An introduction to Zen Buddhism

(lu) #1
PRACTICAL ZEN

anythingthatinterfereswithordisturbstheordinarycourseof


living.TheideaofZenistocatchHfeasitflows.Thereisnothing

extraordinaryormysteriousaboutZen.Iraisemyhand;Itake

abookfromtheothersideofthisdesk;Iheartheboysplaying


balloutsidemywindow;Iseethecloudsblownawaybeyondthe

neighbouringwoods:—inalltheseIampractisingZen, Iam


livingZen.Nowordydiscussionisnecessary,noranyexplanation.

Idonotknowwhy—and thereisno needofexplaining, but


whenthesunrisesthewholeworlddanceswithjoyandevery-

body'sheartisfilledwithbliss.IfZenisatallconceivable,itmust
betakenholdofhere.


Therefore,when Bodhidharma (Daruma inJ.;Ta-moin

C.)wasaskedwhohewas,hesaid,"Idonotknow."Thiswas

notbecausehecouldnotexplainhimself,norwasitbecausehe
wantedtoavoidanyverbalcontroversy,butjustbecausehedid


notknowwhatorwhohewas,savethathewaswhathewasand

couldnotbeanythingelse.Thereasonwassimpleenough.When

Nangaku (Nan-yueh, 677-744) ^^ approaching the Sixth

Patriarch,andwasquestioned,"WTiatisitthatthuswalkstoward

me?"hedidnotknowwhattoanswer.Foreightlongyearshe

ponderedthequestion,whenonedayitdawneduponhim,and

heexclaimed, "Eventosay itis somethingdoesnot hitthe
mark."Thisisthesameassaying,"Idonotknow."


Sekitoonceaskedhisdisciple,Yakusan(Yueh-shan),"What

are youdoinghere?" "I am notdoing anything," answered

thelatter."Ifsoyouareidlingyourtimeaway.""Isnotidling
away the time doing something?" was Yakusan's resp)onse.

Sekitostillpursuedhim."Yousayyouarenotdoinganything;

whothenis thisonewhois doingnothing?" Yakusan'sreply

wasthesameasthatofBodhidharma,"Eventhewisestknow

itnot." There is no agnosticismin it, normysticism either,

ifthisisunderstoodinthesenseofmystification.Aplainfactis

statedhereinplainlanguage.Ifitdoesnotseemsotothereader,

itisbecausehehasnot attainedtothis stateofmindwhich

enabledBodhidharmaorSekitotomakethestatement.

TheEmperorWuoftheLiangdynastyrequestedFuDaishi

(Fu-ta-shih, 497-569) to discourse on a Buddhistsutra. The

Daishitakingthechairsatsolemnlyinitbututterednotaword.

TheEmperorsaid,"Iaskedyoutogiveadiscourse,andwhydo
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