Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 754

What thus the Buddha denied, we can see, was Ignorance as to the true cause of birth and death, and this Ignorance was dispelled by the supreme effort of the will and not by mere dialectic reasoning and contemplation. The will was asserted and the intellect was awakened to its true significance.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1130

This is enough to show what a commonplace thing satori is; but to see what an important rôle this most trivial incident of life plays in Zen, it will be necessary to add some remarks which were made by the masters, and through these the reader may have a glimpse into the content of satori. Ummon (Yün-mên, Wên-yen, died 949) who lived a little later than Jōshu commented on him; “Was there any special instruction in the remark of Jōshu, or not? If there was, what was it?

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 186

He called his way of looking at the world and life “Dharma,” a very comprehensive and flexible term, though it was not a term first used by the Buddha; for it had been in vogue some time prior to him mainly in the sense of ritual and law, but the Buddha gave it a deeper spiritual signification.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 2057

Illustrations are indicated by [Illustration: description]. Ornamental illustration do not include a description.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 578

But in this they have been sadly at fault, nor have they been right in taking Buddhism for a sort of ethical culture, declaring that it is no more than a system of moral precepts (_śīla_), without a soul, without a God, and consequently without a promise of immortality. But the true Buddhist ideas of Ignorance, Causation, and Moral Conduct had a far deeper foundation in the soul-life of man. Ignorance was not a cognitive ignorance, but meant the darkness of spiritual outlook.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 316

Among the fifty-three philosophers or leaders of thought visited by Sudhana in his religious pilgrimage, he interviewed many women in various walks of life, and some of whom were even courtesans. They all wisely discoursed with the insatiable seeker of truth. What a different state of affairs this was when compared with the reluctant admission of women into the Sangha in the early days of Buddhism!

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 12

Generally, we are blind to this fact, that we are in possession of all the necessary faculties that will make us happy and loving towards one another. All the struggles that we see around us come from this ignorance. Zen, therefore, wants us to open a “third eye,” as Buddhists call it, to the hitherto undreamed-of region shut away from us through our own ignorance.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1841

上堂. 云. 從上來且是箇什麽事. 如今抑不得巳. 且向汝諸人道. 盡大地有什麽物與汝爲對爲緣. 若有針鋒與汝爲隔爲礙. 與我拈將來. 喚什麽作佛作祖. 喚什麽作山河大地日月星辰. 將什麽爲四大五蘊. 我與麽道. 喚作三家村裏老婆說話. 忽然遇著本色行脚漢. 聞與麽道. 把脚拽向階下. 有什麽罪過. 雖然如此. 據箇什麽道理便與麽. 莫趑口快向這裏亂道. 須是箇漢始得. 忽然被老漢脚跟下尋著. 勿去處打脚折. 有什麽罪過. 旣與麽. 如今還有問宗乘中話麽. 待老漢答一轉了. 東行西行. 有僧擬問次. 師以拄杖劈口打. 便下座.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 590

To take Ignorance for an intellectual term and then to interpret it in terms of time-relation, altogether destroys its fundamental character as the first in the series of the Twelve Nidānas.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1993

[f133] Literally, “A day [of] no work [is] a day [of] no eating.” cf. II. Thessalonians, III., 10: “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” It is noteworthy that St. Francis of Assisi made this the first rule of his Brotherhood.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1989

[f132] A monk asked Hsüan-sha, “What is the idea of the National Teacher’s calling out to his attendant?” Said Hsüan-sha, “The attendant knows well.” Yün-chü Hsi commented on this: “Does the attendant really know, or does he not? If we say he does, why does the National Teacher say, ‘It is you that are not fair to me’? But if the attendant knows not, how about Hsüan-sha’s assertion? What would be our judgment of the case?”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1120

“If so, no amount of sitting cross-legged as thou doest will make of thee a Buddha,” said the master

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 321

According to “the letter that killeth” no Buddhists were allowed to enter a liquor shop, or to be familiar with inmates of the houses barred from respectability, in short, even for a moment to be thinking of violating any of the moral precepts. But to the Mahayanists all kinds of “expediency” or “devices” were granted if they were fully enlightened and had their spirits thoroughly purified.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1999

[f139] When the slop-basin goes around, spiritual beings are again remembered: “This water in which my bowls were washed tastes like nectar from heaven. I now offer this to the numerous spirits of the world: may they all be filled and satisfied! Om ma-ku-ra-sai (in Pekingese, _mo-hsiu-lo-hsi_) svāha!”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1169

Indeed I have held nothing back from you.’” Sankoku tried to answer, but Kwaido immediately made him keep silence by saying, “No, no!” The Confucian disciple felt troubled in mind, and did not know how to express himself. Some time later they were having a walk in the mountains. The wild laurel was in full bloom and the air was redolent.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 433

But when an appeal is made to our symbolical imagination—especially if one is liberally endowed with this faculty—the matter is more readily comprehended. At least this seems to have been the Indian way of conceiving the signification of supernaturalism.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1042

It is true that this phrase occurs in the life of Bodhi-Dharma in the _Records of the Transmission of the Lamp_, but it is in the part of his life on which we cannot put much reliance. Even when the phrase was actually used by Dharma, it was not necessarily considered by him the essence of Zen as distinguishing itself from other schools of Buddhism. Hui-nêng however was fully aware of its signification, and impressed the idea unequivocally upon the minds of his audience.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 722

Knowledge, that is, Ignorance drove Adam from the Garden of Eden to the world of pain and patience (_sahaloka_), but it was not knowledge that would reconcile him to his Father, it was the Will dispelling Ignorance and ushering Enlightenment.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1784

_Entering the City with Bliss-bestowing Hands._ His humble cottage door is closed, and the wisest know him not. No glimpses of his inner life are to be caught; for he goes on his own way without following the steps of the ancient sages. Carrying a gourd he goes out into the market, leaning against a stick he comes home. He is found in company with wine-bibbers and butchers, he and they are all converted into Buddhas.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 937

Obey the nature of things, and you are in concord with the Way, Calm and easy and free from annoyance; But when your thoughts are tied, you turn away from the truth, They grow heavier and duller and are not at all sound.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 724

He was also trained in meditation by his teacher Hui-szŭ (513–577)[3.8] and though not belonging to the orthodox lineage of the Zen masters, he is reckoned as one.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 271

And this has reached its climax in the Śūnyatā philosophy of Nāgārjuna, which is based upon the teaching of the Prajñāpāramitā literature of Buddhism.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1032

This is what I call ‘the seeing into one’s own Nature’; and this seeing is instantaneous as much as the working is, for there is no graduating process from one stage to another.”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 164

When Paul insisted that “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins,” he was not appealing to our logical idea of things, but to our spiritual yearnings. It did not matter whether things existed as facts of chronological history or not, the vital concern of ours was the fulfilment of our inmost inspirations; even so-called objective facts could be so moulded as to yield the best result to the requirements of our spiritual life.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1119

When at Demboin, Baso used to sit cross-legged all day and meditating. His master, Nangaku Yejo (Nan-yüeh Huai-jang, 677–744), saw him and asked,[5.8]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 113

The power to see into the nature of one’s own being may lie also hidden there, and what Zen awakens in our consciousness may be that. At any rate the masters speak figuratively of the opening of a third eye. “Satori” is the popular name given to this opening or awakening.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 185

He was too busy in trying to get rid of the poisonous arrow that had pierced the flesh, he had no desire to inquire into the history, object, and constitution of the arrow; for life was too short for that. He thus took the world as it was, that is, he interpreted it as it appeared to his religious insight and according to his own valuation. He did not intend to go any further.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1729

This being so, Zen could not very well recognise any form of gradation in the attainment of Buddhahood. The “seeing into one’s nature” was an instant act. There could not be any process in it which would permit scales or steps of development.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 744

“Let my body be dried up on this seat, Let my skin and bones and flesh be destroyed: So long as Bodhi is not attained, so hard to attain for many a kalpa, My body and thought will not be removed from this seat.”[f75]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1922

You look into the mirror and finding an image thereon you take it for a reality, while the image is yourself and nobody else. The one who views the world thus, has the rightful view of it, ya evam pasyati sa samyakpasyati. Indeed, when he takes hold of _ekāgra_ (one-pointedness or oneness of things), he realises the state of mind in which his inner wisdom reveals itself (_svapratyātmāryajñānagocara_) and which is called the Tathāgatagarbha.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 38

It is not final, it waits for something higher than itself for the solution of all the questions it will raise regardless of consequences. If it were able to bring a new order into the disturbance and settle it once for all, there would have been no need for philosophy after it had been first systematised by a great thinker, by an Aristotle, or by a Hegel.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1184

The following is by Chōkei (Chang-ching, died 932) whose eye was opened when he was rolling up the screen:

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1366

And this turning the key in the form of repetition in this case is what interests us in the following quotations.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 833

In the first, Dharma, the founder of Zen, is treated as one of the many other Buddhist priests eminent in various fields as translators, commentators, scholars, Vinaya-followers, masters of meditation, possessors of miraculous virtues, etc., and Dharma could not naturally occupy in such a history any very prominent position distinguishing himself from the other “high priests.” He is described merely as one of those “masters of meditation” whose conception of dhyana did not differ from the old traditional one as was practised by the Hinayana followers.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 93

The passage is strewn with thistles and brambles, and the climb is slippery in the extreme. It is no pastime but the most serious task in life, no idlers will ever dare attempt it. It is indeed a moral anvil on which your character is hammered and hammered. To the question, “What is Zen?” a master gave this answer, “Boiling oil over a blazing fire.”[1.14] This scorching experience we have to go through with before Zen smiles on us and says, “Here is your home.”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1454

The case between Yisan (Wei-shan) and Kyōzan (Yang-shan) was more intellectual and to that extent more intelligible than this mere calling and responding. Kyōzan was the chief disciple of Yisan, and one of the peculiar features of this school was to demonstrate the truth of Zen concordantly both by the master and disciple. They once went out picking tea-leaves.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 7

The book is a collection of the Essays originally published in _The Eastern Buddhist_ except one on the “History of Zen Buddhism” which was written specially for this volume; but all of them have been thoroughly revised and in some parts entirely re-written and new chapters added. The book will be followed by a second series of Essays before long, in which some more of the important points in the constitution of Zen will be treated.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1437

As soon as words are used, they express meaning, reasoning; they represent something not belonging to themselves; they have no direct connection with life, except being a faint echo or image of something that is no longer here. This is the reason why the masters often avoid such expressions or statements as are intelligible in any logical way.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 251

Though the immediate disciples of the Buddha were not conscious of this, there was always the thought of Enlightenment implied in it. Enlightenment attained by the Buddha after a week’s meditation under the Bodhi-tree could not be of no consequence to his Arhat-disciples, however negatively the latter tended to apply this principle to the attainment of their life-object.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 8

The publication of these Essays in bookform is principally due to the most liberal encouragement, both material and moral, of Mr Yakichi Ataka, of Osaka, who is an old friend of the author’s and who has not forgotten the pledge half-seriously and half-dreamily made in our youthful days. The author also owes a great deal to his wife in the preparation and revision of the MS, without which the book would have shown many more imperfections than it does now in various ways.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 137

When we are not prepared thoroughly to understand these questions in the light of the history and philosophy of religion, we may come dogmatically to assert that Zen is not Buddhism just because it looks so different on its surface from what some people with a certain set of preconceived notions consider Buddhism to be. The statement of my position as regards these points will therefore pave the way to the development of the principal thesis.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 198

All these doctrines, controversies, constructions, and interpretations that were offered after the Buddha’s death as regards his person, life, and teaching were what essentially constituted the life of Indian Buddhism, and without these there could be no spiritual activity to be known as Buddhism.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1988

[f130] That is, Ts‘ao-ch‘i, where the sixth patriarch of Zen used to reside. It is the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1303

Is he not in need of everything? Whatever deep meaning there may be in these answers of Jōshu, the paradoxes are quite puzzling and baffle our logically trained intellect. “Carry away the farmer’s oxen, and make off with the hungry man’s food,” is a favourite phrase with the Zen masters who think we can thus best cultivate our spiritual farm and fill up the soul hungry for the substance of things.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 879

Besides this writing which is the only one left by Dharma in our possession at present, we have the _Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra_, _Vajrasamādhi-sūtra_, and _Vajracchedikā-sūtra_, through which we can also have a glimpse into the central teaching of Bodhi-Dharma.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 2009

[f151] The wind is probably one of the best imageries to get us into the idea of non-attachment or Śūnyatā philosophy. The New Testament has at least one allusion to it when it says, “The wind bloweth as it listeth,” and here we see the Chinese mystics making use of the wind to depict his inner consciousness of absolute identity, which is also the Buddhist notion of the void.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1194

“I have one jewel shining bright, Long buried it was underneath worldly worries; This morning the dusty veil is off, and restored is its lustre, Illumining rivers and mountains and ten thousand things.”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1672

“Habit-energy which is like a soiled garment produced by manovijñāna, keeps mind from shining forth, though mind itself is a robe of the utmost purity.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 269

That is to say, intellectually, it must transcend all the complications involved in an epistemological exposition of it; and psychologically, it must be the reconstruction of one’s entire personality. Such a fundamental fact naturally evades description, and can be grasped only by an act of intuition and through personal experience. It is really the Dharma in its highest sense.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1711

A monk came out and was at the point of asking a question when the master hit his mouth with the staff, and descended from the seat.