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Taitaiko Go Gajariho – “Pure Standards for the Zen Communnity”

Byu Sebastian Mokusen Volz

Master Dogen, in an early period in Kyoto developed the essential teachings on the path and essence of Zen, emphasizing the effectiveness of Zazen in the Shobogenzo.

After this period of 16 years, he founded Eihei-ji and developed the teachings for a continuous practice appropriate for monastic life. This practice has its source in Zazen and is organized around the platform where the monks do Zazen.

During the Ango that I experienced last year, this monastic life seemed to me to be organized so that surrender to the path is complete. Since the cycle of the days is pre-established, adapted to the nature and the balance of the human being, there is no more choice to make and the mind relaxes. Life flows smoothly and the mind that does not seek gain, Mushotoku, is realised.

The fourth part of Eihei-ji’s rules concerns correct behavior when meeting experienced teachers. This experience is measured in number of Angos. Five confer the position of Atari-teacher, ten that of Osho-priest.

The sixty-two rules that are set out in the chapters are designed to establish a state of respect between the teacher and the monk, so that the learning is done verbally and non-verbally.

To reveal the meaning of this respect, here is a little story :

“An impetuous and proud Samurai entered the temple of an old monk one day. Without warning, he burst into the room where the monk was going about his business. And then he imperatively asked:

“Reveal to me the secret of paradise and hell ! ”

The old monk smiled and said to him :

“A man as stupid as you is not able to understand.”

The Samurai, outraged and dominated by anger, drew his sword and threw himself at his interlocutor. Just as the sword rose in the air to strike, the monk uttered in a powerful voice.

“This is hell “.

Impressed and stunned, the Samurai stopped immediately. Realizing the meaning of the words he had just heard, he prostrated himself. At this precise moment, the Master made this revelation to him,

“Here is paradise”.

The sixty-two rules can be summed up by the mind of this prostration in the face of revealed truth. This truth is expressed through the body of this Taitaiko who lived five or ten Angos, through his gestures, his aura and his words.

The abbot of the temple where I spent three months, spent his life practicing Angos. His eyes are brilliant, his voice very gentle, his gestures particularly fine. He always evolves silently and discreetly. He sees everyone’s mistakes. He says nothing and let the monks take responsibility, unless the mistake is repeated. A natural respect for him is established.

The rules of the temple are also established in order to dignify him : his entrance to the refectory and to Chosan, the formal tea of the morning, is made to the sound of the drum. Finally the monks only see him on the occasions that are relevant to practice such as zazen, Oryokis and Samu. He sometimes calls a monk to Tokusan for an interview. He meets Shusso and Tenzo daily and is assisted by a monk or a nun. While he seems unattainable and elevated by the rules of the temple, he shows profound simplicity and kindness when the opportunity arises to interact with him.

For us who have been educated in an egalitarian society the sixty-two rules are difficult to understand and accept. They are aimed at simple behaviors such as : « Do not look at a Taiko when leaning on something with your legs crossed » « Do not look at a Taiko with dangling arms ». As well as obviously misplaced attitudes : « Do not spit in front of a Taiko »

Beyond inappropriate behavior and words, it is essentially about creating a student-teacher relationship. «Always demonstrate a humble spirit» or « If there is a discussion, remain humble and do not try to gain a higher position”.

And it is also important to take care of the teacher : « Always observe the expression of Taiko and do not cause him disappointment or inconvenience ». Then « If a difficult task is to be done where a Taiko is, do it yourself » « If there is something nice to be done, suggest that he does it ».

Although these rules were primarily aimed at young monks, they truly create a harmonious atmosphere in the sangha and they invite Taikos to take great care of the members of the community.

Tenboring #07 – Octobre 201912As for me, when I am in the presence of my Master Mokuho, I have always felt a spontaneous respect for him and often thought that I should find the time to make Sanpai in his direction. But not knowing the rules of Master Dogen, I have often been clumsy.

The teaching of Buddhas reveals that there is no border between others and ourselves. The others are also inside us and when we raise them up, we rise with them. This unity between us and others on the one hand, and between us and our mind-body on the other hand, is called Jijuyu Zanmai by Master Dogen. Jijuyu Zanmai is a samadhi of joy from the fulfillment of oneself. This accomplishment is realized in Zazen when we become intimate with ourselves. It is also realized in the temple when we become intimate with the rules.

How to become intimate with the rules? They may not please us and may even shock us sometimes. During the Ango where we are observing the rules at every single moment, the ego reacts and tries to escape. Three indications can overcome this reaction : The first step is to have confidence that these rules are designed to free us and lead us to enlightenment.

The second step is to integrate them in harmony with those who realized them. Master Dogen calls them the « pure assembly ».

Finally, it is important to realize that these rules are like those of a game. These are codes that allow us to interact with others and with objects. As the game progresses, it becomes unconscious and it purifies our gestures, our words and our thoughts. In a game, everyone integrates rules in their own way. Thus, even if the rules are unique, they manifest themselves in very different ways through each one of us : the ego and the rules harmonize with each other, as in a dance where everyone takes his turn. Dance with the rules!

In conclusion, even if Master Dogen establishes forms for teaching to be transmitted, do not for a moment forget the profound equality of all members of the Sangha when he writes: «The brothers and sisters of the family of the Buddha should be closer to each other than to their own self. « Or explaining that “you should know that temporarily we are hosts and guests, but through our whole lives we will be nothing but Buddhas and Ancestors ». •

Tales, Legends in the Transmission of Zen by Jean Marc Kukan Delom

By Jean Marc Kukan Delom

Zen is full of stories and tales from multiple sources, reworked, told and polished over time.

Tales and stories do not speak of religion or transcendence but simply of the human being and the world. They are the living expression of Dharma. There is no morality, no absolute truth. When reading them, if we understand their meaning, the invisible becomes visible.

The common point of all Zen schools is the master-disciple relationship.

“The main role of the master is to transmit the three pillars of Zen, to settle, to go beyond the mind, to act without expecting anything (Mushotoku)”. In Zen, transmission, the master-disciple relationship becomes more important than the study of texts and sutras. We discover how the disciple penetrates emptiness through non- meaning. The me of the disciple fades away, the vision changes, starting from an egocentric functioning towards a heliocentric dynamic, then towards a non-dual vision, finally reaching the vision of the heart. Here are three examples of transmission :

The Buddha’s Flower

One day, the Buddha showed a flower to an assembly of one thousand two hundred and fifty monks and nuns. The assembly was perfectly silent and sought to understand. And then, suddenly, the monk named Mahakashyapa smiled and the Buddha smiled back at him and said, “This treasure of insight, I transmit to Mahakashyapa.”

Why did Mahakashyapa smile?

Perhaps it just shows his joy and happiness. Joy is the living expression of realization. But the Budhha also knows the limits of words. He has omniscience in omnipresence. As the senses perceive objects and construct ideas, the mind conceives thoughts. We build and manipulate ideas, but in itself, these are just ideas that lead to an activity called Karma. Reality can not be expressed as long as one thinks reality, or one speaks reality, but it must go through a direct experience.

This first transmission also invites us to open our heart. To relearn how to see, see and contemplate a flower, a tree, a stone and this other one, in its similarities and differences. And so between attachment to the pleasures of the senses and renunciation of these pleasures of the senses, to find Knowledge.

Knowledge, which is like birth. Inwardly turning, as the child turns into the interior of his mother’s womb, and being reborn in the moment to this existence, in this balance that leads to wisdom.

Returning to this simplicity of being in the moment, in this simple conscious presence, living in the spontaneity of a child, Mahakashyapa received, with a smile, the transmission of the Dharma

The first Awakening from Taiso Eka 2nd patriarch of Chan zen (Hueke)

Taiso Eka, following the instructions of the Indian monk Boddhidharma, the first zen patriarch in China, having practised zazen for a long time beside him, asked him:

Master my mind still does not find rest,

Show it to me, replied Bodhidhama and I will purify it!

I can not grasp it …

Boddhidharma exclaimed :

Then, I have purified it!

And the disciple knew his first awakening. In zen, Dokusan s the term that characterizes this exchange. Doku : going alone – San : to the one who will perfect our learning.

Thus a permanent dialogue is established through verbal exchanges or tasks to be performed, which are meant to make the disciple advance on the way (oshie) to enlightenment (satori).

Zen insists on a regular and constant confrontation.

Dokusan is not just a meeting once a year. It is the expression of a common approach that is accomplished over time, in an intimate relationship whose purpose is to get the mind out of his drowsiness, his habits, his packaging.

In this short exchange, Bodhidharma does not answer Taiso Eka’s question with a descriptive, or prescriptive word, saying what to do or not to do. His words are performative, that is, they are an act in itself, thus causing a change in the other.

Transmission of Hyakujo – 10ème patriarch of Zen, Obaku

Certain circumstances can lead to violent situations..

Hyakujo questioned Obaku after picking mushrooms.

Hyakujo asked him if he had seen a tiger. Suspecting that Hyakujo was launching a dharmic fight, Obaku uttered a loud groan.

Huakujo brandished an ax as if to hit the animal, but the disciple grabbed the master and punched him. Hyakujo burst out laughing and the same evening announced to the other monks: “There is a tiger in Mount Taiju. Beware of him, this morning he bit me.”  In pronouncing these words, he had just designated his successor in the dharma.

As it is said in the Fukanzazengi: “You must therefore abandon a practice based on intellectual understanding, running after words and keeping you to the letter “.

For the readers that we are, the methodology of this story invites us to a kind of hermeneutical experience, interpretative beyond words. Tradition becomes language without being tied down by it. The tradition becomes timeless, impersonal, universal and simply alive.

Soto Zen kept this in its method of transmission through the Hossenshiki ceremony which dedicates a shusso, as the first disciple or monk of the first row.

This ceremony does not confer a diploma, nor is it a degree of ordination. Hossenshiki literally means “Ceremony of Dharma Combat”. Through a series of questions and answers and very precise gestures, the Shusso certainly demonstrates his knowledge, but he especially updates his personal commitment to the service of the community, of all people. It’s the spirit of the big brother, the big sister. He expresses his determination, certainly by words but above all by his bodily attitude in a body-mind unity.

Hokyo Zanmai helps us to understand this ceremony. “The meaning does not lie in words, but the appropriate moment makes it appear “.

In conclusion, Zen stories and tales tell how the disciple, in this visible world which is common sense and yet not separated, must live Returns, Turns and Renunciations. For this, Zen Masters have used :

• Silence
• Destruction of image and beliefs.
• Means of communication such as gestures, screams and paradoxes
• The “public case” (koan)
• The “beginning of a word” (huatou)
• Poems

Like the Buddha, they taught with skilfull means or rather they were skilfull in their means. Exceeding any notion of separation, this transmission could not take place without benevolence, quite simply in the love of one.

Transmission for and according to Dogen.

By Jean Zanetsu Zuber

At the end of this July camp there will be ordinations of nuns and bodhisattvas. During this ceremony, the teacher transmits the teaching of the Buddha, and he gives several things that symbolize and materialize this transmission: the precepts, a new name, the ketsumyaku, an act that certifies their blood line in the Dharma with the Buddha, through the master who ordains them, and a rakusu. Monks and nuns also receive a bowl and a kesa.

I would like to dwell on the transmission, such as Dôgen presents it in the Shôbôgenzô, in the Menjû chapter.

Transmission, the heart of our practice.

The event, both in time and beyond time, which is the foundation and the heart of our practice, it is the Buddha’s Awakening and the transmission of this Awakening in order to save sentient beings, to «bring the multitude of beings to the ‘other shore’. The Buddha transmits the Dharma, the Law, which is in fact the natural functioning of the Universe: an interdependent Universe, impermanent, and therefore not-self, emptiness.

This transmission can only be from one Awakened being to another Awakened being, and it is manifested in the story with the famous episode of the flower that the Buddha turns between his fingers and opens “Menju”. This chapter is a meditation on the transmission that is given and received (jü) through the face (men), in other words face to face transmission. Sitting in the midst of a million followers, the enlightened Shâkyamuni twirled a flower (…) and blinked his eye. At that moment, Mahakasyapa smiled at him (…). The awakened Shâkyamuni then said:  “I have in me the True Law, the treasure of the eye, the sublime heart of Nirvana, which I transmit to Kasyapa”.

For Dogen, this even is  “the principle of the Way according to which the true Law, Treasure of the Eye was transmitted face to face from one who is awake to one who is awake, from a patriarch to a patriarch, from generation to generation”. The Eye of the Awakened One is the true vision of things, beyond our illusions and our dualistic vision. It is the vision of the enlightened, which is beyond our human eye.

Dogen notes that this transmission has been without interruption since the seven awakened ones of the past (Shâkyamuni and the six Buddhas who precede him) to his master Tendô Nyojo, and that this transmission is none other than the “realization as the presence of the gateway of the Law, transmitted face to face from an awakened person, from a patriarch to a patriarch”.

Dôgen and Nyojo

The transmission received from Master Nyojo was for Dôgen an essential event:» First, I offered incense and I prostrated myself ceremoniously before my late master, the old Buddha Tendô [ie Nyojo] in his private apartment …). He too saw me for the first time. Then he gave me the Dharma face to face, our fingers touching each other, and said to me : « The door of the Dharma of the face to face transmission, from Buddha to Buddha, from Patriarch to Patriarch, is instantly realized. « in his eyes, this transmission is the equivalent of the flower transmitted to Kasyapa, the transmission of Bodhidharma to Eka, the 2nd Chinese patriarch, and the transmission of the fifth Chinese patriarch to Eno.

The chapter ends with the same episode, which further underlines the importance of the event. Dôgen says: ” I was able to accomplish the transmission face to face, abandoning the body and mind, and this transmission I have established in Japan”.

What Nyojo transmits to his disciple and what Dôgen will bring back to his country, is shinjin datsuraku, giving up the body and mind, and thus returning to our original Face. To live this experience means to personally experience what the Buddha knew under the Bodhi tree, during his Awakening.To realize this, the only practice is that transmitted by the Buddha: shikantaza, to sit (za) without (shikan) doing (ta) anything, without trying to reach anything (especially not enlightenment), without turning a problem around in one’s head (for example the kôan of the Rinzai School). This zen that Nyojo received and transmitted face-to-face to Dôgen, is the silent awakening of Buddha Shâkyamuni, the essential experience that is the foundation of Buddhism. This experience is that of the unity of body and mind which are no longer two-matter and spirit – but unity realized in samadhi, in concentration. Then, our true nature appears, what is called our Original Face or Buddha Nature.

At the same time, this zazen can not be an individual zazen, centered on the attachment to our Awakening. Nyojo emphasizes that if this were the case, we would miss the great compassion of the Buddhas and the Patriarchs who practice zazen only to save sentient beings. And he adds, “When Buddhas and Patriarchs sit in zazen, they form from the first day the vow to unify the entire universe. No sentient being can thus be forgotten or abandoned. Their spirit of compassion extends to the insects and the merits of their zazen are offered spontaneously and unconsciously for their salvation”.

Dogen thus starts from this essential element: « (…) with each generation, the authentic Patriarchs continued the transmission face to face, the disciple looking the master in the eyes and the teacher looking the disciple in the eyes. A Patriarch, a teacher or a disciple can not become a Buddha or a Patriarch if they have not received this transmission face to face ».

Transmission is thus giving AND receiving through the face and the eyes, an idea that is included in the word jû de jûmen. Ju, it is both giving and receiving, and in this case it is done through the face (men) and eyes, because in the transmission from master to disciple, «each one of them offers the face to the other, only face to face, and each receives the face of the other. « This explains the importance that the masters give to the exchange of glances during the ceremony of transmission or in greeting in gassho. This is the silent transmission, that of Buddha turning the flower, transmission from heart to heart (i shin den shin), beyond the Scriptures, and without intermediary, transmission which is still materialized through the “ pai” between the master and the disciple during the ordination

But this transmission remains fundamentally one: ” [This transmission] is like pouring water into the ocean and increasing its extent endlessly. It’s like transmitting the lantern and allowing it to shine forever. In the thousands of millions of transmissions, the trunk and the branches are one “.

And Dogen concludes, “From now on, the great path of the Buddhas and Patriarchs consists only in giving and receiving face to face, receiving and giving face to face; there is nothing that is too much and nothing is missing. You must understand it faithfully and joyfully, when your own face meets someone who has received the transmission face to face.”

“And this transmission continues until today” The smile that illuminates the face of Mahâkâsyapa does not stop.