Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (Shambhala Library) by Shunryu Suzuki

Author:Shunryu Suzuki
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Doctrines, Body, Zen Buddhism, Zen, Meditation - Zen Buddhism, General, Religion, Buddhism, Mind & Spirit, Meditation, Zen Buddhism - Doctrines, Non-Christian Religions, Religion - World Religions, Buddhism - Zen
ISBN: 9781590302675
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 2006-10-10T08:41:09.907000+00:00

Here is a kind of frog koan for you. Baso was a famous Zen master called the Horse-master. He was the disciple of Nangaku, one of the Sixth Patriarch's disciples. One day while he was studying under Nangaku, Baso was sitting, practicing zazen. He was a man of large physical build; when he talked, his tongue reached to his nose; his voice was loud; and his zazen must have been very good. Nangaku saw him sitting like a great mountain or like a frog.

Nangaku asked, "What are you doing?" ' Tampracticingzazen,"

Baso replied. "Why are you practicing zazen?"

"I want to attain enlightenment; I want to be a Buddha," the disciple said.

Do you know what the teacher did? He picked up a tile, and he started to polish it.

In Japan, after taking a tile from the kiln, we polish it to give it a beautiful finish. So Nangaku picked up a tile and started to polish it.

Baso, his disciple, asked, "What are you doing?"

"I want to make this tile into a jewel," Nangaku said.

"How is it possible to make a tile a jewel?" Baso asked.

"How is it possible to become a Buddha by practicing zazen?"

Nangaku replied. "Do you want to attain Buddhahood? There is no Buddhahood besides your ordinary mind. When a cart does not go, which do you whip, the cart or the horse?" the master asked.

Nangaku's meaning here is that whatever you do, that is zazen. True zazen is beyond being in bed or sitting in the zendo. If your husband or wife is in bed, that is zazen. If you think, "I am sitting here, and my spouse is in bed," then even though you are sitting here in the cross-legged position, that is not true zazen. You should be like a frog always. That is true zazen.

Dogen-zenji commented on this koan. He said, "When the Horse-master becomes the Horse-master, Zen becomes Zen." When Baso becomes Baso, his zazen becomes true zazen, and Zen becomes Zen. What is true zazen? When you become you! When you are you, then no matter what you do, that is zazen. Even though you are in bed, you may not be you most of the time. Even though you are sitting in the zendo, I wonder whether you are you in the true sense.

Here is another famous koan. Zuikan was a Zen master who always used to address himself. " Zuikan?" he would call. And then he would answer. "Yes!" " Zuikan?" "Yes!" Of course he was living all alone in his small zendo, and of course he knew who he was, but sometimes he lost himself. And whenever he lost himself, he would address himself, " Zuikan?" "Yes!"

If we are like a frog, we are always ourselves. But even a frog sometimes loses himself, and he makes a sour face. And if something comes along, he will snap at it and eat it. So I think a frog is always addressing himself. I think you should do that also. Even in zazen you will lose yourself.

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