Hello Everyone,
As part of their training, some of our Priests (Kyonin, Shugen and Shingen) will be offering a series of talks and written essays here on a famous and difficult text that is cherished in Soto Zen ....
Since these talks and written essays are practice for the priests in offering talks and essays on difficult material, they are going to cover the same sections (but promising not to listen to the others before giving their own talks). Some talks and essays will be long, some very short and sweet. So, it should be interesting to see what they come up with, and their unique approaches to the same material. Kyonin has had a head start, so his talks to this point are below. Shugen and Shingen will be joining in this month, starting from the beginning.
It is a wild ride, with many strange images and hidden meanings, twists and turns. I hope you will enjoy the trip as guided by our priests. The full text is below, and each priest will include the specific lines they are addressing with each talk. You can download the full study of the text we will be using here:
Gassho, J
STLah
As part of their training, some of our Priests (Kyonin, Shugen and Shingen) will be offering a series of talks and written essays here on a famous and difficult text that is cherished in Soto Zen ....
THE SONG OF THE JEWEL MIRROR SAMADHI (Hōkyō Zammai / 宝鏡三昧)
The Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi (in Japanese: Hōkyō Zammai; also translated as Song of the Jeweled Mirror Samadhi and Sacred Mirror Samadhi) is a Zen poem in Classical Chinese that appeared during the Song Dynasty. The work is often traditionally attributed to Dongshan Liangjie (Japanese: Tōzan Ryōkai; 807-869), the founder of the Caodong/Sōtō branch of Zen Buddhism, although the actual author is questioned by some historians. Dongshan is the 38th Zen Ancestor and the 10th generation after Bodhidharma in our line.
According to tradition, Dongshan wrote the Hōkyōzanmai in verse style.Its rhythm and tonal qualities make it easy to chant, and it is regularly recited in morning and evening readings in Soto temples. In this work Dongshan made use of the divination techniques that flourished in his days and worked out the theory of the Five Ranks (go-i). Through these devices the Hōkyōzammai systematized Zen theory and a phase of Zen practice. The Hōkyōzammai points to a state of mind in zazen when, like a jeweled mirror, it reflects all things as they are. It is the Buddha Mind that has passed untarnished from master to disciple since the days of the Buddha. It is the true law -- the actual state of all things and the inborn life of man. It tells us to embrace all things in their suchness with the impartiality of a polished mirror -- and adapt ourselves to them. It tells us also to avoid destroying ourselves or harming others, to transcend the dualism of love and hate, and to express ourselves as we really are in altruistic social action. In this work Dongshan gave expression to a major feature of Sōtō Zen -- creative thoroughness in daily life. [adapted from Masunaga Reihō: The Sōtō Approach to Zen]
According to tradition, Dongshan wrote the Hōkyōzanmai in verse style.Its rhythm and tonal qualities make it easy to chant, and it is regularly recited in morning and evening readings in Soto temples. In this work Dongshan made use of the divination techniques that flourished in his days and worked out the theory of the Five Ranks (go-i). Through these devices the Hōkyōzammai systematized Zen theory and a phase of Zen practice. The Hōkyōzammai points to a state of mind in zazen when, like a jeweled mirror, it reflects all things as they are. It is the Buddha Mind that has passed untarnished from master to disciple since the days of the Buddha. It is the true law -- the actual state of all things and the inborn life of man. It tells us to embrace all things in their suchness with the impartiality of a polished mirror -- and adapt ourselves to them. It tells us also to avoid destroying ourselves or harming others, to transcend the dualism of love and hate, and to express ourselves as we really are in altruistic social action. In this work Dongshan gave expression to a major feature of Sōtō Zen -- creative thoroughness in daily life. [adapted from Masunaga Reihō: The Sōtō Approach to Zen]
It is a wild ride, with many strange images and hidden meanings, twists and turns. I hope you will enjoy the trip as guided by our priests. The full text is below, and each priest will include the specific lines they are addressing with each talk. You can download the full study of the text we will be using here:
Gassho, J
STLah
Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi
The teaching of thusness has been intimately communicated by buddhas and ancestors.
Now you have it, so keep it well.
Filling a silver bowl with snow, hiding a heron in the moonlight -
Taken as similar they're not the same;
when you mix them, you know where they are.
The meaning is not in the words, yet it responds to the inquiring impulse.
Move and you are trapped; miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation.
Turning away and touching are both wrong, for it is like a massive fire.
Just to depict it in literary form is to stain it with defilement.
It is bright just at midnight, it doesn't appear at dawn.
It acts as a guide for beings, its use removes all pains.
Although it is not fabricated, it is not without speech.
It is like facing a jewel mirror; form and image behold each other –
You are not it, in truth it is you. Like a babe in the world, in five aspects complete;
It does not go or come, nor rise nor stand.
"Baba wawa" – is there anything said or not?
Ultimately it does not apprehend anything
because its speech is not yet correct.
It is like the six lines of the illumination hexagram:
relative and ultimate interact -
Piled up, they make three, the complete transformation makes five.
It is like the taste of the five-flavored herb, like a diamond thunderbolt.
Subtly included within the true, inquiry and response come up together.
Communing with the source, travel the pathways,
embrace the territory and treasure the road.
Respecting this is fortunate; do not neglect it.
Naturally real yet inconceivable,
it is not within the province of delusion or enlightenment.
With causal conditions, time and season, quiescently it shines bright.
In its fineness it fits into spacelessness,
in its greatness it is utterly beyond location.
A hairsbreadth's deviation will fail to accord with the proper attunement.
Now there are sudden and gradual in which teachings and approaches arise.
Once basic approaches are distinguished, then there are guiding rules.
But even though the basis is reached and the approach comprehended,
true eternity still flows.
Outwardly still while inwardly moving, like a tethered colt, a trapped rat -
The ancient sages pitied them and bestowed upon them the teaching.
According to their delusions, they called black as white;
When erroneous imaginations cease, the acquiescent mind realizes itself.
If you want to conform to the ancient way,
please observe the sages of former times.
When about to fulfill the way of buddhahood,
one gazed at a tree for ten eons,
Like a battle-scarred tiger, like a horse with shanks gone gray.
Because there is the common, there are jewel pedestals, fine clothing;
Because there is the startlingly different, there are house cat and cow.
Yi with his archer's skill could hit a target at a hundred paces.
But when arrow-points meet head on,
what has this to do with the power of skill?
When the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up dancing;
It’s not within reach of feeling or discrimination –
how could it admit of consideration in thought?
Ministers serve their lords, children obey their parents;
Not obeying is not filial and not serving is no help.
Practice secretly, working within, like a fool, like an idiot.
Just to continue in this way is called the host within the host.
The teaching of thusness has been intimately communicated by buddhas and ancestors.
Now you have it, so keep it well.
Filling a silver bowl with snow, hiding a heron in the moonlight -
Taken as similar they're not the same;
when you mix them, you know where they are.
The meaning is not in the words, yet it responds to the inquiring impulse.
Move and you are trapped; miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation.
Turning away and touching are both wrong, for it is like a massive fire.
Just to depict it in literary form is to stain it with defilement.
It is bright just at midnight, it doesn't appear at dawn.
It acts as a guide for beings, its use removes all pains.
Although it is not fabricated, it is not without speech.
It is like facing a jewel mirror; form and image behold each other –
You are not it, in truth it is you. Like a babe in the world, in five aspects complete;
It does not go or come, nor rise nor stand.
"Baba wawa" – is there anything said or not?
Ultimately it does not apprehend anything
because its speech is not yet correct.
It is like the six lines of the illumination hexagram:
relative and ultimate interact -
Piled up, they make three, the complete transformation makes five.
It is like the taste of the five-flavored herb, like a diamond thunderbolt.
Subtly included within the true, inquiry and response come up together.
Communing with the source, travel the pathways,
embrace the territory and treasure the road.
Respecting this is fortunate; do not neglect it.
Naturally real yet inconceivable,
it is not within the province of delusion or enlightenment.
With causal conditions, time and season, quiescently it shines bright.
In its fineness it fits into spacelessness,
in its greatness it is utterly beyond location.
A hairsbreadth's deviation will fail to accord with the proper attunement.
Now there are sudden and gradual in which teachings and approaches arise.
Once basic approaches are distinguished, then there are guiding rules.
But even though the basis is reached and the approach comprehended,
true eternity still flows.
Outwardly still while inwardly moving, like a tethered colt, a trapped rat -
The ancient sages pitied them and bestowed upon them the teaching.
According to their delusions, they called black as white;
When erroneous imaginations cease, the acquiescent mind realizes itself.
If you want to conform to the ancient way,
please observe the sages of former times.
When about to fulfill the way of buddhahood,
one gazed at a tree for ten eons,
Like a battle-scarred tiger, like a horse with shanks gone gray.
Because there is the common, there are jewel pedestals, fine clothing;
Because there is the startlingly different, there are house cat and cow.
Yi with his archer's skill could hit a target at a hundred paces.
But when arrow-points meet head on,
what has this to do with the power of skill?
When the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up dancing;
It’s not within reach of feeling or discrimination –
how could it admit of consideration in thought?
Ministers serve their lords, children obey their parents;
Not obeying is not filial and not serving is no help.
Practice secretly, working within, like a fool, like an idiot.
Just to continue in this way is called the host within the host.
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