photo by TOKUI Hiroshi

Opening Comments :
Zen and Workby YAMADA Ryun 04

Teisho: Shyroku (39) by YAMADA Ryun 6

Teisho: Shinjinmei (4) by YAMADA Kun 11
Words of Yamada Kun Roshi (71) by TONOIKE Zeny 21
Already Dead by Nancy SCHAEFER 23
Zenkai Schedule

26

Gallery by YOKOO Tatsuhiko 27

Editors Note

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Opening Comments:

YAMADA Ryun

Zen and Work

Of those practicing zazen regularly I would imagine that the
majority are engaged in work of some kind. Some may be working in
companies, others engaged in the medical or welfare fields, others
working as lawyers or accountants or teaching in schools, and still others
working in the fields of art, music, and aesthetics. If we include also the
upkeep of ones house and work in the home itself, I think we can say that
everyone is doing some kind of work.
What is the relationship of such work to zazen? I myself, while
engaging in activities related to Zen, have for many years been involved
in the management of companies, medical facilities, and hygienic
inspection facilities. I often am asked how one can balance Zen activities
with such work responsibilities.
For me the relationship between Zen and work is very simple. It
is not a question of balancing two things. Simply, if I practice Zen, I can
work better.

My parents, while both were doing zazen, also worked

every day, my father as a company executive and my mother as a doctor.

I remember my mother once saying, Other people work every day
without doing Zen. I dont see how they can do it. I have exactly the
same sentiments.
However, the doubt may arise then: is Zen just a means used so
that work may go better? There is no need to worry about that. Even if
one would begin zazen with the purpose of doing a job better, if he/she

would continue to sit earnestly, the essence of Zen would gradually

become clear. There is no doubt that the practice of Zen brings plus
benefits of all sorts to daily work. However, the essence of Zen is not
merely as a tool to be used for doing a better job. If one continues to do
zazen earnestly, the boundary between ones job and the one who is doing
that job gradually becomes fainter. And eventually one realizes that that
boundary between self and work was never there.
Workingone realizes the fact that there is no self beyond that
reality. The name Zen is just a word attached to this reality. Zazen is
the act of becoming this reality itself, its embodiment. Here is where the
essence of zazen lies.
In various teisho in various places I have said that zazen refers to
the book becoming a book, the desk a desk. What I am saying now is
absolutely the same thing using a different expression, namely, Zazen is
becoming fully the reality that beyond the job there is no self existing.
Zazen is the activity of the true self becoming fully the true self.
Namely, the activity of becoming fully working itself.

It should be

obvious then that by doing zazen ones work will go better.

(translated by Jerome CUSUMANO)

Picture by Ursula OKLE

Photo by HARA Akira

SHYROKU (Book of Equanimity)

CASE 39

Jsh's Wash Your Bowls

By

YAMADA Ryun

Instruction:

When rice comes, you open your mouth;

When sleep comes, you close your eyes.
When you wash your face, you touch your nose;
When you take up your straw sandals, you feel your feet.
At those times, if you lose the koan, take a burning light and make a
special search in the deep night.
How can you find the right correspondence [with your real self]?
Case:

Presenting: A monk asked Jsh, I have just entered this

monastery. I beg you, Master, please give me instructions. Jsh
asked, Have you eaten your rice gruel yet? The monk answered,
Yes, I have. Jsh said, Then wash your bowls.
Verse:

Once the rice gruel is over, one tells to wash the bowls:
The mind-ground clearly meets itself.
And now, the practitioner of the monastery has finished learning:
Tell me, is there enlightenment in there or not?
On the Instruction:

When rice comes, you open your mouth; when sleep comes,
you close your eyes. When you wash your face, you touch your nose;
6

when you take up your straw sandals, you feel your feet. When rice is
put before you, you open your mouth and take it. When you get sleepy, you close your
eyes and go to sleep. When you wash your face you touch your nose. When you put on
your straw sandals, you feel your feet. Buddhist teaching in its entirety is just this.
Realizing why this is the entirety of Buddhist teaching is not an easy thing.
What is the difference between ordinary people who eat rice and the ones who
have grasped this world who eat rice? Ordinary people believe that there is such a thing
as the self that exists, that there is such a thing as rice that exists, and that they are
eating this rice. In fact this is not the case. To put it clearly and simply, only the fact
of eating is there, there is nothing else. The most important part here is that the one
who is eating does not exist. To elaborate even more we can say when the one who eats
truly disappears, the rice also disappears, and the action of eating rice likewise
disappears completely.

But the one who eats rice has to disappear first.

The

disappearance of the one eating rice is what is meant by Body and mind have fallen off.
We can say that Body and mind have fallen off is the whole of Buddhist teaching. If
body and mind have not completely been dropped off, we cannot grasp what Buddhism is
all about.
When you get sleepy you close your eyes, when you wash your face you touch
your nose, when you take up your straw sandals you touch your feet these all are one
and the same thing.

At those times, if you lose the koan, take a burning light and
make a special search in the deep night. If you dont understand the above, I
say put on a lamp in the dark night and search for it. At those times refers to when
rice is put before you, when you get sleepy, when you wash your face, when you put on
your straw sandals. If you miss this koan, search for it by practicing with Mu, Mu, Mu,
by day and by night.

How can you find the right correspondence [with your real
self]? If you want to know how you can grasp this world, check out the following case.
.
On the Case:

Presenting: A monk asked Jsh, I have just entered this

monastery. I beg you, Master, please give me instructions. Jsh
asked, Have you eaten your rice gruel yet? The monk answered,
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Yes, I have. Jsh said, Then wash your bowls. This is a famous
koan that also appears in the Mumonkan.

I would like you to savor Jshs

characteristic way of teaching in its most active form.

I have just entered this monastery.

I beg you, Master, please give me

instructions. Jsh asked. Have you eaten your rice gruel yet? The monk
answered, Yes, I have. Jsh said, If you have finished eating, then wash your
bowls.
The short dialogue between Jsh and the monk is the whole of Buddhism. To say it
from the point of transmitting the true teaching, even if you put together all the sutras
that are contained in the Daizky (the collection of the sutras compiled in 100 volumes),
this cannot surpass this dialogue.

It is not really correct to call it a dialogue. Apart

from each word uttered by the monk and by Jsh there is no such thing as Buddhism at
all.
I am repeating what I said in the instruction.

When rice is put before you, you

open your mouth and eat it. When you have finished eating your rice, you wash your
bowl.

When you become sleepy after washing your bowl, you close your eyes and go to

sleep. There is nothing but this. There is nothing but this means eating, washing,
sleeping nothing exists other than this. In other words, eating, washing, sleeping,
each of them exhausts the entire universe.

You cannot grasp this unless the self that

eats, washes, and sleeps completely disappears.

At the moment when the self

disappears, the whole universe becomes the Self.

The moment in which the self

disappears is called satori, which means that Body and mind have completely dropped
off. Recall that when Shakyamuni Buddha reached enlightenment, his first utterance
was Under heaven and earth, I alone exit.
There are many people who say, The essence of Zen is that when you get
hungry, you eat; when you get thirsty, you drink; when night comes, you sleep, when
morning comes, you get up thats all. But the majority of the people who say this do
not really understand this thats all. If they have not had this experience of the self
completely disappearing, they only say just this, just this with their mouth. To talk
about Zen without the experience of having the self completely disappear is called Buji
Zen willy nilly Zen.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Zen in Japan today

including the Rinzai and Soto Sect is mainly Buji Zen. Dont forget that the mission
8

of Sanbo-Zen is to pass on true Zen to the world, Zen which is based on the experience of
Body and mind have completely dropped away, and be liberated from this kind of willy
nilly Zen.
There is yet another aspect to this koan. Actually there are many teishos that
only explain this one aspect, saying that when Jsh asked, Have you eaten your rice
gruel yet?, he was asking, Have you already had a satori experience? And when the
Monk said, Yes, I have he meant, Yes, I have had a satori experience, to which
Jsh replied, Then wash your bowls. This supposedly means, Then flush out this
satori experience. As long as we carry our satori around with us, it is really not an
experience of Body and mind have completely dropped off. When the self that has
experienced kensh is still there, it means that that self has not completely disappeared.
I have no objection to the point that this koan contains Jshs caution to us. But this
aspect is nothing more than a point to consider from the point of view of practice
[shushhen]. I would like you to keep in mind that the essence of this koan is the point
that I made earlier.

On the Verse:
Once the rice gruel is over, one tells to wash the bowls: The
mind-ground clearly meets itself. Jsh instructed, When you finish your meal,
wash your bowls. With this single word of Jsh the monk clearly realized his true Self.
This point is not noted in the Book of Equanimity (Shyroku), but it is indicated at the
last line of the case in the Mumonkan. Again the Zen collection of the Got-eigen (Five
Lamps or Song Dynasty History of Zen in China) which includes this koan has the
sentence, The monk suddenly realized. In short, upon hearing Jshs single word,
the monk had a glimpse of his true nature.

Suddenly here is a state of mind whereby

the wide open sky clears up. The mind-ground clearly meets itself is to realize that
Mind is no other than the mountains, the rivers, the great wide earth, the sun, the moon,
and the stars.
And now, the practitioner of the monastery has finished learning:
Tell me, is there enlightenment in there or not?

Now the verse is asking all of

those who tirelessly sit and practice indefatigably in the zendo, Tell me, is there
enlightenment or not?
Is there such a thing as enlightenment, or is there not? This is an important
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koan.

I would like each one of you to earnestly work with this koan.
Here I will just offer a concluding remark. However, no matter how much I

offer any kind of concluding remark, the value of this question as a koan is not lessened
in any way.

I would like you to experientially grasp what I am saying here.

My concluding remark is that from the beginning there cannot be any such
thing as satori. It is because right from the start, there is no subject to experience satori
at all. This is the same as to say that from the beginning there is no birth and death.
There is no one who comes forth and is born. There is no one who goes to die.

In that

case, one may ask, is there no need then to sit and practice with the goal of attaining
enlightenment? No, this is not the case at all.

If one sees it like that, that is precisely

willy nilly Zen.

From the beginning, there has not been such a thing as enlightenment. To
realize this fact one has to engage in most intense practice. The experience of body and
mind dropping off, which I mentioned earlier, is vitally important.
People do not die. In my thinking, the discovery of this fact is the kernel of
the Buddhist Path. In order to discover this fact, just imagine the levels and degrees of
practice which all the Buddhas and ancestors beginning with Shakyamuni were
tirelessly engaged in. It is said that Zen Master Dgen himself, during those two years
that he was practicing under the guidance of Master Nyoj [Rujing], never even slept a
wink in bed.
Here, when I say that from the beginning there is no such thing as
enlightenment, it is exactly the same as my saying that people do not die. With this I
am speaking about a world that those stuck in willy nilly Zen could never even dream
about.
(translated by Maria REIS-HABITO)

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Picture by
Katharina shepherd

Fourth Teisho
By YAMADA Kun

Where there is no blame, there is no thing.

When it does not arise, there is no mind.
Subject vanishes along with object;
Object vanishes along with subject.
Object is object because there is subject;
subject is subject because there is object.
If you want to know both levels-they are originally one void.
The one void is the same in both,
and they equally contain all things.
When you dont distinguish between fine and coarse,
how can there be any bias?
The Great Way is in essence broad;
neither easy nor difficult.
To hold narrow views causes vacillation;
the more you hurry, the longer it takes.
As you will remember, the last lecture ended with the line: If the mind of oneness has not
arisen, the ten-thousand things are without blame. The mind of oneness means the
discriminating mind, the mind that thinks various things. If that mind does not arise there
is no blemish on the myriad phenomena. Everything is perfect and complete, just as it is. It
is only when we think in terms of good and bad that this mind of oneness disappears. As
long as it does not arise everything is perfect as it is.
But to truly realize this is actually quite difficult to do. How does this discriminating mind
arise? It arises from a feeling of dualistic opposition, the feeing, for example, of a distinction
between self and other. Although intrinsically there are not two and thus no dualistic
opposition, such an opposition occurs when we think that there is. For example, the mind
that assumes that this left hand and right hand are in dualistic opposition with each other
is the discriminating mind. However, from the standpoint of my life they are one and there
is no discrimination. The hands are perfect just as they are. The feet are perfect just as they
are. Although I am now using the example of my body to explain this, the same can be said

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about the entire universe. There is the saying: The crane is saved in the longness of its legs
and the duck is saved in the shortness of its legs. Mt. Fuji is high and Mt. Kamakura is
low. Each is perfect as it is with nothing lacking. Ssan Daishi expresses the same thing as
follows: If the mind of oneness has not arisen, the ten-thousand things are without blame.
Blame arises because we conceptualize dualistic opposition. Ssan Daishi goes on to say:

Where there is no blame, there is no thing. When we think there is no blame,

we do not realize that there are things before our eyes. For it is the same as if they werent
there. Imagine, for example, a goldfish swimming in a fish tank. As far as the fish is
concerned, there is no such thing as water. Because it is swimming freely, The tenthousand things are without blame. And when there is no blame, there is no thing. For
us, too, it is as if the air didnt exist. The only time we are aware of the air is when its
quality is quite poor. If we are breathing normal, clean air, we are hardly aware of its
existence. It is as if it werent there: When there is no blame, there is no thing.

When it does not arise, there is no mind. There are no distinctions. As long as
there is no intellectual thinking, there is no mind. There is no awareness or consciousness
of the mind.
Ssan Daishi says: If the mind of oneness has not arisen, the ten-thousand things are
without blame. This is still the stage of actual practice [Japanese: shushhen]; he is not
speaking about the essential fact. Although it may seem like I am picking a quarrel with
Ssan Daishi, I want to take issue with the lines Where there is no blame, there is no
thing. When it does not arise, there is no mind. Ssan Daishi says the reason there is no
mind is because it does not arise. But what if discriminating thoughts do arise? What then?
Is there mind? No, there isnt. Even if discriminating thoughts arise, the content of mind is
empty. This is a difficult point. I am speaking here about the essential matter and not
about the matter of practice. If Dgen Zenji were to read this passage of the Shinjinmei he
would probably say that Ssan Daishi, although he is aware of the world where nothing
arises, is not familiar with the world where something does arise!
In other words, the view that there is mind when the mind of discrimination arises and
that there is no mind when there is no mind of discrimination is the stage of shushhen, or
practice in order to attain enlightenment. It is not talking about the true and essential self.
From the standpoint of the true self, no matter how much the mind of delusion arises I
realize that it is empty. We must clearly realize this fact. This is referred to in Japanese as

aru ga mama no aritsubure [just as it is, it is completely destroyed.]: Just feeling happy,
just feeling sad, just feeling dislike. The emotion of dislike arises from the idea of dualistic
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opposition between self and other. Although the emotion of dislike is there, its content is
empty. We must come to the point of realizing this in our practice.
This section of the Shinjinmei is based on the premise of an opposition between mind and
things: If the mind of oneness has not arisen, the ten-thousand things are without blame.
Reading this line, we have the impression that the mind of oneness and the ten-thousand
things are separate and different. The poem then continues: Where there is no blame,
there is no thing. When it does not arise, there is no mind.
Here again, it appears as if there is a distinction between mind and things; but that is an
error. When I am aware of myself, there is then an outer world, an objective world in
relation to myself. But that is not true. The truth is that they are one. Our common practice
of dividing into two that which is actually one makes us feel that mind and the objective
world are separate.
The words of Dgen Zenji that touched off my own enlightenment experience were: I have
clearly realized that mind is mountains, rivers, the great earth, the sun, the moon and the
stars. You have realized that your mind is the mountains, the rivers, the sun, the moon
and the stars. Usually we believe that I am here looking at the sun and moon, which are
outside of me. But if you truly open your eyes, you realize that your mind is the sun, the
moon, the grass and the trees. The mind is empty, there is nothing at all. There is only the
mountains, there is only the river. I have clearly realized that mind is mountains, rivers,
the great earth, the sun, the moon and the stars. The first time I truly understood these
words was when I was returning to Kamakura on the train one day with my wife. Reading
the Sokushin Ze Butsu (This Very Mind is the Buddha) fascicle of Dgen Zenjis

Shbgenz, I was startled when I came upon these words. I have clearly realized that
mind is mountains, rivers, the great earth, the sun, the moon and the stars. Of course it
was not the first time I had read them; in fact, I had read them several times before.
Nevertheless I read these words this time with a start of surprise.
On the way home from the station, the words kept coming into my mind and I felt
extremely refreshed. I whispered to myself, I feel I could rise to great heights, and my
wife said, That would be a problem if only you were to rise to great heights and I were to
remain where I am. Its all right, I said. Well always be together. All the while I kept
repeating those words to myself until we reached home: I have clearly realized that mind
is mountains, rivers, the great earth the sun the moon and the stars.

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It was already close to midnight when I bathed and retired. As I suddenly awoke in the
middle of the night, those words flashed before me. All at once, quite suddenly, heaven and
earth crumbled and disappeared. I was beside myself with amazement. Ho-ho! Theres
nothing at all! I must have seemed like a madman. I sat up and started pounding my
knees with my fists as hard as I could. So thats it! Jumping up, I began stamping on the
floor, all the while laughing riotously. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I had finally realized the
world of oneness. My five-year old son, who was sleeping with us next to my wife in our
bedroom, evidently thought his Papa had gone funny in the head. I was laughing so
uproariously that my wife covered my mouth with her hand and exclaimed, Whats the
matter with you? Whats the matter with you? although I had no memory of her words
later. At any rate, it was due to that experience that I first truly realized the world of
oneness.
In the true world there is no separation between mind and things. Case 37 of the Blue Cliff

Record conveys the same reality:

Keizan spoke some words, saying, There is nothing in the three worlds. Where
can mind be found?
The three worlds are the worlds of illusion, namely desire, form and no-form. Keizan says
there is nothing in those three worlds. He is saying this while viewing the essential world.
There is nothing in the three worlds. There is nothing I can give a name to. Where is mind?
If you have realized the true world, a sentence like this springs forth.
Or consider Case 87 of the Blue Cliff Record, Unmons Medicine and Sickness:

Unmon spoke to the assembly, saying Medicine and sickness mutually cure each
other. The entire earth is medicine. What is the self?
In other words, Unmon is saying that the real world is one, with no division into two. We
only make a division into the duality of things and mind for the sake of explanation.

Subject vanishes along with object; object vanishes along with

subject. If the objective world vanishes, the subject vanishes with it because they are one.
If there is no object there is no subject. We need not limit this point specifically to the world
encountered in enlightenment. If you do something single-mindedly there is no
consciousness of self or other. Lets take the example of music as there is a piano teacher in
our midst today. Although I dont play an instrument myself, I can imagine that, if you are
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playing the piano with utmost attention there is no consciousness of self or of playing.
There is not even the piano. There is only that sound. Im sure it must be that way. If you
have totally forgotten yourself in an activity, the consciousness of self vanishes along with
the subjective world. And the objective world vanishes away with the subject.
In other words, because mind and surroundings are one, the object vanishes with the
subject, and the subject vanishes with the object. Subject and object share a common fate.
Although they appear to be divided into two, they are fundamentally one and inseparable.
Usually we are only aware of the phenomenal world with its division into two, but actually
it is one. Nevertheless, you cant understand this fact intellectually no matter how good the
explanation. When all is said and done, you cant understand it unless you experience it
directly in an enlightenment experience. You must realize the world of emptiness.
Reading the teisho of ARAI Sekizen Roshi that I quoted earlier, I agree to what he says.
But just reading his explanation is not going to solve the problem. For example, there is
this passage:

Therefore, we must be aware above all that all phenomena are the Dharmakaya
Buddha of salvation and that my former and latter thoughts are all the light of
prajna wisdom.
Every single one of my thoughts and feelings---happiness, anger, delight---are the light of
prajna wisdom. We have only to recognize this, says the Roshi. That is certainly true, but it
is because we are unable to do so that we are suffering. What the Roshi says is on the mark,
yet just understanding this intellectually is of no use whatsoever.

Object is object, because there is subject; subject is subject because

there is object. If you want to know both levels---they are originally
one void. Both levels means subject and object. If you truly want to understand subject
and object, you must clearly realize the world of emptiness in which subject and object are
intrinsically the same single void. For example, there is my right hand and my left hand. If
I truly want to understand these two, I must realize my life. If I simply pursue the duality
of left and right hand I am nowhere. Unless I truly grasp the reality of my single life I
cannot reach a solution. Satori is the experience whereby I realize the fact that all things in
the objective world are no other than myself, that self and other are intrinsically not two.
There is the following waka poem by Dgen Zenji:

I hear water dripping from the eaves:

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Since there is no mind.

That dripping is my self!
[Kiku mama ni mata kokoro naki mi ni shi areba
onore nari keri noki no tamamizu].
If I believe that the mind has some substance I am mistaken. Mind is completely empty. In
this waka by Dgen Zenji he hears the sound of the rain dripping from the eaves and
realizes that there is nothing, that the mind has no substance. That is, he realizes that the
sound of the dripping water is himself.
Those practicing with the koan MU should practice until they become one with MU and
realize the world of emptiness. No matter how many difficult books you study on the
subject it wont be of any use. If you are going to practice zazen you cant cling to logical
reasoning. There is no other way than to sit---to sit and sit and realize fully your true
nature. Then everything will become clear as you realize. The joy at that time is truly great.
There are basically three merits to zazen. The first is development of samadhi power. When
the power of concentration develops as as a result of practicing zazen you will no longer be
controlled by your environment. Although this is a truly great merit, it is still not the stage
of satori.
The second merit is realizing the supreme way [mujd no taiken] The word taiken means
grasping experientially with your body the actual truth. This is also known as taish or
realizing with the body. This realizing with the body is the most important matter in
zazen. Although it is possible with a variety of methods--seiza, for example--to develop
concentration of mind, satori will not emerge from such practice. It is the experience of
satori--realizing the supreme way--that makes zazen what it is.
The third merit is actualizing the supreme way. That means personalizing the content of
the satori experience and making it part of your everyday life. These three are also known
as the three aims of zazen.
Let us examine the second of these merits: realizing the supreme way (satori). What is it
we actually realize? The Shinjinmei is talking about nothing but that. Although we are
usually only aware of the phenomenal world, the world we can see, there is actually
another world--although expressing it that way makes it seem as if they are two.
Nevertheless the phenomenal world itself is totally empty and that world of emptiness is
known as the essential world. It is not true that the phenomenal world is the only world
16

that exists. That world is actually totally empty; there is actually not one thing. In other
words, seen from one standpoint it appears that phenomena exist, but seen from another
standpoint there is nothing at all. Experiencing that reality is the very core of Zen
Buddhism. No matter how many explanations you hear about this and no matter how well
you understand this intellectually, it cannot take the place of actual experience. And if you
have not experienced it you do not really understand it. That means you have not yet been
able to obtain peace of mind and establish your life in that experience. The Shinjinmei is
constantly talking about the same thing with the intention that all who read it may truly
grasp this living fact. If you practice zazen, it is important that you grasp this reality as a
living fact in true experience. No amount of explanation is going to help. Unless you
experience the pain your legs that comes from earnest zazen you will never make this
experience your own. The passage we are reading from the Shinjinmei is saying this very
thing from a variety of standpoints.

The one void is the same in both. Let us review once again:
Where there is no blame, there is no thing.
When it does not arise, there is no mind.
Subject vanishes along with object;
Object vanishes along with subject.
To repeat, although it appears as if subject and object are in dualistic opposition to each
other, subject actually disappears with object because subject and object are one. Object
vanishes with subject. If subject vanishes, object also vanishes. Object only exists because
there is subject. It is only there due to this relationship of dualistic opposition.
Object is object because there is subject; subject is subject because there is object. If you
want to know both levels--they are originally one void. This is the crux of the matter.
Although we speak in terms of subject and object, the content of both is void. Satori is
primarily a matter of realizing the emptiness of subject [nink] and then also realizing the
emptiness of object [hokk]. The word hokk [lit, emptiness of phenomena] contains the
character h meaning dharma or law, since all phenomena rise in accordance with the law
of causality. There is also the expression ninky meaning literally person and environment
and referring once again to subject and object. The Record of Rinzai (Sino-Japanese:
Rinzairoku) speaks about the four thefts: (1) Stealing subject but not stealing object, (2)
Stealing object but not stealing subject, (3) Stealing both subject and object, (4) Stealing
neither subject nor object.

17

Thus, satori is the experience of clearly grasping the essential emptiness of subject and
object. The Shinjinmei says: If you want to know both levels--they are originally one void.
What is the one void? The one void is the same as the both levels of subject and object.
In other words, void is no other than subject and object.

And they equally contain all things. All things means all phenomena in the
phenomenal world. Equally once again implies a division into the duality of subject and
object. The Shinjinmei says that both subject and object equally contain all phenomena.
This means that emptiness [k] contains all phenomena. One is all and all is one. This
same fact is explained from different standpoints. Here the single void appears as the
duality of subject and object, when it is said that both equally contain all things.

When you dont distinguish between fine and coarse Fine means the
essential world, the single void. Coarse means the phenomenal world or all phenomena.
The verse to Case 2 of the Blue Cliff Record (Jshs Supreme Way) includes the following
line;

In one there are many kinds,

In two theres no duality. (Cleary)
This is a very poetic way of expressing the same thing. The final lines of the Shinjinmei say
that one is all and all is one. This is the summa of Buddhism: one is everything,
everything is one.
As was just mentioned, fine refers to the world of oneness, the essential world. Rough
refers to the world of phenomena. Dividing fine and rough creates a duality. Actually,
however, the true fact transcends fine and rough. The true fact or true reality contains both
fine and rough while transcending them. Using my fraction, we can say that the world of
the denominator is zero while possessing infinite capabilities; it is the essential world. The
numerator is alpha and stands for all phenomena. Although they are divided into two, the
>. To
true reality which includes both while transcending them is the fraction itself: <

express this I encircle the entire fraction, which indicates that the true fact is the entire
fraction itself.
Not distinguishing between fine and coarse means transcending both of them. For if you
distinguish between fine and coarse there is already a duality.

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How can there be any bias? To be biased in favor of either the essential or
phenomenal is to be in error. The original Chinese expression translated here as bias
means veering toward or teaming up with one side. In modern Japan we might use the
word habatsu, which refers basically to political factions in Japans system of political
parties.
It is often said that Buddhism is the Middle Way where there is no veering to either side,
no bias. But that is more than just a theoretical idea. The Middle Way means it includes
both sides while transcending them. Because it includes both sides it might be called the
Middle Way. But it is clearly an error to believe that some concept of a idle way that is not
biased in any direction has anything to do with Buddhism. The essence of Buddhism is not
some sort of compromise, its not like a mathematical equation in which you add up the two
parts and divide by two! Why do such views of Buddhism arise? Basically its because their
proponents have not grasped the essential world in actual experience. They are not
speaking from the standpoint of something they have actually experienced. They are only
using intellectual reasoning to cover up their lack of actual understanding.

The Great Way is in essence broad; neither easy nor difficult. The Great
Way is the same as the Supreme Way. It is vast and unlimited like outer space. This is
also known as daid-mumon [great way, no gate]. We are told that the great way is vast
and limitless, lacking both easy and difficult. We encounter the same thing in Case 2 of the

Blue Cliff Record: Jshs Supreme Way. Recall the initial lines of the Shinjinmei: The
Supreme Way is without difficulty, it just dislikes picking and choosing. It is said that the
Supreme Way or Great Way is without difficulty. And here it says that it is neither difficult
nor easy. It transcends difficult and easy. One person may say that the Supreme Way is
easy. When youre hungry you eat, when youre cold you put on a sweater. When youre
tired you lie down. That is certainly one aspect of the Supreme Way. Another person may
find it difficult. Only someone who has truly practiced can realize how difficult it is to truly
grasp the Supreme Way and personalize that in our daily lives. Seen from this standpoint,
the Supreme Way is very difficult. Another person may say, It is neither easy nor difficult.
We might refer to this as the Middle Way: the world that transcends easy and difficult. Or,
as the poem says: The Great Way is in essence broad; neither easy nor difficult.

To hold narrow views causes vacillation. There is the Japanese saying:

Looking at the sky through a reed. If you are looking at the sky through a reed or through
a bamboo pipe, you will see very little of the sky. To hold narrow views means to be
unaware of the vastness and broadness of the Great Way.

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Our narrow views, our delusive thoughts--could it be this or could it be that?--cause us

vacillation. The original text uses the word kogi, which literally means to doubt like a fox.
Foxes are traditionally very suspicious creatures. When a fox is chased, instead of fleeing
straightaway it will run a little and then look back to see if its still being followed. If we
still understand things by means of concepts, a true and decisive explanation of things will
not come forth. Instead, we will be doubting all the time. This is the essence of philosophy.
A conjecture is sure to invite a refutation. And the refutation becomes the target of yet
another refutation in an unending process. That is what is meant here by vacillation. In his

Shdka, Yka Daishi says: This clear conviction characterizes the true student of Zen. A
person who has truly practiced Buddhism must have a clear conviction that this is how it
is. Otherwise, he or she will forever be vacillating the minute someone says anything to
the contrary.

The more you hurry, the longer it takes. Most Zen students tend to be impatient
about attaining kensho. But as long as we are still thinking about kensho, our practice
cannot be pure and our development toward realization will actually be impeded. If you
want to come to kensho, throw away all thoughts of gaining it. If you are still thinking
about getting kensho quickly, you will never reach your goal. The more you hurry, the
longer it takes.
Although I may be applying this saying in a somewhat restricted way, I feel it also holds
true for Zen practice. We must learn to be perfectly at peace at this very moment just as
we are. The more we try to find the truth outside ourselves the longer it will take to
understand. It is okay just as it is. This every place is the Lotus Land. We have only to
realize that there is nothing further to search for. But if we keep looking outside ourselves,
wondering if it could be this or that, When will we ever have this day? If we keep on in
that way we will never realize that we are saved today. These were the words of baku
Zenji. Having taken up the practice of Zen you should by all means come to a direct
experience of the actual fact. If you can do that, then all other things will take care of
themselves.
translated by Paul SHPHERD)

Photo by HARA Akira

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************************************************

Words of
Yamada Kun Roshi

(71)
***********************************************

One Grain of Rice

Religion and Politics

At the end of last year, the loud campaigning for the general election came to an end
and a new map of the Japanese political world was drawn up. At a glance there
appears to be no perceptible change, but when examined in detail, it is possible to read
the suggestion of a new trend in it. We should take at least a cursory interest in such a
development.
Political parties, as the basis for their existence, must support something that is
essential for human beings. What comes to mind first are freedom and equality. Before
everything else human beings are in their essence completely free, and all completely
free human beings are perfectly equal to each other.
We could say that the present day Liberal Democratic Party (Jimint) takes as the
basis for its existence the freedom found in the nature of human beings, while the
Social Party (Shakait ) and the Communist Party (Kysant) although there are
differences in their thinking are alike in taking, first and foremost, the equality of the
nature of human beings as the foundation of their parties.
In attaching excessive importance to freedom, the Liberal Democratic Party has the
tendency to neglect to some degree the aspect of equality, and both the Social and
Communist Parties, in vigorously demanding equality, are shadowed by the tendency
to suppress and sacrifice freedom peoples deepest and strongest need.
The Democratic Socialist Party (Minshat), which stands half-way between these two
sides, appears to have been founded on the basis of trying to promote harmony
between them, but how is it going?
The three groups Liberal Democratic, Social Communist and Democratic Socialist
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strike me as corresponding, as it were, to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Regrettably,

however, with the opposition between Buddha and Dharma as fierce as it is, room for
the Sangha to exist is becoming more and more constricted and it appears to be barely
hanging onto life.
Then there is the Kmeit Party. But in what kind of original nature of human beings
do they have their basis? If they say that this is in the spirit of Buddhism, we,
followers of the Buddha Way, have of course nothing against it. But the spirit of
Buddhism is never solely for worldly profit (, upon which the Party seems to put the
main stress). It is very difficult to understand the reason for the existence of the
Kmeit Party, and I wonder if its striking decline in the recent election is not
connected to this.
The Buddha Way cannot form the basis for a modern political party. That is probably
why Zen people of the past did not participate in politics. This is not only true of the
Buddha Dharma of the Zen Way. I think we could say that, on the whole, first-rate
religions are not directly connected with politics. Even looking at the way it is with the
Vatican, we would have to agree to this.
In true religion, the right course of action begins with stirring the heart of an
individual person and assisting that person interiorly. It can truly be called a
revolution of the heart. Unfortunately this cannot be a mass production. Just as people
made paste in the old days, there is no other way than to mash individual grains of
boiled rice and knead them into paste. But what a tremendous power a mashed and
kneaded grain of boiled rice produces! One grain becomes a hundred grains; a hundred
grains become ten-thousand grains; ten-thousand grains become infinite grains until
finally the whole universe is filled. We must bear in mind that there is nothing that
saves people except the power of each mashed and kneaded grain. (March 1973).
(compiled by TONOIKE Zeny, translated by Joan RIECK)

photo by TOKUI Hiroshi

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Already Dead
Nancy SCHAEFER

On April 31, during the 2013 NASK in Santa Fe, an unusual thing happened: I died.
Perhaps it is more accurate to say that I had a direct experience of death. I knew with
certainty that I was dead and that there was nothing called me.
This overwhelming encounter with death was also a revelation about the studentteacher relationship. I saw this as clearly as a cloudless blue sky in autumn. I could
not have experienced death if it were not for my relationship with Ryoun Roshi.
It was during the Roshis teisho on the fourth day of the sesshin.

The case was

Shoyoroku 30, Daizuis Kalpa Fire, one of the few koans that deal directly with the
issue of life and death. Because I had long been troubled by the concept of death, I
was excited about listening to his teisho. I paid close attention to every word that the
Roshi uttered during his talk. Captivated by his speech I seized the opportunity to
listen and learn with vigor.
The Case: A monk asked Daizui, When the great kalpa fire bursts out, the whole
universe will be destroyed. I wonder if IT will also be destroyed or not. Daizui said,
Destroyed. The monk said, If so, will IT be gone with the other? Daizui said, Gone
with the other. A monk asked Ryusai, When the great kalpa fire bursts out, the whole
universe will be destroyed. I wonder if IT will also be destroyed or not. Ryusai said,
Not destroyed. The monk said, Why is it not destroyed? Ryusai said, Because it is
the same as the whole universe.
Roshi explained that these two masters, Daizui and Ryusai, appeared to be giving two
different answers to the monk. They seemed to be disagreeing on the point of whether
or not our true nature, our emptiness itself, is destroyed by the kalpa fire. Not so, said
Roshi. Both of these masters were expressing one true fact in two different ways.
What is this one true fact? asked the Roshi. Our zazen practice is burning us down,
burning me, myself. We are already gone, disappearing, dying. We are dead right
now! And if were dead right now, how can we die later?

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Roshi explained over and over that we are totally gone, completely dead, that there is
nothing, no substance, to die. I found his teaching and the koan powerful. I was
beginning to feel its destructive power. I understood his words.
As the Roshi finished his Teisho he became more and more adamant insisting,
repeating, There is no birth, there is no death. And finally he shouted to the whole
room, You cannot die, you cannot die because you are already dead! You just dont

know it!
At that very instant my world exploded. POW! The words hit me like a firestorm,
destroying me, killing me. I not only understood that I was dead but that I had been
dead all along: That I was, in fact, dead now. Beyond feeling, beyond understanding,
I knew with clarity that I was dead.
The tears flowed, and a sense of complete liberation filled my existence. I felt newly
awakened as if from a dream. It was like I had been asleep and dreaming and the
Roshi was standing above me. He grabbed me by the arm and began to shake me
Nancy, wake up, Nancy, wake up! But what he said in reality was, Nancy, wake up,
wake up! You are already dead. And with those words I awoke I was completely
transformed.
Tears kept flowing. The experience continued even after Roshi finished his teisho and
we began to sit again. I felt like I had no head upon my shoulders. Theres a phrase
in English that describes the feeling: Like a chicken with its head cut off. There was
nothing above my shoulders. The Roshis turning words, like a firestorm, had blown
my head off my body. I sat in zazen, gratefully, joyfully headless.
I couldnt wait to get to the Dokusan room to tell the Roshi about the experience
because it concerned him too. I was so excited and happy that when I got to the
Dokusan room and took my place on the cushion I quickly blurted out without
thinking, Roshi, thank you, thank you! You have killed me!
The Roshi slowly put down his pen and paper, turned his face toward me and looked
at me in a puzzled way. Before he could say anything I said, Roshi, I got. He
immediately broke into a smile, looked at me and said, You got it? Yes, I said, I
got it.
I told him that I experienced what he said in his teisho: that we couldnt die because
we were already dead. I explained to him my experience of death. Roshi was as happy
as I was. So you believed me, you really believed me, he said. When I said you cant
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die because you are already dead, I wondered if anyone in the room got it. So you got it,
Nancy. Yes, I replied, I got it.
Roshi explained that this was the original experience of Shakyamuni. He said that
Shakyamunis great Enlightenment was the realization that we are dead yet alive at
the same time. There is nothing there, yet everything is arising at the same time.
This experience was also about the powerful relationship between teacher and student.
I had unconditional faith and belief in the truth of Ryoun Roshis words and guidance.
During Roshis teisho I was completely alert and open to his message of no birth, no
death. And there were no gates, no barriers between us. It was an experience of the
living transmission of the Dharma from teacher to student as it is from the whole
lineage of patriarchs from Buddha and onward through the centuries.

This is

Bodhidharmas Special transmission outside the scriptures; no dependence on words

and letters; direct pointing to the mind of man; seeing into ones nature and attaining
Buddhahood. This fact accounts for my experience of death.
Whats it like to be dead you might ask? It is wonderful, liberating. I feel like laughing
and dancing with the Patriarchs. I realized and now know I cannot die I am already
dead. And yet at the exact same time, I live. This is the awakening experience of the
Buddha. This is the kalpa fire destroying and not destroying.
Dead AND alive at the same time! I died. I can never die. I am always dying. My
experience of death leaves me marvelously empty, marvelously full.
We must listen carefully to our teachers and look in the direction of their direct
pointing. They do not deceive us.
Thank you, Roshi.

Nancy Schaefer
The Toronto Zendo of the Sanbo Kyodan
May 2013

Photo by HARA Akira

25

ZENKAI SCHEDULE

of Sanbo-Kyodan Society in Japan

for SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2013

Sanun Zendo Zazenkai

Ryun-an Zazenkai
(Only for people working on post-kensho kans)

Dir. by: YAMADA Ryun Roshi

Sept. 15 (Sun)*
Oct. 13 (Sun), 27(Sun)
Nov. 10 (Sun) , 24 (Sun)

Dir. by: YAMADA Ryun Roshi

Sept. 14 (Sat)
Oct. none
Nov. 09 (Sat) , 23 (Sat)

9:00 am - 4:30 pm:

Zazen, teisho, dokusan & samu

9:00 am - 12:00 am: Zazen, dokusan.

* Memorial service for the late

YAMADA Koun Roshi

The schedule is subject to change.

Contact: Ms. Ursula OKLE

(see above)

Sanun Zendo Sesshin

Dir. by: YAMADA Ryun Roshi

Sept. 18 (Wed) 19:00

Sept. 23 (Mon) 15:00

Yoyogi-Uehara Zazenkai
Dir. by: KUBOTA Jiun Roshi

Sept. 07 (Sat)
Oct. 26 (Sat)
Nov. 09 (Sat)

Nov. 26 (Tue) 19:00

Dec. 1 (Sun) 15:00
Contact:

Ms. Ursula OKLE

9:00 am - 4:00 pm:

Zazen, teisho, dokusan

Fax: +81-(0)467-23-5147
Email: uvokle@sky.plala.or.jp
or:

At: -Chitose Building, 3F

Uehara 1-33-12
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0064

Mr. SATO Migaku

Email:
sanbo7@rikkyo.ac.jp

Contact:

Mr. MATSU'URA Yoshihisa

Tel: +81-(0)3-466-9225

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Gallery

Kreis
2008
100x100cm
Acryl,Sand/canvas
YOKOO Tatsuhiko

27

Picture by
HARA Akira

Editors Note
It certainly is a shame to issue almost each number of our magazine by apologizing for
being late. We will keep trying to do our best!
Meanwhile the Zen Teachers kenshukai in France in September is over, and a part of
its rich results will be reported in the forthcoming number of the Kyosho. It shall
make it visible that our line of true Zen is taking its solid roots all over the world,
envisaging a rich future for all people searching the real truth along this Way.
At the end of October we will have another sesshin in the Kibbutz Tuval in
Galilee/Israel with our abbot (cf. www.sanbo-zen.org/communication_e.html ).
the second sesshin after the one in the past year.

It is

It is our sincere wish that the

practice of zazen in a serious way will contribute in the future to bringing the fruit of
peace in the area as in the description of the grain of rice in Koun Roshis words in
this issue.
Gassho.
(editor)

The KYSH (Awakening Gong), No. 362 (September 1, 2013)

Issued by: The Religious Foundation Sanb-Kydan
Hase 1-6-5, Kamakura-shi, 248-0016 Japan
Edited by: The Sanb-Kydan Society (Sanb-Krykai)
Hase 1-6-5, Kamakura-shi, 248-0016 Japan
Tel: 0467-25-3636
Fax: 0467-23-5147
Email: sanbo7@rikkyo.ac.jp
http://www.sanbo-zen.org/

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