Shakyamuni Buddha was a Feminist & the Buddha is your Mom: Patriarchy, Materialism, Capitalism versus What the Buddha Taught (I)

Yes, Shakyamuni Buddha was a feminist. Even though he probably didn't know because of the biases of his society.  I assume that Shakyamuni didn't know since he initially excluded women from his sangha.

Why do I say that Shakyamuni was a feminist when the word 'feminist' and the feminist movement didn't exist in his time? According to Wikipedia feminism is "a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women." Logically sentient beings of the female gender comprise half of the total. It's that simple.
 
It's sad that ~ 2500 years and many generations later sexist biases* linger even among those affirming what the Buddha taught. Sexist biases exist in the internalized conditioning and rationalizations of both men and women. In fact, recent trends suggest that sexist behaviors and biases are on the rise, whether as a result of increased economic stressors, as a backlash against the effects of the first waves of feminism on the psyches of both men and women, or as a result of a media and entertainment industry that caters to competition and greed.  That the same is true for racism and classism is not cause for complacency though it can be a source of compassion.

One reason anti-feminist and sexist biases still exist within "Buddhist" communities and sanghas may be that what the Buddha taught has been passed through the generations via patriarchy -- a patriarchy every bit as stuck in the biases of it's various societies as Shakyamuni was. Women have been the oft silent and/or silenced in all branches of the tradition.** Nonetheless,  the path out of suffering Shakyamuni recommended included the eight-fold path and the immeasurables of loving-kindness (benevolence), compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity -- maternal qualities, qualities that through a combination of genetics and cultural conditioning are more often expressed by those of the feminine gender though admittedly in imperfect fashion. From the Metta Sutta:

"Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings..."

One of the reasons I've been reticent to identify with feminism in my life is my own bias against militant and/or confrontational approaches it's been associated with in the past. A militant confrontational approach seems to be the very antithesis of what the Buddha taught and more often than not closes the doors of communication, as well as conflicting with the kindness and nurturing I'd like to see more of for all beings. I, like I assume many women in my generation, typically considered advocating for feminist causes as risking losing the very qualities I treasure, whether in myself or others. Thankfully the current generation of feminists recognize this aspect of the conflict and the fact that it is played out in the oft confused aspirations and expectations of both genders. ***

In contrast, I've been willing to identify with what the Buddha taught precisely because it fosters qualities of nurturing, kindness, relationship, non-violent communication, cooperation and collaboration over the greed, materialism, competition and capitialism that are so abundant in our society. However, a 'Buddhism' that uses the emptiness of phenomena and no-self to justify inaction and ignorance at the expense of the above qualities is a selfish 'Buddhism'.

It wouldn't be accurate to say that the only time women are mentioned in the Buddhist tradition is when they are mentioned in relation to the numbers of ordained Buddhist women and scandals of abuse.**** On the other hand, given that the relationship between men and women is so immediate to our daily experience I'm surprised that it hasn't been the subject of more discussion in  'Buddhist' communities and sanghas I've belonged to since it is rich fodder for examining the subtle and more explicit ways our biases and ignorance contribute to and maintain inequality -- whether it be the inequality of sexism, racism, or classism. We hear so much about injustice, tragedies, disasters and war, but we prefer to remain superficial and ignorant about the injustices that occur on a daily basis in our homes, backyards, communities and work. Not just mothers are suffering -- everyone on the planet and even the planet itself are.




* Everyday Sexism, Laura Bates; Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women, Virginia Valian

** The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, Florence Caplow and Susan Moon

*** Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, bell hooks; Toward a Worldwide Culture of Love, bell hooks (Shambhala Sun)

**** The Feminist Future of Buddhism, Barabara O'Brien (About.com Buddhism)

Excerpts from “The Heart of Compassion: The Thirty-seven Verses on thePractice of a Bodhisattva"

If all the mothers who have loved me since beginningless time are suffering,

What is the use of my own happiness?

Therefore, to really exchange

My own happiness for the suffering of others is the practice of a bodhisattva.

Though I may be famous, and revered by many,

And as rich as the God of Wealth himself,

To see that the wealth and glory of the world are without essence,

And to be free of arrogance, is the practice of a bodhisattva.

For a bodhisattva who desires the joys of virtue,

All who harm him (her) are like a precious treasure.

Therefore, to cultivate patience toward all,

Without resentment, is the practice of a bodhisattva.

Merely for their own sake, even shravakas and pratyekabuddhas

Make efforts like someone whose hair is on fire trying to put it out:

Seeing this, for the sake of all beings,

To practice diligence, the source of excellent qualities, is the practice of a bodhisattva.

Knowing that through profound insight thoroughly grounded in sustained calm

The disturbing emotions are completely conquered,

To practice the concentration which utterly transcends

The four formless states* is the practice of a bodhisattva.

To be continually mindful and alert,

Asking, “What is the state of my mind?”

And accomplishing the good of others is the practice of a bodhisattva.

For his own benefit and that of others, Thogme, a teacher of scripture and logic, composed this text at Rinchen Phug, in Ngulchu.

* The four formless states, or absorptions: (1) the sphere of infinite space, (2) the sphere of infinite consciousness, (3) the sphere of nothing at all, and (4) the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. They correspond to the states experienced by the gods of the four formless realms, which are the result of sustained absorption in samadhi without profound insight.

From: Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. “The Heart of Compassion."  Shambhala Publications. 

Ryokan's Kind Words

        Were there someone

        in the world

        who feels as I feel,

        we would talk all night

        in this grass hut.

(From Tanahashi's translation of Ryokan poems Sky Above, Great Wind. Another verse follows below.)

Genju recently posted a review of this wonderful book along with some of her own brush work reminding me of this poem. It's reminiscent of much of the poetry I love in that it calls out to our wish to share in wonder an appreciation of life and of each other. 

In actuality though, what would such a conversation involve? Most likely an exchange of trivialities that falls short of the wonder we wish to share our experience of. Silence and sitting tend to be more effective ways of experiencing and sharing that sense of wonder, as well as increasing our experience of wonder in every day life.

(Photo of a portion of Soyoung L Kim's 100 Cups of Tea. More of her work can be found at saatchionline.)

        I don’t regard my life

        as insufficient.

        Inside the brushwood gate

        there is a moon;

        there are flowers.

I'm grateful to have this blog in which to share some of that sense of wonder with any person who wanders by.

Shobogenzo Ch22 - Busshō

Not wind or fire -

The that without constancy

Expressed in action.

Link to Tanahashi's website

I had the pleasure of witnessing Kazuaki Tanahashi in action as he created one of his famous "One Stroke" paintings recently at a lecture on Brushwork as Contemplative Art. (I didn't buy it. The Center did.)

The Happiness Project ...or How to Save the Human Race (IV)

When I first thought of the title "The Happiness Project ...or How to Save the Human Race," it was prompted by seeing a poster of a person covered in scars. It wasn't pretty. That's basically how each of us are on the inside to varying degrees though, as a result of conditioning and accumulated disappointments.

The trouble with those scars is they change how we react and respond to others. Our speech, behaviors and even goals change to compensate as we become more wary, less trusting and more defensive, changes that are caused by anger, hurt and fear. The process happens gradually. It seems like it's the only acceptable way to be, especially when surrounded by people behaving similarly.

So I started writing a science fiction-type story in which people were genetically engineered to scar on the outside as an indicator of internal emotional distress. The aim was to see if people's behavior could be modified to be more kind, the underlying assumption being that people don't actually want to hurt each other. Then I thought of all the instances in which that assumption might not hold true. In the second version, the person hurting others was the person who was externally scarred and the only way the scars could be healed was with compensatory positive behavior...

In ordinary daily interactions are hurtful speech and behavior ever justified? Are they justified in the name of truth or karmic retribution? In the name of teaching? In self-defense to get the attention of people who don't appear to get the message using kinder methods? And what about those instances when we react to something different than what the person intended due to our own conditioning? Or what about when individual perceptions of a situation or expectations are different?

In response to thoughts like these I've been feeling that even the first line of the Universal Precept of the Seven Buddhas "Not doing wrongs" is as impossible as saving all sentient beings. I can say for sure that I don't want to add scars to anyone and yet I'm sure I have. I'll be working on developing some compassion for myself to cope with that, compassion hopefully not too tainted by sentimentality or self-righteousness.

These are some of the questions and thoughts I'll be taking into sesshin this weekend. Last Sunday we celebrated the conclusion of the Winter Practice Intensive. We chanted the Prajña Paramita Hridaya and Emmei Jikku Kannon Gyo and one by one lit incense at the altar.

Serious Fun versus Having Fun Being Serious

A question that's been in the back of my mind in recent months concerns the difference between serious fun and having fun being serious. I think the difference between the two can help determine whether the way each of us lives life is via 'will power' (asceticism) or 'wisdom power' (the way that the Buddha taught).

By suggesting we have small desires I don't think Buddha meant that people shouldn't have fun. Rather I think he meant we should live in such a way that desires don't get so big that they're unattainable. Desires and goals never end up being what they're cracked up to be anyway, even if we attain them. It's better to do what we can to appreciate the present moment.

From what I've observed, when people approach life from an ascetic perspective, 'fun' runs the risk of being of the binge variety and risks causing headaches and other damage. In other words, it's not fun. Unless bragging rights, ego aggrandizement, and following in other people's footsteps is what qualifies as fun. For myself, I can say it's not.

Speaking for myself, even though I believe in wisdom power and would prefer to live my life that way, I think I've spent much of my life living from an ascetic perspective. It's what I was taught. Plus, since my intelligence is less of the classical variety and rather something else that is less readily measured I've had to work harder than most to get to where I was in life. When combined with the fact that I tend to drop off my own views and be overly patient with people, I think I've lost my sense of what 'fun' is, which is a strange feeling. These days I even have a difficult time determining whether people are kidding around or being serious.

Which approach is more beneficial and easier to learn from? Whether in the elementary school classroom or in college, teachers know that students learn more readily when having fun in the process. Comedians of today and court jesters of ancient times are and were able to point to partial, if exaggerated, truths that others could not. (As an aside, I wonder how many court jesters of ancient times lost their heads?)

What is fun? For myself, I can say that these days sitting and staring at a wall or going for a walk are as much fun as anything else. Although I will say that too much of anything is liable not to be fun -- which is another way of looking at what Buddha may have intended with 'small desire'.

One way or another, life goes on.

Reflections: Angels of History

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness
Have lain too long
Facedown in ignorance,
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.

 - Maya Angelou

Language must have evolved because of a longing to decrease our sense of separation from the rest of the Universe. When did words cease to function as what they were intended for?

Each one of us is ignorant in our own unique way. If we weren't, we wouldn't be human beings. It's good to remember even as I wish it weren't true.

Photo credit: Isolde Ohlbaum

"This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward." - Walter Benjamin 

* In honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day. It's a sunny 5oF with the wind out of the WNW at 13 mph. The photo and quote are from Carolyn Forche's book of poems: The Angel of History.

Reflections: The Art of Disappearing... & Reappearing (I)

When I first saw the title of Ajahn Brahm's book The Art of Disappearing, I rolled my eyes in a mild reaction of disbelief, although I'm not sure whether I was rolling my eyes at myself or whoever came up with the title. (Since it was not Ajahn Brahm who wrote the Preface, maybe it was not not Ajahn Brahm or an editor of sorts.) The reason for my reaction is that in my experience "disappearing" or "dropping off", while it becomes easy enough at any given instant with practice, has unpredictable and uncontrollable effects that create not "art" per se, but messes in my life -- like my mom's house and it's effect (see the previous post).

Then I thought of the chaos and confusion of our current times and allowed that not only "disappearing", but the resulting mess might be viewed as art, like in the Jackson Pollock painting below:

From http://www.guggenheim.org

When I started meditating, I know I was drawn in because of the peace and simplicity I experienced at times as a result. I'm not sure exactly when, but at some point, I began to develop the expectation that if I learned and applied what the Buddha taught, my life would start feeling more peaceful as well. More like this Rothko painting:

From WikiPaintings

Sources of discomfort, suffering and pain arise not only (a) from the gap between reality as it is and what I want or expected it to be, but also (b) from a reluctance to recognize, accept and "drop off" views I hold of myself, the nature of the mind, others and life -- each of which contributes to my reality.

I've grown to suspect that most people who chose a monastic life style, like Ajahn Brahm, initially chose it hoping for a peaceful and beautiful life like depicted in the above Rothko. What they sacrifice or exchange is their freedom of expression and diversity of experience. And, since a person still has to retrain the mind, the challenges are similar whether inside a monastery or not.

Right now I'm experiencing that self, the nature of the mind, others and life is more like the Pollock painting and that once I accept that, I can "drop" into the detail of each moment and maintain the peace, stability and simplicity that is present in the Rothko... at least occasionally. It's relinquishing control, but with the effect of allowing original features to appear.

Reflections: Practice-Experience & the Ten Thousand Things

One of the thoughts that's visited me time-to-time over the last week is that it's been nearly four years since the beginning of my online presence and nearly three years since the start of this blog.

Both of those decisions were motivated by a search for Sangha. (By Sangha I'm referring to friends that would be supportive of my efforts to practice and increase my understanding of what the Buddha taught). The start of this blog also marked my decision to get a divorce.

To quote from that first post: "At this particular moment, I am enjoying the not knowing, a sense of hope..."

What was I hoping for? More rewarding connection with other human beings, with a preference for people interested in what the Buddha taught because that was the direction I found most personally rewarding. The opportunity to feel fulfilled at least occasionally.

~ ~ ~

As I sit back and review the last four years, I see both positive and negative outcomes:

On the positive side: my on-line Sangha, my brief experiences at Antaiji and Sanshin, a living arrangement that allows more time for studies of the Shobogenzo and provides a quiet place to sit, study and sleep, at least two meals per day, and a local Sangha which although small, without a teacher and not very interactive, does provide me with company during zazen.

On the negative side, my actual interactive contact with people in real life is more minimal than ever in my life before. In fact, it's almost non-existent. One of the negative things I find myself saying to myself sometimes is: Most people in prisons and even the homeless have more conversations in a day than I do.

In short, I seem to have gone backwards in terms of what I was hoping for at the time I wrote my first post. I'm trapped in my circumstances for an unknown amount of time. I'm still trapped in the mortgage I share with my ex and, as a result, my current position. More recently, the double whammy of my mother's recent passing and dealing with what she left behind feels like more than I can stand.

~ ~ ~

For the past few months, Bodhidharma's encounter with Emperor Wu has run through my mind repeatedly:

Emperor Wu: "...Who is standing before me?"

Bodhidharma: "I know not..."

As I've practiced, one of the things I've learned is to "drop off" my views of who I am. In theory, by dropping off views of self, a person lives a more peaceful, richer and fuller life -- although not necessarily "happier" in the typical definition of happiness -- and is actualized by the ten thousand things. In the spirit of letting the ten thousand things provide the answer to the question of who I am,

As an example, the livingroom. (I'm going to delete this picture.)

I am encountering walls of resentment in myself as karma (or whatever) continues, without relief, to hit me over the head with answers like my mother's house and stalling even small efforts to get myself out isolation and interacting with people. This is all I am? 

The resentment I'm feeling is due to the fact that the above is not what I chose. I chose getting away from being a slave to inanimate objects and increasing interactions with sentient beings. 

~ ~ ~

Recently, rather than reading Dogen, I've been returning to some of Theravada literature as well as listening to some Dharma talks. This started when my friends at Amazon recommended The Art of Disappearing by Ajahn Brahm, which, by the way, may be one of the best and most straight-forward guides to meditation and enlightenment around (if enlightenment exists). To quote from the Preface: "Do not read this book if you want to be a somebody. It will make you a nobody." The Preface was signed "Not really Ajahn Brahm"... Because this post is getting long, I intend to write more in follow-up, including what I've gathered from Ajahn Brahm in regard to the issue I've mentioned, the resentment I'm feeling, as well as offer a few more comments about his book.

Shobogenzo Ch21: Kankin - Reading and Experiencing Sutras

A sutra is all the different threads of life coming together to create the present moment of "me". Another sutra is all the different threads of life coming together to create the present moment of "you". Each is unique in its perspective, each expresses its own truth, and yet each shares the same awareness. 

The above is also true for the written works traditionally referred to as sutras. All the different threads of life came together to inspire someone to write them. To read, recite and experience them. In each distinct instance -- in writing, reading, and experiencing -- they express truths about life.

All the sutras in the universe are teaching the same lesson through different lenses. All the sutras are pointing to the same thing: 

Just this. Life in the present moment. 

And life in the present moment can include reading a sutra. Reading a sutra is as much of an action as sitting is. 

 

Some people will say that the Buddha's truth can't be transmitted by reading sutras. Those people are probably thinking of “reading” as intellectual processing the way one might process material in a textbook. But in Kankin Dogen presents as many perspectives on "reading" and "sutras" as he does on "time" in Uji. In fact, the kanji he choose for the word reading in the title of this chapter can also mean seeing, which can also mean sensing and experiencing.

Why does anyone read the Shobogenzo, sutras or other Buddhist writings? 

Something about what the Buddha taught awakens a sense of curiosity which resonates and is compelling. I think it’s up to each person to figure out what the source of that resonance is. Good friends and teachers help. As I’ve kept on reading what “reading a sutra” might mean has come to include everything in the universe, including zazen.

***

Haiku for Kankin:

Trees, rocks, fields and space

Being totally themselves

Transmit the sutras.

Kalpa-to-kalpa

Sutras always being held,

Always being read.

A Poem: Choreography of Negative Space ...& the Four Vows

Choreography of Negative Space


What is this dance if not a whisper of shape
Tracing words in the dark. A trail of light on film.
A shift of air, as gentle as...

Silk.

Imagination is endless. The shadows we are
Cast ten thousand resolutions, each more beautiful,
Or terrifying, than the last -- wisps that escape
Our confinement.

We sit the universe and the universe moves --

Ancients rise up, stretching
Skin over the drums of time and the bones
Of dreams spent in the building of this

Space.

Without space, the forms collapse
Themselves, themselves unseen.

Each night I light a candle and sit for you.



These are the Four Vows:

Beings are numberless, I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The buddha way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.


...Noticing I'm still walking in circles these days.

Shobogenzo Ch20 - Kokyo: Haiku and a Gatha

Eternal mirror —
The caul of our birth replaced
By separation.

The great round mirror
Neither wisdom or reason —
Virtue of buddhas.

The mirror shattered —
Somersaulting, then landing
In the clear-clear state.



At each sound of the bell
Self appears, walking the concrete,
Each step a clear note —
Unobstructed and traceless.

Shobogenzo Ch20 (V) - Kokyo - The Round Mirror and the Clear Mirror How To Manual

A Clear Mirror How To Manual? ...I wish.

Actually though, the Clear Mirror How To Manual exists -- in the form of the round mirror. The round mirror is just a version of the eternal mirror -- preferences, aversions, intuitions, attachments, and choices. Whatever draws us to this path. The round mirror is the virtue of the buddhas and bodhisattvas independent of time and experience. One of my favorite passages in Kokyo describes the round mirror:


The master was born from the womb, and as the master appeared from the womb the round mirror came and naturally manifested itself before the master, and became like an everyday tool. The form of this round mirror is not ordinary: when the child approaches, he seems to be holding up the round mirror before him with both hands, yet the child’s face is not hidden. When the child goes away, he seems to be going with the round mirror on his back, yet the child’s body is not hidden. When the child sleeps, the round mirror covers him like a flowery canopy. Whenever the child sits up straight, the round mirror is there in front of him. In sum, it follows all his movements and demeanors, active and passive. What is more, he is able to see all Buddhist facts of the past, future, and present by looking into the round mirror. At the same time, all problems and issues of the heavens above and the human world come cloudlessly to the surface of the round mirror. For example, to see by looking in this round mirror is even more clear than to attain illumination of the past and illumination of the present by reading sutras and texts.


The Clear Mirror How To Manual contains every dream, delusion, thought and experience since birth. The next step in the Clear Mirror How To Manual is your next intuition, your next wish. Wherever that wish takes you. Regardless of whether or however that wish is realized.

Reflections: Dreaming about Zazen

Last night I startled myself awake from a dream in which I was sitting. The whole dream was a little strange.

To my consternation, at the end of a round of kinhin, I couldn't find my zafu and zabuton. I remember looking around and feeling a little lost. At which point Hojo-san somehow indicated that he wanted me to get a light from upstairs.

The dream took place at Sanshin during sesshin. Maybe it indicates increasing prosperity for Sanshin, because instead of the usual number of attendees, the place was full of people zazening on all three floors of the building.

Anyhow....

I went to the top floor and grabbed the only extra light I knew about. It was on a tripod and made a lot of noise which I found embarrassing as I lugged it downstairs. But when I arrived, my zafu and zabuton had magically reappeared. I sat for awhile and then woke up.

I think I better register for the next Genzo-e.

Besides that I find myself wondering if anyone else has ever dreamt that they were sitting.

Reflections: My Music Selection for Tonight and an exercise in Awareness

I said in an earlier post on the clear mirror that during zazen:

- We learn that mind percieves and processes experience. We learn that mind functions not only to generate thoughts and emotions but also is the source of awareness that is our experience of emptiness and all things.
- We learn to watch our own minds and discover that mind contains the seeds for everything that is expressed in the universe.
- We realize that everything in existence is from the same universal source.
- We learn to accept the things we can't change with equanimity.

Besides sitting another way I've realized that everything in in existence is from the same universal source is through my love for almost any type of music -- although I admit some forms have taken me awhile to develop a taste for. Tonight I'm listening to the following selection from Fila Brazillia. I particularly like the YouTube clip that goes along with it which is kind of reminiscent of Koyaanisqatsi with images from the Guardian website. Clips like these remind me of the greater beauty in the Universe we all take part in -- usually without being aware of it:



A little mind trip people might enjoy taking themselves on is to watch the clip and try to place yourself into each of the scenes. What I realize when I do this is that in each place I am the same awareness. And in each scene each person is busy with whatever they're doing, but the overarching awareness is the same for each person, including myself...

And you.

Shobogenzo Ch20 (IV) - Kokyo - The Clear Mirror Is A Concept We Aim For But Can't Know

If the clear mirror is 'when self expands to include everyone and everything', it's a concept we can aim for but can't truly know. Just like we can't actually be aware of being buddha.

For one thing we can't ever truly know where another person is coming from or what the consequences of our actions might be.

For me right now, the clear mirror is another mirror which I can use to evaluate my own actions retroactively -- even when that means having to face my own ineffectiveness and/or ineptitude with equanimity. In the concept of the clear mirror, we're not only accepting everyone else for who they are, but ourselves.

*  *  *

Since reading Kokyo several months ago, I've been trying to identify actions that I've witnessed or experienced that might resemble the actions of past Zen masters. At least in the States, disciplinary action has come under scrutiny and people come from more diverse backgrounds. One of the few instances I can think of occurred at Antaiji, where during one zazen period, Muho-san yelled with his booming Zen master voice (at me, since he yelled in English) to "Stop Moving!" ..... In that instance Muho-san was wrong and I got to respond by immediately ringing the bell since I was Jikido that day. I can think of no other instance involving Muho-san during the three months I was at Antaiji. That's not to say that my behavior or anyone else's was perfect. Rather, from what I know, dramatic actions may be becoming more rare these days, even in monasteries. That might be a good thing since life can be traumatic enough.

Personally, I can say that I've typically most appreciated those people who have been present with the process each of us goes through in our practice. People who have offered, not judgement, but the occasional word of encouragement and hint if correction was warranted.

Shobogenzo Ch20 (III) - Kokyo - The Clear Mirror

I've noticed that both sutras and zen writings contain a lot of exaggeration and hyperbole. The exaggeration and hyperbole sometimes hint at the possibility of something like 'super powers' that can result from enlightenment.

Here’s an example from Yuanwu, who I’ve been reading recently:

When the great Zen masters went into action, they were like dragons galloping and tigers charging: heaven and earth turned, and nothing could stop their revivifying people.

They penetrated directly through and made themselves completely unobstructed twenty-four hours a day, with their realization pervading in all directions, rolling up and rolling out, capturing and releasing.

I think Yuanwu is describing the actions of past Zen masters that had realized the clear mirror.

I can't say I've ever had much faith in the notion of ‘super powers’. But let's face it, we all at some time or another hope for a miracle solution that will rescue or redeem us from the obvious unfairness, indifference and banality that we witness and experience in life. 

In each case, we typically exert ourselves to assert self in opposition to what is. But by opposing reality we increase separation and increase the strength of the walls that separate us.

The irony in most of these efforts is that, beyond the basic needs for survival, each desire boils down to the same one: Not to be separate. But the habits engrained in us by society are the opposite of what’s necessary to produce the desired effect.

To realize the clear mirror is to accept the entirety of the universe as self. All of it. Even the things that make us uncomfortable, things that cause suffering, pain, sickness and death. We accept the discomfort, pain, the unjustness, our own 'guilt' and ineffectiveness. The daily struggles and boredom. 

A lot of what we learn as a function of sitting brings us closer to realizing the clear mirror. During zazen:

- We learn that mind percieves and processes experience. We learn that mind functions not only to generate thoughts and emotions but also is the source of awareness that is our experience of emptiness and all things. 

- We learn to watch our own minds and discover that mind contains the seeds for everything that is expressed in the universe. 

- We realize that everything in existence is from the same universal source.

- We learn to accept the things we can't change with equanimity. 

When we accept the entirety of the universe as self, the result is not ‘self’ in the typical sense, no-self or non-self. Self expands to include everything and everyone. 

What realization of the clear mirror results in is nothing that can be defined as personal success according the standards set forth by society. But I think it can result in a sort of 'super power', namely action motivated by an intuitive wisdom and compassion that is as untainted by views as I think a human being can get.

Shobogenzo Ch 20 (II) Kokyo - The Clear Mirror: Mirror Mirror...

"Mirror mirror on the wall
Who is the fairest of them all?"



So asks the Queen, Snow White's stepmother. When I first heard this fairy tale as a kid, I'm sure I identified with Snow White and not the stepmother. Because especially at that age we tend not to think of self as a potentially 'bad' person. But the real lesson in the fairy tale is found in the part about the stepmother.

The stepmother is looking for affirmation or verification of her sense of self by asking the mirror. It's a habitual way of being I think everyone falls prey to. In fact, society tries to train us to live this way from the time we're born. But to live the richest possible life, to live to our full potential whatever our dharma and karma is, using the mirror to affirm our sense of self is backwards. Many of the lessons in zen try to show us that. Beginning with the white wall in zazen.

The word 'fair' is an interesting one especially in this context. Fair can mean either beautiful or in accordance with merit, effort or significance. As long as we hold onto the view of a self separate from the rest of the world, life isn't always going to be fair.

We typically ask the mirror, which is the ten thousand things, to verify our sense of self. We tend to become frustrated, sad, angry and resentful when they don't affirm us. We react to defend our sense of self. With these reactions we build walls around self that prevent us from fully experiencing the beauty in the universe, the ten thousand things and even our selves.

Being a clear mirror is to be un-self conscious. Self becomes fluid and flexible reaching out and actting to verify and experience the beauty in all things. When we incorporate the clear mirror into our way of being, it's not like we don't become frustrated, sad, angry and/or resentful anymore, but the trigger of those emotions is different, the emotions don't arise in an effort to defend the sense of self. We remain open and experience things more fully. And we learn to respond, instead of react.


The lesson in Snow White is this:

The Queen was being terribly unfair. But the person the Queen was the most unfair to was herself. While the Queen was suffering and worrying about her own beauty all the time, and probably how people would judge based on appearance, even when circumstances were treating her well, she was missing out on the real beauty in life.

Image from: Weirdwebbed. 

Shobogenzo Ch20 (I) Kokyo - The Eternal Mirror

I'm starting this one with a joke...

How many buddhas does it take to change a lightbulb?



Here's at least one possible answer:

All the buddhas in the three times and ten directions aren't enough. That's why the void is typically thought of as dark.

 ...And some Zen masters might consider it a good lesson to just keep shooting out the lights.

 ...I also could've said all the buddhas in the three times and ten directions are too contented with things as they are.

Typically that's not how life works though. And I don't think life worked that way for Śākymuni Buddha or Dogen either. When we're not on the zafu we're confronted by the ten thousand things and we react to them with aversion and attachment depending on some yet to be discovered and published mathematical function of our dharma and karma.

Our reactions as we encounter the ten thousand things are the eternal mirror and are a reflection of self. Our minds react to the ten thousand things because we think of ourselves as separate from them. As long as mind defines itself in terms of self and separation, our mind reacts rather than responds creating unnecessary psychological suffering and stress for ourselves and those around us.

It's obvious that we can't always change the aspects of reality that we're unhappy with. But most of us spend a lot of energy worrying about and getting stressed out by the big things we'd like to change. A lot of us react by substituting consumer placebos to help us feel better about ourselves. And a lot of us procrastinate on the smaller things that can make reality a nicer place to be. Things like changing a lightbulb.

Luckily it's usually pretty straightforward to change a lightbulb. Admittedly training our minds to allow us to change lightbulbs without a fuss might be more difficult.

An extra offering in the spirit of Zen tradition:

Reflections: The Five Eyes and Dogen's True Dharma Eye Treasury

I've been wanting to tell folks about a discovery that caused a bit more of the Shobogenzo fall into place for me. I intended to write about it as soon as I got back from this fall's Genzo-e on Komyō, Radiant Brightness, but work and the holidays have kept me from writing.

At the Genzo-e Okumura mentioned the Five Eyes. Because the Shobogenzo is called "The True Dharma Eye Treasury" when I got back I pulled up what I could about the Five Eyes. Here's a summary.

The Five Eyes* are:


The human eye - our physical eye, which, while better than the eye of a barnacle, only sees a limited range of light in the electromagnetic spectrum. This means a lot more comes and goes in the world than we perceive. We can't completely know reality because our perceptions are limited. Then again, the question arises, how much do we need to know? Most of us survive okay for the typical duration of a human life span.

The divine or heavenly eye - the divine eye is an eye with the obstructions removed. Because the divine eye is free of limitations it can see anything and everything. The divine eye can be experienced during sitting. In addition, because telescopes, microscopes and a variety of scientific instrumentation give humans the power to perceive beyond the normal limits of the physical eye, it has been suggested these instruments can confer the divine eye. [Note: scientific instrumentation only enhances perceptions of a single 'channel'. And the sight conferred by scientific instrumentation typically doesn't get integrated into experience. So intellectual understanding of another dimension or perspective doesn't necessarily imply we have fully incorporated that dimension or perspective into our lives. The points that I'm trying to make are that (a) the average scientist doesn't experience what can be experienced during sitting and (b) in science and beyond sitting, intellectual understanding falls substantially short of experiential understanding and integration.]


The wisdom eye - the eye that sees the empty nature of phenomena and form. [For example see my 'Mind Cannot Be Grasped' posts on Shobogenzo Chapters 18 & 19.] Experiencing the bliss of emptiness during sitting and recognizing the empty nature of phenomena is freeing, because a person is no longer reflexively driven by the fears and stresses arising from the unsatisfactory aspects of life that are a natural byproduct of living.


The dharma eye - the eye of the Bodhisattva. The dharma eye is the manifestation of emptiness in form or as close to emptiness in form as it's possible to get outside of sitting. The dharma eye arises, at least in part, from the realization that the experience of emptiness during sitting and the motivation for practice and enlightenment arise out of phenomena and form. To go one step further, emptiness however blissful is also phenomenological and, therefore, empty. With this realization it seems obvious that each dharma is reality for the person experiencing it, even though each dharma is a construct of delusion. I can't see how recognition of this basic truth could fail to be accompanied by unconditional compassion.

The buddha eye - the buddha-eye integrates the sight provided by the previous four eyes at their most advanced functioning. I plan on writing more about my thoughts on the buddha eye in a separate post. (Hopefully in the near, rather than distant, future.)

Anyway...

I suspect many of you already know about the Five Eyes. For me, learning about the Five Eyes was a bit of a Doh! insight. To me it implies that Dogen wrote the Shobogenzo not only to instill compassion, but also as guidebook for people motivated by compassion -- even though Dogen, like me lately, seems to have realized that actions based on compassion are based on views and judgements and, therefore, that actions based on compassion have the potential to do as much harm as good -- a topic that admittedly continues to perplex me... But I have about three quarters more of the Shobogenzo to go.



 *A more in depth intellectual but fun description of the Five Eyes can be found at: http://www.baus.org/baus/library/5eyese.html