The Zen Buddhism Project

The Zen Buddhism Project

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Reflection

Honestly, at first I was a bit daunted at reading the manual in its entirety. I thought it would be difficult to understand and hard to get through. Surprisingly, I found it pretty interesting to read. I did, however, find myself having to read sections over several times to better make sense it. I learned a lot about Zen. I had no idea there were so many 'characters' in the religion, besides the Buddha.  There are arhats, bodhisattvas, guardians, etc. I can also see the appeal of Zen Buddhism to the westerner.  It teaches one to slow down. The world in which we live in is gradually getting more face-paced by the second. We crowd our lives with work, school, obligations, appointments, errands, technology, etc, we seldom take take to reflect upon ourselves and "just be". 

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VI. The Buddhist Statues and Pictures in a Zen Monastery

The Buddha:

The main focus of worship, chief honored one

The Buddha Sakyamuni is the focus for all Zen institutions

“Sakyamuni Enlightened One sits on the lotus throne enshrined in the main hall of the Zen monastery. He is generally in the meditation posture.”

The Bodhisattva:

Kwannon is entirely the Bodhisattva of compassion

Yakushi is the Bodhisattva-doctor.

Jizo is mainly or commonly the guardian of children at the present time, but originally, his first vow was to save us from drifting around in the six paths of life.

Miroku is the future Buddha. He resides in the Tushita Heaven and waits for the moment when he will show himself to us.

The Arhats:

There are generally 16 in number.

All of them are inhabitants of isolated mountains, and each leads a big following.

They have outwardly monstrous and asymmetrical looks clash oddly with those of the Bodhisattvas.

They tame feral animals and work miracles.

The Protecting Gods:

The Niwo (two guardian kings) can be found at either side of the gate at the entrance.  They symbolize the Vajra god in a masculine and a feminine form.  They guard the holy place from trespassers.

The Shitenno (four guardian gods) are located at the four corners of the alter in the Buddha-hall  The most well known of these gods is Tamonten (Vaisravana), who guards the North and is also the god of learning and wealth.

Benzaiten (Sarasvati) is the goddess of the River

Ususama Myowo is a god of the lavatory who cleans up dirt by setting things ablaze, because fire an excellent cleansing instrument

Sambo Kojin seems to be a Japanese mountain god in the form of an Indian god.

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V. From The Japanese Zen Masters

HAKUIN'S "SONG OF MEDITATION"

Sentient beings are primarily all Buddhas: It is like ice and water, Apart from water no ice can exist; Outside sentient beings, where do we find the Buddhas? Not knowing how near the Truth is, People seek it far away,--what a pity! They are like him who, in the midst of water, Cries in thirst so imploringly; They are like the son of a rich man Who wandered away among the poor. The reason why we transmigrate through the six worlds Is because we are lost in the darkness of ignorance; Going astray further and further in the darkness, When are we able to get away from birth-and-death?

As regards the Meditation practised in the Mahayana, We have no words to praise it fully: The virtues of perfection such as charity, morality, etc., And the invocation of the Buddha's name, confession, and ascetic discipline, And many other good deeds of merit,-- All these issue from the practice of Meditation; Even those who have practised it just for one sitting Will see all their evil karma wiped clean; Nowhere will they find the evil paths, But the Pure Land will be near at hand. With a reverential heart, let them to this Truth Listen even for once, And let them praise it, and gladly embrace it, And they will surely be blessed most infinitely.

For such as, reflecting within themselves, Testify to the truth of Self-nature, To the truth that Self-nature is no-nature, They have really gone beyond the ken of sophistry. For them opens the gate of the oneness of cause and effect, And straight runs the path of non-duality and non-trinity. Abiding with the not-particular which is in particulars, Whether going or returning, they remain for ever unmoved; Taking hold of the not-thought which lies in thoughts, In every act of theirs they hear the voice of the truth. How boundless the sky of Samadhi unfettered! How transparent the perfect moon-light of the fourfold Wisdom! At that moment what do they lack? As the Truth eternally calm reveals itself to them, This very earth is the Lotus Land of Purity, And this body is the body of the Buddha.

Zazen: seated meditation

The goal is to discover one's true Buddha-nature

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IV. From The Chinese Zen Master

There is a great accumulation of text to be called particularly Zen because of its fashion and language. Until the time of Hui-neng (Yeno in Japanese) and his direct disciples, there was not much to differentiate treatises exclusively on Zen from the rest of Buddhist writing. But then there became the Yu-lu (goroku in Japanese), which contained the poems, sermons, poems, etc of a Zen master. A great uniqueness of the Zen Goroku is the liberal utilization of idiomatic expressions which are not prominent in classical Chinese literature. Generalization is too frivolous for the brains of a master, as long as Zen is attractive to one’s direct understanding.

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III. The Sutras

The Shingyo

concepts discussed in this scripture:

self nature: "like unto space, cannot be created nor destroyed"

emptiness: "to proclaim the conditionality of things is to point to the existence of something altogether unconditioned and transcendent of all determination"

Twelvefewld Chain of Causation: ignorance, deed, consciousness, name and form, six-sense organs, contact, sense-perception, desire, attachment, being, birth, old age and death.

Fourfold Noble Truth: "1. Life is suffering (duhkha); 2. Because of the accumulation (samudaya) of evil karma; 3. The cause of suffering can be annihilated (nirodha); 4. And for this there is the path (marga)."

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II. The Dharanis

A dharani is considered to possess supernatural power in it or bearing profound significance. When one says a Dharani out loud, whatever wicked spirits present that wish to get in the way of the spiritual result of a rite, will be kept away from it.

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I. Gathas and Prayers

Gatha: a Sanskrit word which means "verse" or "hymn". In Buddhist text it is used to delegate the versified segment of the sutras.

I read each section of these and was surprised to see some similarities between the Buddhist verses and what many Christians recite during church. 

In particular, verse two:

CONFESSION

All the evil karma ever committed by me since of old, On account of greed, anger, and folly, which have no beginning, Born of my body, mouth, and thought-- I now make full open confession of it.

I found this strikingly similar to the Christian notion of confessing one's sins before god. 

THE TEACHING OF THE SEVEN BUDDHAS

Not to commit evils, But to do all that is good, And to keep one's thought pure-- This is the teaching of all the Buddhas.

I think this is a great basic principle that human beings should live by, regardless of religion.  This I consider to be a universal truth.

One of my  favorite was verse four:

THE FOUR GREAT VOWS[1]

However innumerable beings are, I vow to save them; However inexhaustible the passions are, I vow to extinguish them; However immeasurable the Dharmas are, I vow to master them; However incomparable the Buddha-truth is, I vow to attain it.

The first line vows to save everything, no matter how innumerable beings there are.  The way I interpreted this is to treat every living creature with utmost respect an kindness, no matter how small. The golden rule, if you will.

The second line promises to get rid of passions and obsessions, no matter how much hold they have over you.

The third line promises to become an expert at the Dharmas, no matter how difficult they are to study.

Finally, the last line asserts to reach the Buddha truth, even if it is a tremendous undertaking.

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The Ten Oxherding Pictures

Here are a set of numbered drawings, together telling a story. I was not quite sure what these pictures were supposed to mean, so I had to do some research.  I learned that these pictures, also called the ten bulls, are a sequence of little poems and supplementary drawings that are meant to exemplify the stages of a Mahayana Buddhist practitioner's succession towards becoming enlightened, as well as his or her succeeding mastery of knowledge.

This sequence of pictures and accompanying poems explains how the student goes out into the deep forest in to search for the Bull or Ox.  This animal is a familiar symbol of enlightenment, or the true self.  The creature represents how his labors turn out to be unproductive at the beginning. But he is still determined and he continues to look, until he stumbles upon some footprints next to a river.  Upon seeing the bull for the very first time, he is dumbfounded by the magnificence of its appearance.  It is seen as ‘empty and marvelous’ which is a common descriptive phrase of the nature of Buddha. Yet, the learner has not disciplined the animal, and it will be a difficult task to control the beast. Ultimately he attains the uppermost enlightenment, goes back into the world and proclaims that 'everyone [he] looks upon becomes enlightened'.

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Manual of Zen Buddhism

For my project, I will read the entirety of this book to better understand Zen Buddhism. I'll be keeping track, reflecting, and recording my notes on this Tumblr as I go along.

About the book:

The Manual of Zen Buddhism includes the well-known sutras (aka sermons) of the Buddha; the gatha (aka the hymns); the koan (aka stimulating truth-seeking puzzles); and the dharanis (aka invocations to drive out malevolent ghosts. Also, included are the documented discussions of the great Buddhist monks, which are intimate discourse on themes of significant meaning. All of the written selections are translated by D.T. Suzuki.  Also, in the manual are copies of several Buddhist sketches and paintings, pictures of religious statues that are found in Zen temples. 

About the author:

D.T. Suzuki (1870-1966) was one of the most powerful forces in spreading Zen Buddhism to the West.