Homeless Kodo's "TO YOU" - Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Jundo
    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
    • Apr 2006
    • 40617

    Homeless Kodo's "TO YOU" - Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2

    Dear All,

    We will begin Sawaki Roshi's "TO YOU" in our "No Words Bookclub" from this week. We are working with the new edition, available many places (support your small bookstores! ):

    Kodo Sawaki Roshi [1880-1965] was commonly referred to as "Homeless Kodo" due to his nomadic lifestyle. In the tradition of Soto Zen, which emphasizes zazen (sitting meditation practice) above the use of texts and koans, he is one of the most influential teachers of the twentieth century. In this book, hundreds of pith sayings taken from his wide-ranging teachings have been carefully compiled and grouped according to subject by one of his closest students. The reader is easily struck by Sawaki's sincerity, depth and directness. What comes across so immediately is his uncompromising dedication to zazen and his determination to transmit an authentic practice. This he does by pointing out, with biting accuracy, the many pitfalls we "ordinary humans" stumble into. His teaching is at the same time both completely faithful to the Buddhist ancestors and absolutely relevant to our many modern predicaments. Are you worried about your career? Fighting with your spouse? Concerned about money? Complaining about how busy you are? Homeless Kodo has a piece of advice for you. Kodo Sawaki Roshi also has an appeal to those who are decidedly irreligious, in his irreverence and criticism of hollow traditions. He ruthlessly challenges political and societal conformity, consistently referring his readers back to the essence tenets of zen. Very few of his works have been translated into European languages. Of all his books, perhaps it is this one, To You, (enthusiastically received in both French and German) which best captures his contribution to the tradition. While Kodo Sawaki Roshi is still a lesser-known teacher in the West, some of his disciples, most notably Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (who collected these sayings) and Taisen Deshimaru Roshi both had many Western disciples, who in turn have brought the practice to literally hundreds of centers and thousands of practitioners in North America, South America and Europe. This English-language version is a joint effort by a distinguished team of Zen practitioners and translators: Muho Noelke and Reiho Jesse Haasch. Muho previously translated the Japanese version into German, and is the first Westerner to hold the post as abbot of a major Japanese Zen monastery, Antaiji. There, Kodo Sawaki himself also served as the abbot from 1949 until his death in 1965.


    As it is a fairly easy read, and chapters are rather short, consisting mostly of small quotes, we will take a few chapters at a time.

    The rules of the game are pretty easy: Just mention here, in our discussion, any quotes (none, one or many) that ring your bell and resonate with you, and briefly say why.

    That's it!

    If you need a version to "cut and paste" a quote, there is one here. However, PLEASE PURCHASE THE ACTUAL BOOK! I ask everyone to use the following only for ease in cutting and pasting a quote or two into this discussion, not for purposes of reading the entire book. Thank you!



    So, this week, after reading the Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2, what trips your trigger, strikes your fancy, inspires and makes your day? Try to say why it does so for you. (You can also feel free to disagree with Ol' Kodo too, but be prepared to say why!)

    Gassho, Jundo

    STLah

    Last edited by Jundo; 08-13-2022, 04:33 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
  • Tokan
    Member
    • Oct 2016
    • 1323

    #2
    Hello everyone - well where do you start, this book stimulates both nods of solemn agreement and fits of laughter! There is so much you could comment on, but I shall pick a random pair....

    So, serious (from the introduction) I'm not sure I need to comment in detail, but I too have seen this and also felt it while in zazen myself - At one point he had a day off and decided to do zazen in his own room. By chance, an old parishioner who helped out at the temple entered the room and bowed towards him respectfully, as if he were the Buddha himself. This old woman usually just ordered him around like an errand boy. So what was it that moved her to bow towards him with such respect? This was the first time that Sawaki Rōshi realized what noble dignity was inherent in the zazen posture, and he resolved to practice zazen for the rest of his life.

    On the funny side (from Chapter 2) I can see how we fall into these things so easily, and why, when taking 'leave of group stupidity' we benefit from the support of a sangha, provided the sangha isn't the source of the group stupidity! - We live in group stupidity and confuse this insanity with true experience. It is essential that you become transparent to yourself and wake up from this madness. One at a time, people are still bearable, but when they form cliques, they start to get stupid. They fall into group stupidity. They’re so determined to become stupid as a group that they found clubs and pay membership dues. Zazen means taking leave of group stupidity

    Gassho, Tokan (satlah)
    平道 島看 Heidou Tokan (Balanced Way Island Nurse)
    I enjoy learning from everyone, I simply hope to be a friend along the way

    Comment

    • sreed
      Member
      • Dec 2018
      • 101

      #3
      I'm going to start by asking for help to understand one of the quotes.
      I kept notes on over 10 quotes in Chapter 1 alone that I enjoyed and found tremendous wisdom. However, I'm not sure I grasp this one:

      "Everybody talks about “reality” but there’s nothing to it.
      They’re actually just being misled by what they call “reality.”


      Now to my favorite:
      "Everyone in the world tries to make themselves important with their relationships
      and possessions. It’s like trying to use the plate to give
      flavor to a flavorless dish is how the human world has lost sight of itself."

      I grew up in a household that was very proud of its status and wealth, (which, truly, was nothing to get excited about whatsoever!) and I grew up to appreciate and crave possessions to elevate my self-importance. In my late twenties, I begin to realize myself, and what was important to me. I understood that possessions and position/relationships do not make a person. They do not sum up their importance. I feel in a world of social media, this quote is especially poignant and is something I will teach my eleven-year-old.

      Gassho,
      Sara
      STLAH

      Comment

      • Tokan
        Member
        • Oct 2016
        • 1323

        #4
        Originally posted by sreed
        I'm going to start by asking for help to understand one of the quotes.
        I kept notes on over 10 quotes in Chapter 1 alone that I enjoyed and found tremendous wisdom. However, I'm not sure I grasp this one:

        "Everybody talks about “reality” but there’s nothing to it.
        They’re actually just being misled by what they call “reality.”

        Gassho,
        Sara
        STLAH

        Hi Sara, I'm not going to offer help to understand the quote as such but, in the 'about this work' part of the introduction, I found this very helpful paragraph that, in itself, is worth reading and considering on it's own as well as in relation to the quotes...

        Yet not a single one of these quotations deserves to be quickly read and then forgotten, for they are all about ourselves. Their deeper meaning is only revealed when we take the time to chew over these sayings in peace, digest them, and “see the mind in light of the ancient teachings.”

        Gassho, Tokan (satlah)
        平道 島看 Heidou Tokan (Balanced Way Island Nurse)
        I enjoy learning from everyone, I simply hope to be a friend along the way

        Comment

        • Kokuu
          Dharma Transmitted Priest
          • Nov 2012
          • 6856

          #5
          "Everybody talks about “reality” but there’s nothing to it.
          They’re actually just being misled by what they call “reality.”
          Hi Sara

          I wouldn't go as far as to say there is nothing to reality, but I think that what Kodo is pointing to here is that what appears to us as reality is a combination of sense experience and conceptual thoughts.

          That is not actually a problem, as long as we don't think that *is* reality itself rather than our brain's particular interpretation of it, a version of reality. Others will be experiencing something different which is probably similar but not necessarily so. It is a reminder to not attach to what we experience as the one true reality, but also not to reject it as completely unlike reality either.

          The Laṅkāvatāra Sutra puts it succinctly: "Life is not as it appears, nor is it otherwise".

          Gassho
          Kokuu
          -sattoday-

          Comment

          • Risho
            Member
            • May 2010
            • 3178

            #6
            Originally posted by Kokuu
            It is a reminder to not attach to what we experience as the one true reality, but also not to reject it as completely unlike reality either.

            The Laṅkāvatāra Sutra puts it succinctly: "Life is not as it appears, nor is it otherwise".

            Gassho
            Kokuu
            -sattoday-
            I love it; I think this is something especially important right now with all of the divisiveness. Timeless wisdom indeed

            gassho

            risho
            -stlah
            Email: risho.treeleaf@gmail.com

            Comment

            • Zenkon
              Member
              • May 2020
              • 226

              #7
              The quote that resonated most with me was:

              "There are some who end up at the bottom of their class and then live out their whole lives feeling like victims. They say their lives have been “screwed up.” And it’s precisely this attitude that screws up their lives."

              In my time at Treeleaf, I have met some amazing people, with compassionate, generous and gentle attitudes towards others and life. Many are all the more amazing when one realizes their particular disabilities or challenges. These people have developed attitudes which allow them to transcend their challenges.

              From the time each of us is born (and perhaps earlier), we create “stories” to make sense of our world. Over time, these stories solidify, take on a permanence and develop into our personalities – our “attitudes”. We become Pro-life or Pro-Choice, Pro-Gun Control or Pro-Gun Rights, Democrat or Republican. We become convinced that “we” are “right” and “others” are “wrong”, that we are “entitled” to something others aren’t, or, as Koto points out, that we are powerless “victims”, doomed thru no fault or responsibility of our own. As Koto points out, this attitude “screws up their lives”. All because of our “attitude”, a creation of our own minds.

              But, thanks to impermanence, we are not doomed. We can change this attitude. We can change our way of thinking, thru other-centered thinking and compassion.

              Although, perhaps, Koto was sying something completely different

              Gassho

              Zenkon

              sat/lah

              Comment

              • sreed
                Member
                • Dec 2018
                • 101

                #8
                Leon and Kokuu, gassho.

                Sara
                ST/LAH

                Comment

                • Margaret
                  Member
                  • Jul 2022
                  • 10

                  #9
                  Hello, I am quite new to Zen (but very happy with what I have found so far here at Treeleaf!)… so just wondering what Sawaki Roshi meant in the intro when he said “he had wasted his entire life with zazen,” particularly when he goes on to say in chapter 1 that samadhi means being yourself and only yourself…. and you can only be that person in zazen.
                  Any help?!?
                  Gassho
                  Margaret
                  Sat

                  Comment

                  • Jundo
                    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
                    • Apr 2006
                    • 40617

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Margaret
                    Hello, I am quite new to Zen (but very happy with what I have found so far here at Treeleaf!)… so just wondering what Sawaki Roshi meant in the intro when he said “he had wasted his entire life with zazen,” particularly when he goes on to say in chapter 1 that samadhi means being yourself and only yourself…. and you can only be that person in zazen.
                    Any help?!?
                    Gassho
                    Margaret
                    Sat
                    Hi Margaret,

                    Welcome again.

                    One "wastes their life in Zazen" when one realizes that every moment is precious, and nothing can be wasted ... never wasted in Zazen, nor in all of life. He is being ironic, and it is something of the opposite meaning.

                    Yes, it is true that we may impose measures about whether this moment is "meaningful" or "not meaningful" ... and we may go about making a mess of life with our chasing after greedy desires, with anger or pettiness, all manner of harmful behavior and thinking. Yes, it is true, and we should stop doing so. To live in such harmful ways is to waste life.

                    Even so, not a moment of life can be wasted.

                    It is much as we sit in Zazen dropping all goals, sitting for sitting's sake (what sounds like more of a "waste of time" than that??), sitting in the preciousness of Zazen which is complete just for its sitting ... thus to experience that all of life is precious just for its living! Nonetheless, we should live it well, try not to make a mess of it.



                    Gassho, J

                    STLah
                    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

                    Comment

                    • Jundo
                      Treeleaf Founder and Priest
                      • Apr 2006
                      • 40617

                      #11
                      Originally posted by sreed
                      I'm going to start by asking for help to understand one of the quotes.
                      I kept notes on over 10 quotes in Chapter 1 alone that I enjoyed and found tremendous wisdom. However, I'm not sure I grasp this one:

                      "Everybody talks about “reality” but there’s nothing to it.
                      They’re actually just being misled by what they call “reality.”
                      As Kokuu points out, our experience of life, this world and even who we think we "ourself" are is all created "between the ears" much more than we know. You think you see a "chair" in your room, but there is (I assume, unless it is totally a dream) only a conglomeration of atoms fashioned in a certain shape which our brain has come to label "chair" because we have butts and have come to assign such meaning, function and name to it. If buttless space creatures ever came to earth, they would be unlikely to see a "chair" until we explained it. An ant crawling across the chair also likely knows nothing but the bare sensory feel of a surface, no "chair." Furthermore, everything that we then add ... such as "ugly/pretty chair" or "comfortable/uncomfortable chair" is our subject experience and weighing of our feelings about it. The chair is none of those things until we put such personal assessment. Even "green chair" is only our brain's interpretation of the photon frequencies entering the eyes ... and there is no "green" apart from our subjective experience inside of those vibrations.

                      Well, as it is for "chairs," so it is for every darn thing in this life, world, and our own experience of our selves.

                      Buddhism not only allows us to become aware of how much we "mind create" our experience of the world, but to drop aspects of it completely (primarily the hard divide between "self/not myself" and all the frictions that come with that division). We also learn to drop some of the harmful "junk" between the ears (for example, the excess desire, anger, jealousy, other divided and harmful thinking), to encourage a more healthful experience between the ears. Life is like a dream we dream, and yet ... it is our dream of life, so we had best dream it well.

                      Kodo's point is likely much more basic, however: Most people run through this rat race life convinced of so much nonsense that they buy into, take for true and tangle themselves up in (anything from the importance of having the right basketball shoes to the "Q" conspiracy). We really become prisoners of our own fantasies, delusions and sometime self-created traps.

                      Gassho, J

                      STLah
                      Last edited by Jundo; 08-15-2022, 12:59 AM.
                      ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

                      Comment

                      • Kokuu
                        Dharma Transmitted Priest
                        • Nov 2012
                        • 6856

                        #12
                        Hi all

                        Just noting, right at the very beginning of the introduction that Kodo's parents died when he was very young (his mother at four, and father at seven). This reminded me of the Buddha himself, who lost his mother shortly after birth, and Dogen, whose mother died at seven.

                        Perhaps there is something about the early loss of one or both parents that turns the mind towards the dharma, knowing that things of the world are not to be relied upon.

                        Gassho
                        Kokuu
                        -sattoday-

                        Comment

                        • Tokan
                          Member
                          • Oct 2016
                          • 1323

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Kokuu
                          Hi all

                          Just noting, right at the very beginning of the introduction that Kodo's parents died when he was very young (his mother at four, and father at seven). This reminded me of the Buddha himself, who lost his mother shortly after birth, and Dogen, whose mother died at seven.

                          Perhaps there is something about the early loss of one or both parents that turns the mind towards the dharma, knowing that things of the world are not to be relied upon.

                          Gassho
                          Kokuu
                          -sattoday-
                          I think you are right, though coming from Reading, Berkshire I'm not sure I would have found the dharma at that age! Sadly, in my mental health work, I see that people who have been through this experience, without something else to ground them (like the dharma), can end up with a long-term disaffected, mistrustful relationship with the world and others - the negative expression of 'the world not being reliable' in a way.

                          Gassho, Tokan (satlah)
                          平道 島看 Heidou Tokan (Balanced Way Island Nurse)
                          I enjoy learning from everyone, I simply hope to be a friend along the way

                          Comment

                          • JudyE
                            Member
                            • Mar 2022
                            • 52

                            #14
                            Hi everyone,

                            Two quotes stand out for me:

                            “The eyes don’t say, ‘Sure we’re lower, but we see more.’
                            The eyebrows don’t reply, ‘Sure we don’t see anything, but we are higher up.’
                            Living out the buddha-dharma means fulfilling your function completely without knowing that you’re doing it. A mountain doesn’t know it’s tall. The sea doesn’t know it’s wide and deep. Each and every thing in the universe is active without knowing it.”

                            “You do everything that people praise you for. You run after those who are praised. You are never yourself.”

                            To me, both passages speak to the tendency to compare ourselves with others and the desire to meet other peoples’ standards. I sure have done my share of both! When I wake up and realize what I have been doing, I feel regret as well as relief that I don’t have to work so hard chasing after approval and praise.

                            Gassho,
                            Judy
                            Sat/lah

                            Comment

                            • Mokuso
                              Member
                              • Mar 2020
                              • 159

                              #15
                              Originally posted by sreed
                              I'm going to start by asking for help to understand one of the quotes.
                              I kept notes on over 10 quotes in Chapter 1 alone that I enjoyed and found tremendous wisdom. However, I'm not sure I grasp this one:

                              "Everybody talks about “reality” but there’s nothing to it.
                              They’re actually just being misled by what they call “reality.”


                              Now to my favorite:
                              "Everyone in the world tries to make themselves important with their relationships
                              and possessions. It’s like trying to use the plate to give
                              flavor to a flavorless dish is how the human world has lost sight of itself."

                              I grew up in a household that was very proud of its status and wealth, (which, truly, was nothing to get excited about whatsoever!) and I grew up to appreciate and crave possessions to elevate my self-importance. In my late twenties, I begin to realize myself, and what was important to me. I understood that possessions and position/relationships do not make a person. They do not sum up their importance. I feel in a world of social media, this quote is especially poignant and is something I will teach my eleven-year-old.

                              Gassho,
                              Sara
                              STLAH

                              Hi. I have read the whole book. It was very stimulating, interesting and thought provoking.
                              As Kokuu answered "ourselves" everything is created "between the ears"
                              our real true self can only be found by ourselves. Only I know my true self, only you know your true self. What everyone else says is an interpretation built from noise and from their mood and way of seeing.

                              Comment

                              Working...