zen buddhism is: “a direct transmission outside tradition and outside scripture: no dependence on...
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Zen Buddhism is:
“A direct transmission outside tradition and outside
scripture: no dependence on words, directly pointing to the
human heart, seeing into one’s own nature
and realizing Buddhahood”.
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Zen uses everyday ideas to point to reality, rather
than religious ideas –
“When walking, just walk.
When sitting, just sit.
Above all, don’t wobble”
Ummon
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I am Bodhidharma,
the first Zen patriarch – When
the Chinese emperor asked
me “What is this Holy religion all
about”, I explained that it
is “Vast emptiness, with nothing holy in
it”.
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What he didn’t understand is that
ideas like “Holiness” or
“Buddha” are just constructions of
the mind – in Zen we want to go beyond these
constructions, to see things as they
really are.
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I don’t want you to think about reality
– I want you to experience it, so
stop thinking, and start experiencing!
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When you sit and look at a tree, you don’t just see the tree, but a whole
host of other mental images,
you think “That’s a nice green colour”,
or “Those fruit would taste good”, but you don’t just
sit and see the tree.
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All humans are only a hair’s breadth from the experience of enlightenment, which we
call “Satori”. Satori is experienced naturally as part of life, when we lose
ourselves in experience of a sunset, or something
beautiful. The Zen approach to enlightenment is about trying to encourage those
moments!
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Zen says that enlightenment is like a rose – you can’t grow a rose on
your own, but you can make it likely that a rose will
occur! Enlightenment is the same, you can’t make
yourself enlightened, but you can make it likely that enlightenment experiences
will occur!
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So how can you work on the rose garden of your mind?
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A good way is to practice Zazen.
This just means “sitting”, and is really all about
doing just that – as one Zen master
said, “When I sit, I just sit”.
Zazen is an intense and
difficult form of Meditation practice.
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Zazen is best practiced in a Zendo – a Zen room. Many of these are in
monasteries, but technically, any
room where Zazen is done is
a zendo.
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I’ve got a really important job in the
Zendo – I have to stop the monks going to
sleep. If I see someone nodding off, I give them a tap with this stick, then we bow to each other &
they get on with meditating. Some harder strikes may be necessary for sleepy heads, and if I break my stick on you, the tradition is that you buy me a bottle of Sake!
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A good zendo is run by a Roshi – a teacher who is
acknowledged to have had regular experience of Satori, and who knows how to transmit that experience to each
individual.
Everyone may need a different stimulus to tip
them over into enlightenment – a joke, a
riddle, a slap, a plate thrown at them…
Whatever it takes.
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How many rocks are there – are they
supposed to be rocks or Islands?
Some Zendos will have gardens attached – but
Gardens that are designed to help the
mind see past appearances
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In Zen we strive for Satori - the lightning
flash of enlightenment - this is an instant
experience that arises spontaneously.
Achieving Satori does not make you a Buddha,
however, we are pursuing a different goal to other Buddhists - one
that does not want to abandon this world.
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In Zen we teach that “You are the Buddha” -
all beings have a “Buddha nature” - one
does not have to become Buddha, because one has always been Buddha, we just need to wake up to it. Your own everyday mind, is the Buddha
mind.
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In Zen we do not see that there is a difference
between Nirvana, and the everyday world that
surrounds us - we celebrate nature in our poetry and art. Every action you perform is
spiritual, provided that it is natural and
spontaneous - Zen is about making life holy, not going outside it to
find holiness.
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A famous Zen teaching method is the Koan - a
Koan is a nonsense riddle, or saying - it
deliberately makes no sense, and is designed to
jerk you out of normal ways of thinking and into
Satori.
What is the sound of one
hand clapping?
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Koans may be statements - “The
Buddha is a dung heap coolie”!
Koans may be questions with answers provided - “What is the Buddha? Three pounds of flax”.
“Does a Dog have a Buddha nature” - “Wu” (Sounds like “Woof” & means “Nothing”)
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Or maybe even a story:“The novice went to see Bodhidharma, and said “I
want peace of mind”. “Bring out your mind”,
said Bodhidharma, “and I’ll give it peace!”
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The practice of Zen has had an enormous influence of
Japanese culture!
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The Discipline and simplicity of Zen appealed
to us Samurai!
Yeah, Zen is just like a Japanese sword fight – you spend a long time staring your opponent in the eye,
both of you totally immobile, and then suddenly, “swish”, the fight is over, and you are walking away, cleaning your
sword, before his body has hit the ground.
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The point of Karate is not to be able to kill your opponent, but to train your body and
mind so that you lose yourself in the experience of the moment – when you
watch your body acting without thought – that is a kind of Satori
Yeah, but this still hurts!
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Zen influences everything -
From calligraphy to flower arranging…
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Even making a cup of tea…
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Remember - Zen can’t be put into words - You can only experience it as it is passed from the mind of
your teacher to your mind.
So - this whole presentation is a waste of
time.