Zen and Nonduality
Roshi Joan Halifax
Upaya Zen Center
Not Knowing Is Most Intimate
Case 20, Book of Serenity
Dizang asked Fayen, “Where are you going?”
Fayen replied, “I am wandering about aimlessly.”
Dizang asked, “So, what do you think of this wandering
about?”
Fayan said, “I don’t know.”
Dizang replied, “Not knowing is most intimate.”
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Zen is an anti-philosophy in that it is not a systematization of knowledge
built on the use of a discursive mode of reasoning anchored in the
(alleged) certainty or transparency of ego-consciousness, one that
follows an epistemological paradigm built on an ego-logical, either-or,
dualistic mode of knowing.
“On the great road of buddha ancestors there is always unsurpassable
practice, continuous and sustained. It forms the circle of the way and is
never cut off. Between aspiration, practice, enlightenment and nirvana,
there is not a moment’s gap. Continuous practice is the circle of the
way. This being so, continuous practice is unstained, not forced by you
or others. The power of continuous practice confirms you as well as
others. It means your practice affects the entire earth and the entire
sky in the ten directions. Although not noticed by others or by yourself,
it is so.”
Zen Master Eihei Dogen
Gautama Buddha: Profound Perception:
563 - c. 483 BCE
The ‘father of the sangha’.
Mahakashyapa Chinese Chan and Japanese Zen
traditions view Mahākāśyapa as the
first successor of Gautama Buddha.
According to the Flower Sermon,
Mahākāśyapa smiled upon
witnessing Gautama Buddha
silently lifting a flower in a moment
of wordless teaching. Right then,
the Buddha recognized the meeting
of their minds—like two arrows
meeting in midair.
Mahākāśyapa depicted with hair and beard. Mural painting, Kizil
Caves, Xinjiang, China, fourth–fifth century CE
Bodhidharma (5-6th Century)
Bodhidharma A special transmission outside
the teachings
No dependence on words or
phrases
Directly pointing to the human
mind
Seeing into one’s nature and
realizing Buddhahood
Shitou Xiqian
(Sekito Kisen; 700-790)
Thousands of words,
myriad interpretations,
are only to free you from obstructions.
Zen Master Hongzhi Zhengjue
(A.D.1091-1157)
Respond unencumbered to
each speck of dust without
becoming its partner.
In silence, words are
forgotten. In utter clarity,
everything appears.
天童如净
Tiantong Rujing (1163–1228)
Dogen bowing before Rujing
Zen Master Eihei Dogen
1200 –1253
Founder of the Sōtō School of Zen
in Japan. Originally ordained as a
monk in the Tendai School in
Kyoto, he was dissatisfied with its
teaching and traveled to China to
seek out what he believed to be a
more authentic Buddhism. He
remained there for five years
training under Tiantong Rujing.
Genjokoan: Actualizing the Fundamental Point
To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the
self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When
actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies
and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains,
and this no-trace continues endlessly.
We can make our minds so
like still water that beings
gather about us to see their
own images, and so live for
a moment with a clearer,
perhaps even with a fiercer
life because of our silence."
William Butler Yeats
"To sum up: First, a vivid state of mental tranquility and a sustaining
energy together with a discerning intellect are indispensable
requirements for attaining perfect insight. They are like the first steps
of a staircase. Second, all meditation, with or without form, must begin
from deeply aroused compassion and love. Whatever one does must
emerge from a loving attitude for the benefit of others. Third, through
perfect seeing, all discrimination is dissolved into a non-conceptual
state. Finally, with an awareness of the void, one sincerely dedicates
the results for the benefit of others. I have understood this to be the
best of ways." --The Life of Milarepa, trans. by Lobsang P. Lhalunga
Dogen:
Give life to life….
