An introduction to Zen Buddhism

FOREWORD

thatthe"glimpseintoone'sovmnature",the"original man"

andthedepthofthebeingareoftentotheZenmasteramatter

ofsupremeconcern.^

Zendiffersfromallotherphilosophicandreligiousmedita-

tionpracticesinitsprincipleoflackofsupposition(Voraussetzung)

.

Buddhahimselfissternlyrejected; indeed,heis almostblas-

phemously ignored, although—or perhaps just because—he

couldbethestrongestspiritualsuppositionofall. But hetoo

isanimageandmusttherefore besetaside.Nothingmustbe

presentexceptwhatisactuallythere;thatis,manwithhiscom-

plete,unconscious supposition, ofwhich,simplybecauseit is

unconscious,hecannever,neverridhimself.Theanswerwhich

appearstocomefromavoid,thelightwhichflaresupfromthe

blackestdarkness,thesehavealwaysbeenexperiencesofwonder-

fulandblessedillumination.

The world ofconsciousness is inevitably a world full of

restrictions,ofwallsblockingtheway.Itisofnecessityalways

one-sided, resulting from the essence of consciousness. No

consciousnesscanharbourmorethanaverysmallnumberof

simultaneousconceptions.Allelsemustlieinshadow,withdrawn

fromsight.Toincreasethesimultaneouscontentcreatesimme-

diatelyadimmingofconsciousness; confusion,infact, to the

pointofdisorientation.Consciousnessdoesnotsimplydemand,

butis,ofits veryessence,a strict limitationto thefew and

hencethedistinct.Forourgeneralorientationweareindebted

simplyandsolelytothefactthatthroughattentivenessweare

able to effect a comparatively rapid succession of images.

Attentivenessis, however,an effortofwhich wearenot per-

manentlycapable.Wehavethereforetomakedo,sotospeak,

with a minimumofsimultaneousperceptions and successions

ofimages. Hencewidefields ofpossible perceptionsare per-

'The4thMaximofZensays,"Seeingintoone'snatureandtheattain-
mentofBuddhahood"(Suzuki:Essaysin^enBuddhism,I,p.7).Whenamonk
askedHui-Nengforinstructionheanswered,"Showmeyouroriginalface

beforeyouwerebom"{Ibid.210).AJapaneseZenbooksays,"Ifyouwishto

seektheBuddha,seeintoyourownNature,forthisNatureistheBuddha

himselP'(Ibid.p.219).Asaloriexperiencerevealsthe"originalman"toa

Master(Ibid.241).Hui-N'engsaid,"Thinknotofgood,thinknotofevil,but
seewhatatthemomentthyownoriginalfeaturesarc,whichthouhadsibefore
comingintoexistence"{Ibid. 1 1,p.28).
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