Within You / Without You

My dear friend James Ford Roshi posted a wonderful blog today at Monkey Mind, which is titled "Dawning of the Age." In his post he mentioned that he was speaking with a few people about the Bealtes having and association with the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and that they not only had not heard of the Guru or even knew what Transcendental Meditation was.

This took me back to my early formative years when I discovered a song on the White Album that changed my young life by opening me to a world I could only imagine back then. I posted the lyrics in response to James' post and in the process happily found the above video which delighted me to no end. Sadly both George Harrison, who wrote "Within you - Without you," as well as John Lennon, who wrote "Imagine," which was another song that changed my life, are no longer with us. I am not sure how life would have been had I not listened to their music during those formative years of my life. Thanks for the reminder James, I guess its time to return to the present and post this blog.

English Library Seeks Globalization of Buddhism

Chong An, JDPS

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

People no longer have to visit temples hidden among serene mountaintops to learn about the Buddhist faith. Just across from the Jogye Temple, the headquarters of the biggest Jogye Order in Korea, there is a small, yet lively library called the Buddhist English Library of Seoul (BELS). Here, you can learn, read and talk about the religion at any time.

The library celebrated its second birthday last Sunday, but director Kang Hoh-shik admitted that they have a long way to go.``

Many people stress the importance of the globalization of Korean Buddhism, but that's just talk. We are not prepared for such a trend yet, and that is why we started the library,'' he said Tuesday as The Korea Times visited the library.

BELS opened in May 2007 to offer a venue where foreign monks, Zen masters and Buddhists, both local and foreign, could get together, share their studies and learn about the religion in depth with special lectures and events.

Although the world recognizes Tibetan and Indian Buddhism more than Korean, experts and believers abroad have recognized the unique culture and teachings of Korean Buddhism, which stresses meditation.

``In order to bring Korean Buddhism to the next level, especially abroad, it is important to speak foreign languages, especially English. One of the best ways is to teach people who can speak English and who are interested in the religion. Who knows? They may find it interesting and inspiring, and travel back to their homes and talk about or teach the religion,'' Kang said.

That is what is happening in Hungary with Ven. Chong An. After starting to practice Zen amid unresolved issues in his life at the age of 24, Ven. Chong An trained under Korean Zen master Seung Sahn, and returned to Hungary to teach Korean Buddhism. Eager to take the teachings to the next level, he secured land for the Won Kwang Sa (Wonkwang Temple) and joined more than 40 other people for a winter retreat there.

``It's going to be the main hub of Korean Buddhism in Europe. This has become an inspiration for everyone and we realized once again the importance of operating a place where believers and monks alike can visit whenever they want to, meet Korean Buddhists regularly and interact with them,'' he added.

The library not only offers more than 2,000 books about the religion, but also holds special lectures by respected Zen masters.

``The library itself is operated by donations from members and believers. Many people have donated interesting books for us to share with others and we are open to any type of support, from volunteer work, books and financial assistance to even just joining the classes and lectures,'' he said.

There are four basic classes offered to visitors. The English Lecture offers the theme ``How to Practice Samantha'' every Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Meditation classes teach visitors ``Tibetan Meditation'' every Wednesday at 7 p.m., while group study sessions offer visitors the chance to get together and talk about the Buddhist faith, in particular ``Theravada Buddhism,'' every Friday at 6 p.m.

``All of these classes are carried out in English. Even if you're not a believer, come and just try to feel the meaning of Buddhism,'' said Kang.

The library also offers classes for children that provide practice in English and help to learn more about the religion.

``Most of the kids are brought here by their parents, some even against their will. But it's great for them to learn to meditate from a young age,'' he said with a smile.

The library is gearing up for more projects, with the most important to find a real home for visiting Zen masters and students.

``We have about 80 members who support us regularly and we hope the number increases, despite the recession. The biggest goal for us now would be finding a bigger place, complete with lodging facilities, bigger classrooms and a better-equipped library," Kang said.

``Studying with consistency is important. Meditating and ascetic exercises are not a one-time lesson, and in order to make this work we will continue to welcome visitors with open arms.

"The lectures are free and you can join in after checking the time posted on the BELS Web site (www.bels.kr). The library has prepared a special lecture conducted by Ven. Chong An, which is to be held on May 9, 16 and 23. The fee is 50,000 won. Books can be borrowed for 2,000 won each, or for free by becoming a library member.

For more information, visit the Web site or call (02) 730-0173. The library is located near Anguk Station (subway line 3) exit 6.

Kānhuà Chán

(Ch:wg, K'an-hua Ch'an; Kor, Kanhwa Sŏn; Jap, Kanna Zen)

Chán Master Dàhuì Zōnggăo (1089-1163), who was the primary disciple of Chán Master Yuánwù Kèqín (1063-1135), (the Author of the Bi-yenlu “Blue Cliff Record”), developed Kānhuà Chán as a method that focused on the ‘sudden enlightenment’ of Chán Master Línjì Yìxuán’s lineage. The term literally means ‘the Chán that examines words and phrases’. It refers to the practice of meditating on Chán stories of the ancient masters (Ch:py, gōng’àn; Ch:wg, kung-an; Kor, kong-an; Jap, kōan) in the search for enlightenment or bodhi-mind. Normally, after studying the story for a time, students would identify a sentence, phrase, or word as the ‘critical phrase’ (Ch:py, huàtóu Ch:wg, hua-t'ou; Kor, hwadu; Jap, watō) and would concentrate all of their efforts on penetrating the meaning of that one phrase. Thus, their practice was referred to as Kānhuà Chán.

Huàtóu can be translated as “before words,” or a state of mind that exists before a single thought arises. What exists prior to a single thought arising? It is Before Thought. Before thought is your own Pure Mind, your own Buddha Nature, and your own Original Face. Meditating on a huàtóu does not mean repeating the word or phrase, because the repetition of the huàtóu is also a great false thought. Rather, to recognize your own Original Face is the purpose of the huàtóu. Huàtóu is also sometimes translated as “word-head; “the point, punch line, or key line of a kōan, the word or phrase in which the kōan resolves itself when one struggles with it as a means of spiritual training .... In the famous kōan Zhàozhōu’s Dog, for example, wu is sometimes identified as the huàtóu. Kōans frequently have several huàtóus contained within the story.

In Zen, a kōan is a phrase or story from a sutra or teaching on Zen realization, an episode from the life of an ancient master ... each pointing to the nature of ultimate reality. Essential to a kōan is the paradox, i.e., that which is “beyond thinking,” which transcends our logical conceptual discursive thinking. Consequently, since it cannot be solved by reason, a kōan is not a riddle to be pondered and ‘figured out’. Solving a kōan requires a leap to another level of comprehension that exists in our not knowing mind.

The hallmark of the Korean Sŏn Buddhist practice since the time of Chin'gak Hyesim (1178-1234) is the huàtóu or kōan meditation. Chinul Puril Pojo Daesa (1158-1210) is the one who first introduced this technique to Korea without having any direct contact with Chinese masters but indirectly through reading Dàhuì’s Records on the occasion of his third and final awakening experience. Chinul’s attainment was so complete and all encompassing, according to his biographer, that he accepted and approved this special technique as the most effective practical means to enlightenment, even though he provided lower capacity students with two other approaches; that of, simultaneous cultivation of meditation and wisdom based upon the teachings within the Platform Sutra, or, a complete sudden approach through great faith and attainment based upon the Lǐ Tōngxuán's interpretation of the Huáyán Sutra, thus completing his approach to attaining one-mind by following Chinese Huáyán-Chán monk-scholar Zongmi. Línjì Chán developed into the only orthodox line of Sŏn in Korea following Chinul's death. His direct Dharma Heir Chin'gak Hyesim (edited all the available Chán stories into an anthology of seventeen hundred kōans, which later became the standard for Kānhuà Chán practiced by Korean Sŏn monks.

Tenth Ox Herding Picture

In the tenth Ox Herding picture, the attainment of the way is to be in the Marketplace with Helping Hands. Well here is the Dalai Lama serving lunch to a homeless man in San Francisco. The man told the Lama, "I am homeless." to which the Dalai Lama replied, "So, am I."

The Second Book of the Tao

Stephen Mitchell has taken on the Dao again. As you may have read in earlier posts of mine, Stephen Mitchell was the first Monk in the Kwan Um School of Zen under the Direction of Zen Master Seung Sahn. His name back then was Mu Gak Sunim, and he forged new ground for all the Western Monks in the Kwan Um School. He eventually was led to a broader path and has written more than thirty eight books on diverse areas of spirituality and life. Stephen is not a Scholar per se, in the vein of say the Cleary Brothers; he is more of an artist in the spirit of Coleman Barks, the famous translator of Jellaludin Rumi. He writes from his heart/mind and his books are always fresh and alive.

Compiled and adapted from the Chuang-tzu and the Chung Yung, with commentaries
The Penguin Press, 2009

The most widely translated book in world literature after the Bible, Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living. Following the phenomenal success of his own version of the Tao Te Ching, renowned scholar and translator Stephen Mitchell has composed the innovative The Second Book of the Tao. Drawn from the work of Lao-tzu’s disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius’s grandson Tzu-ssu, The Second Book of the Tao offers Western readers a path into reality that has nothing to do with Taoism or Buddhism or old or new alone, but everything to do with truth. Mitchell has selected the freshest, clearest teachings from these two great students of the Tao and adapted them into versions that reveal the poetry, depth, and humor of the original texts with a thrilling new power. Alongside each adaptation, Mitchell includes his own commentary, at once explicating and complementing the text.

An Explanation of Guided Meditation

Buddhist Theology teaches us that each person has eight levels of human consciousness. The first five levels of consciousness are connected directly to the senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought. The sixth level which describes our human thought process is usually defined as our intellect, and it is through our intellect then, that we create an illusory self that functions separate from the universe it perceives, and this separate self we call ‘I.’ The separate self is therefore held apart from the objective and perceived outside world, which causes our sixth level of consciousness (thinking and intellect,) to not be aware of this persistent habit of constantly creating a separate self.

In terms of the Buddhist theory of mind, this type of guided meditation functions in the following manner. Buddha teaches that the sixth level of consciousness controls our body and our will mind, the seventh level of consciousness controls our emotional (or our like and dislike discriminating consciousness) and the eighth level of consciousness is referred to as our storehouse consciousness, and controls our memory. During the first stage and the second stage of this guided meditation we use the sixth, seventh and eighth levels of consciousness to bring stillness to the sixth level of consciousness. After this has been done, then in stage three we use the seventh and eighth levels of consciousness and bring all three of them together. Then in stage four we still the seventh level of consciousness. At this point we are usually ready when we get to stage five to accept seeds of change (changing karma) into our eighth consciousness; and finally, at stage six we connect the sixth, seventh and eighth levels of consciousness so that they begin to function in harmony as a single unified consciousness.

Many individuals have problems in focusing their consciousness and especially in controlling their thinking. Sŭngsan Daesŏnsa would often teach that these kinds of people were suffering from a broken consciousness. What he meant was that the person’s eight levels of consciousnesses were all functioning independently and were constantly involved in separate actions. He was especially referring to the affected individual’s lack of integration between their sixth, seventh, and eighth levels of consciousness, which ultimately caused the person to become somewhat schizophrenic. Buddhist theory espouses that each person’s mind is only one mind, and Sŭngsan Daesŏnsa realized that some of his students were not able to control their minds, and therefore could also not fully control their bodies. Achieving this Buddhist ‘one mind’ means that our sixth, seventh, and eighth levels of consciousnesses all become unified. In the Heart Sūtra Buddha said, “Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva when practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita perceives that all five skandhas are empty.”

Buddha concluded that it is only in the seventh level of consciousness, (Sanskrit: manas) that the awareness of a discreet construct of a separate ‘I” can become constant. The seventh level of consciousness also acts as the communication vehicle of our essential nature as well as the universe’s essential nature up to our eighth consciousness (Sanskrit: ālaya-vijñana,) from which, in response to causes and conditions, specific insights are communicated back to the six senses. New perceptions are in turn conveyed up to the sixth and seventh levels of consciousness and the cycle continues endlessly.

a bit of History

here is a true story. Several years ago my good friend Thom Pastor, JDPSN and I were traveling up and down the New England Coast and sitting at various zen centers, (we both live on the West Coast.) While we were staying at the Providence Zen Center, Thom and I were exploring the beautiful Pagoda of Peace. The new offices were being built and connects the Pagoda to the Main Building so we were returning to living area where we were staying. We happened to meet Zen Master Daekwang who asked us where we were going, to which Thom replied, "we are practicing to become Monks." Daekwang said, "really, how can you do that?" Thom said, "we are going to take a nap." Daekwang was speechless.

Old Friends

I came across this drawing in my archives, it was given to me by Hyonmun Sunim about 15 years ago, shortly before he became a monk. The image of him was drawn by his friend in Poland and I always thought the caption (although in Polish) was really quite hilarious. It says, "Either I will get enlightenment, or I will change my tradition!"

This is the danger facing those who are choosing to invent their own spiritual path. We can choose those things we like and discard those things we don't like. It is usually those places in our lives that we are uncomfortable with that are the places we need to investigate. Jellaudin Rumi once said, "these spiritual window shoppers, shadows with no capital." We have to invest ourselves honestly and truthfully to make a progress in our practice. We have to commit one hundred percent to being completely and blatantly honest with ourselves and the world around us. As the old zen saying goes, "when standing at the top of a one hundred foot flagpole, one more step is necessary."



a recent photo of Hyonmun Sunim.

Poet Receives UC Davis' Highest Honor

April 15, 2009. Poet Gary Snyder, whose poetry defied convention and defined an era, was awarded the UC Davis Medal, the highest tribute bestowed by the university.

Snyder, a professor emeritus of English at the University of California, Davis, received the honor Tuesday evening in a ceremony in the ballroom of the campus Activities and Recreation Center.
"Gary Snyder, arguably UC Davis’ most famous person,” said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. “Yet he has remained devoted to classroom teaching throughout his career, thrilling hundreds upon hundreds of students and elevating the campus by his presence. We are so fortunate, and so grateful, to have him as a member of our UC Davis family.”

The award recognizes individuals of rare accomplishment. Past recipients have included Michelle Bachelet, president of the Republic of Chile; Cruz Reynoso, the first Hispanic to serve on the California Supreme Court and a professor emeritus of law at UC Davis; and President Bill Clinton.

Remarkable parallels run through the lives of the latest UC Davis Medal recipients. Snyder was a farmers' son whose early years were shaped by the Depression. Gary emerged amid avant-garde art movements of the 1950s and '60s -- Snyder shaping the Beat/Zen Poetry Movement. Snyder was born in San Francisco in 1930 and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where he worked as a youth on the family farm and seasonally in the woods. After earning an undergraduate degree in anthropology and literature from Reed College in Portland, Ore., in 1951, he pursued graduate work in linguistics at Indiana University and in East Asian languages at UC Berkeley. While in the Bay Area, he associated with Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and other poets and writers interested in altering consciousness and overturning writing conventions. From 1956 to 1969, Snyder lived in Japan and studied Zen Buddhism and East Asian culture. He joined UC Davis in 1986.

Snyder's more than 20 books of poetry and prose have swept literature's top prizes. "Turtle Island" won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975, and "No Nature" was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1992. His many other honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Bollingen Prize, Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Grand Prize, and Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. He is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2003.

"What came to fruition and influence in the Beat waves of the Fifties and Sixties has stood the test of the cynical decades that followed," British literary critic Ian Hamilton writes of Snyder's body of work in "The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English."

The reference book characterizes the thematic range of Snyder's body of work as "love and respect for the primitive tribe, honour accorded the Earth, the escape from city and industry into both the past and the possible, contemplation, the communal, peace, and the ascetic."
A resident of the northern Sierra Nevada since 1970, Snyder now devotes his time to environmental and cultural issues with a focus on the Sierra ecosystem. Although he officially retired from UC Davis in 2002, he continues to teach on campus with a focus on creative writing, ethnopoetics and bioregional praxis.

What is Zen?

The answer that my grand teacher would always give to this question was, “Zen is very simple. What are you?” In this world today, as it has been since human beings began to discriminate and to think, we all began searching for satisfaction outside of ourselves; however, because it seems almost counter-intuitive very few of us ever seek to find happiness within ourselves. Listening to typical conversations we hear others speak of this thing that is labeled “I.” Also, if we have enough internal witness and we listen to our own speech it may surprise us how many times we also use the word “I’ in our conversations. We all talk about this “I” as if it had a separate self, as if this “I” were somehow existent outside of us. We say things like, “I want this,” or “I am like this” but how many of us truly understand this “I” of which we speak, and where does our “I” come from?

In Zen we sometimes ask, “before you were born, before your mother and father conceived you, what was your original nature?” Along these same lines we might ask; when we die, where will we go? If we can sincerely ask ourselves, ‘What am I?’ Eventually we will run into a wall where all thinking is cut off. In our Zen Lineage we call this ‘don’t know;’ however, this state of perception is not exclusive to Zen and other traditions call this state by different names. Christians may call it Christ Consciousness, Jews may call it, YHWH, Daoists might call it the Great and Ineffable Dao, the great twentieth Century Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi called it Beginner’s Mind, consequently each path has a separate name for this one state of mind. So, Zen practice is about keeping a don’t-know mind always and everywhere.

when walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking,
being silent moving, being still...
at all times, in all places, without interruption–what is this?
one mind is infinite kalpas. Zen Master Seung Sahn

We define meditation in Zen as maintaining a don’t-know mind when bowing, chanting, as well as during seated meditation. Yet, for us in this modern twenty first century it is highly important to keep this don’t know mind every minute of our waking life. There are no special forms of existence or places that will take us out of our current situation or condition; this is the place where we try to escape reality by using drugs, alcohol, video games, the company of others, etc. In and of themselves, these actions are not good or not bad, it is just that it all boils down to a simple question. “Do you control your thinking, or does your thinking control you?” For most of us we have a constant dialog going on in our heads, but who is it that we are talking with? We create this separation inside our own heads. If we can stop this endless train of thoughts, this constitutes what we call formal Zen practice, and it isn’t what we think. We may think that we must meditate, or go off to a mountain top in silence to find ourselves; but Buddha taught that if we are ever to wake up to our own humanity it must be in this very moment. By keeping a don’t know mind when we are doing something, we can just do it. When driving, we just drive; when eating, we can just eat; when working we can just work.

Eventually our don’t know-mind will become clear. Then when we see the sky, there is only blue—when we see the tree, there is only green. Our mind becomes like a clear untarnished mirror­­­—if red appears the mirror reflects red; if white appears the mirror reflects white. If a hungry person arrives, we can give some food; if a thirsty person arrives, we can give something to quench their thirst. In the end there is no desire for myself, only for all sentient beings. This mind is already enlightened; it is what we call Great Love, Great Compassion, and the Great Bodhisattva Way. Zen is very simple, it is not difficult!

Jijang Bosal, Jijang Bosal

I heard from several of my Kwan Um School friends that the Executive Director of the Kwan Um School of Zen passed away today. JW Harrington was the most joyous person I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. He was always the manifestation of "how may I help you." Even in the hardest of times and under large amounts of pressure, he was always smiling and always thoughtful of everyone.

Please find it in your schedules to chant Jijang Bosal 108 times each day for the next 49 days in support of all the great Bodhisattva actions he has done for all of us in the Dharma. JW will be sorely missed by all his friends and acquaintances.

Zero Mind

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When we speak of no-mind or ‘don’t know’ mind I believe that many Zen practitioners have a problem completely attaining this state of mind. The history of Zero or ‘nothing’ has had a tenuous past in the evolution of Western Philosphy. Christianity, as well as Judaism, did not accept the idea of ‘nothing’ until the 17th Century. In the Catholic Church, to even speak of ‘nothing’ was considerd a heresy and a giving rise to the Devil. After all, if God was the creator of all things, then the negation or lack of existence must be the work of the devil. No wonder we have such a difficult time with this concept.

In our Zen Practice no meaning is great meaning, and great meaning is no meaning. It is sometimes called zero mind. So what is zero mind? If you go around and ask, “Is zero a number?” You will get very interesting responses.

If someone says zero is a number, then you can do anything with zero. To examine this we can look at the following calculations. 9 x 0 = 0. Then, 9 = 0/0. O.K.? Then, if you say it’s a number, then 0/0 = 1. So 9 = 0/0 = 1, and 9 = 1. As a computer programmer I so often come across the ‘divide by zero’ error in one of my queries. So if we can’t divide by zero, is it a real number?

This state of mind exists outside of logic, it exists in a realm of universal consciousness. Our ‘don’t know mind’ isn’t held by the law of mathematics, yet math wouldn’t function without zero. The rules governing the use of zero appeared for the first time in Brahmagupta's book Brahmasputha Siddhanta (The Opening of the Universe), written in 628. Here Brahmagupta considers not only zero, but negative numbers, and the algebraic rules for the elementary operations of arithmetic with such numbers. In some instances, his rules differ from the modern standard. Here are the rules of Brahmagupta:

The sum of zero and a negative number is negative.
The sum of zero and a positive number is positive.
The sum of zero and zero is zero.
The sum of a positive and a negative is their difference; or, if their absolute values are equal, zero.
A positive or negative number when divided by zero is a fraction with the zero as denominator.
Zero divided by a negative or positive number is either zero or is expressed as a fraction with zero as numerator and the finite quantity as denominator.
Zero divided by zero is zero.

It took another thousand years for Western Mathematics to catch up to this ancient Indian concept to sunyata. Zero mind can do anything. If you say zero is a number, then zero is a number. If you say zero is not a number, then zero is not a number; this simply doesn’t matter. Zero contains everything; and everything returns to zero. This is Zen mathematics, so zero mind is very interesting. If you keep zero mind, then you can do anything.”

Taegosa

Yesterday I drove out to Taegosa (Mountain Spirit Temple) in the southern most tip of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I had received a phone call from an old monk friend of mine, Hyonmun Sunim. I hadn't been out to the property in many years and although I was involved in the project during its beginnings, I had not visited or seen any of the permanent buildings for myself. It is a beautiful place to visit and to meditate at. There are two main buildings on the property, and currently there are four people there taking care of the temple. Hyonmun Sunim introduced me to the current abbot Wonyul Sunim who is a Korean Son Monk and has been running the center since the founder Muryang Sunim left.

Mountain Spirit Center is affiliated with the Kwan Um School of Zen, founded in America by Zen Master Seung Sahn who was my original Zen Teacher. The temple now has a strong connection with the Korean American community in Southern California as well as the adjacent regions. The founder of Mountain Spirit Center was Muryang Sunim (Erik Berall), a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn from 1979 until 2006. After becoming a monk, Muryang spent four years living and practicing in Korea. Upon returning to the United States, he spent several years searching for a suitable site for a mountain temple. He completed the purchase of this property in 1994, and had been living and practicing there until he decided to move to Maui.

I remember visiting the property before Muryang Sunim had made the purchase, and he was always teaching me about Korea, Korean Zen and the ancient study of Geomancy. It was important to him to find a place with the correct arrangement of mountains that were facing in the correct direction to build a proper Korean Zen Temple. He financed the project initially with his own money and eventually did receive donations from the local Korean community.

The temple is located on a geomancy energy point according to Korean principles. The land itself has long been a place where the native people of this area came to conduct their vision quests, and it is the center's hope to honor and continue this tradition of spiritual practice. Mountain Spirit center was built with a deep concern for the environment. The temple is off the electrical power grid – electricity is generated on site by the power of sun and wind. Well water is reused for irrigation of native plants and trees; therefore, care is taken to not use toxic chemicals, soaps, or detergents. It is the ongoing goal of the temple caretakers to develop the temple in a sustainable and environmentally beneficial manner honoring the tradition of Buddhism in both Korea and America.