Kensho: Heart of Zen

Some key things, revisited

• Reality is one, but can be perceived differently, depending on perceptual acuity.
• The true nature of the consciousness has no characteristics.
  • Ideas and feelings are products of the mind.
  • The senses create forms, like echoes in a valley.
• Notice direct perception, not conceptual description.

Some key things

• Things like ideas and feelings are products of the mind, not the mind itself.
• The true nature of the mind has no characteristics. It’s neither profane nor sacred, not coming or going. It’s still, calm, quiet, eternal.
• Detaching from thoughts means stopping habits and compulsive thinking, not having no thought or being unintelligent.
• Substance and function of true mind are not-two.
  • Aim for experiential unity, keeping this distinction-but-not-division.
  • There’s no water without waves, and no waves without water. They are not one and not the same.
• The true mind is always the same and always there. But different people perceive it differently.
• Practice the approach you have affinity with (not just attraction to). It’s effortless work, not deliberate effort.
• Suchness is open and pure, but is defiled by our psychological afflictions.
• The achievement of mindlessness is better than mindfulness.
• The “no knowledge” of direct perception.
  • Knowledge is a subtle barrier, difficult to overcome.
  • We need experiential distinction between direct perception and conceptual description.
• The real teaching is not a string of words, it is the experience of reality itself.
  • Buddhism is not Buddha’s Teaching
• When the true self is stimulated, the six senses create forms, like an empty valley transmits echoes.
• Reality is there whether we’re aware of it, discuss it, define it, or not. These may actually obscure Reality!
  • When you finish dreaming, reality is as ever.
• Like the knife that cuts but does not cut itself, like the eye that sees but does not see itself.
• What determines the depth and breadth of our world is the richness or poverty of our perception.

Introduction

• Complete kensho is what is known as satori, Zen awakening. This realization is likened to finding an inexhaustible treasure, for it means the awakening of the whole potential for the experience of experience itself.
• To learn about the self in Zen means to study the false self, or the ego, and the true self, or Buddha-nature.
• Learning selfhood, in Zen terms, means learning to see through the doings of the ego’s self-image in order to find the nature of the real self as it is in itself, by itself.
• Finding the nature of the real self makes it possible to be oneself, without self-consciously trying.
• Recollection of koans facilitates the ongoing practice of Buddhist meditations in the midst of ordinary wordly activities, once a popular Zen technique.

Part One: The True Mind: Chinul’s Straightforward Explanation of the True Mind

Faith

• In Chinul’s explanations of the true mind, the power of the faculty of faith is focused on the intrinsic identity of the essence of mind itself with the essence of Buddhahood.

Right Faith in the True Mind

• It is only necessary to have faith that the intrinsic self is originally Buddha.
• We can gain access to the path rapidly when faith and understanding are combined.

Terminology

• He goes on to add another long list of special Zen names. Each name, furthermore, is accompanied by a reason for the name, which is generally a representation of a function, the function a pattern of practice.

Different Names for the True Mind

• If you arrive at the true mind, all names are clear; if you are ignorant of this true mind, all names hang you up.

Substance

• Chinul makes this distinction in reference to the true mind in order to help the reader avoid mistaking a product of the mind, such as an idea or a feeling, with the essential nature of mind itself. This is critical for the experiential realization of kensho.

The Subtle Substance of the True Mind

• It is neither profane nor sacred; it has no oppositions.
• It is unmoving, unstirring, profoundly still and eternal.
• Neither coming nor going, it pervades all time; neither inside nor outside, it permeates all space.

Function

• While Zen does involve detachment from thoughts, this is not an end but a means, and does not include destruction or compromise of reason.
• Detachment from thoughts is a means of undermining automatic mental habits and compulsive subjective rationalization. It is not for blanking the mind or diminishing the intelligence.

Subtle Function of the True Mind

• The subtle substance of the true mind is basically immovable, calm and quiet, real and eternal.
• If you can recognize essential nature while going along with the flow, there is neither rejoicing nor sorrow.
• All activities at all times are manifestations of the subtle function of the true mind.

Relationship between Substance and Function

• Substance and function of true mind are differentiated for expedient reasons, in order to avoid mistaking subjective feelings for true substance and conditioned thoughts for true function. If substance and function were to remain separate, however, the individual would be split between stillness and activity, with no way to integrate them.
• Experiential unity without losing the pragmatic utility of the distinction between substance and function.

Unity and Difference of Substance and Function of the True Mind

• In terms of characteristics, they are not one; in terms of essence, they are not different. Therefore the substance and function are not one and not different.
• Function emerges from substance, function is not apart from substance. Substance is what produces function, so substance is not apart from function.
• It is like water having wetness for its substance, because substance has no motion; waves are characterized by movement, because they are aroused by the wind. Wetness is substance, waves are function; one is in movement and the other unmoving, so they are not one and the same. Nevertheless, there is no water outside of waves, and there are no waves outside of water; the nature of wetness is one, so they are not different. The oneness and difference of substance and function can be recognized by analogy.

Confusion

• Although the true mind is universal in principle, in practice there are differences in mentalities, according to conditioning.

The True Mind in Confusion

• The true mind is basically the same in sages and ordinary people, but ordinary people perceive things in an arbitrary, subjective way, losing the inherently pure essence.
• It is there, but is simply not perceived.
• The true mind is unstained by worldly troubles, just as a white jade will not change color when tossed into mud.

Stopping Delusion

• According to Chinul, it is not necessary to practice all ten methods; any one of them will lead to realization of the true mind, provided it is the one that works for the individual concerned.
• Chinul recommends practicing whichever one you have affinity with, but that requires “tasting” them all to know, and it requires the ability to distinguish affinity from attraction.

The True Mind Stops Delusion

• When there are no things on the mind, that is called mindlessness. It is like an empty jar being called an empty jar because it has nothing in it, not because the substance of the jar itself isn’t there.
• Now let us sum up the main principles in brief elucidations of ten kinds.

1. Alert Observation.
   • Cut off thoughts and prevent thoughts from arising. The instant a thought arises, you immediately break through it by awakeness.
   • “Do not fear thoughts’ arising; just be wary of being slow to become aware of it.”
2. Cessation.
   • Do not think of good or bad. When the mind is aroused, stop right away; when you encounter objects, cease and desist.
   • Be like an ignoramus or a dunce, and then you will attain some accord.
3. Mind Disappears While Objects Remain.
   • Stop all random thoughts. Paying no attention to external objects, you just stop your own mind.
4. Objects Disappear While Mind Remains.
   • view all objects, both internal and external, as totally null and void, just keeping one mind alone and independent.
5. Mind and Objects Both Disappear.
   • First you make external objects empty and silent, then you extinguish your inner mind.
6. Leaving Mind and Objects There.
   • Mind abides in the normal state of mind, objects abide in the normal state of objects.
   • Whenever mind and objects face each other, mind does not grasp objects and objects do not rule the mind;
7. Total Substance, Inside and Out.
   • Realize that all things—the mountains, rivers, earth, sun, moon, stars, and planets, the inner body and outer world—are the same as the substance of the true mind.
   • The whole universe becomes one; then where do you find the confused mind?
8. Total Function, Inner and Outer.
   • View all things, internal and external—body, mind, and the material world, including all doings and activities—as marvelous functions of the true mind.
   • Since it is all miraculous function, where can the confused mind rest?
9. Substance Identical to Function.
   • Even though you subtly merge with reality and there is uniform emptiness and silence, nevertheless effective luminosity is concealed therein, so the substance is identical to the function.
   • Since indifference is not allowed in tranquillity, and random thoughts are not used in alertness, where can any confused mind come from?
10. Passing Through and Beyond Substance and Function.

• It is not necessary to use all of these ten methods of doing the work; just master one method,
• Practice whatever method you have affinity with, according to your faculties and existing inclinations.
• This work is effortless work; it is not deliberate effort.

Posture

• The point of sitting to meditate, according to traditional authorities, is because of stability and ease, not discomfort and pain.

The True Mind and the Four Postures

• All four postures—sitting, standing, walking, reclining—will work.

Location

• Chinul stresses the fact that the substance of true mind is actually everywhere, even if unperceived, while its function becomes manifest unpredictably, according to circumstances.

The True Mind Escapes Death

• Birth and death are fundamentally non-existent; they are falsely construed to exist.

True Mind, Direct and Auxiliary Methods

• The reality of true suchness is essentially open and pure, but there is defilement by countless psychological afflictions. Even if people are mindful of true suchness, they will never attain it purely unless they use expedient means to cultivate this.
• Because defilement is infinite and extends to all things, we cultivate all kinds of good deeds as remedies.
• Because if people practice all kinds of good deeds, they will naturally wind up in accord with the reality of true suchness.

Virtues

• Clarification allows the inherent “virtues” or qualities and capacities of mind to express themselves in a wholesome and spontaneous way.

Virtues of the True Mind

• The achievement of mindlessness is better than mindfulness.

Testing the True Mind

• Unless it is tested and tempered in experience and action, the living consciousness of the true mind can hardly be stabilized.

Testing the Effectiveness of the True Mind

• First pick things you’ve always liked and imagine from time to time that they are there before you; if you feel revulsion or attraction as before, then the enlightened mind is immature.
• Check your mind again: when you encounter things you dislike or things you like, if you conceive aversion or attraction, this will cause you to grasp those repulsive or attractive objects.

Knowledge

• The most subtle barrier to kensho, the basic Zen insight, the obstacle most hard to overcome, is the barrier of knowledge. Transcending this barrier requires experiential distinction between direct perception and conceptual description.
• The “no knowledge” of direct perception.
• “Knowing” and “unknowing” are not opposites in the experience of the awakened.

The True Mind Has No Knowledge

• Without a single thought of grasping or rejection, it comprehends everything it encounters.
• The true mind acts from time to time, but this is not arousal in pursuit of objects. It is just the play of subtle function, not blind to causality.

Part Two: Applications: Zen Master Hakuin

Subtle Confusions

• “Vertically” refers to the relative being subsumed by the absolute, beyond time; “horizontally” refers to the absolute being revealed in the relative, through time.

In the Holes of Lotus Threads

• Now you jump for joy, thinking everything is settled. What you do not realize is that the demons have gone into these subtle thoughts of joy and are hiding there, completely intact.

The Wonderfully High Lamp Buddha

• What are the three subtle manifestations?
  • The manifestation of historical influences,
  • the manifestation of active arousal, and
  • the manifestation of appearances.
• What about the six coarse manifestations? They are
  • the manifestations of cognition,
  • continuity,
  • clinging,
  • assigning labels,
  • acting compulsively, and
  • suffering through bondage to compulsive action.

The Lesser Vehicles

• The four truths arises
  • the fact of suffering,
  • the cause of suffering,
  • the end of suffering, and
  • the way to end suffering.
• The twelve conditions are these:
  • ignorance conditions action,
  • action conditions consciousness,
  • consciousness conditions name and form,
  • name and form condition sense media,
  • sense media condition contact,
  • contact conditions sensation,
  • sensation conditions craving,
  • craving conditions grasping,
  • grasping conditions becoming,
  • becoming conditions birth,
  • birth conditions aging and
  • death.

The Solar Eclipse

• Such is the nature of repetitive traditionalism, however, that even followers of Buddhism would in time forget the provisional nature of their didactic constructs, taking the figurative literally.
• Hakuin again demonstrates the method of reaching through and beyond superficial surface content to recover essential structures and thus inner meanings.

The Titan Rahula Eclipsing the Sun

• Buddha originally had three kinds of discourse: discourse on principle, metaphorical discourse, and explanation of causality. The doctrine in question here is a metaphorical discourse, in which illusory things of the world are used to illustrate true reality.

The Eight Princes

• The eyes can see colors and forms, but do not distinguish between beautiful and ugly.
• The nose can smell scent, but does not know the fragrant from the foul.
• The ears can hear sounds, but do not make a distinction between the melodious and the harsh.
• The body can feel texture, but does not discriminate between the soft and the slippery.
• Storage, consciousness, on examination it proves to be wide open, immaterial and unmoving, utterly formless; but the instant it is stimulated it exercises its subtle functions in the media of the six senses, just as an empty valley transmits echoes.

Experiential Time

• The basic principles of Ekayana Buddhism are that there is actually only one true objective reality, that all beings have the capacity for awareness of this reality in accord with their individual capacities, and that the overall teaching of Buddhism is therefore one unity, which is nevertheless received and absorbed in a variety of ways depending on the individual faculties of the hearers.

The Five Ranks

• The classical masters of the golden age of Zen in China—the eighth through the tenth centuries—devised a considerable range of symbolic systems to encapsulate the essentials of their teachings, practices, and experiences.

Secrets of the Five Ranks of Soto Zen

• The rank of the relative absolute refers to the absolute state, where you experience the great death, explode, see the Way, and penetrate the noumenon.
• If practitioners become fixated on the rank of the relative absolute, their cognition is always affected by attraction and aversion and their point of view is biased.
• Dogen said, “Experiencing myriad things with the burden of the self is delusion; experiencing oneself in the manifestation of myriad things is enlightenment.”

Coming from Within the Absolute

• Seeking enlightenment above while edifying people below.

Arriving in Both

• Being on the road without leaving home, leaving home without being on the road. Is this an ordinary person? Is this a sage?

The Four Cognitions

• The first of these four is called the universal mirroring cognition, which perceives things as they are without conceptual glosses, as if the mind were a mirror, impartially reflecting whatever comes before it.
• Second is cognition of equality, insight into the universal essence of things.
• Third is subtle observing cognition, which handles differentiation, in contrast to the nondiscursive and unitive nature of the first two cognitions.
• The fourth cognition, practical cognition, refers to action in harmony with the insight and knowledge realized through the other three forms of cognition.

The Four Cognitions

• Determined to see into your inherent Buddha-nature, you should constantly ask yourself who is hosting your seeing and hearing.
• No matter what you are doing, whether you are walking, standing still, sitting down, or lying down, whether you are active or silent, whether you are in pleasant circumstances or unpleasant situations, plunge your spirit into this question: what is it that sees everything here and now? What is it that hears?
• When you see something, shine through it. When you hear, shine through what you hear. Shine through your own body, sensation, perception, action, and consciousness. Shine through the six fields of sense data.
• When desire arises, you shine through desire. When anger arises, you shine through anger. When folly arises, you shine through folly. When the poisons of desire, anger, and folly cease to infect your mind, so that it is purified, then you shine through that pure mind.
• The verbal teachings of the Buddhas and Zen masters are extremely profound and should not be considered exhausted after you have gone through them once or twice.
• The way to point out the direction is not in verbal explanations. If you want to reach this realm, just refine your observing cognition in the differentiated stories that are difficult to pass through, smelting and forging hundreds and thousands of times, over and over again.

Part Three: Zen Koans

1. Buddha Takes the High Seat

• To the perceptive, there’s no need to say anything; elaborations of teaching and practice are for those who do not experience truth directly.
• Universal perspective from a point of view beyond the divisive and conflicting opinions of the world. The religion of being so is only understood by being so—each of us has to “descend” from the experience of universal Being So to the experience of individual responsibility for being so. The purpose and meaning of awakening is in the essential link between universal Being So and individual being so.
• Being as is, like Creation weaving a timeless tapestry, is no more and no less for being illustrated or described.
• True reality is really there whether or not we are aware of it, whether or not we discuss it or define it. Discussions and definitions, in fact, may only serve to obscure the immediate reality.

2. Emptiness

• A teaching may not be visible to one who seeks through outward appearances.
• Even the most valuable piece of advice may be rejected when it comes in an unexpected manner or form.
• To communicate at all, it may be necessary to find a common convention, but this is only a provisional means, not an actual end.
• The ineffable essence of awakening, which is traditionally said to be like the knife that cuts but does not cut itself, like the eye that sees but does not see itself.
• Directly experiencing the essential nature of the absolute that is empty of all imaginary constructions and unchanged throughout all time is the fundamental way of Zen.

3. Invitation of a Patriarch

• Penetrating insight, which cannot be obtained by the discursive intellect alone but also requires the awakening of direct perception.

4. Buddha Points to the Ground

• We are in the midst of the limitless even in the midst of the finite; what determines the depth and breadth of our world is the richness or poverty of our perception.

5. The Price of Rice

• When you finish dreaming, reality is as ever; it’s not that it was somewhere else and suddenly shows up. it is necessary to understand ultimate truth and conditional truth together, neither confusing them nor alienating them.
• If you think a fixed answer is understanding, you don’t even know the prices in your own town.

6. White and Black

• Complete Zen realization encompasses both the conditional and the absolute, without either confusion or contradiction.
• The relative and the absolute are both part of Zen experience; the manifest and the unmanifest are both vehicles of realization.
• Attention might be drawn to the concrete to interrupt preoccupation with abstractions; conversely, attention might be shifted to the abstract to interrupt preoccupation with the concrete.

7. Taking the High Seat

• The real teaching is not a string of words, it is the experience of reality itself.
• Teachings are iterative expedients, not binding dogma.

8. A Wild Fox

• Buddhist teachings are not for memorizing and spewing out to others at the drop of a hat. If you memorize a bunch of slogans and clichés, thinking this to be enlightenment, you will only become more unbearable to yourself and others;
• The question of free will is not a theoretical issue. Even if one can master one’s own behavior, one cannot necessarily control the total environment and therefore cannot necessarily control all the effects and consequences caused by and resulting from one’s behavior. The degree to which one can escape subjection to causality depends, therefore, on the degree to which one can overcome ignorance of causality.
• We are already a part of these goings-on; the question is whether or not we are conscious and responsible participants.

9. Killing a Cat

• When you stop projecting, conflicts based on disparities in subjective perceptions disappear.
• It is essential to realize the transcendence of the absolute and to understand the relativity of the temporal.

10. The Woman of T’ai-shan

• Gathering in and letting go are Ch’an terms for being inaccessible and being accommodating.

11. Two Sicknesses

• The way of the true Buddhist is through the world, not avoiding its difficulties, not plunging into oblivion in the absolute.
• If you become fixated upon “emptiness” as a principle or as a state of mind, this gives the sense of something there, which obstructs penetrating illumination of insight.

12. Planting the Fields

• To watch over this “lazily” means to be always mindful of being as is without becoming inwardly frantic or obsessed with the idea of being so.
• The Diamond Sutra says, “Buddhism is not Buddha’s teaching.”

13. The Blind Ass

• The reality of direct perception of truth cannot actually be described, for it can only be known to the perceiver.

14. A Cup of Tea

• One of the signs of a false teacher is the compulsion to play the role of the guru, with a ponderous crypticism for every occasion.

15. Planting a Hoe

• Mutual understanding outside the medium of verbal explanation is one of the specialties of Ch’an teaching.
• All sorts of fakery can and does enter into this silence, of course, so examination and testing are also carried out.

Added 2024-04-11, last updated 2024-04-16.