Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students: Encouraging Words

from THE FIRST NIGHT   Students gather for sesshin in the late afternoon the day before sesshin formally begins. They unpack, make their beds, and assemble for a work meeting. After a circle of self-introduction, sesshin jobs are assigned and explained. Newcomers are given orientation to mealtime procedures and a supper follows. At 7:00 p.m. there is one period of zazen, followed by opening remarks from the Rōshi. Dōjō leaders summarize the sesshin procedures, there is a brief period of zazen and a short sutra, and at 9:00 the students retire.  We begin our sesshin tomorrow morning at four o’clock, and continue for seven days. It is like a dream, one that is repeated each month, and is repeated elsewhere as people gather for sesshin in many places and on many occasions. We sit in this dream with other students from all over the world. It is a dream of the other as no other than myself, of all time as this time now, of every place as this very Bodhi seat. The whole universe musters itself and concentrates together in sesshin—the birds, the rain, the cicadas. The circumstances are ideal. All the sesshin arrangements are settled. Everything is settled. You can forget your ordinary concerns. I was reflecting as I unpacked my suitcase this evening that all of us bring baggage to sesshin. I want to unpack all of my baggage and put it away, and I urge you to put away your stuff too. When you forget yourself and are united with your task, that is your liberation. If there is a milestone of realization on the path, well and good, but it is in the continued practice of uniting with your work that you turn the wheel of the Dharma for yourself, for the Sangha, and for the world. As Dōgen Zenji said, “Zazen is itself enlightenment.” Someone asked me, “What attitude should I hold in zazen?” I replied, “a naïve attitude,” If you feel comfortable and compatible with your teacher and your Sangha, then the time has come to just do it. At the outset of each sesshin, Yasutani Haku’un Rōshi used to announce the three rules of sesshin: no talking, no looking around, and no social greetings. These rules are grounded in the complete silence of the mind, where there is full and complete communication with all sisters and brothers. Practice your Mu there, in that pure harmony. The word “sesshin” is an ambiguous term with three intimately related meanings: “to touch the mind, to receive the mind, to convey the mind.” To touch the mind is to touch that which is not born and does not die; it does not come or go, and is always at rest. It is infinite emptiness—empty infinity—the vast and fathomless Dharma which you have vowed to understand. To receive the mind is to be open with all your senses to instruction. Someone coughs, a window squeaks, a gecko cries, cars on the freeway hum in the distance, the bell rings, the clappers go crack!—these are instructive expressions of the mind, as the sound of a stone striking a stalk of bamboo instructed Hsiang-yen. Finally, you convey the mind by the upmost integrity which you present in your manner, as you stand, sit, eat, and lie down with settled dignity, composure, and recollection—as the Buddha himself or herself. You are the teacher of us all and of yourself. You also convey the mind by containing your actions. In this way you will not distract yourself or other, and you will offer space for everyone to evolve. When I was in Japanese monasteries, I noticed that the monks had a particular style of walking. There was almost no sound. You can apply this kind of care to opening the door, to eating, and so on. Contain yourself, contain Mus, and in this way you will convey the mind.