Sharing experiences of Dharma study

[Tomás ESP]

I was wondering if the manner in which the zen student is expected to engage with Dharma study has been brought up in the past in the forum. I wish to delve deeper into the suggested readings, but I also feel like reading Dharma texts isn't the same as just sitting with a novel on the couch (or maybe it is?). I am currently reading the Hsin-Hsin Ming, slowly, mindfully, one chapter a day. How do you go about with Dharma study?

Gassho, Tomás
Sat&LaH

[Kokuu]

Hi Tomás

I think there are various ways to work with dharma study but slow reading is a good one, especially if you can do it with others and discuss/compare notes on what you have read.

Members here often make informal pairings in order to do this and, with Jundo's approval, I would encourage you to do the same (although you don't have to). If others know you are reading Hsin Hsin Ming, they may wish to join in. Zenkon/Dick is currently reading this aloud one chapter at a time at his Saturday sit.

I might also mention I have an audio recording that people might find useful:



Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Jundo]

I was wondering if the manner in which the zen student is expected to engage with Dharma study has been brought up in the past in the forum. I wish to delve deeper into the suggested readings, but I also feel like reading Dharma texts isn't the same as just sitting with a novel on the couch (or maybe it is?). I am currently reading the Hsin-Hsin Ming, slowly, mindfully, one chapter a day. How do you go about with Dharma study?

Gassho, Tomás
Sat&LaH

Hi Tomás,

The topic of encountering readings has been brought up many times, but is really no secret.

I think that it is important to know something about the history of a piece, who actually wrote it (the Xin Xin Ming is a wonderful work, cherished in Zen, but unlikely to have actually been written by Seng-t'san, the 3rd Chinese Ancestor of Zen). It is important to have some intellectual understanding of the doctrinal/Buddhist philosophical teachings that the work seeks to convey. This is important, for most Buddhist writings and stories (even the mysterious Koans) were created to convey specific teachings. Often works (like the Vimalakirti Sutra that we are now reading during monthly Zazenkai) can be quite messy, with many authors, sometimes seeming to preach conflicting things that ... from a Buddhist perspective ... may not be in conflict. The Xin Xin is better organized, but contains teachings which express the Perfection of Wisdom teachings (a specific genre of Mahayana Wisdom), with maybe a bit of Taoist seasoning in expression. It is important to have some discernment of this.

But at that point, we Zen folks have a special way of reading that is quite different from the usual way of reading and understanding most writings, Buddhist or otherwise (it is sometimes said that you can even read the instructions on the side of a tube of toothpaste in the following way if your eye is open and your heart wide):

We do not get caught up in intellectual tangles, lost in words, a prisoner of ideas chasing one after the next. Rather, one knows the Boundless Light of Zazen, the Wholeness of Emptiness found on the Zazen cushion, which shines through and as all things. Ours is a Way Beyond Words and Letters (not -without- words and letters, but tasting beyond words and letters). The mind becomes simple, clear, and the light of Emptiness makes statements clear. Thus, to quote the Xin Xin Ming ...

The Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose;
Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear.
Make a hairbreadth difference, and Heaven and Earth are set apart;
If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against.
The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease

The meaning of "beyond like and dislike, for or against" only becomes clear truly when we bring into understanding the Radical Equanimity of Shikantaza, sitting in its Wholeness, nothing lacking. Then, one can truly understand the meaning of "beyond like and dislike, for or against" as not some moral ambivalence or amorality, but the Beauty (Big B) which sweeps in all the ordinary beauty and ugliness of this world.

Gassho, J

Sorry to run long, more words about being wordless.

STLah

[Anchi]

Hi Tomás,

As for Dharma study, I think it’s very personal and unique to each individual and hence why they talk about 84,000 Dharma doors in the teachings. Some people need a monastic environment with a set routine and regular study of the text daily in a formal way.
For others, reading a book on the couch on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea is their study.
For others still, life itself is a Dharma study!

For myself, I follow my heart with what I need when I need it. The greatest Dharma study is to study the self.
I prefer not to read but to listen.
I should also have said that reading Dōgen daily if that is what you’re called to do.


In this I am reminded of Ikkyu and Ryokan. I attach an Ikkyu quote I always find useful.


Every day priests minutely
examine the Dharma
and endlessly chant
complicated sutras.
They should learn
how to read the love letters
sent by the wind and rain,
the snow and moon.

- Ikkyu (1394-1491)


Apologies for running long.


Gassho,

[Bion]

I guess I read with an open heart and a loose grip. I try not to expect absolute revelations and not to overemphasize the importance of the words. Realization is not the words, the words are not the IT behind the concepts they convey. Many times I recognize what I read from my own bones, from my own zazen, other times it eludes me completely and other times it is gifted to me along the way through wonderful means, whether it be Jundo’s dharma talks, some other teacher, a conversation with another dharma practitioner, a mishap, an error, an event etc My idea is, in general, to not limit the idea of study to just reading words off books and only selected books from only selected traditions ..


Sat Today

[Tairin]

Hi Tomás

I agree that the way one studies is personal and unique to the individual. I typically go into what I call “sponge mode” and try to read everything I can get my hands on…. Almost like I am studying for some future exam.

Wth my Dharma study I started off that way and quickly realized that wasn’t the best approach. These days I have settled into listening to a few different podcasts from teachers whose style resonate with me, I participate in the “Beyond Words” readings here and I slowly poke away at some independent reading (I am currently very slowly working my way through “To You” by Koodo Sawaki).

I definitely recommend participating in the Treeleaf “Beyond Words” book study. It is one thing to read a bunch of words but I find answering the questions and reading other people’s responses helps me understand what I read.

Mostly though I try to take it slow and day by day live the Dharma reinforced by my study.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Doshin]

Hi Tomás,



Every day priests minutely
examine the Dharma
and endlessly chant
complicated sutras.
They should learn
how to read the love letters
sent by the wind and rain,
the snow and moon.

- Ikkyu (1394-1491)


Apologies for running long.


Gassho,

That was very beautiful

Doshin
St

[Ryumon]

I have found, over more than three decades of studying various forms of Buddhism, that it doesn't matter that much how you study (read). You can try reading very slowly, but you won't remember much a few months later. You can try binging, and you won't remember any more (or less). What I have found is that it's the accumulation of time, the repetition of reading about ideas, and the application of those ideas to everyday life that I remember. I couldn't tell you much about any of the books I've read - though I can tell you which resonated with me the most - but they have all contributed to my understanding of the dharma. I find the most important thing is to re-read books; when I find the ones that touch you, re-read them in a year, or two, or five. Some books I've read a dozen times (such as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, the first zen book I ever bought, around 40 years ago). I always have a few dharma books on a shelf, and go back to them, reading a chapter here, an entire book there, just to refresh my mind.

I also like dipping into koan collections, in order to acquire the zen lore, the ideas, events, and expressions that are mentioned often. And, of course, the Shobogenzo, which is good to read chapters of from time to time.

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

sat

[Tosei]

I have found, over more than three decades of studying various forms of Buddhism, that it doesn't matter that much how you study (read). You can try reading very slowly, but you won't remember much a few months later. You can try binging, and you won't remember any more (or less). What I have found is that it's the accumulation of time, the repetition of reading about ideas, and the application of those ideas to everyday life that I remember. I couldn't tell you much about any of the books I've read - though I can tell you which resonated with me the most - but they have all contributed to my understanding of the dharma. I find the most important thing is to re-read books; when I find the ones that touch you, re-read them in a year, or two, or five. Some books I've read a dozen times (such as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, the first zen book I ever bought, around 40 years ago). I always have a few dharma books on a shelf, and go back to them, reading a chapter here, an entire book there, just to refresh my mind.

I also like dipping into koan collections, in order to acquire the zen lore, the ideas, events, and expressions that are mentioned often. And, of course, the Shobogenzo, which is good to read chapters of from time to time.

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

sat

Wisdom, here.

Gassho.

SatLah

[Kaishin]

I have found, over more than three decades of studying various forms of Buddhism, that it doesn't matter that much how you study (read). You can try reading very slowly, but you won't remember much a few months later. You can try binging, and you won't remember any more (or less). What I have found is that it's the accumulation of time, the repetition of reading about ideas, and the application of those ideas to everyday life that I remember. I couldn't tell you much about any of the books I've read - though I can tell you which resonated with me the most - but they have all contributed to my understanding of the dharma. I find the most important thing is to re-read books; when I find the ones that touch you, re-read them in a year, or two, or five. Some books I've read a dozen times (such as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, the first zen book I ever bought, around 40 years ago). I always have a few dharma books on a shelf, and go back to them, reading a chapter here, an entire book there, just to refresh my mind.

I also like dipping into koan collections, in order to acquire the zen lore, the ideas, events, and expressions that are mentioned often. And, of course, the Shobogenzo, which is good to read chapters of from time to time.

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

sat

Yes, I have also found this to be the case, well said! Also as Tairin said, I can go into a "sponge" mode where I will burn through a dozen dharma books in a short period, but then I'll go for a year without reading anything, or just read short bits here and there. But it's the seeping into the bones, unconsciously, over a long period that seems to make the biggest difference.

I find that my conscious retention of books (both dharma and non-) gets worse and worse as I age. I've probably read the Diamond Sutra a couple of dozen times, but when recently re-reading it, it felt like the first time again. Not sure it really matters either way, as Kirk said.

-stlah

[Zenkon]

I have found a technique used by Tibetan Buddhists to be very useful to me in understanding and incorporating new concepts or ideas - single-point analytical meditation. This is part of a three-part learning system. Part one - read, watch or listen to the new concept. Part two - think about the new concept, trying to understand it. Part three - meditate on the concept, using Analytical Meditation. This Analytical Mediation "looks" like our Zazen but is actually very different. In Analytical Meditation, the practitioner meditates as normal for few minutes to reach a calm state. Then, the practitioner focuses intently, single-pointedly on the new concept with the intent of explaining the concept to themselves, examining how the concept relates to other concepts the practitioner already understands, and fitting the new concept into the practitioner's existing overall understanding. For example, the practitioner might want to more fully understand "emptiness". After reading and thinking about Emptiness, the practitioner might meditate to a calm state, and then focus on what they have read about Emptiness, asking themselves "What is Emptiness?", "How do I see Emptiness in my life?", "Where is the Emptiness in this desk, in a certain action, in a thought?", "How does Emptiness relate to the concept of Self/No-Self?". Hoping this is helpful.

Gassho

Zenkon

sat/lah