Mountains Walk

In Dogen's "Mountains and Waters Sutra" (Sansui-kyo), he states, "Mountains' walking is just like human walking...if you doubt mountains' walking, you do not know your own walking; it is not that you do not walk, but that you do not know or understand your own walking."

source

I have put this into practice and realized it's universal with all activities.  When we say "I" am walking, it's not just me walking.  The ground is also walking with us.  If there were no ground, how could walking take place?  The same goes for virtually any activity.  "I" don't shovel snow; the shovel, snow and myself shovel snow.  Even for driving, "You" don't drive; the car, the road, and yourself drive.


Having put this into practice, I have experienced a deeper connection with everything I do.  I've found it can be done with everything I do including cooking, dish-washing, painting, etc.  This is a great practice in mindfulness.  You become one with everything you are doing while realizing this, which Katagiri Roshi himself explains this topic in his book Each Moment is the Universe, and calls it "The great enlightenment."


This is also a great example of why Zen is considered "practice-realization."  We don't have to wait for enlightenment, it happens all the time if we put into practice the teachings and see the world from what some call "Big Mind" or "Universal Mind."


I highly recommend practicing the "Mountains walk" frame of mind.

In Gassho.

Conformity of Form

Very often while studying Buddhism we hear two words, "FORM" and "EMPTINESS."  What exactly do these words mean?  I've had many conversations on the topic of Form and Emptiness.  It can be a heavy topic, because it is one that challenges much of how we have been taught for most of our lives.

I will attempt to do my best (from what I have found through my teachings and studies) to explain exactly what form and emptiness are, in hopes that it will enlighten others who may not exactly know what the two are (or are not).

Let's start with Form.  Form (like many other terms in Buddhism) has a double meaning.  Our eyes, ears, tongue, nose, sensations, and mind (namely the Five Aggregates and imagination or mind) create form.  It is how we function in the world.  As the Dhammapada and many sutras say, "With out thoughts, we make the world," or, "Our perception of the world is merely a manifestation of our minds."  This doesn't mean we create the world with our minds, it means our interpretations and imaginations create a biased reality by our senses and minds, which is not true reality.

Why is it not true reality? Because form is emptiness......let me explain. Form is a what our mind grasps to for the purpose of interpretation.  We create words, opinions, and ideas based on interpretations of form. 

In the Lankavatara Sutra, the Buddha tells us that because of our ignorance and biased ideas of words and ideas of forms, we develop a false reality.  In absolute reality, words and forms are empty.  Now emptiness is another confusing term.

Emptiness doesn't mean that things are unsubstantial, invalid, or without purpose.  Emptiness is another word for "that which is without form or self."  The tree has no self because it is part of the the dirt, sun, rain, and wind from which it grows.  Just as we are without self because of the many elements and ancestors which have come together to create us.

Also, form implies another thing.  We may see a pond as a nice piece of scenery or fishing-hole.  What of the fish?  The fish, tadpoles, frogs and dragonflies see that pond as home.  Just as you may see your house as home, termites see that as food, and so on.  So form is only implied by the mind.

The Buddha also says in the Lankavatara Sutra that when we can achieve the stage of imagelessness and egolessness, we will be emancipated.  Images and egos are nothing but implications of form.  So in absolute reality: style, language, perceptions, feelings, false-imaginations,  and things of the like are only empty and subject to the mind.

This is merely a brief description of the terms in mind, there of course, is much more to it, I pray this post has made sense and helped those to may not have previously understood.  Many Blessing and Gassho.

From the Heart

The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra is said to contain the essence of Truth realized by all Buddhas and Bodhisattva-Mahasatvas.  In it's message, it discusses the realization of emptiness, form, etc. As Soto practitioners, and I'm sure in other practices, we chant this every day.

Below are Japanese and English translations, as well as an accompanying video of the chant.  May this sutra help you along your path.



Maka Hannya Haramita ShingyoKan ji zai bo satsu. Gyo jin han-nya ha ra mi ta ji. Sho ken go on kai ku. Do is-sai ku yaku.
Sha ri shi. Shiki fu i ku. Ku fu i shiki. Shiki soku ze ku. Ku soku ze shiki. Ju so gyo shiki. Yaku bu nyo ze. Sha ri shi. Ze sho ho ku so. Fu sho fu metsu. Fu ku fu jo. Fu zo fu gen. Ze ko ku chu. Mu shiki mu ju so gyo shiki.
Mu gen ni bi zes shin ni. Mu shiki sho ko mi soku ho. Mu gen kai nai shi mu i shiki kai. Mu mu myo yaku mu mu myo jin. Nai shi mu ro shi. Yaku mu ro shi jin. Mu ku shu metsu do. Mu chi yaku mu toku. I mu sho toku ko.
Bo dai sat-ta e han-nya ha ra mi ta ko. Shin mu ke ge mu ke ge ko. Mu u ku fu. On ri is-sai ten do mu so. Ku gyo ne han. San ze sho butsu. E han-nya ha ra mi ta ko. Toku a noku ta ra san myaku san bo dai. Ko chi han-nya ha ra mi ta. Ze dai jin shu. Ze dai myo shu. Ze mu jo shu. Ze mu to do shu. No jo is-sai ku. Shin jitsu fu ko. Ko setsu han-nya ha ra mi ta shu. Soku setsu shu watsu. Gya tei, gya tei, ha ra gya tei. Hara so gya tei. Bo ji sowa ka. Han-nya Shin gyo.

English
Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra

Avalokiteshavara Bodhisattva, when deeply practicing prajna paramita, clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty (ku) andthus relieved all suffering.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itselfform. Sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness; they neither arise nor cease, are neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, given emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realm of sight… no realm of mind consciousness. There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance… neither old age and death, nor extinction of old age and death; no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path; no knowledge and no attainment.

With nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on prajna paramita, and thus the mind is without hindrance. Without hindrance, there is no fear. Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana. All buddhas of past, present, and future rely on prajna paramita, and thereby attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

Therefore, know the prajna paramita as the great miraculous mantra, the great bright mantra, the supreme mantra, the incomparable mantra, which removes all suffering and is true, not false. Therefore we proclaim the prajna paramita mantra, the mantra that says:

"Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha."
(Text from International Zen Association)

To Suffer Is To Practice

When I was taught that suffering and enlightenment are one in the same, it was hard for me to accept immediately.  I looked at it more deeply, over time realized how true it is.

Lotus Flowers

 

Everyone suffers daily.  To practice is how to handle the suffering, and work towards the end of that suffering.  I was listening to a Dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, and he said, "Suffering is to enlightenment as mud is to the lotus flower.  Without suffering we cannot know enlightenment, without mud a lotus cannot bloom."  This makes sense why the lotus is such an icon and major symbol in Buddhism.

We can never truly stop suffering, it is a holy truth.  It's the manner in which we accept it and work with it that defines our practice.  From my own practice, much of my suffering stems from my desires and ego.  To each person it may be different in their practice.  This is also why enlightenment/Buddhism is a very personal experience and why the Buddha tells us to "Find our own light."

Having learned this personally, my practice has taken on more meaning.   To live is to suffer, to suffer is to practice, to practice is joy.  We are all enlightened beings and we all suffer. All we need is to practice with our lives to realize this and then we can know peace.

Gassho

Why Divide When You Can Add?

Lately, I've been focusing a lot of time on reading a variety of Buddhist literature and scriptures from different traditions. I used to think I was purely a "Zen" Buddhist, but the more I read from the other traditions and sects, I am confronted with this thought:
All of the Buddhist traditions have many lessons and valuable practices.  Why choose only one?  Why divide when you can add?

Division of Buddhist Traditions

Honestly, I cannot choose only one.  I have learned so much from studying all of them.  Some of the practices are different, sure, but I think all of them holds a piece of the pie to crossing to the other shore.
Do you think the Buddha divided his enlightenment into sects?  Of course not. 

Theravada Monks

I'm sure language and culture most likely play a role in the early development of Buddhism and the different traditions, but I think it's more important to learn everything we can from all of the different traditions.  It's the 21st century. We have access and ability.  We can order books that have been translated from other languages in other lands, ride airplanes to go on retreats to other places, visit monasteries, etc.



There is only one Dharma.  And many paths may lead the way. With so many traditions holding such an abundance of wisdom, why wouldn't you want to take advantage of all of them?  There are the similar key points of course, (Four Noble Truths, Noble Eightfold Path, etc), but the different sects and interpretations can have distinct meanings and advice which others may not possess.

Japanese Zen Monk

Tibetan Monks

It is not my desire to push beliefs upon you.  I only wanted to share my ideas on the subject. My main point is, if the knowledge is there for the taking, why not grab it?  And I appreciate all of the traditions, otherwise we wouldn't have such a vast array of teachings.

So what do I call myself?  A Buddhist, A Disciple of the Dharma.

 I guess it's the colors that make everything beautiful.  Amituofo

Shaolin Monk

Greatest Teaching

The following is a popular Zen story:

A renowned Zen master said that his greatest teaching was this: Buddha is your own mind. So impressed by how profound this idea was, one monk decided to leave the monastery and retreat to the wilderness to meditate on this insight. There he spent 20 years as a hermit probing the great teaching. One day he met another monk who was traveling through the forest. Quickly the hermit monk learned that the traveler also had studied under the same Zen master. “Please, tell me what you know of the master's greatest teaching.” The traveler's eyes lit up and he replied, “Ah, the master has been very clear about this. He says that his greatest teaching is this: Buddha is NOT your own mind.”

This is a great lesson.  As the Bodhidharma taught, "There is no Buddha outside of this mind."  In my interpretation of the story given above, there are two truths.  When we are not mindful, or our mind is attached to material things and desire, the Buddha is not our mind.  Likewise, when we look into our Buddha-self, we are mindful and not attached to the material reality, being free of desire and suffering; hence, "Buddha is your own mind."

(The story above, and many other Zen stories can be found on my Links page under 160 Zen Stories) 

This Too, Shall Pass

One of the Buddha's most important lessons was that of impermanence.  When we can realize that everything is impermanent, we can begin to find freedom from our desires and suffering.

  

The acceptance and realization of impermanence helps us in many ways.  It can help us along in the grieving process (there is no escape of age or death), it can help us say "No" to other's offers (if I drink this alcohol, the buzz is only temporary and may cause others suffering), and physical pain (in most cases).  Even our emotions come and go, such as anger and joy.

But we can't just say to our pain/suffering, "You are impermanent, so GO AWAY!"  We need to acknowledge our suffering or pain to figure out the root cause and also to transform that suffering into healing.  Being mindful of impermanence will also help us be more appreciative of our loved ones.  We know that we wont be here forever, we know we will probably outlive our pets, and our parents.

Our bodies, scientifically, are impermanent during our life.  Different than the were roughly six to nine months ago.  Because of cell replication, old cells die off, new ones are created, and our skeletons even recycle themselves.

Thich Nhat Hanh says in his book, The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings, "Impermanence is what makes transformation possible."  This is very true.  How could we become enlightened or further ourselves if what we were (our habits, emotions, etc) were permanent?

It impermanence that helps turn suffering into joy.