72 BUDDHADHARMA: THE PRACTITIONER'S QUARTERLY
MAGNANIMOUS MIND
The Zen term kanshiketsu literally means “shit-stick.” In China, a
monk calling on Zen Master Yuen-men (d. 949) asked, “What is a
buddha?” Yuen-men replied, “A dried shit-stick.”
When the abbot or any of the teachers is away from a temple for
a week or so, the novices think nothing of it. But if there were no
toilet paper, they would quickly feel its absence. Shit-sticks, which
were used in former days for the same purpose, could be washed
and used any number of times. Shit-sticks become dirty to clean
us. If these are not buddhas, what is? Out of gratitude for them, I
recognize the shit-stick as a buddha. And this makes me wonder
whether, if I were given a filthy task, I would be able to tackle it with
the same attitude that I would deal with any of the duties of abbess.
Would I happily take pride in it? I would probably complain, com-
pare it unfavorably with other work, and be tormented by a feeling
of inferiority.
Zen Master Kosho Uchiyama said, “Violets are violets. Roses are
roses. Budding, blossoming, fading, aging, becoming diseased—all
are stages. As we go through these stages ourselves, let us bloom
and grace the present moment of eternity.” In the mundane world
there are countless roles and degrees of status. In the world of truth,
the world of the Buddha, however, nothing is useless. Everything is
equally important, irreplaceable, and precious. Nothing is inessential.
If there were no toilet paper, we would not get through the day. IfThese teachings are from Shundo Aoyama Roshi’s book Zen Seeds: 60 Essential Buddhist
Teachings on Effort, Gratitude, and Happiness, translated by Dai-En Bennage (Shambhala 2019)