THE SOTO ZEN TREASURY OF EMPTINESS
Non-form is to be separated from form even when associated with form.
No thought is not to think even when involved in thought.
Non-abiding is the original nature of man.
Huineng
曹洞宗
Caodong Zong
Sotoshū
Whenever Buddha Dharma is transmitted into another culture it appears that changes are made. This occurred when Buddha Dharma passed from India to China, and in the later second-order transmission to Japan.
It ocurred in the transmission from India to Tibet. It occurred in the transmission to a lesser extent in South East Asia.
It has occurred in the transmission from these states to the West.
If those changes are True Dharma advances then all is well. The problem is that there is always a danger that the main threads of the Dharma will be lost when changes are accepted. This generally does not occur immediately but generations after the initial changes, because the new structure normally has weaknesses that the original Dharma did not have.
It is the weakness in this new structure that can cause any decline or any misunderstanding with regard to the original Buddha Dharma.
Buddha was completely in accord with the idea that the Dharma rules with respect to conduct could be changed. Clearly it was and is important that the essential teachings remain.
The question is what are the essential teachings and what is the criteria for accepting changes. It is clear that when Buddha Dharma is transmitted to another culture, the culturally-bound concepts and ideas can be released and the new introduced with great precaution, understanding that what is entered is just a cultural appendage and nothing more.
The essential teachings are contained not within but behind the words of the originally presented Dharma and include the teachings of meditation and daily practice. New teachings must then be directed at generating a better understanding of what lies beyond the essential Dharma teachings and how to better practice the Dharma in an ever-changing world in decline.
Here we will examine Soto Zen, as a legitimate transmission of the Dharma from the Caodong teachings of China, and try to assist those within Soto Zen who are encountering difficulties in making a true advance due to possible misunderstandings and errors of transmission.
Sōtō Zen, 曹洞宗, Sotoshū, which had its roots in Chinese Caodong, is one of three Japanese transmissions of Buddha Dharma from China. The others are Rinzai 臨済宗, Rinzai-shū and Ōbaku, 黄檗宗, Ōbaku-shū.
The original Caodong model was established and developed in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the ninth century and was then taken to Japan by
Dogen Zenji four hundred years later in 1227.
It is Dogen that is accepted as joint patriach with Keizan Jokin.
祇管打坐
Qi-guan Da-zuo
Managing the Earth Spirit by Sitting in Meditation
shikantaza
Central to Soto Zen is the practice of shikantaza, 祇管打坐, which literally translated means "only sitting." In China the term used was mo-chao, 默照,
which was introduced by Hung-chih Cheng-chueh, 宏智正覺 (1091-1157) of Caodong.
Mo-chao, 默照, is often incorrectly translated as "silent illumination" when the more correct translation is "silent reflection," which is more akin to the actual nature of the practice.
This does not mean, as many suggest, that one is to use no specific method of meditation. The silence referred to is indeed the silencing of Conceptual thought and although direct absorption of the last Conscious Experience of Emptiness is the device, those using this approach -and it is the majority- require the REFLECTION that Buddha referred to as Vitakka.
When Mo-chao, 默照, was taken by Dogen to Japan, the practice was changed somewhat into placing one's attention on sitting, maintaining the posture. The silence of the mind was not emphasized, probably subsumed within the idea of only putting attention on the posture. This serves certainly in eliminating conscious mind-wandering.
In terms of the general teachings, the Prajnaparamita Sutra assumes great importance, as it does with the other Japanese Buddha Dharma models, and is supported by the Lotus Sutra and the Lankavatara.
However, the methodology of Buddha, that is, the Absorption of the Emptiness of Emptiness in this case, appears to be neglected today. What we must actually determine is why Dogen decided to emphasize the aspect of sitting and why the later generations seem to have forgotten or ignore the Reflection.
For those who wish to restore the purity of Soto and Caodong with their great riches we present this series of techings.
The state of Soto en Japan today among the Laity appears no different than the traditional religions of the West and suggests that Soto Zen, in Japan, is treated more as a religion than either a way of life or as a path to liberation.
It is recorded that 80 percent only visit a temple for reasons related to death and funerals and only 17 percent for spiritual reasons. Only 3 percent actually visit to solve personal problems or a crisis.