Troubleshooting Zen Study & Practice 13

Followers of the Way, the Dharma of the heart has no form and pervades the Ten Directions. In the eye, it is called seeing; in the ear, hearing; in the nose, smelling; in the mouth, talking; in the hands, grasping; in the feet, walking.

 Fundamentally, it is one light; differentiated , it becomes the six senses. When one’s whole heart comes to a full stop, one is delivered where one stands. Why do I speak thus? It is only because I see you, followers of the Way. All running about with an agitated heart, quite unable to stop, fretting yourselves over the playing’s of the old masters.

(The Zen Teachings of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl. Pub. Shambhala 1976)

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“Venerable Ones, get to know the one who plays with these configurations. He is the original source of all the Buddhas. Knowing him, wherever you are is home.

 Your physical body, formed by the four elements, cannot understand the Dharma you are listening to; nor can your spleen, stomach, liver or gall; nor can the empty space. Who then can understand the Dharma and can listen to it? The one here before your very eyes, brilliantly clear and shining without any form - there he is who can understand the Dharma you are listening to. If you can really grasp this, you are not different from the Buddhas and patriarchs. Ceaselessly he is right here, conspicuously present. 

But when passions arise, wisdom is disrupted; and the body separates from the changing pictures. This the cause of transmigration in the Three Worlds with its concomitant suffering. But as I see it; there is nothing that is not profound, nothing that is not deliverance.”

(The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schoegl  pub. Shambhala 1975)

In this podcast:

The Grimm’s fairy tale of Lucky Hans
Why is our heart so restless - an experiment
The Buddha’s diagnosis of this restlessness
The estrangement of the Heart as cause - what the Buddha said on his awakening
The false self and the True Nature of the Heart.

One day, while wondering in the mountains, Shi Tou said to Shishi,

"‘just lop off that branch of the tree in front of me - its hindering me”

"I didn’ t bring a knife”,’replied Shishi.’ Shi Tou pulled out a knife and gave it Shishi.

"Why not let this come to me?’"said Shishi.

"What would you use it for?’"asked Shi Tou.

Then Shi Tou had a great awakening.

Q) Will you say something about the different types of bells and signals used in Zen?

… 

In this podcast: 

•       The use of clappers and inken in Zazen

•       The use of the gong for the turning over of merit for the benefit of all beings

•       Using the myokugyo or wooden fish for chanting along with the inken

•       The temple bell

•       The wake-up bell or drum/clap board

•       Some symbolism surrounding the use of bells and their connection with banishing evil spirits (108 passions on NYE).

•       The bells of sunken towns

In this podcast we look at how the Chan/Zen school arose in response to the complicated philosophy that had developed around Mahayana Buddhism that threatened to draw people away from the experience of ones own insight.

However there is a place for the teachings in Zen, as this discourse makes clear all skilful means are used to bring students to Awakening. The talk also looks at how the influence of Taoism impacted on the development of Chan/Zen to the Chinese mind.

This podcast is copyright to The Zen Gateway

38. Followers of the Way, do not take the Buddha for the supreme aim. I myself see him as a privy hole, and the Bodhisattvas and Arhats as beings who bind men with cangue and chains. This is why Manjushri grasped the sword to kill Gautama, and Anguilimalya took the knife to assassinate Shaka. 

Followers of the Way, Buddha is not to be attained. The Three Vehicles and the Five Natures, as well as the Complete and Sudden Teachings are only traces. All are but expedient means temporary remedies for curing diseases. There is no real Dharma; it is all but surface manifestations, like printed letters on a sign board to indicate the Way. This is my teaching. 

(The Zen Teaching of Rinzai; tr. Irmgard Schloegl pub. Shambhala Berkeley) 

…

In this podcast:

•       Understanding Rinzai’s disparagements of Zen in context.

•       The teachings of non-attachment and the Middle Way

•       The sword of Manjushri breaks the bonds of attachment & how this is used in Zen training

•       Warnings about attachments to any views even the teachings

Q) What is ‘Heart-to-Heart Transmission’?

…

In this podcast:

•       Bodhidhdarma’s Four Line Verse

•       The Buddha transmits the lineage to Mahakasyapa

•       Rinzai’s ‘Not much to Obaku’s teaching’.

•       How poetry works

•       Transmitting the lineage

Venerable ones, I cannot these days cease from using a lot of words, and come out preaching many inept things. But do not let yourselves be deceived! As I see it, there are not really so many principles. If you want to act, just act; and if you do not want to act, then rest. It is said that the Six Paramitas and the ten-thousand practices are the Buddha-Dharma. I say they are both methods for spiritual adornment and for carrying on the Buddha’s work; they are not the Buddha Dharma.

(The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl)

………….

In this podcast:

•       The relationship between teachings and insight

•       Bodhidharma’s famous verse as a summation of the Zen approach is also a middle way.

•       Being our ordinary selves is not always easy

•       The Six Paramitas as a foundation for Mahayana Practice

•       The Parable of the raft is the prescribed medicine when it comes to this relationship between teachings, practice and insight.