Good morning Red Cedar sangha for this final Sunday morning Dharma
talk before our summer break. My colleagues and I, over the past
months, have offered our perspectives on the 6 paramitas: Generosity,
Ethical Conduct, Patience, Energy, Meditation and Wisdom. And we
have each recognized these virtues as interactive, mutually supportive,
and, in the end, inseparable from our daily actions, breath by breath.
Today, I’d like to reflect upon a core text, “Outline of Practice” by our
root teacher, Bodhidharma, that offers a distillation of what it means to
practice these virtues in our everyday life. To that end, I’ll begin by
offering you the last line of this text which reads: “While practicing the
6 virtues to eliminate delusion, they (that’s us) practice nothing at all.
This is what is meant by practicing Dharma.” Or, as Harada Roshi says,
“what is most important is to function in this way without being aware
of it.” So, who was Bodhidharma and what does he tell us about
virtuous practice, about living Everyday Zen?
In our morning service we Invoke our Ancestors “who have transmitted
the Lamp through space and time”: Shakyamuni Buddha in India,
Bodhidharma in China, Dogen in Japan, and Shogaku Shunryu bringing
the Dharma to the west.
We recite the Fukanzazengi of Dogen where he tells us “The way is
basically perfect and all-pervading….Need I mention the Buddha who
was possessed of inborn knowledge. The influence of his six years of
upright sitting is noticeable still. Or Bodhidharma transmission of the
mind seal? The fame of his 9 years of wall-sitting (3 more than
Buddha!!) is celebrated to this day.
BODHIDHARMA Seemed to be the almost invisible leg of the chair we
all sit on, our silent partner when at forest Street. Now, we have a
magnificent statue of him in our garden and a wonderful calligraphic
portrait in our entry. So, today, I’m bringing forward this short text of
our Foundational Guiding Teacher who brought the dharma of the
Chan/Zen form to China, Roshi Robert Aitken calls him the “archetype
for steadfast practice.”
10 years ago, it was striking on our pilgrimage in Japan with Mountain
Rain sangha how often we saw statues and images, not so much of
Buddha (except in temples) but of Jizo and of Bodhidharma or Daruma.
A daruma doll (or head) is a traditional Japanese good luck charm
for making a wish or setting a goal. One eye is painted with a circular
dot. One works towards the goal every day. Once the goal or wish
becomes reality, the other eye is painted in. So the Darumas in Cloud
Hall I bought in Japan on a recent trip with my children now have both
eyes painted after watching over our zendo construction.
For the everyday Japanese person, the true meaning of Daruma is as a
reminder of self-perseverance, focus, and discipline. ... A popular idiom
(and a core Zen proverb) that's often tied to the meaning of daruma is
nanakorobi yaoki, roughly translated as “fall down seven times, stand
up eight”. Daruma is a symbol of perseverance and staying the path.
Talk today based on Red Pine’s “The Zen Teaching of
Bodhidharma”(1987), a text also found in his anthology “Zen Roots.”
(2021) and Shodo Harada Roshi’s text “The Path to Bodhidharma.”
A little background on the 29 th Ancestor as told in Keizan’s Transmission
of Light and these texts:
Bodhidharma was born around 440, the 3 rd son of King Simhavarman,
a Buddhist who invited Prajnatara (the 28 th ancestor) from the Buddhist
heartland of Magada, where Buddha was enlightened, to teach in his
court.
Prajnatara transmitted the Mahayana teachings to Bodhidharma and
told him to go to China to spread the teachings that point to the mind,
and nothing else. In 472, he sailed the coastal route because overland
was blocked by invaders, arriving in southern China 3 years later in 475.
The ground for Bodhidharma’s arrival in China was prepared by
numerous Indian followers of the Buddha carrying the Prajnaparamita
texts, beginning around AD 65. But it wasn’t until he arrived that a
dedicated practitioner (vs. scholar) of meditation arrived. Even at that
time there were in China an estimated 8,500 Buddhist temples and
nearly 120,000 clergy. Less than 50 years later, there were 30,000
temples and over 2 million clergy, about 5% of the total population.
Buddhism was spreading rapidly amongst the common people.
There is a pivotal story of his arrival at the court of King Wu, one of
China’s great supporters of Buddhism, told in the 1 st koan of Blue Cliff
Record and the 2 nd koan in The Book if Serenity:
When he arrived at the court, the emperor asked if his bountiful
philanthropy hadn’t earned him incalculable amounts of merit. “No
merit,” responded Bodhidharma. As Red Pine says, “Worldly blessing
perhaps but not merit. Material philanthropy has no effect on spiritual
welfare. “
Emperor Wu of Liang then asked him, “What is the ultimate meaning of
the holy truth?”
Bodhidharma said, “Vast and void, no holiness.”
The emperor said, “Who are you facing me?” Bodhidharma said, “I
don't know.”
The emperor did not understand the teachings of emptiness, so
Bodhidharma left abruptly and went north where he crossed the
Yangtze River (on a single hollow reed, it is told).
He came to the Shaolin Temple, where he sat for nine years, and was
known as “The Indian Who Stares at the Wall.” Legend says he cut off
his eyelids to stay fully alert. Hence his bulging eyes. Where his eyelids
fell tea plants grew, to help other stay awake.
Later Emperor Wu asked his trusted advisor about Bodhidharma’s
leaving so abruptly.
“Does your Majesty know who that man is?”
The emperor said, “I don't know.”
A different “I don’t know,” indeed.
“He is the Mahasattva Avalokitesvara transmitting the Seal of the
Buddha's mind.” The emperor regretted what had happened and
wanted to send an emissary to invite Bodhidharma back.
The advisor said, “Your Majesty, don't try to send an emissary to fetch
him back. Even if all the people in the land were to go after him, he
would not return.”
Sometime after 534, the “Outline of Practice” was written transcribed. .
Why is Bodhidharma the most famous of all those thousands and
thousands of monks who studied and taught the Dharma in China?
Zen as meditation had been taught and practiced for several hundred
years. Much of what he had to say concerning doctrine had been said
before but Bodhidharma's approach to Zen was unique. As highlighted
in the other sermons in Red Pine’s book: “seeing your nature is
Zen….not thinking about anything is Zen... Everything you do is Zen.”
While others viewed Zen as purification of the mind or as a stage on the
way to Buddhahood, Bodhidharma equated Zen with Buddhahood and
Buddhahood with the mind, the everyday mind, with every day life.
Most scholars agree that this Outline of Practice, was composed
by BD sometime during his 9 years of “wall contemplation” and
that it reflects the foundational ethos of early Chan. Its
emphasis on quieting the conceptual mind has shaped Zen for
centuries. These themes echo through the sayings of later
figures like Huineng, Mazu, and Linji—and they remain central in
contemporary Zen practice.
And here we are today, in Bellingham Washington, practicing under the
banner of Zoketsu Norman Fischer’s Everyday Zen, wall-sitting each
morning, thanks to Bodhidharma’s dedication to practice. What does
this “Outline of Practice” or, more properly, “Contemplation of Four
Practices for Entering the Mahayana Path,” provides us as
encouragement and direction?
So, first, here’s the bumper sticker version, the one I carry around in my
head to remind me of my responsibilities and opportunity to polish the
dharma moment, each moment.”
1) Suffer injustice (requite animosity)
2) Adapt to Conditions
3) Want Nothing
4) Practice Dharma
We can view these 4 statements as a rephrasing of the Four Noble
Truths:
In the realm of samsara, suffering (dukkha) is an innate
characteristic of existence; nothing is permanent - “Endure
suffering.”
The origin of suffering is craving or attachment – “Accept
Conditions.”
Cessation of suffering can be attained by letting go of attachment
– “Want Nothing.”
The Noble Eightfold Path leading to renouncement of craving
and cessation of suffering – “Practice Dharma.”
Or as Red Pine sums it up: bad karma, good karma, no new karma,
buddha karma
Thatʻs the short version (and this text is only 3 pages long in its
entirety). So, how does Bodhidharma present these principles? Some
excerpts:
“Two Entrances: Many roads lead to the Path. But basically there
are only two: Reason and practice. To enter by reason means to
realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all
living things share the same true nature..... Those who meditate
on walls and the absence of self and others... Are in complete and
unspoken agreement with Reason. Without moving, without
effort, they enter, we say, by reason.”
“Reason” here does not translate as a rational, logical evaluation or
study of texts/sutras. Rather “realizing the essence through
instruction” reflects Shi tou’s lines in Song of the Grass Hut : “Meet the
ancestral teachers. Be familiar with their instructions.” Bodhidharma
spent 40 years studying with his teacher Prajnatara and an additional
20 years teaching in India before fulfilling his teacher’s prophecy that:
“Though China is vast, there is no other road/You need successors to
follow in your footsteps.” His “instructions” from those 60 years
included far more than written texts. Every bow, every chant, every
moment in the zendo, every offering of his bowl was “instruction.” And
those instructions include “meditating on walls,” our Zazen practice of
“just sitting” to realize our True Buddha nature.” This is such a critical
term in our understanding of BDs teaching. The scholar John McRae
offers that this term in Chinese, pi kuan, can be translated as both as
“the wall contemplates” and “one contemplates a wall” with “wall” as a
metaphor for the inanimate or the unconscious. One becomes a wall
and contemplates as such. What does one contemplate? One
contemplates sunyata /emptiness. One gazes intently at a vibrantly
alive sunyata.” Zazen is our path to this “Reason” or the process of
continual awakening to practice.
In a different translation, Reason is defined as “Dharma Nature”:
理入者，說藉教悟宗，深信含生同一真性，但為客塵妄想所覆，
不能顯了。
Entrance by Dharma-nature means relying on the teachings to
awaken to the essence. Deeply trust that all sentient beings
share the same true nature, but it is obscured by dust (guest-
dust) and delusive conceptual thoughts, and thus cannot be
revealed.
若也捨妄改真，凝心壁觀，無自無他，凡聖等一，堅住不移，更
不隨於文教，此即與理冥符，無有分別，庸然無為，名之理入。
If one discards delusion, turns toward truth, and stills the mind
in wall-gazing—with no self or other, seeing sage and ordinary as
one, abiding firmly and unmoved, not following words or
doctrine—then this accords with Dharma-nature beyond
knowing³, without discrimination, naturally effortless. This is
called entrance by Dharma-nature.
But in our Mahayana Zen tradition, we must bring this embodied
understanding to bear in the world of samsara, we must engage the
relative world with our whole hearts, bodies and minds. Hence the
need to bring those understandings to bear through Practice.
“To enter by practice refers to 4 inclusive practices.: suffering
injustice, adapting to conditions seeking nothing and practicing
the Dharma.”
Letʻs listen to what Bodhidharma says about each of these practices:
“when those who search for the path encounter adversity, they
should think to themselves In countless ages gone by. I've turned
from the essential to the trivial. And wandered through all
manner of existence. Often angry without cause and guilty of
numerous transgressions. Now though, I do no wrong, I'm
punished by my past. Neither gods nor men can foresee when an
evil deed will bear its fruit. I accept it with an open heart and
without complaint of injustice.” He then quotes from the
Vimalakirti Sutra. “ When you meet with adversity don't be upset
because it makes sense.” And he goes on to say, ‘with such
understandings, you're in harmony with reason. And by suffering
injustice you enter the path.”
This first principle: Just understanding and accepting the basic nature of
karma that is our life, one moment in a continuous line in “a hundred
thousand million kalpas.” They have all come to this. As Tongshan tells
us. “Just this is it.” This moment, now, includes the entire universe,
includes everything that has gone before. All to this one moment.
Right now. By fully accepting and entering this moment, we can take
the next step. Off the 100-foot pole. Knowing nothing. But confident
that all will be provided.
The 19th century Soto Zen monk Ryokan put it this way:
“To meet disaster at the time of disaster is fine, just as it is.
To meet illness in the time of illness is fine, just as it is.
To meet death at the time of death is fine, just as it is.”
Next to my desk hangs a prayer/invocation by Shodo Harada Roshi. I
canʻt remember where I found it. It begins: “ In this passing moment,
Karma ripens, and all things come to be.... I vow to choose what is. (A
few lines): "If there is a cost, I choose to pay; If there is sorrow, I choose
to weep; When starving, I choose hunger; When happy I choose joy;
When it is my death, I choose to die; Where this takes me, I choose to
go; Being with what is, I respond to what is.”
This is fully embracing the moment, accepting it for the karmic truth
that it has, indeed, all come to this.
Recognizing that this ripe moment is everything, the second practice is
to accept, “adapt” to these circumnstances. Bodhidharma tells us that:
“ As mortals, we are ruled by conditions, not by ourselves. All the
suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions. If we
should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune,
it's the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past. When conditions
change, it ends. Why delight in its existence? But while success
and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor
wanes. Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently
follow the Path.”
No matter what happens, our practice teaches us to accept, without
judgement and to respond accordingly. It is what Harada Roshi calls
“being obedient to karma.” When we accept things as they are, we are
free to take the next step, without preconception, responding to
conditions as they arise. This is something sitting practice teaches us.
Things arise, things pass. Arising out of emptiness, passing into
emptiness. No trace left behind. In our lives, good things apparently
happen, bad things apparently happen. Nothing stays forever. Fame is
fleeting, fortunes, too, unless we cling to our gains and then we are
caught by them. We then serve our gains rather than our gains serving
us and others. What is there to hold onto?
Our meditation practice offers us the opportunity to simply watch as
things come and go. It puts us in touch with our Buddha nature. We
translate that experience into our day-to-day lives and recognize that
within changing circumstances, there is a stable platform, a platform of
emptiness, a place of potential as Zoketsu has called it, on which our
lives rest. How hard it is sometimes to recall and remember that
stabilityWhen we fully meet conditions, no matter how dire or
wonderful, with our entire energy and agency, we embody
Buddhadharma, we are on the Bodhisattva path.
Bodhidharma's third practice is Seeking Nothing. He tells us:
“People of this world are deluded. They are always longing for
something—always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up.
They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the
sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons. All
phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring.
Calamity forever alternates with Prosperity. To dwell in the three
realms is to dwell in a burning house. To have a body is to suffer.
Does anyone with a body know peace? Those who understand
this detach themselves from all that exists and stop imagining or
seeking anything. The Sutras say ‘To seek is to suffer. To seek
nothing is bliss.’ When you seek nothing, you're on the path.”
When we chant “all my ancient twisted karma from beginningless
greed, hate and delusion,” we recognize, right up front, that craving is
fundamental to our unexamined lives, that it’s roots run deep and that
by stating it as a primary conditions, we are aware of it’s power and
fundamental reality. What then do we do to address this deeply
motivating behavior? How do we find satisfaction and comfort in what
is and not in the endless pursuit of our hungers for material goods, food
or social standing? Or even “wanting” enlightenment (however that
manifests itself)?
The initial recognition of this drive for more (beyond our basic need for
food, clothing and shelter) comes with our sitting practice. Watching
our cravings, coming and going. A few weeks ago, when discussing the
state of our planet, someone raised the question, how can we address
our current dilemma based on overconsumption when we are
constantly assaulted with ads and social customs that re-enforce the
urgency of wearing the newest fashion, going to the next, best
restaurant, or making sure we have the “nicest” car. And when we
achieve that momentarily desired state, it’s very impermanence and
our own fleeting attentions, brings up the next thing or condition we
want.
What or who is doing this wanting? What happens when we are fully
satisfied with what we have, in this moment, and then the next and the
next? What do we really need and how much are our cravings a
program we have a choice about whether to respond or not? It’s an
interesting exercise, to have an “instinctive” desire to “want”
something, say a brownie or a new piece of clothing, and take a
moment to ask, “why must I gain this thing or condition now?” And by
asking the question, the answer becomes obvious. It is, in fact, a
passing craving. If it keeps coming up, you may actually be hungry or
need that new car or piece of clothing because it’s broken down or
worn out.
I’ve always liked the old New England proverb of frugality and
simplicity: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.” Good to
remember when we are dissatisfied with our material conditions, when
our untrained minds and acquisitive desires are driving us to always
want more and more.
Allowing these cravings to come and go, much as we allow our thoughts
to come and go, without attachment, when sitting, is a core part of our
living practice. But it’s not only things, it’s also our wanting the
conditions of our lives to meet certain expectations. And having these
pre-determined outcomes in mind or fearing the various ways they
won’t be achieved seems to be at the root of many of our anxieties, the
constant “what ifing” in exhausting preparation for the upcoming
moment.
Turn that inside and reflect, “If I want nothing, then what I have is a gift
to share, to offer to others.” The first paramita of dana or generosity, is
based on this fundamental stance. It is the other side of the coin, as
they say.
Wanting nothing is also a statement of our faith in the endless
generosity of the Dharma to constantly provide what we truly need, not
what we think or imagine we need. With this understanding, we have,
as Harada Roshi says, “never left the Buddha’s palm” at any time or in
any way. When we give ourselves completely to the Dharma Path, with
our full energy, All is provided. What we have is fully sufficient and our
presence and the interactions we have with those around us (and the
infinite world of sentient and insentient beings) is filled with gladness
and joy. Neither wanting nor holding on to what we have opens the
dharma gate to true joy. Embracing and delighting in the old but never
tired line “you can’t take it with you” frees us, in this life, from the
suffering of this saha world. Or. As Hoitsu Suzuki, Shunryu’s son, said in
closing a dharma talk at Rinso-in, “Practice with Joy.”
This brings us to the 4 th part of Entering Through Practice- practice in
accord with Dharma. Here’s what the clear-eyed Bodhidharma tells us:
The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure. By this
truth, all appearances are empty. Defilement and
attachment, subject and object don't exist. The sutras say,
“The Dharma includes no being because it's free from the
impurity of being., and the Dharma includes no self because
it's free from the impurity of self. Those wise enough to
believe and understand this truth are bound to practice
according to the Dharma. And since that which is real
includes nothing worth begrudging, they give their body,
life, and property in charity, without regret, without the
vanity of giver, receiver, or gift and without bias or
attachment. And to eliminate impurity, they teach others,
but without becoming attached to form. Thus, through their
own practice, they are able to help others and glorify the
way of Enlightenment. And as with charity, they also
practice the other virtues. But while practicing the six virtues
to illuminate delusion. They practice nothing at all. This is
what's meant by practicing the Dharma.
In our world of craving and competition, we say “Practice makes
perfect.” In the Dharma realm, we understand that practice
makes practice, that as Shunryu Suzuki says, “You are perfect the
way you are but there is always room for improvement. “ There is
no end, thankfully to this practice, this effortless effort we commit
to -- siting on the cushion and living our everyday lives.
This 4 th practice is really a statement for living a life based on our
experience of Great Mind, Buddhadharma, informing our every
action, our every word, our every feeling. I’ve always found
Dogen’s articulation of this all-embracing mind in his “Instructions
to the Tenzo” most clarifying. He instructs us to bring forth our
dharma understanding in our every action of body, speech and
mind as a 3-fold manifestation: the caring and compassionate
Parent or grandparent mind; the Joyful mind, fully embracing
each moment of this life; and the Magnanimous mind,
overwhelmingly generous and constantly offering to others.
Practicing and embodying the 6 paramitas: Generosity, Ethical
conduct, Patience, Energy, Meditation and Wisdom, without self-
consciousness, and being fully aware is our fundamental
obligation and responsibility as bodhisattvas on the Path. As we
chant, “The Buddha’s way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it,”
My hope is that this introduction to a short but profound teaching
by our Bodhidharma, one of our 4 Founding Teachers, will inspire
you, as Master Dogen would say, to thoroughly investigate this
matter.
My deep gratitude for this opportunity to open this text for you
this morning.
Gassho
Joden Bob Rose
Month of the Long Moon 2021
Anacortes, WA
