Footnotes
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Homeless Kodo (Sawaki-roshi) once said, "The person who has left home must create his own life." He also said, "All Buddhist Scriptures are footnotes to zazen."
These two sayings of a very interesting, but too little known Japanese Zen Master hold keys to understanding just how to live fully and completely. In Zen tradition, "Shukke" (Home-leaving) is what we call ordination as a priest. Why? Well, for several reasons. First, priests literally left home and became monastics. But with political changes in Japan a few centuries ago, this changed and monks became "lay priests". As such, they once again became "householders" in the literal sense, but not in the spiritual sense.
Master Dogen wrote two tractates on this home-leaving issue. In them he argues that we must leave our homes in order to have the peace of mind and freedom to seek our true natures. Apparently, in Dogen's time, they never heard of multi-tasking. There is a sense that the demands of a householder, a wife, children, job, compete with the demands of the priesthood. I say, poppycock.
We find ourselves in our work. We find ourselves in our relationships. We find ourselves in our silence and solitude. We find ourselves in a crowded theater or on a bus or airplane. Wherever we go, there we are.
Dogen, like other monastics before and after him, were looking to protect their monasteries. Monks begging for alms get the goods. The more beggars the bigger the haul.
That said, there is more to Homeless Kodo's point. Homeleaving can also mean leaving what you know. Leaving what you are comfortable with. In other words, stepping out of your comfort zone. And this is really what a Zen practitioner must do on a daily, moment to moment, basis.. To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, Master Dogen says. Yes. and the Buddha Way is to look deeply into yourself in whatever context you reside. This is the Buddha Way. If we are so consumed by what we think we know is truth, then discovery is impossible.
Zazen must be broadly understood here. Homeless Kodo means specifically zazen, of course, but this Master was wise and understood that zazen was a spiritual and psychological posture as much as a physical posture. It is in this sense he is suggesting that the scriptures are explications to living upright. So, first practice, then read about your practice: not the other way around. Practice zazen daily. Practice zazen in every breath and every step. Then, when you do read the scriptures you will understand them in a way that a diamond cuts through steel.
Be well.
Reference: The Zen Teachins of Homeless Kodo, translated by Kosho Uchiyama-roshi, Kyoto Soto Zen Center, 1990
Good Morning Everyone,
Homeless Kodo (Sawaki-roshi) once said, "The person who has left home must create his own life." He also said, "All Buddhist Scriptures are footnotes to zazen."
These two sayings of a very interesting, but too little known Japanese Zen Master hold keys to understanding just how to live fully and completely. In Zen tradition, "Shukke" (Home-leaving) is what we call ordination as a priest. Why? Well, for several reasons. First, priests literally left home and became monastics. But with political changes in Japan a few centuries ago, this changed and monks became "lay priests". As such, they once again became "householders" in the literal sense, but not in the spiritual sense.
Master Dogen wrote two tractates on this home-leaving issue. In them he argues that we must leave our homes in order to have the peace of mind and freedom to seek our true natures. Apparently, in Dogen's time, they never heard of multi-tasking. There is a sense that the demands of a householder, a wife, children, job, compete with the demands of the priesthood. I say, poppycock.
We find ourselves in our work. We find ourselves in our relationships. We find ourselves in our silence and solitude. We find ourselves in a crowded theater or on a bus or airplane. Wherever we go, there we are.
Dogen, like other monastics before and after him, were looking to protect their monasteries. Monks begging for alms get the goods. The more beggars the bigger the haul.
That said, there is more to Homeless Kodo's point. Homeleaving can also mean leaving what you know. Leaving what you are comfortable with. In other words, stepping out of your comfort zone. And this is really what a Zen practitioner must do on a daily, moment to moment, basis.. To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, Master Dogen says. Yes. and the Buddha Way is to look deeply into yourself in whatever context you reside. This is the Buddha Way. If we are so consumed by what we think we know is truth, then discovery is impossible.
Zazen must be broadly understood here. Homeless Kodo means specifically zazen, of course, but this Master was wise and understood that zazen was a spiritual and psychological posture as much as a physical posture. It is in this sense he is suggesting that the scriptures are explications to living upright. So, first practice, then read about your practice: not the other way around. Practice zazen daily. Practice zazen in every breath and every step. Then, when you do read the scriptures you will understand them in a way that a diamond cuts through steel.
Be well.
Reference: The Zen Teachins of Homeless Kodo, translated by Kosho Uchiyama-roshi, Kyoto Soto Zen Center, 1990