Good morning!
This is the last day of our equinox sesshin. It seems that it is truly getting colder after the equinox day. The night is getting longer and darker with the brighter morning star, Orion, etc.
Equanimity (upeckhâ, lit. throwing away), at the fourth stage of zen (chan, jhâna, dhyâna), is a very unique practice. Maybe this practice of realizing nirvana is the very unique and significant point of the Awakened Way.
What is theAwakened Way? The Buddha talked about the significance of theAwakened Way– its rarity, difficulty, and preciousness – by comparing it with a blind turtle sticking its head into a hole of a floating log in the ocean.
He compared birth as human being with a blind turtle living at the bottom of the great ocean, coming up to the surface once in a hundred years, and accidentally sticking its head into a hole of an aimlessly floating log: it’s just as rare.
The “Mu” (無: no or nothing) koan is the most popular one especially in the Rinzai tradition. I heard a lot of shouting of “Mu” from the dokusan (private interview: 独参) room at my first one-week sesshin at Osaka Roshi’s Shakamuni-kai.
When Joshu (Zhaozhou: 趙州) was asked if a dog has the Buddha nature, he said, “No.” A monk asked, “Why not a dog, when all have the Buddha nature?” Joshu said, “Because it has karma consciousness.”
On another occasion when asked the same question, he also said, “Yes.” To the asking monk he said, “It committed to sticking itself into the skin bag on purpose.” He is famous for many popular koans – cypress tree, drinking tea, etc.
All beings are like blind turtles, because of their karma consciousness, even though they have the Buddha nature. The parable of a blind turtle sticking its head into a hole of a log really expresses our own human condition well.
Even though humans originally have the Buddha nature, they stick themselves into skin bags on purpose. This is evolution – differentiation, individualizing. Thus, all beings become karma machines and minded, losing the original harmony.
We have the expression of inu-chikusho, dog-domesticated (beasts). Dogs are faithful animals. So we live together with them. When they are stuck into their skin bags, they become limited and enslaved by them – devolution.
With the self view, self desire, and self attachment and action, we become more and more limited. Thus we lose our origin in beginningless nescience. Scientist call it the “selfish gene” – true especially with humans.
Humans are the most advanced in their body-brain evolution, with tools and sciences. That is why the Buddha found and taught za-zen (sitting zen: 坐禅) as the cure for their problem of samsara and suffering, for stopping all karma evils.
The Buddha also said that the world would be destroyed by this selfishness in nescience. That was why he came into the world – to save it from destruction – because he prognosticated that the world would eventually be destroyed.
Now from the dog’s perspective humans are beasts or worse, even though humans consider other beings – hell beings, hungry ghosts, fighting devils, and beasts – inferior to them. The human species is now the worst causing mass extinction, etc.
It is good for the turtle to come up to the surface of the ocean from the darkest bottom – that’s why it became blind. But it is unfortunate for it to stick its head into the hole. It must split the log open and also open its eyes.
If it could do that, and reach and climb up the yonder shore, it would be good for itself or for us humans at least to see the broad sky and the bright sun, stars, the beautiful scenes, etc. rather than staying at the deep dark bottom of the ocean.
It would be better for us and for all to understand how we can live with the whole world in a wholly wholesome way in truth, peace, goodness, and beauty, not caught up in delusion, doubt, desire, discrimination, destruction, etc.
The Awakened Way tells us the three steps (sando: 三道) of delusion, action, and suffering. We need to become awakened to this and see the bright limitless light and life. Then we will be free and we’ll enjoy nirvana and awakening.
When we are awakened, we settle in samâdhi (concentration) or nirvana in the one unified world. Samâdhi power is attained only by our own practice, by coming up to the yonder shore or summit step by step with cure and care.
Then we can command the world from that summit and enjoy it. All want to bloom and bear fruit. How can we bloom? When we sow seeds and plant seedlings, water and weed them, we can enjoy them as we enjoy here now.
That is blooming with oneself and others together at the same time. Then, the new world opens up in limitless life, light, liberation, love, and learning. Only buddhas and buddhas see, share, and strive in this – limitlessly.
The Awakened Wayis not easy. So, we don’t see many practicing it. But if we really want to realize unconditioned peace and unsurpassed awakening and enjoy amrita, ambrosia of immortality, we must practice constantly.
By practice only can we enjoy the wholly wholesome world in pure peace and prognosis. We must work for even a person or half a person to truly practice and enjoy flowering and fruition as buddhas – difficult, but possible for anyone.
9/23/12
