Not Yet Thoroughgoing
Studying on our own can be tricky. It’s easy to confuse intellectual understanding with genuine insight—or to catch a glimpse and think we’ve got it, only to later realize we were mistaken.
>Q: If “there’s never been a single thing,” can we speak of phenomena as non-existent? A: “‘Non-existent’ is just as wrong as its opposite. Bodhi means having no concept of existence or non-existence.” \[Huangbo\]
It’s one thing to understand this concept intellectually, but how can we recognize when our understanding has not moved from "knowing about" to "knowing"?
I love stories of monks from other traditions meeting with Zen teachers and being tested. One story involves a Pure Land monk named Ippen and a Zen teacher, Kakushin*, who had received transmission from Wumen.
Kakushin posed a question to Ippen as a statement: “The arising of thought is realization.” Ippen replied with this poem:
>When I utter the Name There is neither Buddha nor I; There is only the voicing Of Namu-amida-butsu.
Kakushin said this is “not yet thoroughgoing,” not yet penetrating all the way through. Where there is voicing, discriminative thinking still remains. Ippen immediately followed with another poem:
>When I utter the Name There is neither Buddha nor I; Namu-amida-butsu, Namu-amida-butsu.
This time, Kakushin certified Ippen's recognition.
What do you think is the difference between the two answers?
What’s it like to get a glimpse of this but not break all the way through? How do we recognize when this is happening to us?
Master Dazhu said:
>'Purity of conduct, speech, and mind is called Buddha appearing in the world. Impurity of conduct, speech, and mind is called Buddha becoming extinct.' A good message - the ancient's temporary expedient opens up an entryway for you.
>Once you have found an entryway, you then must find a way of exit. When you climb a mountain, you should reach the peak; when you dive into an ocean, you should reach the bottom. If you climb a mountain but don't reach the peak, you won't know how immense the universe is. If you dive into an ocean but don't reach the bottom you won't know how deep the abyss is.
>Once you know immensity and depth, you kick over the four oceans with one kick, slap down the polar mountain with one slap, then go back home with your hands free, unrecognized by anyone: sparrows twitter, crows caw, among the cedar trees. \[TotEoTT #13\]
What does "kicking over the four oceans" or "slapping down the polar mountain" look like in modern terms?
How do we recognize when we're stuck?
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*\*FOOTNOTE: Shinchi Kakushin (1207–1298) practiced Zen under Gyōyū from 1239 to 1241. When he had his head shaved, he was given the Buddhist name “Kakushin” which means “Enlightened Mind.” After Gyoyu’s death, Kakushin decided that he needed to go to China to better understand Zen. There he had hoped to study with Mujun Shiban, but Shiban had recently died. Instead, Kakushin became a student of Wumen Huikai. When Kakushin presented himself before Wumen, the master challenged him by saying, “There is no gate into my temple. Where did you enter?”“I entered through no-gate (wu-men),” Kakushin retorted.“And what is your name?” “My name is Enlightened Mind \[Kakushin\]!”*
*Wumen was so pleased with this exchange that he accepted Kakushin as a student. Under Wumen's direction, Kakushin was introduced to koan practice. He achieved awakening after only six months in China, and won the admiration of his teacher. When it was time for him to return to Japan, Mumon presented him with a hand-written copy of the Mumonkan. It was the first copy to come to Japan.*