Bishop Ditch

"Bishop Ditch" number 45 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Today's miniature is both biographical and instructive.

Our dear Robert Aitken, tells us where he got the inspiration for writing in the style of the miniatures. Yoshida Kenkō wrote a collection of very short essays in this style back in the middle ages around 1331. His book is called Tsurezuregusa or "Random Grasses" or "Essays in Idleness". 200 plus entries collected together.

From introduction to George Sansom's translation of the Tsurezuregusa - "To while away the idle hours, seated the livelong day before the inkslab, by jotting down without order or purpose whatever trifling thoughts pass through my mind, truly this is a queer and crazy thing to do!" Sort of sounds like a blog, like this blog. Sounds like twitter. Would Yoshida Kenkō be blogging if he was around today, would he be twittering? Probably so.

Now for the instructive part of this miniature.

The story of Bishop Ditch by Yoshida Kenkō.

Seems the bishop didn't like the nick name Bishop Nettle Tree so he chopped down the nettle tree from which he got the name and promptly was known as Bishop Stump. Mad as hell, he dug up the stump only now to be called Bishop Ditch.

We are known by our actions. Every morning during sesshin we recite "The Five Remembrances" which in part says "My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand."

Now, I must consider what actions am I known by? We don't get to choose how we are know, we can only act and live the consequences. Focus on the action and let the consequences handle themselves. Grousing about the consequences is just another action that has consequences.

Thanks for the fish!
Bless you Robert Aitken.


Continuing our conversation from a few days ago about shame. How does shame relate to Bishop Ditch? This action and consequences cycle is our karma. How our ego relates to this cycle is usual not with much maturity. Isn't it the ego that responds to an action/consequence and labels it "shame" or "praise"? Wouldn't one ego get all worked up and another ego not even notice the same action/consequence? Even the very same ego, one time feels/sees/hears shame and another time not? All these questions point to the nature of the ego. What is the nature of ego? It is a made up construct of imaginings built up from the consequences of our actions from the "beginningless past".

Saying this does not make us immune from the ego's labeling of action/consequence cycles. It does help dis-identify with praise, blame and shame. These feelings are just heavy baggage that can be put down and left where ever we are or not even picked up when noticed. They feel like dead weights, hindering us from moving lightly through life. Sure, for some it may be helpful to temporarily work with someone to see clearly enough to dis-identify with these ego states. But only sometimes, for some people and only temporarily. We have to be very careful not to let ego wallow in the warm feelings that come from psychotherapy. For many people and even Zen itself, encourages us not to identify with these ego states but to simply and directly move through life without trying to "show me your mind and I pacify it for you".

Notice and put down. Notice and don't pick up.

My most favorite Zen moment:

CASE 12 from the Mumonkan.
ZUIGAN CALLS HIMSELF "MASTER"

Every day Zuigan used to call out to himself, "Master!" and then he answered himself, "Yes, Sir!" And he added, "Awake, Awake!" and then answered, "Yes, Sir! Yes, Sir!"
"From now onwards, do not be deceived by others!" "No, Sir! I will not, Sir!"

Mumon's Comment:
The master, Zuigan, sells out and buys himself. He has a lot of puppets of gods and devils that he plays with. Why is this so? With one mask he asked, and with another he answered. With another mask he said, "Awake!" and another, "Don't be cheated by others!" If you adhere to any one of these, you are totally mistaken. If, however, you imitate Zuigan, then all these are no other than the fox's disguises.

Some who search the Way of Zen do not realize true self,
For they recognize only the ego-soul.
This ego-soul is the seed of birth and death,
Foolish people take it for the true original self.

Vacancy!

"Vacancy!" number 44 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Today's miniature is a little vacant? A sleep talking Roshi? My own confusion.

I continue to study my posture when sitting. Watching how my thought stream is influenced by the position of hips, vertebrae, shoulders, and skull. I hold these structures in a column, lightly and mindfully, focusing my attention by scanning from hips to skull a time or two. Then I relax into the space that arises. Spine held with attention, the thought stream slows. Which aspect proceeds which? Can posture be worked with because the thought stream is quiet or does the thought stream become quiet when the posture is in alignment? Does this matter? Maybe.

How do you work with your posture?



Provided we keep a constant eye on our own faults,
We cannot go astray from the right path.
           Hui Neng



1971 TV program that films a conversation with Alan Watts. In 1971 he shows himself to be a concerned environmentalist. What would he be saying on this topic if he was around today. I don't know much about Alan's personal history. My view is from just what I've heard and read. His books and his audio. I sense that many conservative Zen practitioners in the West don't hold Alan to highly.

In this 30 minute program, Alan Watts talks about the interconnectedness of life and wonders how we've gone so far astray by polluting our environment. Worth 30 minutes.











The Mountains and Rivers Sesshin

"The Mountains and Rivers Sesshin" number 43 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

In this miniature, Robert Aitken describes a sesshin practice started by Gary Snyder at the Ring of Bones Zendo in the Sierra Foothills. This practice is described as hiking and camping in the wilderness with as little talk as possible with morning and evening dokusan held outdoors. Aitken seems to approve of this, which is surprising as he seem so disapproving of other nontraditional practices. He even says as much in the preface to this miniature.
"Zen in the West is faithful to its antecedents, or else it is faithless one way or another."

Yes this wilderness sesshin sounds wonderful. Yes it may in some small way replicate how some parts of our ancestors practiced. Yes this is yet one more adaptation to Zen as it migrates farther East.


My Dharma sister Pat and I have been having an on going conversation about shame and we'd like to hear from others. I'm afraid my bias will come out here. Pat feels differently about shame and its role than I do. Our discussions have been about exploration and not necessarily about convincing each other of the rightness of our perspective.

It all started with Susan Murphy and her book "Upside Down Zen".  I quoted the section below - emphasis mine. It is on page 157.
"There is no curriculum for work on character except life, and no graduation from it except death. How we die is just the final articulation of our character spoken in the hearts of those we leave behind. The whole matter is properly a modest business. Good character is not expounded, it is merely lived. And shame, not praise, is its compass. Perfection of character is indeed a koan, like the bodhisattva vows -- we must resolve what it may be as moment by moment inquiry into who we really are, and what that wants of us."
Susan Murphy from "Upside Down Zen"

Shame to me seems like such a paleo-judao-christian concept that at first I was completely surprised in it appearance. Take out the "And shame, not praise, is its compass." and the quote above really moves me in my bones. So poignant, so eloquent.

Then Pat found another reference to shame in Albert Low's book "Hakuin on Kensho". 

…if you want to see into this great matter, you must first generate great will, great faith, and great determination to see through the originally inherent, awakened nature.

Question like this, ponder like this-ultimately, what is it? If you keep on doubting continuously, with a bold spirit and a feeling of shame urging you on, your effort will naturally become unified and solid, turning into a single mass of doubt throughout heaven and earth. The spirit will feel suffocated, the mind distressed, like a bird in a cage, like a rat that has gone into a bamboo tube and cannot escape.

Albert Low's book "Hakuin on Kensho"

The quote above is Albert Low's translation of the historical text attributed to Hakuin. Low's commentary on the above section has more to say about shame.

A feeling of shame! It is not that we are ashamed because we can't resolve the question. If we really work at this question, eventually a sense of shame, of remorse, even a sense of unworthiness comes up. This recalls Nicodemus in the New Testament saying, "Lord, I am not worthy," or Buddha's calling upon the earth to bear witness to his worthiness. When it arises, we work with shame, with unworthiness. "Repent and be saved." Repentance arises when everything begins to return home, when everything comes together. The turnabout has already begun when repentance appears. Everything is becoming one. This is why humiliation is such an important aspect of work. Humiliation teaches us humility, and humility teaches us remorse.
Albert Low's book "Hakuin on Kensho"

I'm stuck. I really don't know. I'm confused. Shame, humiliation, unworthiness, "repent and be saved"; how are these any part of Zen practice? We are open to learning and seeing reality as it arises.

"To persevere and be open to change,
to have regular contact with sincere practitioners,
and to participate in dharma discussions -
this is the greatest happiness."
Discourse on Happiness - Mahamangala Sutta

The Raft Is the Shore

"The Raft Is the Shore" number 42 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Warning! Mixture of metaphors ahead.
"Even the most productive fishermen get hungry again."

Robert Aitken uses this metaphor to debunk the popular Buddhist metaphor about the raft and the other shore and the abandoning of the said raft. If one see the raft as one's practice, it seems odd to consider abandoning it. Below, Dogen has a thing or two to say about this.

...In many traditional branches fo Buddhism, meditation practice may eventually lead to enlightenment. Dogen states that some people even practice "like having crossed over a great ocean on a raft, thinking that upon crossing the ocean one should discard the raft. The zazen of our Buddha ancestors is not like this, but is simply Buddha's practice." In this common Buddhist simile of the raft, once one reaches the other shore of liberation, the raft (e.g. of meditative practice) is no longer needed. But Dogen implies that the practitioner should continue to carry the raft, even while trudging up into the mountains or down into the marketplace.

Zen Ritual by Steven Heine & Dale S. Wright
Another sunny Saturday at the Farmer's Market.

Sharp Shined and Barn Owl.
WSU Rapter Rehab and Education

Yakuseki

"Yakuseki" number 41 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Yakuseki is the evening meal at Zen monasteries. Made up of the left overs from breakfast and lunch, served without sutras. This same word is used to refer to medicine. A meal as medicine.  This leads me to consider what else we might use as medicine.

Today I feel melancholy. What will I find for medicine? 

Medicine. Tricycle magazine has a service where they will email you a one paragraph "Tricycle's Daily Dharma". I've found these to encouraging and practical and not at all fluffy.

Schiller's Creator

"Schiller's Creator" number 40 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Today's miniature refers to a story about Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Schiller's "Ode to Joy". In the "Ode to Joy" Schiller points to his creator as being a "he" residing "above the starry sky". Yamada Roshi commented that "His Creator was certainly far way." Continuing with the Watts references, this morning twitter serendipitously presented me with this quote via @HypnoticYogi (Alex Mitrovic).
You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.~Alan Watts




After Last Night's Storm

The Dharma

"The Dharma" number 39 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.


We've heard it many times that the symbol or graph for dharma and law are the same in Japanese. Many have hinted that this must have some special significance. I'm skeptical.

I'm no linguist. My native language is confusing enough for me. There are some words in American English that use the same symbols (letters) and the meanings are not related. I'm thinking of the example through as in finished and through as in penetrated. You might be able to make some special connection but because I'm through with my soup doesn't mean I've penetrated it nor if a my carving knife goes through my finger and I finished with the consequences. Another example would be orange as in the fruit and orange as in the color. Same or different?

Make it special if you want, I'm just not buying it.

The translation we chant says 'singing and dancing are the voice of the law'. Makes no sense to me. 'Singing and dancing are the voice of the dharma', ah! - that feels comfortable. Not that Zen is at all concerned with my personal comfort.


Twitter is an amazing thing. Between it and my RSS reader, I'm able to follow people who are of interest to me. People I'd like to know more about. People I'd love to meet in real life. This is the best of the internet and a forward leaning activity enabled by the web. In contrast, Facebook is a way to keep tract of people we already know. A connection with the past. Not completely off but defiantly not as exciting.

Let's remember that the past is dead. The future is not yet born. Out of nothingness comes the present moment. Out of Twitter comes the pointer to the following youtube clip. Fascinating to see the man after listening to his audio presentations for years. I'm starting to work my way through what is available. Good stuff indeed.