Keizan and kannō dōkō

[Jundo]

All spiritual paths I’ve come across seem to aim for a goal. All chan and zen paths as well. Except one: the one we are practicing (this is not to say that there is no wisdom in the rest!). There is something so fundamentally different to our practice, it seems to me, compared to all the other numberless buddhist and non-buddhist practices: we have absolutely nothing to grab onto. No goal. We are thrown right into the deep part of the pool. Sawaki said: “zazen is good for nothing”. Our practice is good for nothing. And therefore, quoting Nishijima, “zazen is good for everything”. Our practice is good for everything.

And yet, we very determinately return to practice over and over again, with the goal of continuing to practice, whether it's in zazen, in kinhin, in chanting, in cooking, in being ill, in running to the store etc It takes profound conviction, strong motivation and determination to never deviate, as master Dogen says, from practice-enlightenment.
I guess I am trying to say, we absolutely are not aimlessly practicing, although we drop the goals when we plop ourselves on the cushion.

Hmmm. You are both right. There is absolutely nothing in need of doing, on OR off the cushion ... no goal, nothing lacking.

On the cushion, there is absolutely nothing lacking. Nothing more to do, no place to go, nothing to fix.

Off the cushion, out in the world, there is absolutely nothing lacking, and yet we should live gently, sincerely, as free as we can from the poisons (greed, anger, jealousy and other divided thinking), doing the work that needs doing, making the meals that need making, taking care of the problems that need caring, filling the holes that are lacking. No deviation is possible, yet we try to keep the boat pointed straight.

And yet, and yet ... there is absolutely nothing lacking, never was, never will be.

Gassho, J
stlah

[Shoshin]

Hi everyone,

I am living in South East Asian country, in Indonesia where the society is very religious, traditional and like the woo-woo things. One of the very successful TV show was "looking for ghost in the mid night". There are a lot of horror movies made by Indonesian ???? lol

So, I agreed with Bion that Keizan Zenji was living in that kind of society, where Samurais need the blessing from priests, as the Shinto priests do. I believe Keizan Zenji incorporate an esoteric part in Soto Shu is kind of an Upaya / Skillful Means needed at that time so it will fit the Japanese culture at that era.

But, yes, esoteric practice can be dangerous if it is not handled wisely. The danger is when this esoteric practice make people believe that the Buddha teaching is to gain some magic power, or believe that with some magic power one can gain whatever they want, such as wealth, power or even enlightenment. It is more dangerous when the esoteric teacher claim that a student should follow whatever his instruction in the name of Samaya Vows, to get enlightened. There is a big chance for power abuse here. This phenomenon happened in some fake Guru in Tibet, who created a lot of scandals.

But, in my point of view, sometimes a little esoteric practice with wisdom can be helpful for some people. For example, it happened for my Grannie. My Grannie devoted her practice to do Nembutsu (Chanting Amitabha Buddha name). She did it day and night. And oneday my Grannie due to illness, suddenly came to my house, telling my mom about anything my mom should remember (the date of the death of my grand grand Pa and Grand grand ma etc). And then she told my mom that she won't be back again. My mom was confused. But that night my Auntie said my Grannie before she fell sleep she asked for her rosary beads, and do Nembutsu and Fell sleep, and died peacefully.

Nembutsu people said it was because of the power of Amitabha which made my Grannie can face her death peacefully.
BUT, I myself believe Amitabha is not someone outside ourselves. Even my Grannie couldn't read or write, never got formal education, she was just a simple peasant and selling tofu, and rare to go to temple, her BELIEF to Amitabha Buddha and the western Pureland made her did Nembutsu in her whole life. Her behavior calmed her, and naturally developed her concentration, which help her peacefully face her death.

For me, I am not a fan of Nembutsu. It is hard for me to belief of another power. But some people with some social background like my Grannie belief it. For the person like my Grannie, I think she would choose Nembutse then Zazen. For me, I will choose Zazen then Nembutsu. People who practice Zazen everyday, will surely face their death peacefully too, since we drop body and mind in our practice.

So different people need different approach. And for Keizan, I think Keizan incorporate some esoteric element (with care and wisdom), for the people like my Grannie. As a bridge for Japanese people to belief in Soto Shu, and later introduce Zazen as the main method. For Soto Zen, it is very clear that the main emphases is Zazen as taught by Dogen Zenji.

Well, this is just my point of view.

Gassho, Mujo
SatToday LAH

Wow, so beautiful and interesting story and reflections.
Thanks for sharing.

Gassho
Satlah

[Shoshin]

I am aware that my reflections here will add little value to the discussion, but I did enjoy all your posts so here goes me wasting your time

All spiritual paths I’ve come across seem to aim for a goal. All chan and zen paths as well. Except one: the one we are practicing (this is not to say that there is no wisdom in the rest!). There is something so fundamentally different to our practice, it seems to me, compared to all the other numberless buddhist and non-buddhist practices: we have absolutely nothing to grab onto. No goal. We are thrown right into the deep part of the pool. Sawaki said: “zazen is good for nothing”. Our practice is good for nothing. And therefore, quoting Nishijima, “zazen is good for everything”. Our practice is good for everything.

Did Keizan dabble a bit too much with the shallow part of the pool? Or was it no dabbling but purely skillful means to make this practice available to us today. I trust it’s the latter. Despite the reason, I guess we are all very grateful for him doing as he did.

Gassho, Hōzan
Satlah

I think it added value indeed.
And I like the pool metaphor, it works super

Gassho
Satlah

[Houzan]

And yet, we very determinately return to practice over and over again, with the goal of continuing to practice, whether it's in zazen, in kinhin, in chanting, in cooking, in being ill, in running to the store etc It takes profound conviction, strong motivation and determination to never deviate, as master Dogen says, from practice-enlightenment.
I guess I am trying to say, we absolutely are not aimlessly practicing, although we drop the goals when we plop ourselves on the cushion.

Gassho
sat lah

Yes, thank you your elaboration! And thank you Jundo for the confirmation.

There is no jumping into the deep end of the pool without swimming (you’ll sink to the bottom!) and no real swimming without the deep end of the pool (flapping your arms while your toe touches the pool floor). This is practice-enlightenment, and it’s exactly this I feel is so very special about our way. There is no real practice without letting go. And if we just let go alone, we are no different than Huxley’s soma bums. This is also how I like to interpret our approach as a “sudden” approach. Right into the deep end, and it can feel bottomless without us swimming!

Gassho, Hōzan
satlah