And thus, we move forward with this great teaching from Yuanwu! He says, “Among the enlightened adepts, being able to speak the truth has nothing to do with the tongue, and being able to talk about the Dharma is not a matter of words (page 62).[1]
I spent the Sunday afternoon at my prison ministry where 14 men sitting “behind the fence” studied and sat and did kinhin for over three hours. Their sitting was done wherever they could do it—on the floor with a small yoga mat beneath them, in a wheelchair to which they were confined, or in a chair attached to a desk like you used to use in high school. But sit they did!
They were not in a beautiful zendo in a forest or in a church where I sit with the Southern Palm Zen Group, or a person’s home filled with love, patience, and compassion—yet their dedication to the principles and practices of Zen were deep and knowing and learning and forgetting. As Yuanwu said “not a matter of words.”
Yuanwu goes on to write:
Anything the ancients said was intended only so that people would directly experience the fundamental reality. Thus, the teachings of the sutras are like a finger pointing to the moon, and the sayings of the Zen masters are like a piece of tile used to knock on a door (page 62).
We were studying the story of Huineng and his opportunity to receive dharma 
transmission in secret from the fifth ancestor Yuquan Shenxiu. As the story is told the fifth ancestor was getting old and looking for a successor and so a challenge was given to all the students to write a poem to show their understanding of the dharma. One student wrote a poem which indicated that in order to reach enlightenment or awakening we had to continuously be polishing the mirror because it was always collecting dust.
Huineng on the other hand could neither read nor write so he had a fellow monk help him out and when he heard this idea he said, “. . .that is not deep enough.” He asked his friend to write his version which ended in “Fundamentally there is not a single thing. Where could dust arise?” In Buddhism we believe that everything is completely empty thus there is no place for the “dust” to be. Shohaku Okumura says, “there is nothing to have to polish and nothing we have to eliminate. That was Huineng’s understanding (page 211).”[2]
Quantum physics agrees with this ancient teaching: “nothing really exists without the apparatus defining it.”[3] Although there is nothing to define (no dust to wipe away) our human curiosity and questioning moves us to do it anyway. It moves us to find the answers, to investigate, to study, to learn, and to finally practice what we have learned and bring those ideas and principals into our lives. We do this by simply sitting, clearing our minds of all thoughts of “things,” and discovering that secret sacred place within us devoid of words. Truth is simply conveyed through our actions toward others and self. What “no words” have you spoken today?! What “no actions” have you taken?
[1] Cleary J.C. and Cleary, T. (1994) Zen Letters Teachings of Yuanwu. Boston & London: Shambhala
[2] Okumura, S. (2012) Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts Wisdom Publications: Boston
[3] http://www.neurohackers.com/index.php/fr/menu-top-neurotheque/68-cat-nh-spirituality/95-emptiness-relativity-a-quantum-physics-dalai-lama
[4] Picture Hui-neng Cutting Bamboo, by Liang K’ai
tually realized by the person.
Meet Your Good Today… Part 13 Liberation
Posted in attachment, BUddhism, cause and effect, clinging, fears, happiness, Kazuaki Tanahashi, love, meditation, Mindfulness, self-help, sickness, suffering, The Four Sufferings, Uncategorized, wisdom, Zen, Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary, tagged "Setting Out the Bowls", anger, anxiety, boundlessness, Buddah, Buddha, Buddhism, challenges, compassion, contemplation, fear, goals, happiness, health, joy, Kazuaki Tanahashi, liberation, life, love, meditation, mind, mindfulness, monasteries, oryoki, patience, peace, sitting, stinkin thinkin, suffering, Tathagata, Zazen, Zen, Zen Buddhism on August 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I opened up one of my favorite books by Kazuaki Tanahashi, Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary, looking for some sage advice today and sure enough I got it!
In Buddhist monasteries you may sit and eat in oryoki style which is sitting on the floor with your bowls of food in front of you. The word oryoki roughly means “that which contains just enough.”[1] When you are ordained you receive these three bowls nested together with chopsticks and wrapped in a napkin. Additionally, you carry these with you wherever you travel. This allows you to dine sitting anywhere.
When was the last time you took a meal where you focused your time and energy on the eating. Where you did not fill the plate to over flowing and eat way too much—but just enough to be satisfied. If you focus your attention on the food and savor the textures and the flavors and the smells your food will taste better, it will satisfy you more, and the process will ultimately have you eating less.
You will be liberated from indigestion that is caused by the ruminations controlling your mind from the day or the week of that nasty boss, or the bills, or the fears and anxieties of everyday living. You can focus on the boundlessness of that liberation and know that through silence comes liberation, whether the silence is during a meal, during your meditation, walking the dog, or at break during your workday.
Our lives are filled with noise from the TV, radio, cellphone, traffic, people talking, children crying, or the chatter inside our heads. Silence is a “utensil” that you can use to clear your mind and body of irritations, “stinkin thinkin,” and more. Silence can bring you liberation from the self-talk and exaggerations that we create about our life and its circumstances. Liberate yourself from hyperbole, and critical thinking, and see how peaceful your life can be. See how filled with gratitude, love, and compassion it can be. Then watch your physical ails slowly disappear into nothingness.
Remember you are boundless and limitless only if you think you are! Create your own “three wheels” of peace, love, and compassion in your body, mind, and spirit then watch what happens in your life—liberation!
Let me know how it goes!
Shokai
[1] The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (1991) Shambhala Press:Boston
[2] The three wheels of boundlessness:
The Four Noble Truths
Emptiness
Buddha Nature
[3] Tanahashi, K. (2015) Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary. Shambala: Boston & London
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