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Thread: BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 56

  1. #1

    BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 56

    Case 55 never ends, and so we hop to Case 56, Uncle Mi's White Rabbit ...

    https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...aputra&f=false

    “That’s very important,” the King said, turning to the jury. They were just beginning to write this down on their slates, when the White Rabbit interrupted: “Unimportant, your Majesty means, of course,” he said in a very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at him as he spoke.

    “Unimportant, of course, I meant,” the King hastily said, and went on himself in an undertone, “important—unimportant—unimportant—important— —” as if he were trying which word sounded best.

    Some of the jury wrote it down “important,” and some “unimportant.” Alice could see this, as she was near enough to look over their slates; “but it doesn’t matter a bit,” she thought to herself.

    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll
    Zen priest and translator Taigen Leighton writes that the Chinese character "swift" in this story can better be read as "elegant" or "eminent, refined". That seems to make a lot more sense in the context of this Koan, which is filled with references to "low" things being high, and "high" things low ... a "Buddha 'Big H' High" which sweeps in all small human measures of high and low, both the elegant and inelegant just BuddhElegant!

    Please read, if you can, all of Taigen's comment on this Koan in the first three pages of Chapter 6 of his book on Master Tozan (known as Master Dongshan in Chinese) ...

    https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...rabbit&f=false

    In Shishin Wick's mixed Rinzai-Soto Sambokyodan tradition, there is a bit more emphasis placed on efforts to attain passing Kensho experiences then for most Soto folks, so that flavor peaks through his commentary a little today. However, both Shishin and Taigen emphasize that the point is not to get hung up in any one point, and to come to see the shining Light which shines through ordinary worldly light and dark.

    In Master Dogen's view of "Practice-Enlightenment", our every word thought and act is the word thought and act of Buddha, with nothing more needed. Nonetheless (seeing such from another angle) our every word thought and act is a constant opportunity to act with compassion, wisdom, generosity, peace and other forms of "elegance", or with inelegant greed, anger and ignorance. We realize the Elegance of Buddha by our own behavior and thoughts.

    I post below what I usually say on the topic of "Kensho" in Soto Zen, and seeing the "low and high". Please have a look.

    =====================

    Dogen tended to speak of "Enlightenment" ... not as some momentary experience to attain ... but as "Practice-Enlightenment", emphasizing that how we make Buddha Wisdom and Compassion manifest in our actual words, thoughts and deeds in this life is the real "Kensho".

    Momentary Kensho experiences can be light and deep and beyond light or deep. They can be profound and enveloping ... HOWEVER, that does not matter because, generally in Soto, we consider all such experiences as passing scenery ... just a visit to the wonders of the Grand Canyon. One cannot stay there, as lovely as it is. Nice and educational place to visit ... would not, should not, could not truly live there. One can even live perfectly well never having visited the vast Canyon at all. The most important thing is to get on the bus, get on with the trip, get on with life from there. In our Soto Way, the WHOLE TRIP is Enlightenment when realized as such (that is the True "Kensho"!) ... not some momentary stop or passing scene or some final destination .

    ... For Soto Folks, when we realize such ... every moment of the Buddha-Bus trip, the scenery out the windows (both what we encounter as beautiful and what appears ugly), the moments of good health and moments of passing illness, the highway, the seats and windows, all the other passengers on the Bus who appear to be riding with us, when we board and someday when we are let off ... the whole Trip ... is all the Buddha-Bus, all Enlightenment and Kensho, all the "destination" beyond "coming" or "going" or "getting there", when realized as such (Kensho). This ride is what we make it.

    ...

    Realizing that fact – that the most “ordinary” is sacred and whole and unbroken – is at the heart of Kensho! Failing to see Kensho as extraordinary insight into the extra-ordinariness and sacredness of both the sacred and ordinary is not to see “Kensho.”

    Gassho, J

    SatToday
    Last edited by Jundo; 06-23-2016 at 02:47 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  2. #2
    "Gone, gone, gone to the Other Shore, attained the Other Shore having never left." or "Going, going, going on beyond, always going on beyond, always becoming Buddha."

    I know there are a lot of translations to the Prajna Paramita Mantra. However, these two translations have spoken to me more than the others (even if they are paraphrasing). While reading this Koan, Wick's commentary, Taigen's commentary and translation (which I preferred over Wick's), and Jundo's comments, all I kept thinking about was this mantra. I could blabber on more but, I feel the mantra speaks more about what this Koan (at least from the Soto view) is all about than anything I could ever say.

    Gassho,
    Tyler

    SatToday

  3. #3
    Thank you.

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    SatToday

  4. #4
    Realization is a place to get stuck. But having such an experience, letting go of it, refining it, and maybe having additional realizations and letting go of them ....
    ... If you try to grab it here, suddenly it's over there.....
    I am still not exactly sure I understand the purpose of koans except as an exercise to "unstick" the mind. The personal meaning and insights change with additional readings and especially as others comment with their perspective.

    Gassho
    Warren
    sat today

  5. #5
    Member FaithMoon's Avatar
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    As an example, The Hsin Hsin Ming says "When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised". It is instructive to actually experience that naked clarity, otherwise it is like reading a recipe without tasting the dish.

    FaithMoon
    st
    Last edited by FaithMoon; 06-23-2016 at 05:46 AM.

  6. #6
    Eishuu
    Guest
    I have a question about what was said on the first page of commentary about "allowing our concentration to develop ever more deeply into samadhi, single-pointed attention". What is meant here? I used to practice the mindfulness of breathing, developing a focused, single-pointed attention and cultivating the dhyana factors and dhyana, but I hadn't got the impression that Zazen was about a single-pointed attention and I don't get as concentrated doing it. And later the third dhyana is mentioned. I hadn't heard the dhyanas mentioned in relation to Zen before. I'm feeling a little confused. I'd be grateful for some clarification.

    Gassho
    Lucy
    Sat today

  7. #7
    Hi Lucy, I also have thought about this myself.

    Theravada and Tibetan traditions tend to see the jhana’s as guideposts when we practice, different stages on the path of awareness. In Zen I am not so sure. It might be that all of the jhana’s become one, a gradual huge step to awareness which is achieved by continual practice. Awareness unfolds gradually from one step flowing gently and naturally into the next step.

    Maybe from a beginner’s point of view Samadhi or single point awareness is the first step on the gradual path to awakening. For example, to calm the mind, I might come back repeatedly and focus my attention on the breath. If thoughts and emotions arise the breath becomes my anchor as I catch my mind and return to the breath. Then with practice, we hopefully drop our focus of the breath and fall into Samatha or the realm of subtle mind which can also be described as stillness. Wick mentions that when achieving Samadhi something else may happen, which he refers to as an awakening experience.

    What I also am getting as I study this koan is to not chase the white rabbit when it appears. Glimpses of awareness might appear here and there in our practice, but to chase after it can be as futile as chasing a white rabbit.

    Oh well…just my thoughts rambling here and there.

    Gassho
    Mike
    Sat2day

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Lucy View Post
    I have a question about what was said on the first page of commentary about "allowing our concentration to develop ever more deeply into samadhi, single-pointed attention". What is meant here? I used to practice the mindfulness of breathing, developing a focused, single-pointed attention and cultivating the dhyana factors and dhyana, but I hadn't got the impression that Zazen was about a single-pointed attention and I don't get as concentrated doing it. And later the third dhyana is mentioned. I hadn't heard the dhyanas mentioned in relation to Zen before. I'm feeling a little confused. I'd be grateful for some clarification.

    Gassho
    Lucy
    Sat today
    Hi Lucy,

    I believe that this is the particular flavor of the mixed Rinzai-Soto "Sambokyodan" Lineage to which Rev. Wick belongs, which tends to emphasize attaining "Kensho" experiences through deep concentration upon a Koan phrase (such as "Mu"). Even their interpretation of "Shikantaza" can be a bit intense, focused on that. (My comment from earlier in this book too):

    Shishin Wick's commentary clear and insightful. However, I must also note that Shishin is in the Lineage of Yasutani Roshi, and they Practice a Soto-Rinzai hybrid that is heavily influenced by the "hard charge" to Kensho of that particular Teacher. For this reason, Yasutani emphasized an incredibly intense version of Shikantaza that is not so common outside that Lineage, but comes through in some of Shishin's description of Yasutani Roshi here. Maybe the most striking example of Yasutani Roshi's Shikantaza is this famous talk by him in which he speaks of Shikantaza as a means of intense concentration leading to an explosive Kensho ...

    When you thoroughly practice shikantaza you will sweat-even in the winter. Such intensely heightened alertness of mind cannot be maintained for long periods of time. ... Sit with such intensely heightened concentration, patience, and alertness that if someone were to touch you while you are sitting, there would be an electrical spark! Sitting thus, you return naturally to the original Buddha, the very nature of your being.

    Then, almost anything can plunge you into the sudden realization that all beings are originally buddhas and all existence is perfect from the beginning. Experiencing this is called enlightenment. Personally experiencing this is as vivid as an explosion; regardless of how well you know the theory of explosions, only an actual explosion will do anything. In the same manner, no matter how much you know about enlightenment, until you actually experience it, you will not be intimately aware of yourself as Buddha.

    In short, shikantaza is the actual practice of buddhahood itself from the very beginning-and, in diligently practicing shikantaza, when the time comes, one will realize that very fact.

    However, to practice in this manner can require a long time to attain enlightenment, and such practice should never be discontinued until one fully realizes enlightenment. Even after attaining great enlightenment and even if one becomes a roshi, one must continue to do shikantaza forever, simply because shikantaza is the actualization of enlightenment itself.
    http://www.dailyzen.com/zen/zen_reading0903.asp

    It is a very instrumental and goal oriented view of Shikantaza. In fact, many or most of the Western Teachers in that Lineages seem to have softened a bit in their approach from Yasutani's fire and brimstone, but they still tend to present Shikantaza in a rather instrumental way that is found in some of what Shishin says here.
    Sambokyodan Lineages have been very wide-spread in the West for historical reasons (many many well know teachers such as Maezumi Roshi, Kapleau Roshi, Aitken Roshi and all their many students come from the Yasutani line), but not so much in Japan where it is a small group and the emphasis on "Kensho" is rather unusual. I have written about that here.

    http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...l=1#post148969

    In general, my understanding of the place of the Jhanas (in Sanskrit "Dhyāna") in Soto Zen Shikantaza is as follows: Our way is not to seek or run after Jhanas, highly concentrated Samadhi or extra-ordinary mental states or bliss ... although there will be times when such arises. If such arises, also let such go. Also, there was an interesting book a few years ago by a Western Theravada teacher that I summarize here. PERHAPS Shikantaza is very much resonant of the so-called "Fourth Jhana" (the one the Buddha recommended as the ultimate path in this world) as described in the old Suttas before the Commentaries modified their interpretation. I have written about this before.

    A book that should be mentioned is the recent "The Experience of Samadhi" by Richard Shankman, a survey of historical and modern Theravadan interpretations of Samadhi and Jhana. What is particularly interesting in reading the book is the extent of disagreement and widely varied interpretations from teacher to teacher, Sri Lankan vs. Burmese vs. Thai vs. Westerners, Lineage to Lineage even in that neck of the Buddhist world. Here is a Buddhistgeeks interview the author gave ... and as he discusses, there is little agreement, either currently or in centuries past, among the South Asian traditions either about "what the Buddha taught", or at least, how to interpret "what the Buddha taught" on the subject of Jhana. In the book, he interviews about two dozen teachers in South Asian traditions, and gets about two dozen, often very dissimilar interpretations.

    We continue our discussion with insight meditation teacher and author, Richard Shankman. In this episode we continue to dissect the different kinds of samadhi and their respective fruits--what in the Theravada tradition are called jhana (or "meditative absorption"). According to Shankman there are two ways of approaching the attainment of jhana, one as was taught in the original canonical texts of the Theravada, the Pali Suttas, and the other from the later commentaries on the Buddha's teachings, the Vishudimagga. As a result we get two different forms of jhana--one called Sutta jhana and the other called Vishudimagga jhana. ...

    http://personallifemedia.com/guests/...chard-shankman
    Richard Shankman's book makes one very interesting point that, perhaps, can be interpreted to mean that practices such as Shikantaza and the like actually cut right to the summit of Jhana practice. You see, it might perhaps be argued (from some interpretations presented in the book) that Shikantaza practice is very close to what is referred to as the "Fourth Jhana in the Suttas" ... as opposed to the highly concentrated, hyper-absorbed Visuddhimagga commentary version. The Fourth Jhana in the Pali Suttas was considered the 'summit' of Jhana practice (as the higher Jhana, No. 5 to 8, were not encouraged as a kind of otherworldly 'dead end') and appears to manifest (quoting the sutta descriptions in the book) "an abandoning of pleasure, pain, attractions/aversions, a dropping of both joy and grief", a dropping away of both rapture and bliss states, resulting in a "purity of mindfulness" and "equanimity". Combine this with the fact that, more than a "one pointed mind absorbed into a particular object", there is a "unification of mind" (described as a broader awareness around the object of meditation ... whereby the "mind itself becomes collected and unmoving, but not the objects of awareness, as mindfulness becomes lucid, effortless and unbroken" (See, for examples. pages 82-83 here))

    http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=l...page&q&f=false

    A bit of the discussion of the highest (in Buddhist Practice) "Fourth Jhana", and its emphasis on equanimity while present amid circumstances (and a dropping of bliss states), can be found on page 49.

    This is very close to a description of Shikantaza, for example, as dropping all aversions and attractions, finding unification of mind, collected and unmoving, effortless and unbroken, in/as/through/not removed from the life, circumstances, complexities which surround us and are us, sitting still with what is just as it is.
    In any case, all of Buddhism is precisely the same even when radically different, very different even though always the same. Much as different chefs cooking the Tofu in their way with various flavors.

    Gassho, J

    SatToday
    Last edited by Jundo; 06-25-2016 at 06:43 PM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  9. #9
    Very interesting Jundo. Thank you for that discussion!

    Gassho,
    Tyler

    SatToday

  10. #10
    Eishuu
    Guest
    Thanks Takoda for your thoughts. Yes the koan seems to be about not chasing after states of mind and an encouragement to keep letting go whatever arises. Jundo, thanks so much for the explanation. I thought it didn't feel like the approach you teach here. I had been wondering for some time about the relationship of the dhyanas to Zazen so that's really helpful.

    Gassho
    Lucy

  11. #11
    Yes...thank you Jundo for your explanation!

    Deep bows
    Gassho
    Mike

    Sat2day

  12. #12
    Member Roland's Avatar
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    Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium

    BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 56

    Quote Originally Posted by Lucy View Post
    Thanks Takoda for your thoughts. Yes the koan seems to be about not chasing after states of mind and an encouragement to keep letting go whatever arises. Jundo, thanks so much for the explanation. I thought it didn't feel like the approach you teach here. I had been wondering for some time about the relationship of the dhyanas to Zazen so that's really helpful.

    Gassho
    Lucy
    Yes Lucy, I kind of feel that 'letting go whatever arises', which gives me a weird feeling of liberation.

    Thank you all for discussing these koans.

    Gassho

    Roland
    #SatToday

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