Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1274

What here I propose to do, therefore, will be a practical exposition of the subject-matter by giving some aspects of the _modus operandi_ of Zen instruction as carried out by the masters for the enlightenment of the pupils. The perusal of these accounts will help us to get into the spirit of Zen to the limits of its intelligibility.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 2055

Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of the pages on which they were referenced, have been collected, sequentially renumbered, prefixed with the letter ‘f’, wrapped by square brackets, and moved to the end of the main text, just before the Index.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 170

Christianity is therefore constituted not only with the teaching of Jesus himself but with all the dogmatical and speculative interpretations concerning the personality of Jesus and his doctrine that have accumulated ever since the death of the founder. In other words, Christ did not found the religious system known by his name, but he was made its founder by his followers.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1104

By the “absolute transmission of the spiritual seal”[5.6] which was claimed by the first patriarch, is meant the opening of satori, obtaining an eye to see into the spirit of the Buddhist teaching. The sixth patriarch, Yeno (Hui-nêng), was distinguished because of his upholding the satori aspect of dhyana against the mere mental tranquillisation of the Northern School of Zen under the leadership of Jinshu (Shên-hsiu).

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1681

“How is it that without the parent’s consent one cannot be ordained?” “How shallow!” “I cannot understand.” “How deep!”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1343

“To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1219

“After this, I still kept up my practice of sitting. I could now sleep a little. When I closed my eyes, a broad expanse of emptiness presented itself before them, which then assumed the form of a farmyard. Through this piece of land I walked and walked until I got thoroughly familiar with the ground. But as soon as my eyes were opened, the vision altogether disappeared. One night sitting far into the night I kept my eyes open and was aware of my sitting up in my seat.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 669

So asks the Buddha in the _Mahāli Sutta_: “When a monk knows thus and sees thus, would that make him ready to take up the question: Is the soul the same as the body, or is the soul one thing and the body another?” It is thus evident that the Buddha’s teaching always centered in the practical realisation of Enlightenment as “āsavem khata-ñāṇa,” insight that destroys the Defilements and releases one from every attachment (_upādāna_).

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1724

Some, however, seem to have their own favourite way of demonstrating the truth of Zen; for instance, Rinzai is famous for his “Kwatsu” (_hê_ in Chinese), Tokusan for his flourishing staff, Gutei for his lifting up a finger, Hima for a bifurcate stick, Kwasan for beating a drum, and so on.[f158] It is wonderful to observe what a variety of methods have sprung up, so extraordinary, so ingenious, and so original, and all in order to make the monks realise the same truth, whose infinite aspects as manifested in the world may be comprehended by various individuals, each according to his own capacity and opportunity.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 583

The unknown is always behind the known, and we fail to get at this unknown knower, who is indeed the inevitable and necessary companion to every act of cognition. We want however to know this unknown knower, we cannot let this go unknown, ungrasped without actually seeing what it is, that is, Ignorance is to be enlightened. This involves a great contradiction, at least epistemologically. But until we transcend this condition, there is no peace of mind, life grows unbearable.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 286

In a sense the Dharma had been in his mind all the time but he was not aware of its presence there until Aśvajit’s stanza was uttered. He was not a mere passive recipient into which something not native to his Self was poured. The hearing of the stanza gave him an opportunity to experience the supreme moment. If Śāriputra’s understanding was intellectual and discursive, his dialogue with Ānanda later on could not take place in the way it did. In the Saṁyutta-Nikāya, iii., 235f, we read:

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 498

In the history of Chinese literature, Zen writings known as _Yü-lu_ (Goroku) form a class by themselves, and it is due to them that the Chinese colloquialism of the T‘ang and the early Sung dynasty has been preserved. Men of letters in China despised to write except in classical style, deliberately choosing such words, phrases, and expressions as enhanced the grace of the composition.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1491

“No clouds are gathering over the mountain peaks, And how serenely the moon is reflected on the waves!”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 171

If he were still among them, it is highly improbable that he would sanction all the theories, beliefs, and practices, which are now imposed upon self-styled Christians. If he were asked whether their learned dogmatics were his religion, he might not know how to answer. He would in all likelihood profess complete ignorance of all the philosophical subtleties of Christian theology of the present day.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 970

It took him about a month to reach Yellow Plum where he at once proceeded to see Hung-jên at the head of five hundred monks (sometimes said to be seven or even ten hundred). At the first interview asked the patriarch,

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 74

This was too much for the questioner, who, therefore, confessed himself as not understanding the meaning of the master. Therefore, the latter continued: Whether you understand or not, just the same go on living in the finite, with the finite; for you die if you stop eating and keeping yourself warm on account of your aspiration for the infinite. No matter how you struggle, Nirvana is to be sought in the midst of Samsara (birth-and-death).

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1717

As soon as Yōgi (Yang-ch‘ih),[7.45] a great master of the eleventh century under the Sung dynasty, got seated in his chair, he laughed loudly, “Ha, Ha, Ha!” and said, “What is this? Go back to your dormitory hall and each have a cup of tea.”

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 465

For this reason, Chinese minds, ever since the coming of Bodhi-Dharma, worked on the problem how best to present the doctrine of Enlightenment in their native garment cut to suit their modes of feeling and thinking, and it was not until after Hui-nêng (Yeno) that they satisfactorily solved the problem and the great task of building up a school to be known thenceforward as Zen was accomplished.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 823

Then the master requested him to put it back where he got it. The monk did so. But not getting any answer as he thought to his first question, he asked again, “What is the original body of Vairochana Buddha?” The master expressed his regret, saying, “Long it is since the departure of the old Buddha!” These two instances will suffice to illustrate where the Chinese Zen mind deviates from the Indian.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1097

When it is genuine—for there are many simulacra of it—its effects on one’s moral and spiritual life are revolutionary, and they are so enhancing, purifying, as well as exacting. When a master was asked what constituted Buddhahood, he answered, “The bottom of a pale is broken through.” From this we can see what a complete revolution is produced by this spiritual experience. The birth of a new man is really cataclysmic.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1792

2.1. 池州崔使君. 問五祖大師云. 徒衆五百. 何以能大師獨受衣傳信. 餘人爲什麽不得. 五祖云. 四百九十九人盡會佛法. 唯有能大師. 是過量人. 所以傳衣信……南泉云. 空劫之時. 無一切名字. 佛纔出世來. 便有名字. 所以取相……只爲今時今時執著文字. 限量不等. 大道一切實無凡聖. 若有名字皆屬限量. 所以江西老宿云. 不是心. 不是佛. 不是物. 且教後人與麽行履. 今時盡擬將心體會大道. 道若與麽學. 至彌勒佛出世. 還須發心始得. 有什麽自由分. 只如五祖會下四百九十九人. 盡會佛法. 惟有盧行者一人. 不會佛法. 只會道. 不會別事……(南泉錄.) 南泉普願 (748–834). 南嶽下三世. 嗣馬祖.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1300

The latter are more or less confined to general statements concerning life or God or the world, but Zen carries its paradoxical assertions into every detail of our daily life. It has no hesitation in flatly denying all our most familiar facts of experience, “I am writing here and yet I have not written a word. You are perhaps reading this now and yet there is not a person in the world who reads.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 703

One who thus seeing the world turns away from the world is truly freed from evil passions and has the consciousness of freedom. Such is called one who has the obstacles removed, trenches filled, one who has destroyed, is free, one whose fight is over, who has laid down his burden, and is detached.”[f71]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1649

This was the way Rinzai wanted to wipe out all trace of God-consciousness in the mind of a truth-seeker. How he wields Thor-like his thunder-bolt of harangue!

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1360

“What is refined? “He now assumed the attitude as if to kill the snake. “If so,” said the monk, “you are behaving according to the law.” “Enough with my lawful or unlawful behaviour,” demanded the master, “when did you see my killing the snake anyway?” The monk made no answer.[6.34a]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 124

In the _Hekigan_ (Pi-yen-lu),[f13] Yengo expresses the same idea in his introductory remark to the “one finger Zen” of Gutei (_Chūh-chih i chih t‘ou ch‘an_)[f14]:[1.27]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1099

The general tendency of Buddhism is as we know more intellectual than emotional, and its doctrine of Enlightenment distinguishes it sharply from the Christian view of salvation; Zen as one of the Mahayana schools naturally shares a large amount of what we may call transcendental intellectualism which does not issue in logical dualism.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1459

So far the direct method has not been of any violent character as to involve a bodily injury or nervous shock, but the masters had no qualms if they thought necessary to shake the pupils roughly. Rinzai for one was noted for the directness and incisiveness of his dealings; the point of his sword cut through the heart of the opponent.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1185

“How deluded I was! How deluded, indeed! Lift up the screen, and come see the world! ‘What religion believest thou?’ you ask. I raise my hossu[f113] and hit your mouth.”[5.23]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 635

Indeed, Ignorance is the negation of Enlightenment and not the reverse. Enlightenment is affirmation in the truest sense of the word, and therefore it was stated by the Buddha that he who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha and he who sees the Buddha sees the Dharma, and again that he who wants to see the Buddha ought not to seek him in form, nor in voice, etc. When Ignorance ruled supreme, the ego was conceived to be a positive idea, and its denial was nihilistic.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1918

[f67] The Majjhima-Nikāya, 140, _Dhātuvibhangasuttam_. Asmīti bhikkhu maññitam etaṁ; Ayam aham asmīti maññitam etaṁ; Bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ; Na bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ; Rūpī bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ; Arūpī bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ; Saññī bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ; Asaññi bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ; Nevasaññi-nasaññi bhavissan ti maññitam etaṁ.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 32

The greatest bulk of literature ever produced in this world is but the harping on the same string of love, and we never seem to grow weary of it. But this is not the topic we are concerned with here. What I want to emphasise in this connection is this, that through the awakening of love we get a glimpse into the infinity of things, and that this glimpse urges youth to Romanticism or to Rationalism according to his temperament and environment and education.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 804

“The Dharma is ultimately a dharma which is no-dharma; A dharma which is no-dharma is also a dharma: As I now hand this no-dharma over to thee, What we call the Dharma, the Dharma—where after all is the Dharma?”[f78][4.12]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 294

This is why the _Laṅkāvatāra-Sūtra_ tries so hard to tell us that language is altogether inadequate as the means of expressing and communicating the inner state of Enlightenment. While without language we may fare worse at least in our practical life, we must guard ourselves most deliberately against our trusting it too much beyond its legitimate office.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1065

The master then expressed his deep appreciation of Hsüan-chiao’s view on the subject, saying, “Well thou hast said!”[4.57]

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 101

Chōsa’s answer is no answer, judged by the ordinary rules of logic. Hence the second question, but still a sort of equivocation from the lips of the master. What does this “making one think” explain? From this it is apparent that Zen is one thing and logic another. When we fail to make this distinction and expect of Zen to give us something logically consistent and intellectually illuminating, we altogether misinterpret the signification of Zen.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 602

This is not to be wondered at, seeing that the Buddha’s teaching centred in the doctrine of Enlightenment, the dispelling of Ignorance.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 641

This is really the meaning of “yathābhūtam” or “yathātatham”—the term quite frequently used in the Buddhist canon and in fact forming a most important refrain of Buddhist thought.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 327

But Prajñā is more than merely intellectual, it produces Karuṇā (love or pity), and with her co-operation it achieves the great end of life, the salvation of all beings from Ignorance and passions and misery. It now knows no end in devising all kinds of means to carry out its own teleological functions. The _Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka_ regards the Buddha’s appearance on earth and his life in history as the “skilful devices” of world-salvation on the part of the Supreme Being of Eternal Enlightenment.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 529

When this was introduced into China and thoroughly assimilated according to the Chinese methods of thinking and feeling, the main thesis of the Sutra came to be demonstrated in such a way as is now considered characteristically Zen. The truth has many avenues of approach through which it makes itself known to the human mind. But the choice it makes depends on certain limitations under which it works.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1002

They contain deep truth but are not concrete nor vivifying enough to rouse our dormant souls from insensibility. They are filled up too much with abstractions and learned phraseology. Hui-nêng’s simple-mindedness not spoiled by learning and philosophising could grasp the truth at first hand. Hence his unusual freshness in the way he handled the problem. We may come to this again later.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 254

It was the presence in every individual of a faculty designated by the Mahayanists as Prajñā.[f28] This was the principle that made Enlightenment possible in us as well as in the Buddha. Without Prajñā there could be no Enlightenment, which was the highest spiritual power in our possession. The intellect or what is ordinarily known by Buddhist scholars as Vijñāna, was relative in its activity, and could not comprehend the ultimate truth which was Enlightenment.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1870

[f22] For a more or less detailed account of the various Buddhist schools that came up within a few centuries after the Buddha, see Vasumitra’s _Samayabhedo-paracana-cakra_. Professor Suisai Funahashi recently published an excellent commentary on this book.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1442

Jōshu was the readiest master for pithy retorts and his “Sayings” (_Goroku_) is filled with them, but he was also an adept at the direct method. When he was in his pulpit one day, a monk came out of the rank and made bows to him. Without waiting, however, for further movements on the part of the monk, Jōshu folded his hands and a parting salutation was given. Hyakujo Isei’s (Pai-chang Wei-chêng)[6.64] way was somewhat different. He said to the monks, “You open the farm for me and I will talk to you about the great principle [of Zen].” When the monks finished attending to the farm and came back to the master to discourse on the great principle, he merely extended his open arms and said nothing.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1509

Apart from its psychological value, it proved an efficient agency in preserving the health and sanity of Zen Buddhism throughout its long history of growth.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 451

The Chinese have no aptitude like the Indians to hide themselves in the clouds of mystery and supernaturalism. Chwang-tzŭ and Lieh-tzŭ were the nearest to the Indian type of mind in ancient China, but their mysticism does not begin to approach that of the Indian Mahayanists in grandeur, in elaborateness, and in the height of soaring imagination.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1545

As they are arranging the dishes and the waiting monks go around to serve the soup and rice, the _Prajñā-pāramitā-hṛidaya-sūtra_[f138] is recited followed by the “Five Meditations” on eating, which are: “First, of what worth am I? Whence is this offering? Secondly, accepting this offering, I must reflect on the deficiency of my virtue. Thirdly, to guard over my own heart, to keep myself away from faults such as covetousness, etc.,—this is the essential thing.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 2041

Jōshu (Chao-chou), on Zen, 102; “Throw it down!” 162; no abiding place, 205fn.; on washing dishes, 224; “Mu”, 236, 240; one ultimate word, 256, 256fn.; on poverty, 259; on Nansen’s cat, 262; on his new robe, 268; one thing abiding, 269; on Prajñā, 273; his counter-questioning, 282; his direct method, 286; on Chu the national teacher, 288fn.; on dust, 313; crying “fire!” 313; and an old woman, 328f.; his stone bridge, 329; on a crystal, 341; on Bodhi-Dharma, 341.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1235

Next I proceeded to describe what a change satori brings in one’s idea of things, that is, how it all upsets the former valuation of things generally, making one stand now entirely on a different footing. For illustrations, some verses were quoted which were composed by the masters at the moment of their attainment of satori.

Essays in Zen Buddhism, passage 1262

There is something rejuvenating in it. The spring flowers look prettier, and the mountain stream runs cooler and more transparent. The subjective revolution that brings out this state of things cannot be called abnormal. When life becomes more enjoyable and its expanse is as broad as the universe itself, there must be something in satori quite healthy and worth one’s striving after its attainment.