We’re going to move on to a later set of traditions, and that is the tradition of Zen / Chán 禪. These are traditions with their roots in China, but that were influential across all of East Asia. The term chán is a translation of the Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning a state of meditative absorption.
Chán is, to an extent, an anti-intellectual tradition; at the same time, the intellectual resources of the tradition are formidable. According to Chán, one of the biggest problems standing in the way between us and awakening—the Buddhist goal—is mental proliferation (prapañca in Sanskrit). We can have all kinds of fancy ideas, but these can get in the way of experience itself. So the challenge is how to break through this into a kind of wisdom that is rooted in direct experience.
Famously, Chán does that in two ways. One, roughly speaking, is through the use of sitting meditation that aims to directly see into the nature of our experience, without any mediating concepts. The other is through what in Japanese are called Kōan [公案 gōngàn], a kind of riddle or puzzle that is designed not to be solved, but to drive us beyond conceptual thinking to a direct seeing into the nature of experience.
Is such a direct seeing possible? Evan Thompson would say no. But let’s explore all of this by going back to 臨濟義玄 Línjì Yìxuán, one of the founders of this tradition, who lived in the 9th Century in Tang dynasty china.
We’re going to read a section of Línjì (whose name, translated into Japanese, is pronounced Rinzai, and is thus one of the major Zen sects in Japan). We’ll at page 61.
Reading Línjì
We’ll start at p. 61
Writing exercise
Write in response to this question: “what are you looking for, tramping till the soles of your feet are squashed flat?” Take the question any way you like!
Discussion
- How do you respond to Línjì? Do you find his thinking bracing? Annoying? Exciting? Rude? Confusing?
- Línjì is critiquing education and learning. What are his critiques? And to what extent to his critiques resonate for you?
- What do you think that Línjì means by “if you wish to know your original mind, don’t try to join with it, don’t try to depart from it.”
The Paradoxes of Practice
One of the central issues in Buddhism is grasping: the desire to have or get something. It is grasping that leads us to suffering, and — in traditional Buddhist belief — to re-becoming. This leads to a paradox. How do we liberate ourselves? If we want to liberate ourselves, we are already lost in craving. Línjì says: “You go all over the place, saying, ‘There’s religious practice, there’s enlightenment.’ Make no mistake! If there were such a thing as religious practice, it would all be just karma keeping you in the realm of birth and death” (p. 43). what we think is the cure, is—in fact—the disease. So what do we do?
This is where the kōan / gōngàn. It is a practice, but it is impossible! A kōan / gōngàn can’t be solved. It can only take us to the point where we get to the edge of what’s possible by means of practising, and we glimpse something else, perhaps out of the corner of our eye, or by accident.
Let’s try some. Here are six from Hsieh, D. (2010). Poetry and Chan ‘Gong’an’: From Xuedou Chongxian (980—1052) to Wumen Huikai (1183—1260). Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, (40), 39–70 (with some modifications)
- A monk asked Yunmen: “What is ‘samadhi (meditation) in the dusty realm’?’, Yunmen said: “Meal in the bowl, water in the bucket.” 僧問雲門:“如何是塵塵三昧? ” 門云:“缽裡飯,桶裡水。”
- Monk Zhaozhou was asked by a monk: “Does even a dog have the Buddha-nature or not?” Zhaozhou replied: “No” (wu) 趙州和尚因僧問：“狗子還有佛性也無？”州云：“無。”
- Monk Nanquan was asked by a monk: “Is there any Dharma that has not yet been preached to the people?” [Nan]quan said: “There is.” The monk then asked, “What is the Dharma that has not been preached to the people?” Nanquan said: “It is not the Mind, not the Buddha, not a thing.“ 南泉和尚因僧問：“還有不與人說底法麼？”泉云：“有。”僧云：“如何是不與人說底法？”泉云：“不是心，不是佛，不是物。”
- Monk Nanquan saw monks of the Eastern and Western Halls quarrelling over a cat. Nanquan then held up the cat and said: “You monks! If any of you can say a word, I will spare the cat. If none of you can say a word, I will kill it.” No one could come out with a response, so Nanquan cut the cat in two. In the evening when Zhaozhou returned from outside, Nanquan told him what had happened. Zhaojzhou then took off his sandals, put them on his head, and left. Nanjquan said: “If you had been there,the cat would have been saved. 南泉和尚因東西堂爭貓兒。泉乃提起云：“大衆道得，即救；道不得，即斬卻也。”衆無對，泉遂斬之。晚，趙州外歸，泉舉似州。州乃脫履安頭上而出。泉云：“子若在，即救得貓兒。”
- ”A monk asked Dongshan: “What is the Buddha?” Dongshan said, “Three pounds of hemp.” 僧問洞山［良价］：“如何是佛？”山云：“麻三斤。
Choose your koan, and read it several times through. Now write it down at the top of a piece of paper. Write in response to your koan for ten minutes.
We’ll talk about the koans in groups.
Homework
We’ll explore Zen meditation next time (from another tradition). But for your homework, I want you to stay with your koan. Repeat it, ask what it means, think it through, try to make sense of it, mistrust any moments where you think you’ve got it (maybe there’s nothing to get), keep asking what it means… and see what it does to your life and your experience. Leave your notes on Canvas.
You can also read the rest of the passage from Línjì