Zen Anarchy

12 Pages·2012·0.07 MB·English

TheAnarchistLibrary
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Zen Anarchy
Max Cafard
MaxCafard
ZenAnarchy
2006
RetrievedonAugust14,2009fromraforum.info
theanarchistlibrary.org 2006

Norman Waddell (Boston and London: Shambhala, 1994).
[ET]
• Hakuin,“SongofMeditation”inD.T.Suzuki,ManualofZen
Buddhism(NewYork:GrovePress,1960).[MZ] Contents
• Hakuin,“ZazenWasan”(“SongofZazen”),translationbythe
Rochester Zen Center (Rochester, NY: The Rochester Zen
I.SmashingStatesofConsciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Center,N.D.)www.digitalzendo.com[ZW]
OriginalMinds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
• “HeartSutra”inBuddhistWisdom:ContainingTheDiamond HowEmptyIsIt? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Sutra and the Heart Sutra, translation and commentary by HaveALittleCompassion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
EdwardConze(NewYork:VintageBooks,2001).[HS] LivingInLotusLand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
PleaseIdentifyYourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
• Hui-neng,TheSutraofHui-neng,GrandMasterofZen,With II.KillingtheBuddha:Zen’sAssaultonAuthority . . . . 12
Hui-neng’s Commentary on the Diamond Sutra, translated OpenRoad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
by Thomas Cleary (Boston and London: Shambhala, 1998). StoneBuddhas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
[SH] III.TheKoan:EnteringtheJetstream . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
TheDeathofDog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
• Joshu,TheRecordedSayingsofZenMasterJoshu,translated
TheResurrectionoftheCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
byJamesGreen(Boston:Shambhala,1998).[RS]
YoMamaAShitStick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
• Lin-chi,TheZenTeachingsofMasterLin-Chi:ATranslation IfItAin’tFixed,BreakIt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
oftheLin-ChiLu.TranslatedbyBurtonWatson.(Bostonand TheWisdomofAbsurdity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
London:Shambhala,1993).[ZT] IV.LastWords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
• Low, Albert, The World: A Gateway: Commentaries on the
Mumonkan(Boston,RutlandVT,andTokyo:CharlesE.Tut-
tle,Inc.,1995.[WG]
• Nhat Hanh, Thich, Zen Keys (New York: Doubleday, 1995).
[ZK]
• Snyder, Gary, “On the Path, Off the Trail” in Practice of the
Wild(SanFrancisco:NorthPointPress,1990).[PW]
22 3
koanisaimedatevoking,orprovokingacertainstate(orperhaps
anti-state or statelessness!) of consciousness. Thus of two re-
sponsesthatseemformallyidenticalonemaybejudgedperfectly
apt, another abysmally wrong, the pretext for a compassionate
whackonthehead.Thekoanisn’tatestquestion(fillintheblank
mind?); it’s an opportunity to wake up. Sometimes the sleeper
doesn’trespondandneedsagooddousingwithcoldwater.
Thekoanisthiswakeupcall.Wakeupandlive!
IV. Last Words
In many of the classic Buddhist and Zen texts it’s important to
look at the opening and closing words. Often the parts that seem
atfirsttobeperipheral(dedications,salutations,etc.)conveysome
ofthemostcrucialmessagesintheentirework.Hakuinconcludes
hisZen101coursewithtwoinjunctions.First,hehumblybegshis
studentsto“overlookoncemoreanoldman’sfoolishgrumblings.”
Andthenheimploresthemto“pleasetakegoodcareofyourselves.”
Thuswithhisalwaysfocused,ever-attentivemindfulness,Hakuin
concludes with the essential non-essence of Buddhism and Zen:
non-attachmentandcompassion.[ET103]
SogooutandkillsomeBuddhas,andahaveareally,reallynice
day!
References
• Dogen,“Actualizing the Fundamental Point” [The Genjo
Koan] in Kazuaki Tanahashi, Enlightenment Unfolds:
The Essential of Zen Master Dogon (Boston and London:
Shambhala,1999),pp.35–39.[GK]
• Hakuin, The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin: A
Translation of the Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu, translated by
21
The real problem is not how to kick over a pitcher, but how to Zen anarchy? What could that be? Some new varia-
teardownthatdeceptivepitcheroftheego. tionsonthekoans,thoseclassicproto-dadaistZen“rid-
dles”?
TheWisdomofAbsurdity What is the Sound of One Hand making a Clenched
Fist?
So is it perfectly clear now? Do I have to draw a pitcher? If it’s
not,herearetwomorestronghintsfromsomeofourcompassion- If you see a Black Flag waving on the Flagpole, what
ateteachers. moves? Does the flag move? Does the wind move?
Hui-neng, very early in the history of Zen, generously gives Doestherevolutionarymovementmove?
awaymuchofthesecretofthe“inscrutable”responsesofZen.Zen
Whatisyouroriginalnature—beforeMay‘68,before
mind is basically dialectic in action, training the mind to practice
theSpanishRevolution,beforetheParisCommune?
spontaneouslyinoneseverydaylifewhatsomephilosophershave
merelywrittenabout.NoticethatHui-nengrecommendsanexplic- Somehowthisdoesn’tseemquiteright.Andinfact,it’sunneces-
itlyanarchicmethod,thatis,onethatsubvertsprinciples:“Ifpeople sary.Fromthebeginning,Zenwasmoreanarchicthananarchism.
question you about principles, if they ask about being, reply with Wecantakeitonitsownterms.Justsoyoudon’tthinkI’mmaking
nonbeing;iftheyaskaboutnonbeing,replywithbeing.Iftheyask it all up, I’ll cite some of the greatest and most highly-respected
abouttheordinary,replywiththeholy;iftheyaskabouttheholy, (and respectfully ridiculed) figures in the history of Zen, includ-
reply with the ordinary; the two paths are relative to each other, ing Hui-Neng (638–713), the Sixth Patriarch, Lin-Chi (d. 867), the
producingtheprincipleofthemiddleway.”[SH72] founderoftheRinzaischool,Mumon(1183–1260),theRinzaimas-
The first Western Zen master, Heraclitus, said much the same ter who assembled one of the most famous collections of koans,
thing:“Thepathupandthepathdownareoneandthesame.”Soif Dogen (1200–1253), the founder of Soto, the second major school,
theyaskabouteitherpath,the“opposite-way”responsewillshow andHakuin(1685–1768),thegreatZenmaster,poetandartistwho
their identity. Hui-neng might have added that if they ask about revitalizedZenpractice.
the middle way, reply with the most radical extremes! So this is
partofthesensebehindthenonsense.Howeverastrulygenerous
I. Smashing States of Consciousness
and compassionate as Hui-neng was, he didn’t really give all that
muchaway.Hegaveawayfreemenus,buthedidn’tgiveawayfree
This is what all the great teachers show: Zen is the practice of
food.Fordescribinghowitworksisnotthesameasreleasingthe
anarchy(an-arche)inthestrictestandmostsuper-orthodoxsense.
spontaneityofconsciousnessthatallowsittowork.It’sstillupto
It rejects all “arches” or principles — supposedly transcendent
ustoworkoutourownspontaneitywithdiligence.
sources of truth and reality, which are really no more than fixed
Another helpful hint comes from contemporary Zen master
ideas, mental habits and prejudices that help create the illusion
Thich Nhat Hanh. He says that “the response to the koan lies in
of dominating reality. These “principles” are not mere innocuous
the life of the practitioner.” [ZK 57]. The koan is not a puzzle or
ideas. They are Imperialistic Principalities that intrude their
riddle with one correct answer that the student has to guess. The
sovereign power into our very minds and spirits. As anti-statist
20 5
as we may try to be, our efforts will come to little if our state Apparentlyifyoumeetthefecesontheroadyoudon’tkillit,you
of mind is a mind of state. Zen helps us dispose of the clutter of carry it away. Get the picture? Catch bullshit at four. Serious Zen
authoritarianideologicalgarbagethatautomaticallycollectsinour practice.Somebodyhastodoitandveryfewareinterested.
normal,well-adjustedmind,sothatwebecomefreetoexperience Shibayama says that “for Master Unmon, here, the whole uni-
and appreciate the world, nature, and the “Ten Thousand Things,” versewasashit-stick.”[ZC161]Right,we’veallhaddayslikethat.
the myriad beings around us, rather than just using them as fuel But no, he means that there is “no room for such an idle distinc-
forourill-fatedegoisticcravings. tion as dirty and clean.” [ZC 161] However, as true as this might
Zen is also the strictest and most super-orthodox form of Bud- beit’salsoabittooobvious.Shibayamawarnsthatthekoan’saim
dhism—andatthesametimethemosticonoclastic,revolutionary ofawakeningshouldneverbesubordinatedtothequestforarea-
and anarchistic one. The roots of Zen go back to the beginnings sonable or ingenious response. On the other hand, he adds that
oftheBuddhisttradition—nottoanyfoundingsacreddocuments theshit-stickhas“anotherroletoplay”thatcan’tbeoverlooked:it
ortoanysuccessionofinfallibleauthorities,buttotheexperience “roots out any possible preoccupation in the student’s mind such
that started the tradition: the anarchic mind! Forget the “ism” of as‘virtuousBuddha,inviolableholiness’andthelike.”[ZC162]
Buddhism.It’snotultimatelyaboutdoctrinesandbeliefs.The“Bud- Whateverelseitmightbe,theshit-stickisacureforallkindsof
dha” that it’s named after means simply the awakened mind or HolyShit.
somebody, anyolebody, who happens to “have” that kind of mind.
AndZen(orCh’an,inChinese)meanssimplymeditation,whichis IfItAin’tFixed,BreakIt
justallowingthemindtobefree,wild,awake,andaware.It’snot
Andnothingisfixed!ThefamousmasterHyakujowantedtofind
about the occasional or even regular practice of certain standard-
anabbotforamonastery.Heputapitcheronthefloorandasked
ized forms of activity (sitting and walking meditation, koan prac-
whatitwas,adding,“Don’tsayit’sapitcher.”Someofthesmarter
tice, being inscrutable, trying to look enlightened, etc.). Equating
monkscameupwithsmartthingstosay.ThenIsanthecookcame
meditationwithsilentsittingissomethingthatZensimplywillnot
upandkickeditover,breakingit.Bingo!Isangottobeabbot.The
stand for! Zen is also intimately linked to the absurd, but it can’t
moralofthisstory:Theurgetodestroyapitcherisacreativeurge
be reduced to doing and saying absurd things, as in the popular
also.Whichdoesn’tmeanthatwecanachieveanawakenedmind
caricatureofZen.Zenisnotnihilism,butis(likeallBuddhism)the
ifwekickoverapitchereverytimeweseeone.It’sbeendone!
MiddleWaybetweenhopelessnihilismandrigiddogmatism(does
Commentingonthisfamouskoan,Shibayamasaysthatthe“nat-
adogmatisthaveaBuddha-nature?).
uralandfreeworkingflowingoutoftrueZenspirituality”should
neverbeconfusedwith“unusualoreccentricbehaviorwithastink
OriginalMinds
ofZen.”(287)Isn’tthistrueofallbehaviorthat“reeksofanarchy.”
Zen is also the practice of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) Howfreefromarcheisitreally?Isitfreefromthearcheofreactive
philosophy. In particular, the form called prasangika, the philo- rebellion? Is it free from the arche of egoistic accumulation? Is it
sophical anti-philosophy of the great Indian sage Nagarjuna (c. freefromthearcheofself-righteousness?
150–250).It’ssaidthatthekingoftheNagas,araceofsuperhuman
6 19
itonhishead,turnedaroundandwalkedout.Nansensaid,“Ifyou serpent people, appeared to Nagarjuna and gave him the Prajna-
hadbeenthere,youwouldhavesavedthecat!” paramita (Perfection of Wisdom) sutras. Western supernatural
Joshu’s action was a totally spontaneous, right? His lightening snakesaresneakyanddeceiveuswithdangerousknowledge,but
Zen mind was not disturbed by mere logical reasoning. How Zen Easternonesarecompassionateandhelpuspoordeludedhumans
it is! Or was there actually an underlying logic? The logic of re- gain a little wisdom. Awakened by the wisdom he found in the
versal. To act by not acting. To say something by saying nothing. sutras,Nagarjunawentontodemonstratethatalldiscourseabout
The sandal’s place is reversed, from the toe to the head. Things the nature of reality is nonsense. Actually he showed that it is
are turned heals over head. Joshu puts Nansen in the place of the nonsense, it isn’t nonsense, it both is and isn’t nonsense, and it
cat. Where was Nansen’s compassion? Joshu puts himself in the neither is nor isn’t nonsense. Then he showed that everything he
place of Nansen, who has been placed in the place of the cat. Mu- just showed isn’t true. Actually that it is true, it isn’t true, it both
mon alludes to all these reversals: “Had Joshu only been there,/ is and isn’t true, and it neither is nor isn’t true. Then he showed
He would have taken action,/ Had he snatched the sword away,/ that all this stuff he just showed about truth is nonsense, etc. etc.
Nansenwouldhavebeggedforhislife.”[ZC109] We could go on but you get the point. Zen practitioners got it,
Shibayamasuggeststhatthemonkswereengagingin“specula- and decided to create their own unique ways of using words and
tivereligiousarguments.”[ZC110]Somethingsimilartothespec- conceptstodestroyourillusionsaboutwordsandconcepts.
ulativepoliticalargumentsoftoday,thoughwiththeinternet,po- Going even further back in history, Zen’s origin can be traced
litical monks from east, west and every other direction can now back to the time that Shakyamuni Buddha went to Bodhgaya, sat
jointogethertodissectcatsinamilliondifferentways.AlbertLow downundertheBodhiTreeandinventedmeditation.Ofcoursehe
notes that it is said that “the sword of prajna” that Nansen used didn’t really invent it but that’s as good a point as any to mark
to kill the cat is “a sword that cuts not in two but in one.” [WG itsbeginningandwehaveallthosefantasticstatuestoremindus
112]Maybeitshouldbesaidthatitcutsintonone!It’sthemagical of him sitting there. You can almost hear the giant sucking sound
swordthatuncuts! as the void begins to swallow everything up! Anyway, Zen is the
Thebladethatuncutsusfromthecat,andfromeverythingelse. meditationschool,soitsverynamepointsbacktothatexperience.
Anothereventthat’ssometimesseenastheoriginofZen(can’t
YoMamaAShitStick somethinghaveseveralorigins?)isShakyamuniBuddha’sfamous
FlowerSermonatVulturePeak.Ahugethrongassembledtohear
“The Buddha is a Shit Stick.” “Yo Mama a Shit Stick.” The one
his Buddhaship’s profound words. Many of them must have been
koanwithaclearsolution.ButZenneverletsustaketheeasyway
desperate for an infallible guru to save them from all that angry
out.Letusinvestigatefurther.
karma snapping at their asses. But all he did was silently hold up
“AmonkaskedUnmon,‘WhatisBuddha?’Unmonsaid,‘Ashit-
aflowerbeforetheteemingmultitude.(Ifyouthinkthislousyarti-
stick!’(Kan-shiketsu)”(161)Therehavebeenalotoftheoriesabout
cleisadisappointment,imaginewhattheythought!).Butasingle
theintriguingquestionoftheexactnatureifthisfamousshitstick.
person, Kashyapa, smiled, showing that at least one person got it.
Shibayama says it may have been “a bamboo tool used in ancient
Thatthere’snothingtoget!Thiscouldalsobelookeduponasthe
China to pick up and take away feces from the road.” [ZC 161]
pointatwhichironyenteredthehistoryofthought,atraditioncar-
18 7
riedonfiercelybyZen,butmuchneglectedbylaterdeadlyserious transcendsbothyesandno,tothereligiousexperienceoftheTruth
spiritual and political tendencies, including the most radical and one can attain when he casts away his discriminating mind.” [ZC
anarchisticones. 21]ButevenashebetraysthesecretofMu,ShibayamaRoshitricks
thereader.Forif“Mu”transcendsbothyesandno,itwillalsotran-
HowEmptyIsIt? scend “any religious experience of the Truth,” which it will bru-
tally murder along with the various Buddhas and Patriarchs that
MostofthetimewhentheBuddhadidsermonshedidtalk,but
Shibayama says we slay with the Great Sword of Mu. And when
hetendedtoemphasizethatallthings—includinghisownwords
wecastawaythediscriminatingmind,don’twecastadiscriminat-
and concepts — are empty. What he meant by that is that like ev-
ingeyeoneverythingwesee,includingtheworksofMumonand
erything else they’re empty of “inherent being” or substantiality.
ShibayamaRoshi?
They’renothingbutalie“inthemselves.”Thetruthisalwayselse-
Shibayamahimselflatersaysthatwhileweareconceptualizing
where—hiswordsandeverythingelsecanonlybeunderstoodas
“transcendingbothyesandno,”the“real‘Mu’islostforever.”[ZC
inseparablepartsofaninterrelatedweb.Thiswebisoftenpictured
22] Another monk asked Joshu, “Does a dog have a Buddha Na-
as“TheJewelNetofIndra,”aninfiniteexpanseofgems,eachone
ture?”Joshusaid,“U!”Yes!HadJoshiuthendecidedtocomedown
reflectingthelightofalltheothers.Wedistorttheinterconnected-
on the side of spiritual correctness? Not while the sound of “Mu”
ness and interdetermination of the entire infinitely — faceted In-
isstillechoinginthebackground.
tergalactic Net when we abstract separate objects and egos from
Doesadogeverappearinthiskoan?Giveitabone!
it.
This is a very radical teaching. Blake had the same idea: that if
TheResurrectionof theCat
thedoorsofperceptionwerecleansedeverythingwouldappearas
itis:Infinite.TheHeartSutra,whichisoneofthemostimportant AtNansen’stemplethemonksoftheEastHallandthemonksof
Buddhisttextsandisreciteddailyinmanymonasteries,showsthe theWestHallwerearguingaboutacat.Thenatureoftheirdispute
revolutionaryimplicationsofthisideaofdeepinterrelatedness(de- hasnotbeenpasseddown.Butwhoknows?Maybeitwas“Doesa
pendentoriginationorpratitya-samutpada),theideathatallthings cathaveaBuddhanature?”Orperhapsevenmorepertinently,“Do
openintotheinfinite. micehaveaBuddhanature?”Anyhow,Nansencamein,heldupthe
This sutra says that all dharmas, the constituents of all beings, cat,andsaid“SaysomethingandIwon’tkillthecat!Ifyoucan’tsay
are “marked with emptiness,” and that “in emptiness there is no anything, I’ll kill it!” None of them could figure out what Nansen
form,norfeeling,norperception,norimpulse,norconsciousness; wanted them to say, so he killed the cat. Apparently these monks
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; No forms, sounds, smalls, werebetteratdisputinghowmanyfleascandanceonthebackof
tastes, touchables or objects of mind; No sight-organ element, … acatthantheywereatacting.Thenextevening,Joshureturnedto
Nomind-consciousnesselement;…noignorance,noextinctionof thetemple.NansengreetedJoshu,tellinghimwhathappenedwith
ignorance…nodecayanddeath,noextinctionofdecayanddeath… tothepoorcat(andtothereallypoormonks).NansenaskedJoshu
no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path… no cognition, ifhecouldhavesavedthecat.Joshutookoffoneofhissandals,put
noattainmentandnonon-attainment.”[HS91,97,113]It’spretty
8 17
expedientskills.”Thesepeopleare“likewoodorstone,withoutany much no nothing, and this destroys the basis for everything, in-
function,”and“arecallednonthinking.”[SH93]Hakuinlearnedthe cludingall themost fundamentaltenets ofBuddhism. Thecentral
sametruthfromhis“decrepitoldteacher”ShojuRojin,whosaidof teachings,theFourNobleTruthsofSuffering,theCauseofsuffer-
theZenmonksofhistime:“Whatareyoureallylike?I’lltellyou. ing, the Cure for suffering, and the Way to effect the cure are all
Large sacks of rice, fitted out in black robes.” [ET 15] Sort of like undermined, because here is no suffering, no causality, no cessa-
thedummiesattheendof“ZeroforConduct.” tion,noway!
Zen offers us a double-edged sword. One edge is the Buddha- And Buddhism is all about the “awakened mind,” right? Tough
killingedgeforslayingthoseBuddhas,patriarchs,traditions,ritu- luck:“nomind!”
als, and revered texts that would enslave us for the name of our
ownliberation.Theotheredgeisthekilling-Buddhaedgethatcuts HaveALittleCompassion
intheoppositedirection.ForthoseBuddhas,patriarchs,ritualsand
How depressing! Everything’s running on empty, all our goals
textsthatmightenslaveus,onceslainwiththeuncuttingswordof
are pointless, and nothing we say communicates anything! But
non-discrimination,canhelpusannihilateeverythingelsewehold
irony strikes again. Realizing these limits is part of the therapy
dear.
thatweneedtoescapetherealsufferingthatcomesfromlivingin
Nothingissparedinthismassacre—Lin-Chi,whosaidto“Kill
a constantly-disappointing bad-dream world of illusion. A world
thePatriarchifyoumeethimontheroad”washimselfapatriarch.
in which we pretend that what is empty is full, that we (unlike
anybody else) can literally do the impossible, and that our own
III. The Koan: Entering the Jetstream
personalideasareagoodsubstituteforreality.Thoughneitherour
suffering nor the ego that we think undergoes the suffering have
Let’s enter the weird world of Mondo Zendo. OK, so what is
“inherentexistence,”thereisarealexperienceofsufferingthathits
the sound of one hand clapping? Struggling with such a koan
us when we succumb to these illusions. The dissatisfaction, hope-
(Japanese), kungan (Chinese), or kongan (Korean) is central to
lessness,anxietyanddepressionthatfollowleadustolashoutan-
Zen practice, particularly in the Lin-Chi or Rinzai tradition, the
grily at the world, and to struggle desperately to gain impossible
lightening-mind school. It’s a daunting task for the beginning
controloverit,soweendupinflictingevenmoresufferingonthe
student of Zen: hand to hand combat with King Kongan, the
humans,cats,dogs,doorframesandotherbeingsthathavethebad
millionpoundgorilla.
lucktostandinourway.
So what can we do? Shakyamuni Buddha once said that if you
TheDeathofDog
find someone who has been wounded with a poison arrow, the
mosturgentthingisnottofindoutwhoshotthearrow,whatthe
“AmonkaskedJoshu,“DoesadoghaveaBuddhaNature?”Joshu
bow was made of, who made the arrow, etc. but to remove the
said, “Mu!” This great Zen master didn’t seem to know that the
goddam arrow! Every day we observe a world of people walking
correct Buddhist answer is “yes,” since all sentient beings have a
aroundwitharrowsstickingoutoftheirchests.Welookinthemir-
BuddhaNature.ShibayamaRoshisaysthat“althoughliterally‘Mu’
rorandseeanarrowprotrudingfromourveryownskull.Lostin
means No, in this case it points to the incomparable satori which
16 9
thought, on whatever irrelevantly exalted or distractingly trashy StoneBuddhas
level,wesomehowforgettoshowalittlecompassionforothersor
Anotherreproach,similartothechargeofauthoritarianism,that
evenourselvesandgettoworkonextractingthosearrows.
issometimesleveledagainstZenisthatitisritualistic.Zensome-
Zenisaboutthatcompassionateaction.It’sthewayofnegation,
timesappearsritualisticfortheverygoodreasonthatithasalotof
but it’s also the most positive and practical path imaginable. Ac-
rituals.Butitmustalsobeseenasthemostscathingattackonall
cordingtoHui-neng“thespiritoftheWaymeansalwaysbehaving
forms of ritualism. Hui-neng did the best job of demolishing this
respectfully, universally respecting and loving all creatures, with-
distortion of Zen. For Zen, a central problem with rites and ritu-
out disdain.” [SH 91] If we open ourselves to really experiencing
alsisthattheyeasilyfuelwhatHui-nengcallsthe“religiousego”:
other beings and nature, we can stop dominating and manipulat-
theconditionofthose“whounderstandandpracticeyetentertain
ing them, and begin to appreciate and even love them. This bund-
a sense of attainment, producing a self-image.” [SH 93] None, he
less care for other beings is expressed in the Shiguseigan or bod-
says,canattain“greatliberation”aslongastheyclingtothisego
dhisattva vow that’s recited at the end of zazen (sitting) practice.
thatconstantlygazesatitselfinaspiritualmirror,admiringallthe
Itbegins:“beings arecountless;I vowto savethemall.”Crossmy
layersofmeritcollectingonthesacredself.Aconsciousnessvery
HeartSutraandhopetoneitherbebornnordie!IfIcan’tsavetril-
similar to that of the political militant who glories in possessing
lions, maybe I can at least save a few billion. Zen urges us to aim
thecorrectline,thesacredsectariantruth.
ouranti-arrowsveryhigh!
Hui-neng also shows how some people confuse sunyata, the
emptiness of all things, including the mind, with the need to
LivingInLotusLand
turn the mind into a vacant lot. They assume that when all the
It should be clear now that Zen is not a form of mere escapism greater and lesser vehicles are on the road, wheels turning, the
— in fact it’s just the opposite. It does promise an escape — an es- parking lot of the mind is finally vacant. But Hui-neng attacks
cape from suffering and the illusions that cause it. But it teaches thisasthe“wrongview”ofthose“deludedpeoplewhositquietly
thatliberationfromillusionandsufferingcanonlybeachievedby with empty minds, not thinking of anything whatsoever, and
amoreintenseexperienceoftherealityoftheworldandofnature. claim this is greatness.” [SH 17] He doesn’t say that this kind of
Zen,forallitsasceticpractices,revelsinworldliness.It’struetothe practice is necessarily a bad thing, but rather that we shouldn’t
BuddhistteachingthatSamsara,thecrazy,bustling,dustyworldof takeitfor“theessenceofZen”orasanoccasionforgreatspiritual
constant change is itself Nirvana, the liberation that results from pride at having the emptiest mind on the block. It’s a bit like
complete awakening. Hui-neng says that “Seeking enlightenment the well-rounded individuals who do a bit of hatha yoga at the
apartfromtheworld/Islikelookingforcrawfishtailsonanutria.” Y, but never suspect that there could be a yoga of diligent study,
[SH23,slightlyrevised]Hakuinexpressesthesameideawhenhe compassionateaction,andselflessdevotion.
saysthat“ThisearthwherewestandisthePureLotusLand,/And Hui-nengalsonotestheproblemofmakingafetishoutofzazen
thisverybody,thebodyofBuddha!”[ZW]AndcontemporaryBud- orsittingmeditation.Thereare,hesays,“confusedpeoplewhosit
dhistpoetGarySnydersaysthat“thetrulyexperiencedperson,”by in meditation fanatically trying to get rid of illusion and do not
learn kindness, compassion, joyfulness, equanimity, wisdom, and
10 15