Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly
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| Old Zen Master to fellow monk: "Nothing happens next. This is it." (Gahan Wilson) |
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| "Not thinking of you." (Dan Piraro) |
The American-Zen school is getting old and hackneyed. It "stinks of Zen."
Shall we ignore koans from now on and focus instead on the wonderful devotional teachings of Pure Land (which seems fresh in the hands of Master Miao Lien) or the magical chanting of Nichiren (Nam myoho renge kyo) Buddhism?
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| Zen novice: "Master, why did Bodhi-Dharma come from the West?" How the koan would I know, dummy? (Ioanna Salajan/Zen Comics) |
To think that we could be on bowing-pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash or doing 100,000 Tibetan prostrations at the Bodhi tree shrine in Bodh Gaya, but instead we are sorting koans ("main cases," aphorisms, riddles) from Japan's most perplexing school -- it just does not seem right. (Zen may have begun in China and grown in Korea, but it is the Japanese version that became most famous and distinctive).
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| We forgive you. - I still feel guilty! |
Certainly if it were not for Alan Watts, cartoonist Ioanna Salajan, D.K. Suzuki, and Bernie ("The Little Lobowski") Glassman, we would not have come this far. How did we come this far except that Roshi Albrizze believes and the post-WW II and Korean "Conflict" American GIs and their generation overcompensated with a fascination for all things "Oriental" in general and Japanese in particular?
But "Zen is stupid." That is the proposition. Who can say different? Zazen (just sitting in meditation) is good, satori (epiphany) good, luohans (arhats) good, ch'an (zen, dhyana, jhana, or "meditative-absorption") great! But Zen as a path of practice-of-practice or non-practice? Humbug!
It's complete foolishness, a whole school with a single message, or so it seems: "Don't strive," "There is nothing to strive for," "What are you striving for, dummy?"
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| Look how clever I can be in college! "What is the sound of no hands typing?" (PHD ZEN) |
It's complete foolishness, a whole school with a single message, or so it seems: "Don't strive," "There is nothing to strive for," "What are you striving for, dummy?"
Can anyone utter 100 words without a cute aphorism, a dull platitude, or unconventional mode of expression like setting a grass sandal atop the head and walking out of the room?
Readers will not sit just to sit, not even in Zen circles. Everyone is itching to talk and socialize. Can words be said that engender serene sitting, emotional-intellectual stilling, and self-development toward tranquility (jhana) and insight (vipassana), toward enlightenment (bodhi), toward final liberation (nirvana)?
Q: Now, Master Albrizze, how say you?
A: It's kind of like this, like when "Ryuge..."
KOAN: Ryuge Passes the Chin Rest
PasaDharma Koan Study Group (pasadharma.org), The Book of Equanimity, Case 80
PREFACE TO THE ASSEMBLY
A great sound is rarely heard; a great vessel matures slowly.
In the hurly-burly of a hundred chatterings, one plays the fool, patiently letting time pass for thousands of years.
Tell me: What kind of person is this?
MAIN CASE
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| Here I am, wasn't I? (Ioanna Salajan) |
Attention!
Ryuge asked Master Suibi, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch [Bodhidharma] coming from the West?”
Master Suibi said, “Go and get the chin rest for me.”
Ryuge brought the chin rest for Master Suibi, and Suibi then treated him to a blow.
Ryuge remarked, “Hit me if you wish, but there’s still no meaning to the Patriarch’s coming from the West.”
Later Ryuge asked Master Rinzai, “What’s the meaning of the Patriarch coming from the West?”
Master Rinzai said, “Go get the cushion for me.”
Ryuge brought Master Rinzai the cushion, and Rinzai treated him to a blow.
Ryuge remarked, “Hit me if you wish, but there’s still no meaning to the Patriarch’s coming from the West.”
Much later still, when Ryuge was living in a temple, a monk asked him: “Great teacher, in former times you asked Suibi and Rinzai about the meaning of the coming of the Patriarch. Did they both clarify it or not?”
Ryuge replied, “They clarified it alright -- but there’s still no meaning to the Patriarch’s coming from the West.”
APPRECIATORY VERSE
Cushion and chin rest confront Ryuge.
Having the chance, why are you not an adept?
He doesn’t think to clarify it by making quick conclusions.
He’s afraid of their loss of position and having to go to heaven’s edge.
How can you hang a sword in the vast sky?
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