Baizhang's Wild Duck - now with Questions!

How do/did Koans come about? If you are new to the idea of Koans, the link is a great post on Koans and Koan practice, by Zen Master Wonji of the Five Mountain Zen Order.

Here is an attempt at creating a Koan based on a historical exchange. The exchange goes like this:

Zen master Baizhang was walking with Mazu and saw a wild duck fly by.
Mazu said "What is that?"
Baizhang repiled "A wild duck."
To which Mazu asked "Where is it going?"
Baizhang said "It is flying away."
Mazu twisted Baizhang's nose and said "When did it ever fly away?"

This is a good story to work with, as there is a valuable point here. In the Zen lineage, we don't really want to discuss it. We want to help people to get some insight. So the question becomes: How can we use this story to help people wake up? Although this story is already part of some existing Koan collections, it can be improved with the addition of some questions and a verse.

The proposed questions are:

1. What was Baizhang's mistake?
2. If you were Baizhang, how could you answer "Where is it going?"
3. When did it ever fly away?

And a new verse:

  Baizhang, Mazu, and a wild duck
  Together where?
  A forest, a swamp, a lakefront?
  So many concepts
  Put them all down,
  How could it ever fly away?

As mentioned, there is a very important point here. It has to do with Sunyata. As Zen practitioners, we don't practice by discussing things endlessly. Instead, we work with each other to help attain and cultivate that which is within us (what Buddhists call Buddha Nature).

So, my question to you is "When did it ever fly away?"

Bike Path Precept

Last quarter at the College of Zen Buddhism in the Five Mountain Zen Order/Buddhist Studies Institute - LA we had a class on the precepts in Zen Buddhism and how to insure they are relevant in the twentieth century. Of course, there were a lot of opinions on what we should do in this area. There were two primary concerns. One area was the level of detail. The second was on the primary wording being positive rather than negative.

For example there is a precept that states "I vow to abstain from taking life." For item one, the precept could be changed to include direction on everything related to living such as euthanasia, abortion, capital punishment, etc. For the wording issue, the precept could be stated as something positive like I vow to respect life.

How does this really relate to our lives as Zen students? In fact, how do the precepts really relate to life in general? Here is an example of how a precept has developed for me.

For exercise, lately, I have been doing a lot of rollerblading. The best place to blade around here is on a shared use path that goes around a local lake. This involves interacting with others which is generally what the precepts cover. Since other people can be affected, there can also be Karmic reactions. As Zen students our focus is "how can I help." How can this attitude be brought to to the bike path?

The path has many types of people on it: Parents out for walks with their children, mothers and couples pushing strollers, other rollerbladers, walkers - with and without dogs, runners, casual bicyclists and aggressive bicyclists.

The first part of the bike path precept could be something like: don't make anyone else uncomfortable. What would that entail? As a rollerblader who likes to go fast, I am probably going anywhere from 8 to 10 mph. Walkers are going 2-3 mph. Families with kids even slower. Thus the precept might have a suggestion to always announce "on your left" when passing. Many people appreciate that and it prevents them from being startled in case they don't here me coming.

What about speed when passing? If they are adults, I don't generally slow down. If they have dogs, I am wary and make sure they hear I am coming in case they need to hold on to their dog a little more tightly. If they have children - I slow down considerably. If I were to hit a kid, even because the parent wasn't keeping control of their child, it is still going to be my fault - and I am sure I would feel awful about it. So keeping this in mind helps to elminate any mind games such as judging with thoughts like "they should control their kid".

How about space when passing? When I am walking, I don't like it when people pass too close to me. Accordingly, I try to give plenty of space - both to people on the right and the left. Here there can be mind games going on, too. I want to go fast. These people are in my way, etc.

What about the other aggressive people on the bike trail? Many people are on the bike trail without any concern for anyone but themselves. It is easy to judge them when they pass without enough space or come whooshing by without warning. Is it our job to let them know they are selfish? Well, that could be another part of the precept. Do we keep our mouths shut - is it our job to let them know they are being rude? Generally, I just try to keep my own side of the street clean.

A lot goes on during a ride on the bike trail. Do I keep all of these rules all of the time? Generally, though it really has taken a lot of practice to get to this point. Hence, these guidelines have come from experience. I used to do many of the things outlined here. What I found is that is that paying attention during the blade has made me aware of what feels right and what doesn't.

Precepts are wisdom passed down from previous generations of Buddhists. If we are unaware, the precepts can help give us direction. If we are aware, the precepts are common sense - though not really written in stone. Of course, there are many levels in between as well. Some times we are a little off, so a hard and fast rule can help us.

If I were writing a precept for the bicycle path, it would simply say: Be courteous to others on the bike path. For those who wanted more detail, I could point them to this essay for some of the reasoning behind how the precept came about and what it encompasses.

Now maybe we can come up with a precept for driving!

Why do we live?

Why do we do it? Why do we get up each day and do the things necessary to live? I am being serious. Have you ever investigated this? This is actually a Koan we investigate in the Five Mountain Zen Order. In the Koan, The question is not asked directly, so I am not going to be giving away any answers.

I had this question put to me directly when on vacation. My wife had a planned a trip, she had been organizing it for months. Before the trip I had some dental pain, and I had it taken care of before we left. Well, sure enough, the night before the flight, that very tooth started hurting. Not in the sharp pain way, instead in the dull throbbing pain way. Mental pain set in, too, as we were going out of the country to some remote areas - fear of nerve pain in a strange land. The pain sort of came and went and I wasn't about to ruin my wife's trip. I brought plenty of Motrin and hoped that would do the trick. That night we were in Lima, Peru and the pain came back - very strongly. Plus more mental pain since Lima was the last big city we'd be in. I was unable to sleep and ended up laying awake in bed all night.

Bringing awareness into the situation, I was watching the thoughts. The pain at this point was probably 7-8 out of ten. There were some thoughts about making the pain go away. I could probably get some narcotics as they don't have the same rules as the US. I have heard too many stories of people getting addicted to painkillers, so I really didn't want to go that route (I have since read that even the narcotic pain killers are not that effective against tooth nerve pain). I could get a dentist, though I was worried about the level of dental care in Peru. And it was Saturday. And it was Peru's independence day. Though at this point I didn't care if the tooth had to be pulled. Watching the thoughts, there was a thought about jumping out of the 7th story window of the hotel - finally, the point of this story!

As a practicing Zen teacher, the primary practice is to watch the thoughts but to not attach to any of them. So it was interesting to watch these thoughts in this much pain. Pain changes things. The generally happy, outgoing guy who loves to travel was replaced by the "don't touch me... leave me alone" guy. So what about this thought of jumping out the window? I have done much practice on death, not attaching, and being OK to die at any moment. After all there is only now - and one of these "nows" will be the moment of death.

So if death isn't a big deal. Why not jump? Well, to start with, I have a wife who was looking forward to a nice vacation with her husband. I have parents, brothers, and other family members that would be very upset by such an action. The list goes on, from the two dogs that I feed to the guys that would clean up the mess. I hope you see where this is going. What am I? Is there a single independent I? Do I live my life for me and my pleasures? Or do I live for all beings? I ask you, what do you live for?

By the way - the picture is from the Parque Reserva in Lima.

How did this play out?
The pain in the jaw
  went on
   and on
    and on
The person had changed
  from the friendly, outgoing guy
To
  "leave me alone!"

The ache was intense
  The fear took hold as
This was only the beginning of
  A two week trip into remote parts of South America

A dentist search began
  In Lima, Peru
   On Saturday
   Independence Day

Thoughts of
  Life and Death
   Impermanence
    and "Fuck!"
Went round and round

A dentist was found
  She was very nice
   Her equipment was old
  She used a lighter to sterilize the needle

She worked for two hours
  on the bad tooth
The worst of the pain went away
  the vacation continued
   with a lot less pain
Getting a root canal in Lima, Peru on independence day