Daisetsu Suzuki — ZEN

Fortunet to some of you (unfortunet to others) This Viz was in Japanese.

But, he was not a Zen monk — he was a trancelator and he was talking about the difference of the concept between the east and the west. —– So, he speaks, the notion of FREE in the west IS a notion of a relationship = has to start from two subjects. And its meaning IS = the one is free from the other. It is the relation of Subject and the Object. Dominant and Subjected. Such as the God and I. = So, the fundamental ethos / idea of the west starts from here, therefore the social structure too.

In contrast, there is no such God in the east. Instead, the heaven and the nature which we are in its part. Therefore, in the east, we were not created by the God, but we are exists as a part of the universe, nature from the start.

A word which was normally assigned to the word “Free” was 自由（Jiyu) though, the real meaning of this word in the east IS “To be as it is”. —– If it was the case of you = You to be as real you ARE (not the one who you imagined or others defined). (this is close to the meaning of the Zen notion 自在（Jizai）). So, in the Buddhism, You are not exists but the Nature (Dharma which you were a part) IS. So that, the Rinzai Zen try to make you aware who (real) you ARE through dialogue. And the Soto Zen try to disolve you as a part of the nature through practice (sitting and the other daily activities).

So, he was talking something like that.

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Daikon 2020

So, I’m watching the same windowscape of my kitchen window.

Only a difference in these days was, the leaves of the Daikon head. Which was growing well. Some of you might say that I can cut them small and eat or put in a Miso soup —– I know. But I want them to live free and grow. (I’ve tormented the Daikon root badly enough, boil her alive and eat = I need to make a hypocritical excuse by humainly saving the leaves)

It’s a spring. (Forget the hell outside or the world beyond)

So, the Daikon is having her flower bud —– though, would the flower open or not is the different story.

https://yoshizen.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/daikon-flowers/

When she got 30cm tall, before opening the flowers, she lost a vigor of the life. I couldn’t see any reason why, —– it was same as last time. How shame. (May be I need to learn about the Daikon plant start from its seed, not the left over top of a Daikon food.)

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MP Cherry 2020

Those photos of the Multi-petal Cherry was taken by a homemade lens, NZ-B lens on Nikon Z7

May be in a normal sense, such lens may not serve for a photographical use. Yet still, any image could be an image as long as the author = I wanted. Why not ?

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, our activities and the movement has been restricted, so the picture I am producing may looks one pattern too. (Sorry)

The lens NZ-B seemed to have two glasses of which I re-mounted into a zooming barrel and able to focus from infinity to 1/3 close-up. Still, born to be a simple junk lens the image never be sharp. —— But that was what I wanted. 😀

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Is this ZEN or nuts ?

You may not guess what I’m going to talk. And don’t know what this is.

It was my life’s residure and its accumulation. The Lidl’s plastic tray of the Chicken.

I stopped to eat Beef 1987 when the BSE was reported. (It happen to be the same year, I also stopped any sexual contact when the first news of new diseases = later named to be AIDS was reported.) —– So, since then I only eat Chicken or fish, on top of veggie and fruits. Therefore, with my regular shopping of Chicken (about 1kg par week), those plastic trays are keep coming. —– as a kind of tempolary container, those trays are always conveniently in use still, much more trays are piling up. (If I were a good business person, I might have made a rule to limit the number of the trays in stock.)

If it was 10 or 20, nobody would bother. But when it accumulated to the hundreds, people may started to wonder — “Is it ZEN ?” — or nuts.

Number of ZEN stories are the story of the endless concentration and the result of the tenacious pursuit. = as a matter of fact, the practise in the Buddhism is nothing but the endless repetition of the same action. —– whether the matter or its purpose was the end result or in the process, its practise changes the person. So, its hard to tell, whether the continuous action was a part of ZEN practise or the problem of one’s own mental.

Then, if it was the case, how they related to the Buddhist mind of Detachment, No-clinging or live on the Impermanence kind. = you may feel the contradiction between here. —– Why you feel contradiction IS because your understanding of Detachment / Mushin = Mind of No-mind was wrong. This was the most common misunderstanding in the Buddhism. = Detachment / Mushin IS NOT an idea or thinking BUT they are the condition of the mind = like the mind was in an up-beat or sud state kind. I’m not thinking “Not to buy Beef” but I don’t see the beef there. (Not to buy Beef was not an ISM or thinking BUT it was the situation of “No beef was there”. ) So, no-one see the beef, because the one who see the beef / SELF is NOT there.

Because of, the people try to UNDERSTAND the Buddhist’s mind or try to think “That way” they can NOT get it. Buddhist’s mind IS NOT attained by intention. It has to BE in the state. When you are in, you can not aware that you are in.

So, the tray of Chicken keep accumulates —– without my conscious. I’m living without me aware that I’m living. I do, I eat , I speak what is natural to me. So, I don’t import anything foreign to my life. This IS what we call Buddhism. IF you THINK and TRY to practise Buddhism, it is NOT BUDDHISM. BUDDHISM has to reach without intention. While living as a Buddhist but forgot that you are a Buddhist, you are a Buddhist. In that state, even the SELF = you are, not existing.

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I found a photo looks too iconic of the Japanese mentality ! This is what we meant “Go for all hog” —– this mentarity was behind the recovery from the earthquake disaster etc.

The young people attending the local ceremony to count that they reached to the adulthood on this year.

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Archery Contest — Zen ? ? ?

There is an annual Archery Contest in a Japanese Buddhists Temple = Sanjyu-sangen-do, Kyoto. (If you are interested in its details, please google > Toshi-ya, Sanjyu-sangen-do ) (the Viz here is the Female Archer’s day’)

What I want to talk about here is not about its history or meaning, but the way how Japanese Archery / Kyu-do was done.

From the Viz here, you must be realised that the Japanese Kyu-do mount the Arrow outside of the Bow, and not aiming the Arrow while watching its direction from the back. Unlike a western archery, cross-bow, or a riful gun there is no “sight” to aim the target. The eyes, the head of archer is the other side. So, you might be wondering how the archer could aim the Arrow to the target ?

Training is to train the body function, its power and the coordination to higher level. —– In the case of Karate, (say, hit an opponent by a fist) the movement and the control is rather simple as it is the matter of the hand’s movement. Though, if it involve a weapon, the coordination has to become a bit more complicated as the movement became indirect. — still, like cutting a lemon, the body (hand) need to keep the knife steady and make its movement constant, while involving rather small number of the muscles, while having the straight feedback of the each movement through the eyes. (On this “cutting lemon” arrangement, even a direction of the knife blade could be changed while the blade is in the middle of lemon.)

Though, the Japanese Kyu-do’s control is incredibly indirect. Certainly the Archer is seeing the target and stand towards the target though, we can not see any further details of the control, how minute adjustment of the angle was transelated into the arm’s muscle or body position etc.

In this field, a book [ZEN in the ART of ARCHERY] by Eugen Herrigel has almost historical significance. (—– though, as the Kyu-do has no mechanical system of the “Control”, neither Zen use the verbal communication to explain how, the book wouldn’t give you any answer how the arrow could hit the tail of the first arrow. But only hinting something spiritual made the arrow to fly.)

In Zen term, it is the state of the Ichijo = Body and the Mind, the Bow and the Arrow, the target, and even the air all became one by abandoning all those. In Buddhists term, it was absorbed by Dharma. = By abandoning all the aim or thought to hit, obtaining the natural control of the Dharma = this paradox IS the core of the Zen Buddhism.

In This extent, the Book by Eugen Herrigel was a very rare and important guide book to learn the Zen. To learn the Zen, an innocent, naive man could not able to learn anything by sitting. Because there wouldn’t be any explanation of Zen let alone what the sitting for. Yet still, that book explain, how to negate the own Ego by exactry follow and copy the way to do the Kyu-do. And the way to abondan even the intention to hit = to become the Void oneself. (The book was written by the outsider = not by Zen monk, hence the trade secret has been exposed ! ) So, the reader could able to learn the mechanism of the Zen.

However, if it was looked at more demystified angle, the control of the Kyu-do might be somewhat similar to the Skiing. Control of the ski board couldn’t be done by just the legs but needs to have all the coordination of the whole body, on top of the snow condition and the topography, even the weather. Then the certain aim or a mind goes to the ski, yet still, we are not skiing while thinking how to ski. There may not be a kind of “The Mind of Ski” —– it could be empty. But, without having any thinking of control, if the aim was goes left, the ski goes left. There may not be any mythical control behind still, in the certain level of advanced skill, whole control of ski or Kyu-do could be done in the almost God’s hand level. —– This advancement could be achieved also under the Zen approach, still, make it thankful to the mythical Dharma or just a physical advancement would be a matter of one’s belief.

—– So, it was the same situation, when I was making aluminium sculpture “Buddha 2009” I needed to find the aluminium pipes for the material, then I found a lots of discarded pipes from a construction site = its always like this happen on me. (What I’m doing synchronise with Dharma —– or they help me) .

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Mindfulness sleeping ?

I found a net post where someone talking about Mindfulness sleeping —– what ?

Mindfulness is a misconceived idea somewhat related to Zen Buddhism. As it was invented in the west, there was no equivalent Japanese notion let alone Chinese or Indian idea. ( Hindu or Tantric practice has something similar, as their belief stands on the existence of the Atman = Perpetual mind — Buddhism stands on the belief of No existence of Atman = Anatman, hence Mushin and No Reincarnation)

So, it is bizarre enough to say “Mindfulness”in the context of Zen. To talk Mindfulness Sleeping is utter nuts. Such a silly notion could obstruct the sleeping but never able to make the person fallen asleep. —– There seems to be several technics such as to imagine your whole body top to bottom and scanning down next by next. —– You might be familiar with counting a sheep jumping over the hedge. (One sheep, two sheep — thousand one sheep — 😀 ) If you have any thought in your mind, it would just distract you to fall asleep. You are wondering around its thinking all night.

When I got into the bed I’ll be asleep within a few minutes. But if got something to think about, I get up again and sit before the keyboard and start drafting the idea. Unless otherwise, I’ll be fallen asleep = You might say how ? —– When you got into the bed = What you see for the last moment. = It might be a tangled bedding fabric over the pillow, or it could be a side lamp next to the bed. —– Whatsoever none of them is worthwhile to think about. —– yet still, when you close your eyes, the image remained in your eyes while the color or brightness reversed. Such an image has no value or meaning at all, so, it wouldn’t bother your brain either. And its image would sink down or dissolved away. When the brain found nothing to do, you just fell asleep.

Zen would teach you, don’t be bothered by a silly idea. Just close your eyes, it is enough to make you asleep. (When all about Zen is “Void” or Mushin (Mind of No-mind) who invented such a silly idea “Mindfulness” to focus particular image or thinking.) 😀 (It seems that the tendency of the Hinduism which want to theorize everything, couldn’t accept “No answer / nothing” = that’s why Buddhism was so revolutionary.)

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Spiritualism

スピリチュアルショップといった店は意外とあちこちに在るようで、何やらエネルギーとかパワーが宿る石とか透視のできる水晶玉などを売っていたりする。で、しばらく前のこと、そんな店で自分はスピ派だと称する女性に出会った。何故か日本人で古代エジプト系のチャームをためつすがめつしていた。「はァ、そういうのに何かパワーでも有るンですか？」と不躾に声をかけたら「あァ、何か感じますね」とおっしゃる。「へェー、僕は手相に神秘線は在るがオカルトっぽいものは全く見えませんなァ」と返したら僕の手をのぞいて、「アッ、本物はヤバい」とのこと。スピ派というのはファッションアクセサリーのように雰囲気を楽しむものでガチのソーカとかゲンリは避けられるのだそうだ。同様に褝などはそのベジタリアン料理まではいいがその先はオタクより臭いのだとか。

そこから見たら今の日本に、家業の禅寺をつぐ必要のある人以外、何人ぐらいの人が自分の撰択で禅を学んでいるのか？ーーーさらに不思議なのは日本からこのブログへのアクセスが断えない「ダルマ/法と仏教の構造」のポストを読んでくれているのはいったい誰なのか？　そもそも、このポストをどうやって発見できたのか？（書いてある内容は素人受けする物ではないし、逆に本格的に仏教学を学んだ職業僧にとっては奇異過ぎるのではなかろうか？　いかに禅が自由な発想を呼ぶものとしてもあれはどうなのか？）

このブログでは禅仏教を専ら神経生理の自動制御に帰結して論じていますが、そこでは「だから何ンなの」はめったに出て来ない。自動制御の稼動状態（神ワザの正確さで黙々と作業するなど）は誰の目にも明らかであるから解り易い。しかしその背後には不可解なものが多すぎる上に「ホンマ？」がついて回る。無心になり、経験則やDNAに予めプログラムされた自動制御にコントロールを任せる。同様に人生をカルマの生起に任せる＝これで人智を超えたダルマによる完璧な対応処理が行なわれ全てメデタシメデタシとなれば文句ナシ。－－－とはいかない。都合良い神ワザ伝説はいくらでも並ベられるし、それをもってスピリチュアルな調和が得られるなどと強弁しても意味はないーーーつまりそれが真実ではないのだから。＝真実ではない所がダルマゆえの真実か？と、解ったようなシタリ顔してもまた無意味であるし、だからサトリは犬のクソと言ってみても何も始らない。　つまり完璧かつ有効な答はどこにも無い。

（実は禅の奥では片仮名のスピリチュアルとか本人の思い込みなどをはるかに超えた超常現象が起っているのです。（俗に目に付くものは神霊現象とかパラレルワールドとか呼ばれたりしているらしいですが）しかし、残念なことにそうした現象の証明や説明は全くできません。卑近な例で恐縮ですが小生の８１５０の怪なんてのは極めて厄介。(例えばダルマのような全能の神以外に当人の行動を予測してチケットの数字を予め準備する事などが可能か？)ーーーしかしこれが禅やダルマの神秘性と関係があるのか、単に当人の妄念の産物なのかは解らない。（なぜかそう思って行動しているとそのようになってしまう。）＝俗に因果応報と称される現象は単なる遇然ではなく、それなりのつながりを持っているようですし、現にそれが起っているのは間違いない事実です。ちょうど特定のDNAを持った人が特定の運命に従って生きているのと同様ですが、これに対する　何故か？　は永久に不可知でしょう。）（しかし、もしそうした超常現象の操作法が解ったなら、多数のグルが居るインドが核兵器や病院を持つ必要は無かったでしょう）

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釈尊のためらい―ーー梵天の勧請

仏伝によると釈尊は菩提樹の下で悟りを開かれた後も、その叡智を他の人に伝える事をため らわれたとか。何故ならその真実はあまりにも深遠すぎて伝え難く、かつ人にとって理解し難いものであったからと伝えられています。で、伝説によればそれを知った梵天（バラモン教の最高神ブラーマン）は、これは人類にとっての大損失と憂い、釈尊の元に参じるや是非とも教えを説いて欲しいと懇願したとか云々。

釈尊の初期の教えは先ず四聖諦、次に縁起の考えであったとされているのですが、それでは、と改めて考察してみると、明析な真実を指摘した四聖諦や極めて論理的な縁起思想の中に伝え難い複雑な真理が隠されていたとは考えられない。むしろここには、かの自我無我の問題が在ったと考える方が妥当ではないかと見えますが。

そもそもバラモン教、べーダ思想の根幹である霊魂の不滅に対して発想された無我の思想が

釈尊の悟りにおいて、その核心として確立されていなかったとは考え難い。（見ている当人＝主体が無いなら、無い主体が見た対象が存在するのも確かでは無いと、後の空観の根底を成す）（般若心経に書かれているような、はるか後年になってから弟子に加わった舎利子に対って、たかが菩薩如きが無我を大発見したなどと説教する話は全くの荒唐無稽）しかし、自我の問題ばかりは説明しようの無い難問が付いて回るのです。自我あるいは、霊魂は無いと言えるのは、その概念が在るからこそ成り立つので、それが初めから存在しなかったら発想すら出来ない。ちょうど色盲の人には色について説明しようが無いのと同じです。ーーーで、真に自我が無いならそれについて説明できる筈も無いし、そのふりをしながら言葉で説明するなどひどい欺瞞でしかない。伝え難く、理解し難い重要問題とは将にこの自我無我の難問であったに違い有ません。（だからこそ、それが憶測を呼び後の空観へと拡大発展していく事になった）

ーーーしかし、この壁をのり越えるのには別に梵天の登場を待つ必要は無かった、と言うよりそもそも言葉で説明する必要は無かったのです。要するに何かをやらせて見れば良い。人が何かをやる時、別に自我は必要ない。歩く目的やその損得を考えるなどと言うのはわざわざ考えた時に思い付く事であって、歩いている最中には何も考えていない。つまりそれをやっている本人がそれに気がつきさえすれば良いのです。（とは言うものの仲々気付けないもので、言葉の上で自我は存在しないなどと理解しても自分が無意識で歩いている事は自覚できない。(たった今、この文章を読んでいるのがあなた自身であることは自覚していなかったでしょう？）なにしろそれを自覚する自我が無い事が要点なのだからややこしい。いまわの際の

釈尊が「人の言葉を信じるな。自分で学ベ」と言い残したのはきわめて象徴的だったと言えますーーーーーあるいは何かのたとえ話しで解らせる事もできる。ここから仏教独特の行とか方便と呼ばれる教法が出てきた訳です。それらは皆、

釈尊の機知、その場の情況に即した発想から出て来たものだったのですが、言葉を介さずに無我、無私を教えるコツを掴むには梵天ではなく多少の時間が必要だった訳でしょう。しかし、臨機応変、言葉を介在させずに教えられた無我の教え(註参照)は、言葉として伝えられて書残される事もなく、当然のことながら教典にも登場して来なかった。＝だからこそ以心伝心や禅の伝統が起らざるを得なかった訳です。（梵天の話を書いた仏伝の作者は、この無私無我の構造を知らなかった＝つまり、仏教徒ではなく単に文章力にたけたバラモン僧であったと言う事です）

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（註）このリンクにある極めて珍らしい例外的記述はアーガマ経からの話ですが、実はここで全く自我を出す事無く無条件に追従して歩く事が教えられています。しかし、それについての説明は従弟のアナンダにすら告げられていません。（無意識に歩く事が肝心で、その理由とか説明は全く必要ない雑念である＝無意識で歩ける＝それはダルマが歩かせているのだから）

つまり仏教が目射すのは無私になってダルマと合―することで得られる完璧な調和です。

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God and Heaven

The most fundamental difference of the western God and the eastern Heaven is, the one imagined in a brain (modeled from such as the Gilgamesh Myth) or the one observed as the natural phenomenon.   So that there could be a complaint to someone who created the idea of western God, why the Evil was also created ?  And there, the matter is whether you believe its story or not.  Unless you believe it, it doesn’t exists.  

In contrast, as everybody in the east can see, the Heaven or the Nature is existing even before the human being or the universe was created.  Whether it was believed or not, it is a real existance to anybody.    Therefore, they knew the utterly evil earthquake, tsunami, volcano etc are a part of the nature.   (If the people has  ever encountered those utmost power of the nature, they become aware, they have to live with this without making useless complaint. )   So, that is how those evil were accepted as their part of the destiny.   The system or the existence of those phenomena all together IS the existence of which the Buddhists calles the Dharma, or the Taoist calles Heaven.   The strange phenomenon is, some profound Zennists are able to communicate with this Heaven or Dharma.   (save, other than a nuts)   😀

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Karma – Fate – (3)

This is yet another 8150 story.   On my life, the sign 8150 is regularly appear here and there = nothing special or I would say, they are a kind of road sign, OK to go.  Yet still, it may seen quite odd or even a supernatural phenomenon to others eyes.

In the world, there is a kind of people who proclaims that they ARE the chosen people though, it seems if it was a case they seemed to have far more share of the bad fortune all through the history.  =  It doesn’t seem that the God is anywhere near to their side.   From the eastern view, the idea of a personified God speaks same language and negotiable, sounds too odd, in comparison to the absolute eastern Heaven.   They are more like a children’s bed time story.   Yet still, you are free to believe any story.

Lord Buddha, as the enlightened teacher, he didn’t believe a God kind or after life as they are too irrational, and banned the magic kind of deceptive practice to his followers.  (Its mean, Tantra’s “Magic words”= Dharani is not the Buddhism, neither all sorts of Mahayana fantasies are nothing to do with the original teachings.  (They are the stories borrowed from the Veda = Brahmanism / Hinduism.)

Yet still, the belief of the Dharma and the Karma is in the teachings.   So, where those two seemingly conflicting idea reconcile ? —– In fact, they are the real phenomena and its rules.  They themselves exists like a phenomenon of lightning or thunder, they exists without the imaginary god of lightning or thunder. = Such Gods are nothing more than a children’s story.

So, does it mean, the Dharma and Karma are just the visible phenomena ?  or actual occurrences ? —– the rules  rules behind = invisible.   Those ruler IS the western equivalent of the God, but the Rules or Heaven is almost the abstract, —– we only see its sign.   And in my case, the sign was the number 8150 (and its variation).   When I see it’s there, I feel a kind of approval of me doing it.   Still, to find the address of the seller in China was also 8150 (in fact 518000) frightened me.  (By the way, the mysterious lens I talked about also having that number —– its mean, I was right to speak out)  😀 —– So, what’s all those mean ?  Even though, the Karma is abstract, it IS watching us and ruling our life.  It is not an imaginary existence.  It’s real.   (at least on my life = I was born to have this life while possessing the palm line which is saying the same = So, its benefit is, I don’t get ill or get accident. Except getting old.   😀 — getting old is a nature of the Karma ) —– I wouldn’t boast such as that I was chosen but I’m actuary seeing the Karma / Dharma is with me. —– though, as an honest feeling, it is a bit bothersome = leave me alone.  I want to have a bit more naughty life away from their watchful eyes.     😀  ) 

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