Teaching Zen

Previously on the blog was the topic of turning the teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn into a class for the Buddha Dharma University. The book is a collection of episodes of Seung Sahn teaching Zen to students via live interaction, Dharma talks, and letters.

The book gives a great look into the teachings and teaching methods of an awakened Zen Master. Throughout the history of Zen and Buddhism, there have been many teachers to come and go. Along with them have been many different styles of teachings.

For example, there are many Sutras (teachings) that have been written throughout the centuries. Because there are many different schools of Buddhism and Zen Buddhism, these Sutras cater to many different audiences, with many different aptitudes. These teachings are often helpful. Sometimes they are used to help people wake up. Sometimes people use them to try to understand Buddhist philosophy.

Going in another direction are the teachings of the Patriarchs. These were Zen masters who tried to help people wake up by directly pointing to their true nature. They used their understanding of the absolute - ideas such as "not good, not bad" and "don't make same and different" to help their students to keep a "don't know" mind. These teachers were not sharing what they found out, they were trying to help their students find it for themselves.

ZM Seung Sahn clearly falls in the patriarch category. He is never portrayed as a man of knowledge who doles out advice on ho to live. He is not championing his political opinions or his ideas on the best way to live. Refreshingly, he never evens answers the question of What is Enlightenment. (Since the big E is beyond words - how could he?)

To an outsider, it might seem he spends most of his time confusing his students! Spending a little time with this, we begin to see why this is. Because enlightenment is beyond words - it is useless to try to explain it. Instead he tries to get people to see it for themselves.

Everyone already has their ideas. They think they have some answer for the big questions of life. If Zen Masters try to give their own answers, they are simply adding to the mass of philosophy that is already out there. Instead, as in this case, we are provided with live words. Words that help us to keep don't know mind, to cut through the delusion in front of us and to wake up.

Classwork: Dropping Ashes on the Buddha

The school where I teach classes on Zen has been renamed. It is now Buddha Dharma University. It is run by the Five Mountain Zen Order. It is a great place to learn and study Zen. There is already quite an array of classes available. The reason I mention it, is because it is the kind of thing I wish was available when I was newly intrigued by meditation, which led me to Zen.

As an aside, Zen is generally associated with meditation. Yet, Zen doesn't even really require meditation. What is Zen anyway? There are some other posts on this blog about that as well as in the book. This finally brings us to the point of this post.

What did Zen Master Seung Sahn say when asked what is Zen? How did he teach? Dropping Ashes on the Buddha provides many answers to these questions. It is a collection of 100 of his interactions with students. Some lectures, some letters, and many question and answer sessions with students.

This book had a very profound influence on me. Seung Sahn's style and his teachings really resonated - even though they didn't make much sense at first. I have read and re-read this book so many times I had to get a second copy. So for the last few weeks, my blogging time has been spent going through this book with an eye toward how to present it in a class.

The way it seemed to make sense to do this was to go through the book and cross-link the talks into various categories. For example: What is Zen. He answers this one question in many different ways as parts of many different answers to student questions.

Another topic is Dharma Exchange. Briefly, this is a way of challenging students with Zen riddles - trying to get them to a moment of don't-know mind. This will be covered in more detail later in another post. The Dharma exchanges presented in the book are quite instructive and helpful. They really do point to the heart of the Buddha's teachings. My hope is that the class will help people to see this, to make these teachings more useful. There are many more topics that are covered in the book and several of them will be covered in the class.

Additionally, the class will also consist of video lectures, homework, and forum discussions. So there is still quite a bit of work to be done. It is exciting because coming up with class material really provides an opportunity to study a book I really love.

Living in a World of Violence

Violence is troubling. It is pervasive. It is everywhere. It is part of life. That makes it even more troubling. It is kind of like an upsetting riddle with no answer.

When I was young and I first became aware of violence and the many ways to hurt, torture and kill people I was so upset I couldn't really deal with it. There was a kids' movie that I loved called Bugsy Malone. It was a gangster movie with kids. Instead of killing each other with bullets, they used cream pies (or something like that). Oh, how I wanted to live in that world. I used to ask my dad why they couldn't fight wars with whipped cream. This is one of those things that drove me into Buddhism as I was stuck trying to make sense of things that make no sense.

One of the best answers I heard was a story of someone asking a religious master about how he could live in a world of such suffering. The religious man allegedly responded, in the world there is also much overcoming of suffering.

The killings of the kids at Sandy Hook is really the reason for this post. Of course, it stirred up many feelings in all of us. Very strong feelings. How do we deal with those feelings? How will those close to the victims deal with this tragedy? As much as the previous paragraph gives us hope, there are those who will never overcome their suffering. We do what we can with our feelings. Maybe we put these folks in our thoughts, hopes, prayers. We hope they deal with their grief. Yet we know they will never be the same again.

As Zen practitioners, we return to this moment and pay attention. When sad, we are sad. When grieving, we grieve. If we can be helpful to those in need, we help them without a second thought. We also pay attention to our own thoughts. Do we have any violence within us? Do we wish others injury or pain? Has someone wronged us and we want revenge? How do we meet those thoughts with understanding, compassion and love? Love. How do we bring love into our hearts and minds even for the evil people in the world?

Brute Force Meditation

Starting and maintaining a seated meditation practice is difficult*. If it was easy for you, congratulations! For the rest of us it takes significant effort. First, we need to find the time to sit. Next, we need to actually sit. When we are sitting, then what do we do?

In the book, there is a lot of discussion on how to meditate. This post is targeted on the idea of brute force meditation, mainly: Should we be able to control our thoughts? When seated in meditation, should we be able to stop thinking and have a clear, empty mind?

That is not the way the mind works. That big mass of energy is constantly going. Generating millions of thoughts per second – ok, there are no statistics on that, but it sure can seem that way. So, if meditation is not about not-thinking, what is it about?

As Zen students, we are trying to cut through the delusion that keeps us from seeing our true nature. If we can’t stop thinking, how do we do that? The practice is continuing to return to this present moment. So with each breath, we return to what is. When sitting, it is just sitting, looking at a wall, or the floor, or the inside of the eyelids, etc. It is just this breath, paying attention to each breath. Maybe it is a mantra, breathe in “What am I?”, breathe out “Don’t know.” Maybe it is counting or any one of a plethora of ways to meditate people have come up with over the centuries. Of course, no matter what method we are using, thoughts come with varying degrees of impact. Sometimes as hard as we are trying to focus, we find ourselves lost in thought for seconds or minutes. When we realize this, we simply return to the moment – without judgment.

Many people use a mala when they meditate. A mala is basically a string of beads. It is simply another method to help us meditate. We can move a bead with each inhale, or each exhale, or both. It may help us to stay in the moment. When a thought comes, we still have to move a bead. Even the Zen Master Seung Sahn used the mala. As a friend of mine told me, Seung Sahn was constantly using his mala. What about brute force? Shouldn’t I be able to force my mind into a clear state? Good luck with that. The practice is returning to this moment. It is not about eliminating the thoughts. Maybe at some point we will see their true nature.

*All mediation is not seated. Seated meditation generally provides the calmest situation for practice - try bringing meditation into all of your activities.

Happy Thanksgiving... Joy of Living

We cover some heavy topics in Zen and in this blog. Life, Death and Suffering. That is a criticism of Zen and Buddhism, sometimes -> Too much focus on the "bad" things of life. The answers to these criticisms are in this Blog and in the book.

With Thanksgiving coming up, this is a good time to ask: Is there any joy in this life? Or is it a vale of tears? In my experience, to takes things too seriously is to suffer. So how do we find the joy in a world that, according to Buddhists is:

• Riddled with pervasive unsatisfactoriness?
• Filled with old age, suffering, and death?
• Like living in a burning house?
• Now in the degenerate age?

These thoughts are not limited to Buddhism. These are the things people realize on their own - Zen is one way people find to answer these questions. We answer these questions by returning to the here and now. We realize that everything we see is impermanent - yet it does no make us sad. In fact, if we can realize our true nature, impermanence is not a bad thing.

This year, if you are suffering, I encourage you to continue your practice. If you do not have a teacher (Zen friend - not some hierarchical relationship), find one. They are available. Working with a teacher helps both people in the relationship, so don't be afraid to ask. Even one question.

Find the Joy. It his here, in this world of suffering, find it. Here is a silly little poem about impermanence.

If I die today
 that is ok
It wasn't always
 that way
  in this mind
   that seemed to think
   I actually had a choice

One day the thought came
 I don't want to die
  because there are still
 some episodes of MST3k
  that I haven't seen!

That started a revolution
 in the mind
  and body
   after many struggles
   with the fear of death
One day
 it was OK

If I die today
 wonderful!
If I live today
 wonderful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What About My Personality?

In this blog, there has been the Buddhist idea of Sunyata. Often, it is interpreted as an idea. Something like "no independent self." As mentioned many times, enlightenment is not what you think. (Though your thinking will change as you practice :-))

This idea has been misinterpreted as losing one's identity or personality. Happily, this is far from the truth. It is simple to see. Page through any book of stories about the Patriarchs of the past. Patriarchs were Zen masters from times gone by who helped people wake up, not through explanation, but by continuing to point to the truth. For them, explanation was a grievous error.

Consider this koan:

Arriving at a temple, the Sixth Chán Ancestor came upon two monks who were arguing over a flag that was flapping in the wind. One said the flag was moving; the other claimed that the wind was moving. The Sixth Chán Ancestor said, “It is not the wind and it is not the flag. It is your minds that are moving.” The monks were completely stuck and could not answer.

1. Is the flag or the wind moving?
2. One monk was attached to the wind, another to the flag and the Sixth Chán Ancestor was attached to mind. How do you avoid these attachments?

The Sixth Ancestor was a man named Hui Neng. He would be considered a patriarch. In this case, when Hui Neng said: “It is not the wind and it is not the flag. It is your minds that are moving.” He made a big mistake. He was trying to be compassionate, to help these monks, and instead fell into a trap. Do you see it?

Back to the point. The Patriarchs were loaded with personality. Zen Master Seung Sahn was loaded with personality. Zen Master Wonji is loaded with personality. Not making self and other is simply cutting through the illusion that we are separate from everything.

To that end here are a few questions

• When did you decide to be born?
• How did you decide who you were attracted to?
• All of your attitudes and opinions - where did they come from?
• When did you decide your favorite color?
• How did you pick your parents?
• Is the flag or the wind moving?

The Fundamentals: Not Good, Not Bad

One of the most influential teachings for me was found the first time I read Dropping Ashes on the Buddha. In it, Zen Master Seung Sahn taught Zen much differently than any Zen book I had read up until that point. He often is quoted as saying "Not good, not bad." Make no doubt about it, these four words can revolutionize your life.

At the risk of painting legs on a snake, here is an example. Suppose someone has plans coming up. Maybe something exciting like travel or a "special*" event. Then, of all the luck, the eve of big day he or she has a terrible night of sleep. Could be from worry, excitement, outside causes, who know. When The morning finally comes he or she is now very tired. If tired is now judged as bad. There is both tired and angry. If tired is not judged, there is only tired.

If our hypothetical person was living Not Good, Not Bad. There really wouldn't be a special event. Life is really a verb, not a noun, so what good is attaching to events? They come and go like a blur. Yet... the practice of paying attention, being present in this moment, the only moment there is, can relieve this type of suffering.

Surely there are things that are good and are bad, aren't there?

As a personal example, detailed in an earlier post, I traveled to South America. Only the second time I have ever been off the North American continent. I woke up in the middle of the night in Lima, Peru with the worst tooth pain I can remember. Using the practice of not good, not bad, there was no thought of ruined vacation or cursed trip or anything of the like. (Though, there was thought of disappointing my wife!) Anyway, there was the need for a dentist.

Above, the word "special" was used. In this same vein of Not Good, Not Bad, is this idea of: don't make where you want to be any more important than where you are right now. If you are new to Zen or new to the idea of "Not Good, Not Bad" it can be used as a little mantra or phrase to help out. Of course, the discriminating mind will try to poke holes in it. "The plague was bad, Ivan the terrible was bad, vacation is better than work!" Don't bite the hook! We work to end suffering in this world - that has to start with us first.

Make no doubt about it: Not Good, Not Bad is a gateway to the freedom from suffering the Buddha found.