise from zazen limitlessly]. Should only one merit be gained from the practice of zazen, it is vaster than the construction of a hundred, a thousand or a limitless number of [temples &] monasteries. Practice just sitting ceaselessly [Just do Zazen for ever without ceasing]. Doing so, we are liberated from birth and death and realize our own hidden Buddha-nature. In perfect ease go, stay, sit and lie down [The four activities of going, staying, sitting, and lying are nothing but natural and unexcelled functions]. Seeing, hearing, understanding and knowing are all the natural display of the True Nature [are all the light of original nature, natural manifestations of the True Self]. From first to last, mind is mind [There is no choice between the beginning mind and the ripened mind], beyond any arguments about knowledge and ignorance. Just do zazen with all of who and what you are. Never stray from it or lose it.
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