IX
THE MEDITATION HALL AND
THE MONK'S LIFE^
ThHEMeditationHall{zendo)iswhereZeneducatesitsmonks.
Toseehowitisregulatedistogetaglimpseintothepractical
anddisciplinaryaspect ofZen.Itisauniqueinstitutionand
mostofthemainmonasteriesinJapanoftheZensectarepro-
videdwithit. InthelifeoftheZenmonksintheMeditationHallweaireremindedofthelifeoftheSanghainIndia.
ThesystemwasfoundedbytheChineseZenmaster,Hyakujo
(Pai-chang,720-814),morethanonethousandyearsago. He
leftafamoussayingwhichhad beentheguidingprincipleof
hislife,"Adayofnoworkisadayofnoeating,"whichisto
say,"Noeatingwithoutworking."'WTienhewasthoughtby
hisdevoteddisciplestobetoooldtoworkinthegarden,which
hadbeenhisfavouriteoccupation,theyhidallhisgardentools,
as he would not listento theirrepeated remonstrances. He
thenrefusedtoeat."Nowork,noliving."AtalltheMeditation
Halls work, especially that which is commonly regarded as
menial, is thevital elementin thelife ofthemonk. Itthus
impliesagreatdealofmanuallabour,suchassweeping,cleaning,
cooking,fuel-gathering,tillingthefarm,orgoingaboutbegging
inthevillagesfarandnear.Noworkisconsideredtobebeneath
theirdignity,andaperfectfeelingofbrotherhoodprevailsamong
them.Theybelieveinthesanctityofmanualwork;nomatter
howhardorhowmeantheworkmaybe,theywillnotshunii,
andtheykeepthemselvesineverywaytheycan;fortheyarc
noidlers,assomeoftheso-calledmonksormendicantsare,as
forinstanceinIndia.
Psychologically considered, this is splendid; for muscular
activityisthebestremedyforthedullnessofmindwhichmay
growoutofthemeditativehabit,andZenisveryapttoproduce
thisundesirableeffect.Thetroublewithmostreligiousrecluses
*ThisisfullytreatedinmyrecentworkentitledTheTrainingofthe^en
BuddhistMonk,richlyillustratedbyRe\'.ZenchuSato,ofKamakura.Also
see^mEssays,I,p. 299 etseq.
*Cf.Psalm 128 :"Thoushaltcatthelabourofthinehands;happythalt
thoube,anditshallbewellwiththee."
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