Post by zendancer on Jul 15, 2013 16:49:20 GMT -5
ZM Teisen Deshimaru came from Japan to France in 1967 and died in Tokyo in 1982. He was an interesting character who attracted a lot of followers. Unlike most ZM he lived an "ordinary" life, went to university, got married, and had children. His own master encouraged him to continue life in that manner in order to have the experience of people who were not isolated by the monastic life. He was eventually ordained, received the transmission, and went to Europe to teach Zen.
His comments and my interpretations of them come from the book "Questions to a Zen Master." I have several disagreements with Deshimaru, but that's because my Zen training didn't sufficiently "take" (ha ha), and his experiences and conditioning were quite different than mine. At the same time, I agree with many of the essential things he’s pointing to, though I usually state them somewhat differently. Except for one glaring difference (his insistence upon proper posture and rigorous zen meditation--zazen) our general outlook is pretty similar. Because he was trained as a Zen lay monk, he accepted all of the usual teachings about posture and the importance of regular practice, so he never thought about those things from a broader perspective. Deshimaru thought of meditation as a way of making both the left and right brain equally active and also as a way of “getting into the body” (developing body consciousness and direct body responsiveness to life.) I see ATA as a broader and more informal way of doing the same thing--becoming psychologically unified with what is happening here and now.
If the Zen path were condensed into two or three short phrases, they might be:
1. attend “what is” until attentiveness becomes a way of life
2. become a person of action rather than reflection until direct action becomes a way of life
3. turn everything over to body-consciousness and body-thinking and let go of ideas
Here are some questions and answers (somewhat shortened and/or modified) from the book that a few folks on this forum might find interesting. When Deshimaru uses the word “zazen” or “meditation” he is referring to formal sitting meditation at specific times of the day. By contrast, I think of ATA as an informal activity that is initially pursued as a kind of expedient means. Eventually it ceases to be consciously purposeful (especially when the ATA'er is no longer thought to be a person) and is rarely thought about.
1. What should people do in their everyday lives? "Work, go to the toilet, eat; whatever you like! Meditation early in the morning influences the rest of your day and you learn to react to everything that happens with the same steady frame of mind. This calmness carries over into your life (outside the meditation hall), and your mind becomes clear and tranquil."
2. How do you reconcile the idea of "no-gain" with meditation in everyday life? "If, during meditation, you have no goal and are not hoping to get something, you are mushotoku. If you gain something without wanting it, that's okay. You don't have to refuse it. But you must not try for it. During mediation you must not want to grasp something---illumination, satori, good health, calm nerves, no more anxiety, progress in Zen. It is not necessary to think that way. Just concentrate on posture and breathing. That is enough. To have a goal, not just in meditation but in everyday living, to want to get something or grasp something, is a sickness of the mind."
3. Yes, but sometimes the very fact that you don't have a goal can be a problem. "You don't need a goal if, here and now, you are concentrating on what you are doing."
4. But sometimes one has to think about commitments one has made or plans for the future? “When one thinks, one thinks. One thinks here and now, makes plans here and now, remembers here and now. The succession of here-and-nows becomes cosmic and stretches into infinity.”
5. But if you practice mushotoku, how can you make plans and have desires? “Everyday life and (Zen) meditation are not the same. In everyday life you must gain; a businessman has to concentrate in order to make a profit. I am talking about the inner spirit, the subjective aspect. When you are mushotoku, even if you lose you are always free.”
6. What about magic powers? “Magic powers are not so difficult to acquire. But in Zen no importance is attached to them. If you carry your practice of meditation to extremes, day and night in a cave without eating, and drinking nothing but water for months on end, you will definitely acquire magic powers. But they do not last. The moment you drink a glass of saki they vanish away….To want to acquire magic powers is an egotistical desire, trivial, and ultimately of no importance. It is not different than wanting to become a circus performer.”
7. What is natural consciousness, body consciousness? "Bio-consciousness" is what scientists call it. It is what explains that we can think with the body. Ordinarily people use only the left side of their brains to think with; but if you concentrate, the entire body can begin to think.....Nowadays the right hemisphere of the brain, the seat of intuition and instinct, has grown weak; but we can reconnect it through meditation. When a fly senses danger, instinctively it flies away. That kind of sensing and response is body consciousness.”
8. You talk a lot about samu in Zen. Does intellectual work count? “If you don’t ever work with your hands you become too intellectual. Professors are too intelligent and can become a little crazy. Wisdom is not just a matter of the forebrain.”
9. What is mushin? “It’s nonthought, mind without thought, no-thought. It is the essence of Zen. Supposing you do something or want something in your ordinary life; if you act consciously, you are not mushin. If the impulse is expressed as conscious thought, it is not Zen. That is why training in a practice that involves the whole body is so important. It’s important for speaking too. Most people speak after their brain has given them the order to do so. But if you become mushin, you can speak unconsciously, without thought.
It’s the same with actions. The brain thinks and you act afterward. That is not mushin. Mushin is the body thinking. In time one ceases using the brain to answer questions. When I give a talk, for example, the words come out of the unconscious, and that is why they impress people so strongly…..Mushin….enables the body to react without thinking. That is why meditation is so useful in the martial arts. If you think too long your opponent will be quicker than you. If you develop the habit of concentrating (attending) in the here and now, everything becomes mushin.
Most great painters create their works unconsciously. That is the activity of true art. For actors it is the same thing. If they think, they don’t move the audience. If they act unconsciously the audience feels that they are living their character.”
10. When you talk about the “normal condition” do you mean something that used to belong to all mankind and then got lost, or do you mean something else? “It is hard to explain. As it relates to the body, the ‘normal condition’ is easy to understand; but in relation to consciousness it’s not so easy.
Psychology, philosophy, religions have all tried to explain it: the mind or spirit of God, or the nature of Buddha, for example, are the normal condition. In meditation the normal condition of consciousness is hishiryo: nonthinking. When you think all the time you are not in normal condition; it’s your imagination, your personal desires, that are expressing themselves. If you stop thinking, you return to the normal condition of consciousness.
Fushiryo means to not-think; hirshiryo means to think without thoughts.”
11. What does Zen contribute to the mind? “Nothing. You must not want anything or have any desires at all. Meditate without purpose, and the effects will become real afterward, automatically. The highest dimension of spiritual life is mushotoku, without a goal, no-profit.”
What Deshimaru is pointing to in his answers is how a head-centered perspective can shift to a body-centered perspective in which the body’s natural intelligence once again becomes dominant. The mind becomes relatively silent, and the body responds appropriately to whatever arises without the necessity of thought. When thinking is needed, it occurs, but it is no longer the dominant mode of being. It is as if the reflexive function of mind—the function of mind that “checks back,” second-guesses, or thinks ABOUT what’s happening—is left behind. This is reminiscent of Jesus’s comment about the lilies of the field which neither toil nor spin. They live in a state of worry-free isness compared to people who incessantly think and thereby fuss and fret about everything.
His comments and my interpretations of them come from the book "Questions to a Zen Master." I have several disagreements with Deshimaru, but that's because my Zen training didn't sufficiently "take" (ha ha), and his experiences and conditioning were quite different than mine. At the same time, I agree with many of the essential things he’s pointing to, though I usually state them somewhat differently. Except for one glaring difference (his insistence upon proper posture and rigorous zen meditation--zazen) our general outlook is pretty similar. Because he was trained as a Zen lay monk, he accepted all of the usual teachings about posture and the importance of regular practice, so he never thought about those things from a broader perspective. Deshimaru thought of meditation as a way of making both the left and right brain equally active and also as a way of “getting into the body” (developing body consciousness and direct body responsiveness to life.) I see ATA as a broader and more informal way of doing the same thing--becoming psychologically unified with what is happening here and now.
If the Zen path were condensed into two or three short phrases, they might be:
1. attend “what is” until attentiveness becomes a way of life
2. become a person of action rather than reflection until direct action becomes a way of life
3. turn everything over to body-consciousness and body-thinking and let go of ideas
Here are some questions and answers (somewhat shortened and/or modified) from the book that a few folks on this forum might find interesting. When Deshimaru uses the word “zazen” or “meditation” he is referring to formal sitting meditation at specific times of the day. By contrast, I think of ATA as an informal activity that is initially pursued as a kind of expedient means. Eventually it ceases to be consciously purposeful (especially when the ATA'er is no longer thought to be a person) and is rarely thought about.
1. What should people do in their everyday lives? "Work, go to the toilet, eat; whatever you like! Meditation early in the morning influences the rest of your day and you learn to react to everything that happens with the same steady frame of mind. This calmness carries over into your life (outside the meditation hall), and your mind becomes clear and tranquil."
2. How do you reconcile the idea of "no-gain" with meditation in everyday life? "If, during meditation, you have no goal and are not hoping to get something, you are mushotoku. If you gain something without wanting it, that's okay. You don't have to refuse it. But you must not try for it. During mediation you must not want to grasp something---illumination, satori, good health, calm nerves, no more anxiety, progress in Zen. It is not necessary to think that way. Just concentrate on posture and breathing. That is enough. To have a goal, not just in meditation but in everyday living, to want to get something or grasp something, is a sickness of the mind."
3. Yes, but sometimes the very fact that you don't have a goal can be a problem. "You don't need a goal if, here and now, you are concentrating on what you are doing."
4. But sometimes one has to think about commitments one has made or plans for the future? “When one thinks, one thinks. One thinks here and now, makes plans here and now, remembers here and now. The succession of here-and-nows becomes cosmic and stretches into infinity.”
5. But if you practice mushotoku, how can you make plans and have desires? “Everyday life and (Zen) meditation are not the same. In everyday life you must gain; a businessman has to concentrate in order to make a profit. I am talking about the inner spirit, the subjective aspect. When you are mushotoku, even if you lose you are always free.”
6. What about magic powers? “Magic powers are not so difficult to acquire. But in Zen no importance is attached to them. If you carry your practice of meditation to extremes, day and night in a cave without eating, and drinking nothing but water for months on end, you will definitely acquire magic powers. But they do not last. The moment you drink a glass of saki they vanish away….To want to acquire magic powers is an egotistical desire, trivial, and ultimately of no importance. It is not different than wanting to become a circus performer.”
7. What is natural consciousness, body consciousness? "Bio-consciousness" is what scientists call it. It is what explains that we can think with the body. Ordinarily people use only the left side of their brains to think with; but if you concentrate, the entire body can begin to think.....Nowadays the right hemisphere of the brain, the seat of intuition and instinct, has grown weak; but we can reconnect it through meditation. When a fly senses danger, instinctively it flies away. That kind of sensing and response is body consciousness.”
8. You talk a lot about samu in Zen. Does intellectual work count? “If you don’t ever work with your hands you become too intellectual. Professors are too intelligent and can become a little crazy. Wisdom is not just a matter of the forebrain.”
9. What is mushin? “It’s nonthought, mind without thought, no-thought. It is the essence of Zen. Supposing you do something or want something in your ordinary life; if you act consciously, you are not mushin. If the impulse is expressed as conscious thought, it is not Zen. That is why training in a practice that involves the whole body is so important. It’s important for speaking too. Most people speak after their brain has given them the order to do so. But if you become mushin, you can speak unconsciously, without thought.
It’s the same with actions. The brain thinks and you act afterward. That is not mushin. Mushin is the body thinking. In time one ceases using the brain to answer questions. When I give a talk, for example, the words come out of the unconscious, and that is why they impress people so strongly…..Mushin….enables the body to react without thinking. That is why meditation is so useful in the martial arts. If you think too long your opponent will be quicker than you. If you develop the habit of concentrating (attending) in the here and now, everything becomes mushin.
Most great painters create their works unconsciously. That is the activity of true art. For actors it is the same thing. If they think, they don’t move the audience. If they act unconsciously the audience feels that they are living their character.”
10. When you talk about the “normal condition” do you mean something that used to belong to all mankind and then got lost, or do you mean something else? “It is hard to explain. As it relates to the body, the ‘normal condition’ is easy to understand; but in relation to consciousness it’s not so easy.
Psychology, philosophy, religions have all tried to explain it: the mind or spirit of God, or the nature of Buddha, for example, are the normal condition. In meditation the normal condition of consciousness is hishiryo: nonthinking. When you think all the time you are not in normal condition; it’s your imagination, your personal desires, that are expressing themselves. If you stop thinking, you return to the normal condition of consciousness.
Fushiryo means to not-think; hirshiryo means to think without thoughts.”
11. What does Zen contribute to the mind? “Nothing. You must not want anything or have any desires at all. Meditate without purpose, and the effects will become real afterward, automatically. The highest dimension of spiritual life is mushotoku, without a goal, no-profit.”
What Deshimaru is pointing to in his answers is how a head-centered perspective can shift to a body-centered perspective in which the body’s natural intelligence once again becomes dominant. The mind becomes relatively silent, and the body responds appropriately to whatever arises without the necessity of thought. When thinking is needed, it occurs, but it is no longer the dominant mode of being. It is as if the reflexive function of mind—the function of mind that “checks back,” second-guesses, or thinks ABOUT what’s happening—is left behind. This is reminiscent of Jesus’s comment about the lilies of the field which neither toil nor spin. They live in a state of worry-free isness compared to people who incessantly think and thereby fuss and fret about everything.
