"Hi-shiryo," or "non-thinking," derives from the famous teaching of Master Dogen, found in Fukanzazengi and elsewhere:
"Think (shiryo) of not-thinking (fu-shiryo). How do you think of not-thinking? Non-thinking (hi-shiryo)."
The Kanji FU 不 ... no ... is not the same as HI 非 ... non. Thus, this "hi-shiryo" is sometimes translated as different from "not thinking," but rather is "beyond thinking" or (as some like me say) "thinking-not-thinking." "Thinking" is what we do ordinarily, with the mental wheels turning, dividing and categorizing, judging, thoughts of "right or wrong ... the revolutions of mind" as Master Dogen described. "Not thinking" is the opposite, the dropping away of all that dividing (including the self/other divide), categorizing and judging for wholeness and flowing unity in radical equanimity. When we put both together (like encountering the world both ways at once, not two) we get "thinking not thinking," this "non-thinking." Such is a world encountered as if one way from one eye in ordinary thinking, as free of thinking with a boundless eye, with both eyes open together the Clarity of a Buddha's Eye.
That leads to a question:
When one realizes "Hi-shiryo" in Zazen, "thinking not thinking," does such remain with one all the time?
No, I don't think so. Or, better said, it depends on the moment, and comes in degrees. Sometimes (most times) we human beings can just function normally in ordinary human life with ordinary human thoughts (hopefully, however, not too greedy, angry, jealous or otherwise divided etc.). At other times, bodymind profoundly drops away in the wholeness and pervasiveness of "not thinking." And countless times, in my experience, there is/are both at once (thinking not thinking) although one pole may be more dominant than the other in the moment. We might say that one eye is sometimes more useful than the other, sometimes both at once, not two (much like the various degrees of "relative and absolute" mixing and blending depicted in 'Tozan's 5 Ranks' in fact).
On the other hand, once found and embodied in Zazen, Hi-shiryo -is- always with one all the time, a realization that cannot be unrealized, even if temporarily the moon is hidden by the clouds sometimes. I feel that, in my life, even during those ordinary, day to day times of "ordinary thinking," the "not thinking" is still subtly present in my heart and eyes. This is like a single grounding hum always present in life's music and noise, even subtly. We may not always notice, but it spices everything, much like the air we breathe always has a subtle taste, its richness always supporting us, although often not noticed.
In fact, "not thinking" is always present and need not be "realized," for it is precisely "thinking," as "form is precisely emptiness," although most sentient beings fail to realize this fact when so trapped in our "thinking" in greed, anger and ignorance. Thus, realizing what is always present beyond need for realization and attainment is a glorious realization attained! There are no "degrees" or "moments" in time to realize or not realize so, which is what we can realize any moment at any time. The clear air is always present in the wind, even in life's storming hurricanes! The moon shining in the boundless, cloudless sky is always present even when hidden by the clouds. Our practice is to realize that moon in boundless sky, and clouds of thought, were never two and apart.
Thus, sitting in Shikantaza, dropping "right or wrong ... the revolutions of mind," dropping away all that dividing (including the self/other divide), categorizing and judging ... thus finding wholeness and flowing unity in radical equanimity ... nothing to attain but sitting itself ... thoughts drifting by, yet the clear blue sky and light shining through the thoughts, not one not two ...
... such is Hi-shiryo, "thinking not thinking."
Gassho, J
SatTodayLAH
Sorry to run long.
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