For those who have had the patience and determination to wade through this section upon Soto Zen and have gained a greater insight into correct Soto Contemplation, I present here an overview of the perfect Soto Sitting Preparation and Contemplation.
It is difficult to comprehend the mind of those who upon reading what is presented reject the finer path of Caodong and Soto.
If, rather than refine their practice, they wish to stumble on without placing their first foot beyond the open Gate to Awakening then the wandering and the resulting dissonance which awaits them is a fitting reward for their folly.
Perhaps with time they will cease wandering among the traps of history and brushing the heavy mud off their feet, discovering the true "sitting in Contemplation" and reach beyond the the "Gates of Conceptual Emptiness."
We must remember that there are in Chan and Zen different capacities.
Those with a superior capacity can reach directly into the Last Conceptualization of the COGNITIVE EXPERIENCE of Emptiness which will take them beyond that Last Conceptualozation to the Gate of Awakening.
On the other hand, those who re unable to grasp that Cognitive Experience, and normally it requires the assistance of a guide, will have to begin with the COGNITIVE REFLECTION, the breaking of word and concept associations using the Soto Koan methods.
DIRECT ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM EXPERIENCE OF SOTO CONTEMPLATION
Dogen declared clearly and enphatically:
It is heretical to believe that TRAINING and AWAKENING are seperable, in Buddhism (Buddha Dharma) the two are one and the same.
Snce training embraces Awakening, the very beginning of of TRAINING contains the WHOLE of original AWAKENING; as this is so, the teacher
tells his disciples to never search for Awakening outside of training since the latter mirrors Awakening.
The first prerequisite is to be honestly and diligently seeking the Path.
This means that it must be the most important thing in your life. Many protest and say, "What about mw work and family, are they not more important?"
They must consider if it is better to be living with work and family in a state of folly or with Buddha Dharma. The greatest gift to one's family is that of the Dharma, as it that Dharma alone that brings a greater togetherness and brings them well being.
We must ask then what is the base of Soto in both Training and Contemplation.
Dogen, in answering this question, refers to the words of Nagarjuna:
The univerality of change, the arising and disappearing, when completely understood is the seeing into the heart of all things, and the Mind that thus understands is the Mind that truly seeks the Path.
Fools will nod their heads and declare, "Ah yes, I understand Impermanence."
One must look deeper "into the heart of all things." The rising and the falling of all things occurs in the mind. This for the human creature is his reality, but we know that these phenomena of the mind are really empty of real substance and do not have a separate existence.
"The heart of all things" is understnding the Mind and Impermanence. That is to understand the Emptiness of all phenomena.
The Training of Emptiness and the Awakening to the Experience of Emptiness are one and the same.
The grave error that is made by students of Zen and Chn is that they do not understand that Sitting with an empty mind, allowing thoughts to enter and pass without dwelling upon them or allowing further associations, seeing their rising and falling away, is not sufficient.
The mind must Dwell upon that Emptiness. The rising of thoughts will pass quickly enough, all concepts gradually departing as one focuses upon "correct sitting of the body." But if there is no dwelling on the Emptiness then the mind, as Huineng and Dogen declared, will just be an "Empty sitting Mind."
TRAINING UPON EMPTINESS FOR THE SUPERIOR MIND
Many, aided by the folly of those named masters, are advised only to perform the ceremonies and just sit. I remind you what Dogen declared:
"As yet, I have never heard of anyone who became wealthy without much study nor of anyone who became Awakened without undergoing training."
Dogen further advised:
"There are, of course , differences in training methods; differences between confidence and understanding; between sudden and gradual, but Awakening can only be realized as a reslt of Training. Some means of study are shallow, others deep, some are interesting and others boring, but treasure is derived from much study."
Now Chan and Zen are "sudden methods," yet there are differences in most students' capacity to maintain CONFIDENCE and UNDERSTANDING.
Now those that have less CONFIDENCE or UNDERSTANDING will not be able to attain what is taught in this small section, but that does not influence the final outcome, for there is in Caodong and Soto a clearer access in the next section to what we can term "the platform experience" using gong-an Reflection.
If there here arises pride in one's Superior mind, then I am afraid that you are in error, for the Superior mind to which we refer only has a capacity to UNDERSTAND and generate CONFIDENCE that is different than others and there is no resident pride nor arrogance which accompanies that state.
How does one train with Emptiness? One dwells within the state of Emptiness in Training. In other words, you refine the dwelling in Emptiness. The Superior mind need not define or use words or concepts in entering that state of dwelling. It is as if he or she simply launches themselves into that state.
It is neither a state of dwelling within Boundless Space, nor dwelling within the End of Consciousness. Perhaps it can best be described as dwellng in a state of Neither Perception nor Non Perception, but in the clear presence of the illusions.
Does that term seem familiar? It should. It is the meditative state of the last of the eight Jhanas and the entry into Buddha's Supra-Vipassana, from which he attained Awakening.
The difference then between all other forms of meditation, absorption and contemplation is that there is a DIRECT PENETRATION with the dwelling upon Emptiness.
That dwelling, devoid of words, phrases and concepts is the COGNITIVE EXPERIENCE of EMPTINESS. It is what we can term the Last Conceptualization.
When one dwells within the Contemplation with that Experience then there is a passing beyond to the Subliminal Experience of Non- Differentiated Form that is the door to the access to Essence and Function, which when melded, being one, become the Secret Gate to Awakening, the state of Uncarved Wood.
ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM
Dogen said:
The trainee is a heautiful piece of wood which the teacher mut fashion as does a skillful carpenter; even beautiful wood will show no graining unless the carpenter is an expert, but a warped piece of wood can show good results inthe hands of a skillful craftsman.
The truth or falseness of a teacher is in direct ratio to the Awakening of his pupils.
However for centuries there have been no good teachers in this country. How do we know? Just look at their words. They are as people who try to measure the source of flowing water from a scooped up handful.
Throughout the centuries this country's teachers have written books, taught trainees and given lectures to both men and gods, but their words were as green as unripe fruit, for they not reached the ultimate in training; they had not become one of the true Awakened.
You can perhaps see or at least intuit why the superior student must have a superior teacher, for the task is not easy.
Dogen continues:
Why is this so? Because the teachers are leading others along the branches of the tree and ceasing to climb up the trunk to the source.
That source is the Understanding through attaining the Direct Cognitive EXPERIENCE of EMPTINESS, which then without conscious thought establishes itself within the Becoming of Consciousness.
I would imagine that even a fool would be able to see that "Sitting Silently in Contemplation" correctly requires that state, not a foolish "Nothing Mind."
How does one tell a good teacher?
"They neither rely on their own selfish opinions nor do they cling to any obsession, for Training and Understanding are perfectly harmonized within them."
THE FLIGHT FROM VULTURE'S PEAK
This is Vulture's peak in Rajagriha.
Buddha gave thousands of sermons here, so it is fitting to try and give you some idea of how one without word concepts reaches into that Experience of Emptiness.
Imagine for a moment that you are a Vulture sitting upon this peak looking out over the barren landsape. Somewhere out in that deserted area there is your important food for survival.
You have no idea where it will be or what form it will take.
You stand there perched, body erect and poised ready to take off, using the natural currents of the air. Your head moves from side to side. You must look carefully and then choose the most propitious direction.
You are ready, you flex your wings. Your body is prepared and concentrated. With a great thrust you launch yourself with confidence and nothing else into the unknown, the Emptiness.
It is, of course, not the Emptiness of Space into which you thrust your Still Mind.
It is into "Neither Perception nor No Perception."
Yet it is bound by all that is within nature.
Master Dogen explained it well:
"Weeds, trees, fences and walls Become capable of teaching everyone. Equally, the common persons and the saints; inversely, everyone including the common persons and the saints teach the weeds, the trees, fences and walls.
"The world of personal consciousness and the consciousness of external objects has no substance. It is gifted with concrete form from the Direct Experience. The normal state of the DIRECT EXPERIENCE, when it is activated, does not leave a moment without utility."
I know that the concept and words of this analogy are inadequate, but really it feels rather like that at the moment of launching. That is the raw experience.
All the factors are present, then the moment the mind moves out all the rest is forgotten as you are open to the Experience derived by Cognition culminating in the last Experienced Conceptualization of Emptiness.
I know how difficult this is, so please write me and I will
see if I can somehow resolve any problem you may have.
ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM EXPERIENCE USING GONG-AN REFLECTIONS
Although the gong-an (koan) access uses word concepts to build the gong-an, it becomes a direct experience in the student's mind, because he resolves the gong-an using one Last Concptualization which is a condensed but significant word representaion of what Emptiness might be, and is linked in the students mind as an expression of the possible experience of Emptiness.
Those words are not to be a set of word description of what Emptiness might be, but a description of the experience of being within Emptiness with all your senses alert but in that state where discriminations have not been made. It is your own word experience of thrust into this Emptiness where there is neither perception nor no-perception.
That word experience is linked then to the One Word Emptiness.
That experience becomes Emptiness.
It is that experience which after gong-an correct solution that will be within memory and carried into your contemplation automatically within the Becoming of Consciousness without any mental activity on your part.
If you try to carry any concept into the Becoming of Consciousness you will simply run around un circles of Reflection. We must then consider this second apprach the REFLECTION of the Last Conceptualization of the Experience of Emptiness. Once you clearly understand this and it is internalized then you can forget all these words.
Let me try the difficult task of giving you an example of using such a gong-an, which you must not use, for the results of the gong-an must arise only within you as an individual expression.
You must remember that the Soto gong-ans for a Soto adept have a different focus, so do not try to use the traditional Rinzai method, which has slightly different approach that Dogen found over-emphsized.
The Soto treatment is NOT designed to generate important insight regarding the Emptiness of the Identity and Words, which is important in Rinzai, but to develop that Last Word-bound Conceptualization of Emptiness.
This Soto gong-an appears in the Monsan, titled as:
Unmon's Old Buddha and Bare Pillar
Shi (Master): As for the ancient Buddha?
Da (Venerable, still the master replying now): This one person.
Shi: As for the bare pillar ?
Reply: A five-foot object.
Shi: When the rains disperse and the clouds draw together?
Reply: The very burning away of Body and Mind.
Shi: Give me a verse.
Reply: The night moon glitters in the cold pool
The autumn wind penetrates the skull bone
Shi: Explain its meaning.
Reply: Mind and object are One.
Now how does the Soto student deal with this?
Try this until I continue with the way.
IN CONSTRUCTION. PLEASE RETURN