Foundations of Zen Practice
Be intimate with the many-named Unknown.
It has been almost a year since I was named the “Spiritual Director” of New York Zendo—which was somewhat akin to walking down a street and having a bucket of paint fall on my head: I didn’t ask for it, I certainly didn’t think I deserved it, and I had very little idea what to do about it. But I had chosen this particular street when I was ordained as a monk, and I couldn’t very well decline to serve when Shinge Roshi asked if I would take on this responsibility.
So how does one approach such a task? You start with lots of zazen, and lots of questioning.
At that time, the topic of mapping was very much in the air. My daughter Marianne, an Environmental Studies major at the University of Rhode Island, was taking a course on map-making. And Apple had recently released their new iPhone, replacing the very good Google Maps app with their own not –ready-for-Primetime app. So it occurred to me that what I needed was a map—a kind of Dharma map.
But the Dharma has no fixed form, nor does it have a beginning or an end. It exists and does not exist, and pervades all of time and space. How does one draw such a map?
But you can establish the cardinal directions, and you can write a key. And, starting with those, the continents and oceans, rivers and valleys, mountains and plains, as well as the points of time and relative importance will be drawn, without fail, by the karmic relationships and the individual decisions, moment by moment, of each person who uses this map.
The four sentences contained in “Foundations of Zen Practice” are the cardinal directions, and “Zen by the Numbers” is the key to this map.
The first direction—let’s call it North, since sailors in our hemisphere have always looked to the North Star to chart their course—is “Play by the numbers.”
Play: the way for children to learn. Play: the way to enjoyment and ease. Play: the way to free yourself from yourself. Play as a great actor plays: embodying the role of this moment with head and heart and all the force he or she can muster, only to drop it when the next role presents itself.
Play—improvise this comedy or drama or tragedy you call your life—with all the authenticity, integrity, and compassion you have within you.
But what are the rules, the guidelines, to direct your play? Here we turn to the key to the map, “Zen Buddhism by the Numbers”, which schematizes the vast Dharma literature, from the most fundamental Zen teaching—Sunyatta—to the great teachings of the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Noble Path, and the twelve link chain of causation. Each of these numbers is worth exploring in detail, absorbing, and actualizing—and in future talks, I will take each in turn. But for now, let’s just say that the key to this map is particularly rich.
The second direction—let’s call it East, the direction of the rising sun—is “Wake up.”
Wake up: open your eyes, your ears, your nose, your mind, your heart, your entire being, to THIS.
We all know the famous story about Shakyamuni Buddha—how he was asked by some wise man “Are you a god?”, and answered “No.”
The aim of Zen practice –the real start of Zen practice—is no other than this awakening.
It is like looking at yourself naked in the mirror, and seeing God—or an old, old friend—smiling back at you. Or looking at the sunrise, and seeing your own nature dawning.
Or drinking water and knowing whether it is hot or cold: Nothing special.
The third direction, let’s call it South—where the sun stands at the brightest time of the day—is “Be intimate with the many-named Unknown.”
To be intimate with the many-named Unknown is to enter into the unnameable.
“There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth;
Indeed, it has no form, much less a name;
It has no voice for ears to detect;
To call it Mind or Buddha violates its nature…”
And yet, verbal creatures that we are, we assign many names to this reality: the trikaya (Dharmakaya, Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya), This Matter, Tao, Tathagatha, God, the Source—so many, many names for what cannot be known by any name.
Each time we enter into Samadhi, we come face to face with this “Unknown” reality. And the more deeply we enter into Samadhi—whether the absolute Samadhi of zazen, or the relative Samadhi of “Play by the numbers”—the more intimate we become with it.
There are no words to describe such intimacy.
Finally, the fourth of our cardinal directions—let’s call it West, the land of the setting sun, of rest and ease—is “Give Thanks.”
Giving thanks is a natural consequence of the other three—playing by the numbers, waking up, and being intimate with the many-named Unknown. One cannot help but be grateful to one’s teachers, one’s parents, one’s sangha, one’s country—no matter how imperfect each of these may seem—if one is truly awake. When we experience the joy of such awakening, such intimacy, we must engage in the deepest thanksgiving, or we will burst.
Obaku Kiun Zenji, Rinzai’s teacher, was said to have a huge red callous on his forehead from making prostrations repeatedly, over and over again. His gratitude to This Matter was too great to contain without this outward manifestation of thanksgiving.
However, there is another side to this: the action of giving thanks is a great way to open one’s heart and mind. It is, properly speaking, the embodiment of practice itself.
Of course, there are many other ways of giving thanks—Dana, whether in time, work, or money. A kind word. A smile. Teaching. Being present.
Give thanks for the good things in your life: family, friends, home, food, work, play.
And give thanks for pain, suffering, and grief. Without these things we would never find the motivation to apply ourselves to the foundations of Zen practice—and we would be deprived of a joy that transcends all others.
ZEN BUDDHISM BY THE NUMBERS
0: Shunyatta, Bodhidharma’s “No knowing”, Baso’s “No mind, no Buddha”, Enso
1: Suchness, tathata, Sozan’s “Not two”, Baso’s “Ordinary Mind is Buddha”
2: Birth and death, yin and yang, Baso’s “Sun-faced Buddha, Moon-faced Buddha”
3: The Trikaya (Eno’s “Three-bodied Buddha within You”):
Dharmakaya, Nirmanakaya, Samboghakaya
The three treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
4: Four Noble Truths: Dukha, the origin of dukha, nirvana, the eight-fold path to nirvana
However innumerable all beings are, I vow to save them all
However inexhaustible delusions are, I vow to extinguish them all
However immeasurable dharma teachings are, I vow to master them all
However endless the Buddha’s way is, I vow to follow it
5: Five skandhas, Five Grave Precepts, Five Degrees of Enlightenment
6: Six paramitas: Dana (generosity), Shila (Discipline), Kshanti (Patience), Virya (energy/exertion),
Dhyana (meditation/Zen), Prajna (wisdom)
7: Prime number symbolic of ascent/attainment
8: The Eightfold Noble Path: Right understanding, Right resolve, Right speech, Right action,
Right livelihood, Right energy/exertion, Right meditation, Right mindfulness
9: Threes and threes, product of the trikaya and the three treasures
1. Honor all life; do not kill.
2. Respect others' property.
3. Be loving and faithful in your relationship; do not succumb to lust.
4. Be truthful; do not deceive yourself or others.
5. Keep your mind clear; do not abuse alcohol or drugs.
6. Remember that silence is precious; do not gossip.
7. Be humble; respect perspectives that differ from your own.
8. Be grateful and cooperative; do not fall into envy or jealousy.
9. Practice peace; do not give way to anger.
10. Be guided by the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
11: Two old friends meeting on a dusty road. 1 meets 1.
12: The twelve-link chain of dependent origination
