Blyth the man

The reading:

I once received a letter from Dr. Suzuki Daisetz. On the envelope my name was transliterated into three Chinese characters, Furai-shi, which also means, "You haven't come (to see me for a long time). " But it has a further Zen meaning, "Mr. Not-coming one", that is, (the real) you has not come, will not go; you cannot die, because you are a "not-born-person."

I am a pacifist, letting other people defend me from all those millions who would rob me of my worldly goods, liberty, and life itself; a vegetarian whose shoes are made of leather; a teacher who teaches that only teachers are human - business men, politicians, doctors, lawyers and so on being mere parasitic blackmailers - and who teaches that people are unteachable.

...What do Christians think they are going to do in Heaven? What books are they going to read? Do they think they are going to play Johann Strauss on their golden harps? Dante was not so cheap as to suppose that people talked shop in Limbo. People seem to want to live greedily and vulgarly now, because they think they won't be able to do so in the next world.

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Two, Chapter Thirteen

Discussion:

Blyth's work is unparalleled, in my experience, as a source of Zen history and writings, especially for the West. His friendship with Suzuki is one of the great gifts to history, their collaboration and mutual efforts in translation and scholarship are unique. Blyth himself seems to appreciate Zen without swimming in it, like a painter of rich woodland scenery that lives in a tenement flat.

Blyth's struggles are so ordinary, while his contribution is so singular! I think he would like the irony of that. When Blyth talks about himself, I am left with a single sentiment, although fondly:

It is all necessary.

No Zen Masters

The reading:

Obaku said to the congregation of monks, "You are all of you, every one of you, feeding on the draft of wine. However you may go on pilgrimages, what is your real position today? Don't you know that in the whole of China , there is not a single Master of Zen?" At this time a certain monk came forward and said, "How about those who in various parts of China are training their disciples and leading their followers into truth?" Obaku answered, "I don't say there is no Zen, only that there are no teachers of it."

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Four, Case Two

R. H. Blyth

Discussion:

There are so many pilgrimages. Some make annual journeys, some more regularly. Many go weekly. Yet it seems there is little to be gained by them. Why is this? It is the same if you are thirsty and you go to the well, you look in, perhaps you draw water, but you do not drink it. People hear teachings, but they do not follow them. It has been said that religion is "good news". Indeed it is. Just like in the newspaper, and it is thrown away at the end of the day. This is why science holds so much sway over the world of thought. Who ever said that geometry or chemistry was news of any kind!

Whenever someone proclaims a religion or says they follow a teaching, ask them how much they practice. Whatever it is, it is not enough. It is likely not that much anyway. The lack of practice, in the boardroom, the bedroom, on the highways and in the marketplace, this lack of practice does us in, drags us down. Obaku has the way of it, there are no teachers. There are no students, either.

Suzuki and Blyth

That's D.T Suzuki there on the left. When I saw this picture, from turningthewheelmedia.org, I thought, "Look! He's a little Japanese guy!" Of course he is. Turningthewheel doesn't mention him in the article. It's about the other guy. I can't say I recommend turningthewheelmedia for anything other than this picture. They are interested is social activism. Doing the right thing and all that. If I don't even understand Zen, it's unlikely that I'll really get to the bottom of what the right thing is.

Here's Blyth, from gardendigest.com:

Gardendigest.com mentions that Blyth's library was destroyed during a bombing raid in the war. That's doing the right thing for you.

So there they are. The bigs of the 1900's. Long may they reign, the big so-and-so's.

Ummon's Lecture on Belief

The Reading:

Ummon held up his staff, and said, "We are told in the scriptures that an ordinary man thinks the staff is real existence; that those of the Hinayana take it as nothing; that those believing in the pratyekabuddha take it as an illusory existence; that bodhisattvas say its reality is emptiness. But I say unto you, take the staff as just a staff; movement is movement; sitting is sitting, but don't wabble under any circumstances!"

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Two, Chapter 16

R.H. Blyth

The discussion:

Ummon has served the dessert first. The meal is over.

Ummon Makes A Cow Sound

The Reading:

One day Ummon asked, "How can we make our religion proper?" Answering himself, he said, "Moo!"

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Two, Chapter Fifteen

R.H. Blyth

Discussion:

When I survey the literature about Zen on the bookshelves of local stores, when I read about Zen on websites, I am reminded that book publishers want serious books about Zen. The Western Mind, and the Western Dollar, want serious teaching about Zen. People want their questions to be taken seriously, they want the respect of seriousness. They want respect, but they do not have Zen. Ummon had Zen, he grasped it firmly with both hands, yet he asked himself questions and answered himself with a cow's mooing.

We cannot be serious about Zen while taking these things seriously.

If you open a Zen center and do not claim to have Zen, no one will come. If you claim to have Zen, then when people come, no one will find it. The thing to do is offer them peace, then they feel they have been taken seriously and that they have got something for their trouble.

Now that's a proper religion!

Knowing the One

The reading:

Seppo was saying good-bye to Tozan, who asked him, "Where are you off to?"

Seppo answered, "I'm going back to Reichu."

"At that time, what road did you take to come by?"

"By Hienrei."

"And by what road are you going back now?"

"The same road," Seppo said.

"Do you happen to know the One who never leaves Hienrei?"

"I don't know that one," replied Seppo.

"Why not?"

"Because the One has no personality,"

Tozan said, "You say that you don't know the One, -if so, how do you know that the one has no personality?"

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Two, Chapter Six

R. H. Blyth

Discussion:

This wonderful exchange is a warning to those of us who talk about Zen. Seppo pretends to know by giving an answer that is right on it's face, but wrong in his mouth. Tozan catches him up with some follow up questions. Beware the follow up questions.

This reminds me of a fragment of Confucius that is one of my favorites. "If you know then you know, if you don't know then you don't know."

This also reminds me of something Blyth mentions elsewhere, a quote from Joshu.

When a sincere man expounds a mistaken doctrine, the doctrine becomes true. When an insincere man expounds a true doctrine it becomes error."

There is a temptation, with Tozan, Confucius, and again with Joshu, not to take Zen seriously because it may seem silly, contradictory, and intentionally backwards. Whether or not Zen is these things misses the point. Exactly so.   Zen is pointing.  When you look at the finger you miss the direction, when you look at the sign post you miss the turn.

Think of how many sincere men who were mistaken and so  ignored, and how many insincere men who have corrupted truth! What a relief that there are only ten thousand things!

No Words and Sentences

The Reading:

Nirvana is often taken as a condition of supreme joy. But it is also that of supreme sadness. The point anyway is not the joy or sadness, but the supremeness.

Seppo asked Tokusan, "Is it possible for me too to share, with the patriarchs, in the Supreme Teaching?" Tokusan struck him with his staff, saying, "What on earth are you talking about?" The next day, Seppo asked for an explanation. Tokusan said, "My religion has no words and sentences; it has nothing to give anybody." At this Seppo became enlightened.

Gensha sent a letter to Seppo by one of his monks. Seppo ascended the rostrum and opened the letter-case, which contained three sheets of blank paper. He showed these to the assembled monks, and said, "Do you understand?" After waiting a while, he added, "Don't you see what this gentleman is saying to me? We are a thousand leagues away, but the same breeze blows us!"

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Two, Chapter Six

R.H. Blyth

Discussion:

Seppo was Ummon's teacher. Elsewhere, Blyth says "The Three Great Masters are Hyakujo, Joshu, and Nansen, though I think Ummon greater than these three." So, Ummon is in the wings, then.

No words and sentences. This is a good rule of thumb for those of you who might happen to meet each other. Use this rule to measure those who have something to say about Zen. It is also a good rule for measuring yourself, what you have to say about Zen. If you have nothing to say, you have missed the mark. Your words and sentences miss the mark, too.

Zen has nothing to give anybody. That is simply divine. No eternal life, no magical powers, no wisdom, no authority. Especially no authority. Zen has nothing to give. Then again, you aren't paying for this blog... so we're bucks up.

Soto and Rinzi

The Reading:

When Razan first me Sekiso, he asked him, "What shall we do when thoughts never stop rising and disappearing?" Sekiso said "Be cold ashes and a withered tree! Spotless purity! First impressions for ten thousand years! A box and its lid exactly fitting!" Razan could not grasp the meaning, and went to Ganto with the same question. Ganto shouted "Kwatz" and asked, "Who rises and disappears?"

...Sekiso adopted what we now think of as Soto strategy, but Ganto used Rinzai tactics.

-Zen and Zen Classics, Volume Two, Chapter Five

R.H. Blyth

Discussion:

When I read this, I was so delighted with "A box and its lid exactly fitting" that I forgot the question and had to start over in order to understand Ganto. I haven't met a modern Rinzai master or a Soto master, but if Blyth understands the difference correctly then it is clear that there isn't any.

Blyth is very interested in Christianity, and more educated than I am. Elsewhere he talks about how early Christians did not differentiate between body and soul, and believed that everything had a soul. This of course has changed over time. In chapter five Blyth has a picture, in two panels, of Tokusan and Rinazi. Tokusan holds a staff, with the quote from Tokusan, "Whether you manage to speak or not - The same thirty blows!" Rinzai is holding a shovel in his panel. His quote is "Everywhere (else) they are created; Here [in this monastery] buried alive."

Would I rather suffer Tokusan's thirty blows for his sake, or bury Rinzai alive for his? It is the same choice.

Tokusan was enlightened by the blowing out of a candle. That's a pleasant way to go. Blyth notes that it is also singular. I say, breath is breath.

Zazen is Silly and Meditation is Useless

(This is the first entry in a series about R.H. Blyth's translation of Mumonkan, available from Hokuseido Books.)


The Reading:

Jinshu used to tell his disciples to concentrate their minds on quietness, to sit doing zazen for a long time, and not to lie down as far as possible. One of these disciples went to Eno and asked him about it. Eno said, "To concentrate the mind on quietness is a disease of the mind, and not Zen at all. What an idea, restricting the body to sitting all the time! That is useless. Listen to my verse:

To sit and not lie down during one's life-time

To lie and never sit during one's death-time,

Why should we thus task

This stinking bag of bones?"

Zen and Zen Classics, Volume 2, Chapter 3

R.H. Blyth

Discussion:

Eno was the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Blyth notes that Jinshu was asked about Eno's rejection of zazen, and Jinshu replied, "Did the Fifth Patriarch make a mistake?" Blyth says that this suggests Jinshu was paying more attention than people thought, and I agree.

Why is meditation useless? I am starting this blog because, while there are many many books on Zen now, and there are many many people meditating all over America, there are not many more Zen Masters. If meditation led to enlightenment, we would have a much richer and deeper bench of Zen Masters both on and off the interwebs.

Consider how many people meditate now! People swear by it as a way of feeling better, living better, getting in touch with themselves, finding peace, and more! Meditation must be good for something! I can hardly disagree. If Zen were about living better, feeling better, getting in touch with yourself, or even peace, then hey, meditation would be a great idea.

But that's not what Zen is about.

Like a color you haven't seen before, no one can describe it to you. But anyone who reads carefully can tell you what Zen isn't. It isn't peace, and it isn't happiness.

Zen is both The Sword That Kills, and The Sword That Makes Alive Again. But it isn't peace. It isn't happiness.

If you want peace and happiness, try somewhere else. I hear they hand it out in churches.