- (on the anniversary of the death of Zen master Eisai)
My late teacher’s teacher Eisai asked master Kyo-an, “How is it when the student doesn’t think good and doesn’t think bad?” Kyo-an said, “Your original birth-star is lucky.” Eisai said, “Then it doesn’t depart from the present day.” Kyo-an said, “If you’re thus, nothing prevents you from going from today.” Eisai bowed. Kyo-an said, “Facing south you see the North Star.” (after a long pause of silence, Dogen said) “The founding teacher’s star of birth is lucky; the breaking into a smile is renewed. Without depending on the yellow flowers and green bamboo, the sun of Japan emerges, meeting the spring.”
Notes
My late teacher’s teacher Eisai—Eisai (1141-1215) was the first founder of Rinzai Zen in Japan. Kyo-an is the Japanese pronunciation of the name of his teacher in China. Dogen studied for many years with Eisai’s successor Myozen.
How is it when the student doesn’t think good and doesn’t think bad?—In one of the most famous tales of the sixth founding teacher of Zen in China, he said to a monk, “Don’t think good, don’t think bad—what is your original face?” To “think good and bad” refers to the mental habits and dispositions of a lifetime. To see the “original face,” the true mind before it was bound up in habitual conceptions, it is useful to halt the compulsive flow of the thoughts.
Your birth star is lucky—the original nature is inherently complete; enlightenment is not added from outside. As the proverb says, “What comes in the door is not the family treasure.” What is needed is to unmask the original face to free the original mind from the bondage and fixations of mental habits; on this basis its evolution can proceed on the true basis without distorting influences. Then it doesn’t depart from the present day—If you realize the original mind, you are free to go.
Facing south, you see the North Star—When you realize the original mind, mind and things are not opposite—you see the original mind not separately, but in all things; you see the North Star (the original mind) facing south (in all things). What seemed opposite (mind and things) are one.
Breaking into a smile is renewed—This refers to elder Kasyapa, Buddha’s disciple, who broke into a smile as the Buddha silently held up a flower, indicating being itself. This is how Buddha recognized Kasyapa as his successor. This is likened to Eisai succeeding to Kyo-an, without depending on the yellow flowers and green bamboo—this means being free, not depending on anything; this is what the enlightened mind is like.
The sun of Japan emerges, meeting the spring—The sun is a metaphor for enlightenment; “the sun of Japan emerges” refers to Eisai being the first Zen founder in Japan. “Spring” is a metaphor for life after enlightenment, and it is also the time of growth, as Eisai’s return to Japan heralded a new era in Japanese Buddhism.
Submitted July 20, 2022 at 02:02AM by wdymANKLES https://ift.tt/9u8pKGO
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