The Great Way is not difficult 

for those who have no preferences. 

When love and hate are both absent 

everything becomes clear and undisguised. 

Make the smallest distinction, however, 

and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. 


If you wish to see the truth 

then hold no opinions for or against anything. 

To set up what you like against what you dislike 

is the disease of the mind. 

When the deep meaning of things is not understood, 

the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail. 


          These are the first two stanzas of the Hsin Hsin Ming a poem by Seng Tsan the Third Patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China.  It is difficult to know when this poem was written, probably around 600CE  Wikipedia says that Seng Tsan died in 606.  As the Third Patriarch Seng Tsan was the third holder of  a lineage of Buddhism brought to China from India by Bodhidharma in the early 500s.  Bodhidharma is considered the First Patriarch but he was  a holder of a lineage that went back to the Buddha.  This lineage called Chan in China, Zen in Japan and now Zen in most of the rest of the world was different from the other forms of Buddhism found in  China when Bodhidharma arrived in its almost complete reliance upon meditation and not doctrine or philosophy, or devotional practices.  It is still unique today in this way though I am sure a practitioner of another form of Buddhism would argue that they also put a lot of time on the cushion.  When we read this poem/essay by the Third Patriarch we must understand that it is giving instruction in the psychological disposition of meditation whether on the cushion or not.
           First we should know that Hsin Hsin Ming translates as Faith in Mind.  This title is the least clear thing in the whole poem.  What is this Mind?  Is it our individual mind which is continually spinning out all sorts of thoughts, or is it some other version of mind which we discover in meditation?  I am going to say outright that it is not that first version of mind which is filled with thoughts of likes and dislikes.  On the other hand this poem is a manual for experiencing that other version of Mind.
           At the very beginning of the Hsin Hsin Ming we are told that this poem is about The Great Way.  This is not a Buddhist term, in fact no where in this poem is there a mention of Buddhism nor is there more then a hint that this poem is about Buddhist experience and yet it is very much about Buddhist experience.  The Buddhist experience described in the poem is not specifically Buddhist only that the practice of Buddhism and Zen can lead to this experience.  By using the words The Great Way Seng Tsan is using the language of Taoism the native philosophy and religion of China, and saying that The Great Way of Taoism in essence is no different then the way of Zen and Buddhism.  
          I think it is important that we have a bit of understanding about Taoism and Chinese philosophy. In  Sixth Century China there were and had been for many centuries, two primary philosophic strains.  Confucianism which is a social philosophy and Taoism which was a philosophy on how the individual in the already complex society of China can return to harmony with Nature.  Tao of Taoism translates as The Way and refers to both the way of Nature and the way to return to harmony with Nature.  So right from the beginning Seng Tsan is telling his readers that: This is how to return to harmony with Nature.  This seems like a reformulation of Buddhism.  The Buddhism of India did not talk about harmony with nature but just because the language is different this does not mean that the experiential essence is different.  Seng Tsan recognized that the experiential essence of Zen needed to be represented in a way that the Chinese would relate to.  And in many ways this Chinese common sence way of thinking of Buddhism is better then the magical, religious, and philosophical language, of Indian Buddhism because in essence the enlightenment experience is an experience of harmony with nature in the broadest sense, with the whole Universe.
           Right there at the beginning of Buddhism when Shakyamuni pronounced that people did not have an atman (soul), that everything is in constant change, and all things result from causes and conditions, he was saying that we are fully natural creatures not separated from the natural world by any sort of specialness, endowed upon us by God or the gods, like a soul, and that we are products of and function through the same processes that all of the natural world functions.  This sounds like harmony with nature.  Seng Tsan was aligning Zen Buddhism with Taoism giving Zen a Chinese context.
          So how do we realize our harmony with nature?  The first step is not to judge anything and maintain a clear mind that can see the world with out discrimination and thereby without delusion or illusion.  Start by ending thoughts of like and dislike, love and hate.  Take emotion out of the equation.  When you think about it this is not an easy step.  It is like stepping off a cliff.  No it is more then that.  It is like climbing up a great mountain so that you can step off a cliff and die.  Why would anyone want to do that?  Are not emotions the essence of our life.  We are emotional creatures.
          Yes we are emotional creatures but our emotions service our delusions as well as also create some of them.  By no means does Zem turn us into emotionless automatons but some how if we are to see through our delusions then we have to turn off our normal way of thinking emotions and all.  This is what zazen is all about.  This is what we have to cultivate.  The other day in one of the sitting groups I lead I talked about why the Soto Zen practitioners face a wall as they sit zazen while the Rinzi practitioners face the other way.  The story goes that Bodhidharma sat for eight years facing a wall in a cave in China.  So the Soto people quite literally take that to heart and face a wall when they sit.  On the other hand this story that Bodhidharma sat facing a wall is also understood metaphorically with the "wall" representing the state of deep zazen.  The state of deep zazen is likened to a wall because it has that smooth quality that most walls have.  In other words our normal minds are highly textured with thoughts and emotions but the state of deep zazen is smooth without emotion or thought.  The thing is, is that when you sit this way, and it takes years of practice before this is possible, the mind is clear allowing for a  whole new perception of the world and something else also happens, a deep energizing of the nervous system which somehow can all work together to produce insight, transformation, enlightenment.
          So when we practice zazen we are practicing drooping our emotions.  We are also practicing dropping our thoughts.  Thought and emotion generally work together.  Whenever  thought or emotion arises during zazen the practice is to drop them and return to the focus of concentration used.  Over and over this is done until the mind is clear. open for change.  And then maybe when we return to thought and emotion everything has changed.

When the deep meaning of things is not understood, 
the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail. 

          In Buddhism we say we suffer because of ignorance.  This ignorance is an ignorance of the essential nature of the Universe and our role as humans in it.  Of course we humans are born ignorant.  We have been born ignorant since time immemorial.  Nature though did endow us with  with certain attributes among which is fear and a way to recognize the dangerous situations which activate this fear.  This translates into a fear of death even if as a young child we don't understand death.  But eventually we all learn about death and it's inevitability. and this combined with our fear creates an underlying existential suffering.  The role of religion has always been to assuage this underling suffering with story and faith and ceremony.  The problem with the traditional religions has always been an element of irrationality.  A faith in something beyond experience, and magical stories that sow seeds of doubt which is often another source of suffering. 
          If we suffer because of our ignorance then there must be some truth, some insight which will relieve us of our existential suffering.  In the Zen schools say that we must search within for this truth, that we all have within us the wisdom to recognize this essential truth.  This essential truth is The Way.  It is just that this truth lacks power in explanation.  It must be deeply experienced.




           

         Recently several people and myself were having tea with Harada Roshi and the floor was opened up to questions for Harada to answer.  From a Zen practitioner's point of view I found three questions interesting.  One question came from a young and hard working monk.  It went something like this.  When I started practicing I had the idea that Zen was about some big life changing experience but now that I have been practicing for several years it seems like it is more of a process of gradual molding.  Would you please talk on the reality of Zen verses the myth of Zen.  The next question came from a fellow who has been a serious lay practitioner for many many years.  His question went something like this.  When we read about the early Zen Masters they seemed to have had an unusual freedom saying and doing some amazing things that got recorded but in time the saying of our ancient Zen ancestors were solidified into Koans.  All sorts of rules were added to our practice and that amazing freedom seems to be lost.  Again Harada was asked to comment.  The last question came from an elderly man who has been involved in the sanga for many years.  Though he doesn't participate in sesshins I think he has had his private practice for many many years.  His question went something like this:  The great Zen scholar and practioner D. T. Suzuki stated that there can be no Zen without Kensho (enlightenment).  But, in fact maybe 2% of all Zen practioners experience Kensho.  So what are the rest of us doing?
          Three interesting questions.  Here is how Harada answered them:  To the question by the young monk he said it is dangerous to think of Zen in this way.  This type of thinking is a barrier.  Words can never speak the truth of Zen.  To the question on freedom he said that these instruments like koans and our method of practice are tools which can be used or not use.  Harada also likened kensho to finding a key and a lock that precisely fit. and that Zen cannot be fully understood until one has had this experience.  He also said that Zen is not about stopping all thought because then one is dead or unconscious but it is also not about thinking but a subtle place in between,  To the last question  Harada said, "Thank you." 
          All of these questions go to the frustration that most Zen practitioners have with actually experiencing kensho.  I thought I might answer these questions in my own way in this blog.  Most people who are serious Rinzi Zen practitioners, go to sesshins and such, are looking to become enlightened if they already are not enlightened.  I think this might be different from those who practice the other popular forms of Buddhism.  The Soto Zen people discourage the desire for enlightenment and tell you that practicing itself is enlightenment.  The Tibetans simply tell you that it takes many many lifetimes to become enlightened and the Vipassana people talk about being happy through mindfulness.  But if you are going to practice Rinzi Zen with it's harsh discipline and  koans you probably deeply desire enlightenment.  It is that deep desire which drives you on in this practice.
          Here in Port Townsend I sit with a small sanga of fifteen or twenty people.  A subset of them consider me their teacher.  Most of them are daily practitioners who never or almost never go to seven day sesshins yet they all feel their practice important.  The research on meditation shows that it has excellent stress reductions properties even  for relative beginners.  How could learning to discipline the individual mind and enhance concentration and awareness be anything but good?  How could learning to break the obsessive patterns of our thought be anything but good.?  All of us who practice consistently notice great benefits.
          One of the most important lessons that Buddhism has to teach is the anatomy of happiness.  This goes right back to the first lesson of Shakyamuni on the Four Noble Truths.  We suffer and we create suffering because of the way we think.  We are obsessively self centered, filled with desires, and ignorant of the most basic truths.  But now think about when you as an individual are happy.
          This is a tricky question because most of us would say we are happy when our desires are satisfied  But this type of happiness is fleeting because our undisciplined mind quickly desires something else.  Then most of us would say we are happy when we are doing something that makes us happy.  I love to play tennis.  This type of happiness is not as fleeting but again in time it disappears.  I cannot play tennis for ever.  In either case the Buddhist would say that we should not look to the event making us happy but the state of mind that makes us happy.  In all cases we find our self happy when we are free of desire, and not filled with self centered and critical thoughts, which are  in effect just desires,   As Buddhists we practice to discipline our minds to be free from desire, self centered and critical thoughts.  To whatever extent we can do this we can relax into the moment and enjoy whatever is happening.

Sitting early morning Zazen
The Birds awakening the world,
And I am filled with joy

         This is the power of Zazen even without kensho.   Kensho, that perfect key fitting into that perfect lock is a step beyond finding joy in the moment.  It demands that we drop all desires and all self centered and critical thoughts and beyond that drop all ideas of an individual self.  And then when you do that the key fits in the lock and a door is open to a whole new way of seeing the world.  But, most of us are not ready to step through the door.  We don't want to give up the idea of an individual self and so we just take the benefit of being happier.
           Now we come to the idea of freedom, and it is just that, an idea, and it goes together with the idea of an individual self..  Without the idea of an individual self the idea we have of freedom doesn't work.  Yet we find the idea of freedom so critical to our idea of happiness because we see our own inhibitness as a source of our unhappiness.  We want that freedom which the ancient Zen masters seemed to have attained. Our idea of their freedom is just another illusion.  Yet the experience of kensho is a liberation.  It is a liberation from our illusions and it may also be a liberation from many of our inhibitions.
          If I am going to talk about Zen I like the the word harmony.  Kensho is not an experience of freedom but of harmony.  It is an experience of harmony precisely because the idea of an individual self is dropped and we no longer think of ourselves as independent actors but experience our individual self as embedded in the body of this unbounded Universe dancing in harmony with everything else.
          Zen is about experience,  it is not about language and it is not about ideas, yet even Zen practitioners cannot help but try to encompass what we are doing in language and ideas.  I certainly cannot help it.  I am just dancing.