Meeting Zen-master Harada Tangen Roshi, The Old Buddha

 

Meeting Zen-master

Harada Tangen Roshi,

The Old Buddha

Back in 2005, I spent 10 days in Tangen Roshi's temple. I went to meet him right after my training in Sogenji with Harada Shodo Roshi. I chatted with Tangen Roshi, whose nickname was "The Old Buddha", a few times and one of those times took place in a formal setting called dokusan.

My time with him was short but his transmission, the effect of his presence and energy on me, never left me. I now realise that I met a real attained buddha in him, and therefore he was/is the only living buddhist mahasiddha I ever met in person.

Tangen Roshi was a rare exception. He felt very different to all other roshis - zen masters - who I met before or since. He looked different, like a very relaxed and joyful old cat and when he gave talks, he spoke very differently than the rest (many of his teishos can be found online translated into English). I have a calligraphy collection of about 200 works, including one Tangen Roshi's piece that he gave to me when I left. His energy indeed is different to most others.

In this short video documentary you can see him say that even after he's gone, you all can turn to him for support. Only a mahasiddha has the knowledge to being able to say that.

So... This evening I wanted to say this and express my gratitude to Tangen Roshi and my excellent karma to have met him in person. Like I said he never left me, despite of us meeting only in brief over 15 years ago.

He gave and I received. Still grateful beyond everything else for that <3

https://youtu.be/2Wao1x8gCgc?t=45

Kim

Buddhanature in Inner Martial Arts

 

Buddhanature in Inner Martial Arts

Oskar: What are these qi gong exercises for? Any spesific yogic purpose I mean? (Comment to this video).

Kim: Hi Oskar⁠. I come from a tradition that combines dharma practice with martial and fine arts. But I realise it is very difficult for me to answer what would be the purpose of it. Well, there are common reasons, like learning to unify the body and to move with a unified body. This alone is a tremendously rewarding learning process and we can all understand what is the benefit of learning how to use and carry our bodies well aligned. You don't learn this from only doing sitting practices, nor you learn it from Western sports. From the purely physical perspective, Alexander technique is somewhat close to what is done in (specifically) Chinese "inner martial arts" but what is done inwardly in Chinese arts, that knowledge is entirely absent in modern sports and forms of exercise whatever they may be. The result of this can be seen how (fit) people carry their bodies, how people jog and so on. There is no inner structure, no inner composition or understanding how the body could be used in optimal fashion.
​
⁠Regarding the internal aspects of what I am doing on the video, I wriote this few days ago: http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2021/07/doing-nothing-just-stand.html
​
⁠What you are seeing on the video is atiyoga from one perspective of mind, while simultaneously using dynamic concentration (active mental pushing while doing the pushing movement). Here from the point of view of mind, the basic state and the action of dynamic concentration (in the form of physical and mental pushing) are of same taste, and not two separate things.
​
⁠Typically active mental pushing, called yi in Chinese, pronounced ee in English (the yi in yiquan, lit. intent), in inner martial arts is practiced just like mindfulness is cultivated by mindfulness practitioners. Mindfulness is always momentary and then you get distracted. Thosewith excellent concentration abilities can remain mindful for as long as they want but this doesn't mean that the basic state would be there as a sort of bedrock. So, to me, merely cultivating active mental pushing (yi) in yiquan momentarily, just like the practice of mindfulness, is incomplete. This is the reason why I spent years in dharma practice stabilising the basic state. Now when it is stabilised, I feel ready and very motivated to give my inner state an external expression, here through this movement. And as you can see there are no “gaps”.
​
⁠To me, all forms of practice have always been about reality and it's expression and this is also of course how Terayama Sensei taught. But even long before that,when I started judo at 7, I wasn't interested about belt colours or competing. It's been a life long haul and now finally, with unshakable confidence, I can focus on inner martial arts and bodywork.
​
⁠I don't know what I can accomplish through this but because I took a vow of trying to bring zen arts to Westerners and people of the world, that is what I will do. 

 

- Kim, 4.7.2021 

New and Fresh Zen!

New and Fresh Zen!

Today, I am reminded of my past training in zen buddhism and zen art. Due to many past lives as a zen buddhist, I always felt at home with zen, and I miss it. I miss that spirit.

Few years ago I sketched a zen method, basically a new zen tradition, and today I felt like writing a book about it. Well, a booklet since I'm not much of a writer but anyway. Terayama Sensei asked me to continue teaching after him but like he didn't continue the traditional syllabus of rinzai zen, I definitely would not use or write about the practices of traditional zen, because they weren't that effective for me or for Terayama Sensei. Sensei didn't teach koans because he didn't think they were that effective in relation to time and effort that you have to put into it. Later, he actually took up Amitabha practice and I can very well understand why. I always felt it would have been much better if Pure Land Buddhism had first spread to the West instead of zen... but anyway.

It is not diffcult to have recognition of buddhanature (j. kensho, satori) if we know how the mind works and how we can strike through it, to make the original face show up. While quietive methods don't work so well, dynamic concentration, together with bodhicitta, works in excellent manner. Many zen teachers say the same, that it is not difficult to have kensho but it takes a lot of time to integrate them. In a sense that is true but I have a different take on this.

 

Photo of Terayama Sensei and me in 2005, in front of Yamaoka Tesshu's Tiger and Dragon at Tsukuba Dojo, Chiba, Japan.

There is no buddhist practice other than recognising oneself as a fully enlightened buddha. In other words, kensho is the one and only practice. In other words, all the time spent in non-recognition is nothing else than samsara. 

 

Practitioners need to do practices that enable them to have this recognition at *every session* of practice. Practitioners need to do practices that enable them to have short momentary glimpses, and small and big breakthroughs (kensho) on *daily* basis, not just every now and then, or years apart. The training need not take decades but can be done in years through dynamic practices. This is the correct and the only way to understand samadhi for there is no other samadhi except wisdom (skt. prajna) and compassion (karuna) of the buddha.

This is a point that is hammered hard by the ancestors. One after the other they make it diamond clear that the practice of zen is the practice of recognising ourselves as buddhas. I know from my experience as a teacher and treasure revealer of tantra and atiyoga that this is possible from beginners to advanced bodhisattva-practitioners.

There are very different types of methods with very different types of practicing experiences than the ones we are familiar with. Like the masters of the old times, I am just making my voice being heard for those who have ears to hear. Maybe I should write that book.

I send my love and appreciation to Terayama Sensei. You encouraged me to ask questions that others didn't dare to ask. For that I am ever greatful.

Kim

Introduction to Awakening and The Two-Part Formula for Awakening by Lama Karl Eikrem

Introduction to Awakening and 

The Two-Part Formula for Awakening

By Lama Karl Eikrem

In this text I will be approaching the topic of awakening from a Buddhist perspective. This is because the Buddhist framework is what I’m most familiar with, and not because Buddhism has any special claim to the phenomena of awakening as such. Awakening as defined below is universal in that can happen to people of any culture, age and spiritual orientation. It can come about by applying specific tools, such as the Two-Part Formula for
Awakening presented in this text, or it can happen by “accident”; where a practitioner is either using a meditative tool not specifically designed to induce awakening, or that they are doing something completely unrelated to spiritual practice and just happen to spontaneously awaken to the true nature of that which is commonly labeled “I” or “me”.

One of the basic tenets of Mahayana Buddhism is that all beings have buddha-nature. This does not mean that all beings carry around something that they can point to and call buddha-nature, but that the very nature of existence, of being itself is Buddha; basic wakefulness. Ironically, this basic wakefulness is so ordinary and obvious that it makes it profoundly difficult to recognise for most beings. But if we look at our surroundings and feel into the very experience we are having right here and right now, the basis of it is always basic wakefulness.

This basic nature of ours has three main qualities: (1) it is self-cognisant; free of any “knower” and “known” and simply aware of itself as timeless presence, (2) it is brilliantly alive; full of richness, positivity and love, and (3) it is perfectly stable; never changing. Furthermore, in being the nature of being itself, basic wakefulness is always-already present. It can never not be, and it can never be different from what is. Thus, recognising and actualising the basic nature of our own being is the purpose of spiritual practice.

The main hinder we have on the spiritual path is what we call the selfing-mechanism. The selfing-mechanism refers to the conceptual filter that confused beings see reality through, and it can be divided into three parts. First of all there is (1) the subject-self; the feeling of being “me”, an entity residing within the body, (2) object-selves; self-based thoughts, emotions and feelings, and (3) substrate consciousness; the subtle veils of existential confusion that give rise to self-based mind states such as depression or gross bliss.

The term “awakening” in the broad sense of the word refers to the process of deconstructing the entire selfing-mechanism and awakening to our true nature. Seen this way awakening is a gradual process that moves through several distinct phases until the ultimate freedom from “self-identification” is completely actualised. However, when it comes to the topic of this text “awakening” refers only to the inner shift that takes place in the mind of practitioners as the core of the selfing-mechanism, the “subject-I” is permanently deconstructed. This can be said to be to starting point of the Buddhist Path.

The Buddhist way of deconstructing the selfing-mechanism is through direct exploration of its constitution (Skt. Vipashyana). The basic principle of this approach is to recognise the basic clarity of mind and then bring that clarity to the confusion, i.e. “selfing-mechanism”.

The Two-Part Formula for Awakening, as taught in Pemako Buddhism, embodies this principle by first instructing the practitioner to release tensions in the physical body and recognise the basic openness that reveals itself when doing so. When we keep releasing tension this way, eventually we arrive at the recognition of the basic open space that permeates all of experience. But we cannot stop here. It is equally important that we use this basic clarity as a baseline for further investigation into the existential confusion in question.

Therefore, the Two-Part Forumla for Awakening guides us to mentally reaffirm “I, I, I!” or “Me, me, me!” and then study the sensations that arise within the body. These sensations include gross and subtle contractions, uncomfortable feelings, buzzing sensations, movement of energy and so on. Whatever arise within the body-space we simply study the strongest sensation from the perspective of basic wakefulness. This way, we can naturally dis-identify from the sensations of the “I” and study it like just another object of mind.

By alternating between the two modes; (1) relaxing into basic openness, and (2) reaffirming the sense of subject-self, we are able to dig deeper into both modes, seeing the two modes with greater and greater clarity. Eventually we come to a point where the distinction collapses and the “I” is seen to have not substance, no basis in reality. This is what we call (initial) awakening.

While awakening doesn’t offer anything new in terms of fancy experiences or abilities, it is absolutely crucial for spiritual practitioners to awaken as soon as possible. Without awakening to the emptiness of the subject-I there is no hope of progressing effectively on the path of deconstructing the whole self-based psyche. Rather, it is likely that the practitioner will unconsciously use spiritual practice to strengthen the sense of self – the complete opposite of what the practice is designed for! - as the “I” attaches itself to every aspect of a life spent in full identification with “me”.

As the great Zen master Hakuin Ekaku said,

Anyone who would call himself a member of the Zen family must first of all achieve kenshō — realization of the Buddha's Way. If a person who has not achieved kensho says he is a follower of Zen, he is an outrageous fraud. A swindler pure and simple.

Therefore, do not postpone awakening to the way of basic wakefulness!

May all beings be free!

Further reading:
How to Become Awakened:

https://www.pemakobuddhism.com/113

Awake! Handbook of Awakening:
https://www.pemakobuddhism.com/114

Subtle Ignorance in Zen Buddhism

>>I saw you post about how many Zen folks sit in a very cursory level of Shamatha and call it a day. I thought it was hilarious. There are ALOT of unqualified Zen teachers out there for sure.

--I trained in rinzai zen where there is great emphasis on shamatha/samadhi. Then when a rinzai student has a meeting with roshi, the roshi shouts or hits the student with a stick and bang, it breaks the samadhi... to make the natural state appear, and this makes the student have kensho, proper recognition of the natural state. In dzogchen, they figured out that you don't need to develop samadhi by countless hours of concentration practice. You can just shout syllables yourself and have the same benefit. This means that by shouting or what we call Dynamic Concentration in Pemako Sangha, anyone can have instant release of the samsaric body and instant access to their buddhanature. This is why I do not teach shamatha at all because why would you want to put your time in something that is not it?

But yeah most zen groups I've seen over the past 20 years, just cultivate shamatha and a lot of them confuse that for the natural state or as they say shikantaza, or how I like to call it buddha nature sitting. They waste their time for years and years, even decades and think that that's it. Sometimes they might get lucky and have a glimpse or even a shift but then it doesn't ring their bells to make them question their views and methods. They think that that's how it is supposed to be, that you sit for ten thousand hours, have a moment of kensho, then you sit another ten thousand and have a kensho and so on... It is incredible waste of time. Again, this is something that dzogchen masters such as Longchenpa have made clear for centuries, that one should not confuse shamatha or samadhi with rigpa or the natural state. According to masters, this actually creates a karma that is very detrimental to real dharma practice. I actually have story about this but will save it for later. This is not what dharma professionals do.

Yes, there are many zen teachers with papers in order, all right. Unfortunately, most suffer of these basic problems and since they have so much faith for their tradition, I don't see it will change any time soon. The greatest masters like Hakuin or Linchi make it perfectly clear that kensho is the way and that there is no other way. Ugi sent me a message yesterday and said, "Not of lineage holders, not of Lamas, not of Tibetans, but of liberated beings." I think that there are very few people who really wish to know themselves fully, wish to become buddhas, because so many practitioners are so attached to the external paraphernalia of traditions. It is an awful trap to be in... Anyway, having said that, this problem of subtle ignorance is very very common at all places.

-Kim Katami

Pemako Buddhism, 

www.pemakobuddhism.com

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: First Breakthrough

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo:

First Breakthrough

”The initial realization of the nature of the mind is the first breakthrough. It’s a very important point in all Buddhist schools. At that moment, you cease to be an ordinary person. You become in Buddhist parlance an arya, a noble one. It doesn’t mean you are finished. It doesn’t mean you are a high level bodhisattva. We can fall back from this. But still, this is a big breakthrough. We now understand what is true and what is not true. We don’t have to take it all on faith any more. It is a direct nondual experience. The point is that it is very easy. It’s not difficult, and it’s not something that can only be attained after years and years of practice.”*

”It would be nice if someone would come along and find a method by which people could awaken. Even the Buddha couldn't do that.”**

”I rejoice that Kim is enabling so many practitioners to get awakened in such an approachable manner. May the Dharma flourish for the benefit of all beings!”***

See also: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and Kim Katami: About Awakening

*Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Reflections on a Mountain Lake, p. 191

**Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (source)

**Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (source)

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Dharma Porn

Dharma Porn

For those who don't practice or who practice too little, views and ideas can turn into porn. Buddhists like to roll over in the thought of emptiness. Emptiness this, emptiness that, emptiness, emptiness, emptiness... people go on and on talking and thinking about emptiness, as if they had fever. It is even more pleasurable when one's favourite teacher or lama talks about emptiness. It is like our fantasies becoming true. People associated with dzogchen, find pleasure and delight in words such as rigpa and dzogchen. That's their favourite thing, so they keep repeating these terms. Advaita folks get goose bumps and shiver in pleasurable delight through all those catchy phrases like I am That, I am That, I am That and oohh... how it turns them on. 

 

This kind of thing is very common. People mistake the finger that points to the moon, for the moon. Instead of practicing and finding the moon of buddhahood within themselves, they start sniffing the finger and develop a liking for it. It is OK for someone who is new but sometimes you see people who have practiced for a long time who still look at teachings very superficially like it was porn. Zen porn, dzogchen porn, advaita porn, emptiness porn, lama porn, rigpa porn, stream entry porn, kensho porn, guru porn, secular buddhist porn, wearing robes porn, being a monastic porn, compassion porn, enlightenment porn, purity of mind porn, nonduality porn, Dalai Lama porn, Karmapa porn, my favourite lama porn, being a servant of all beings porn, being awakened porn, taking refuge porn, getting a dharma name porn and so on.

There is a big difference between those who talk and those who walk. In my view, most people associated with spirituality talk much more than they walk. Some even want to remain as fans of dharma and never become practitioners of it.

Getting enchanted by ideas is a sign of immaturity. Getting enchanted by ideas is samsara. 

- Kim Katami

Open Heart Sangha,

www.en.openheart.fi

 

Emptiness Meditation by Daniel P. Brown

Emptiness Meditation

by Daniel P. Brown

Author of the book Pointing out the Great Way

”Now bring to mind your usual sense of self, your personal identity. You can evoke this and use it as an object of reflection. For example I would evoke Dan, Danness, and look squarely at Danness. The thing about self-presentation is that you can evoke it and you can observe it... So evoke your sense of self and observe it. Notice any personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self. Familiarise yourself with the target of your search... And now take your awareness... And let your awareness roam thought the regions of your body. See if you can find any thing in itself, any independently existing thing that is that personal identity, anywhere in the field of bodily experience. You have to actively search... And the more you search anything independently existing, any thing in itself, the more what you search for will be seen from your awareness as unfindable. Emptiness practice... is in the unfindability of the target... If you think you find the independent basis for that sense of self, if you find any thing that's substantial, roam around in that area and break it down to smaller units of analysis... OK, now evoke your sense of self, your personal identity once again... Familiarize yourself with the target of the search. Evoke your personal identity and notice any personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self... Now, take your awareness and let it roam through mental content. Do you find any independently existing thing that is that self?... As you continue to search at some point there is a shift in your basis of operation. What remains right here is the awareness itself, no longer obscured by the empty construction of the personal identity. You open up to the level of awareness that is cleaned up of the cloud of self. And you start operating from that instead of operating out of self-mode.”

The recording can be found from this page, under: ”Meditation on Insight Training or ”Emptiness”.

How Zen Buddhism Can Be Bettered

How Zen Buddhism Can Be Bettered

In this text, I will use Hakuun Yasutani Roshi's instructions on just sitting, as a source for commentary of my own, where I present an idea how the training paradigm of zen buddhism, could be greatly enhanced. For those not familiar with Yasutani Hakuun Roshi, a rather famous figure of Japanese and Western Zen of the 20^th century, I recommend reading his Wikipedia page.

Yasutani Roshi's instruction of shikantaza, or just sitting, are from the book ”On Zen Practice: Body, Breath and Mind” by Taizan Maezumi and Bernie Glassman. You can read this chapter that I will quote and comment below, from here. I would ask the reader to read his instructions carefully, to be sure that with my comments I am not mispresenting him.

Quotes from Yasutani Roshi, with added comments.

Yasutani: ...I will briefly explain how to practice shikantaza... This is the key to practicing shikantaza... Casting all sorts of self-centeredness away and making yourself as a clean sheet of paper; sit, just firmly sit...
In doing shikantaza you must maintain mental alertness, which is of particular importance to beginners - and even those who have been practicing ten years could still be called beginners! Often due to weak concentration, one becomes self-conscious or falls into a sort of trance or ecstatic state of mind...
When you thoroughly practice shikantaza you will sweat - even in the winter. Such intensely heightened alertness of mind cannot be maintained for long periods of time. You might think that you can maintain it for longer, but this state will naturally loosen. So sit half an hour to an hour, then stand up and do a period of kinhin, walking meditation.
During kinhin, relax the mind a little. Refresh yourself. Then sit down and continue shikantaza.
To do shikantaza does not mean to become without thoughts, yet, doing shikantaza, do not let your mind wander. Do not even contemplate enlightenment or becoming Buddha. As soon as such thoughts arise, you have stopped doing shikantaza...
Sit with such intensely heightened concentration, patience, and alertness that if someone were to touch you while you are sitting, there would be an electrical spark! Sitting thus, you return naturally to the original Buddha, the very nature of your being.



Kim's Comment: In his instructions, Yasutani quotes Dogen (see the original text), to indicate what shikantaza is. However, Yasutani's take on shikantaza is clearly different to Dogen's, because his instructions describe ”intensely heightened concentration”. Anyone who has studied vajrayana buddhism, and its clear expositions of meditation practices, can see that Yasutani confuses concentration practice or cultivation of one-pointedness (skt. samadhi, j. zanmai), as it is termed in zen buddhism, with effortless buddhanature sitting, which is what just sitting is. He confuses effort-based heightened concentration or heightened attention, with knowing awareness.



Yasutani: Then, almost anything can plunge you into the sudden realization that all beings are originally buddhas and all existence is perfect from the beginning. Experiencing this is called enlightenment...



Kim's Comment: Here, Yasutani describes how ”anything can plunge” the practitioners into ”sudden realization”, or kensho. This is where he unknowingly explains his erroneous pedagogy of just sitting. In the above bits, he gives instructions of sitting with high alertness, that can only be maintained for short periods of time, until it loosens. This is a classical description of samadhi meditation, which as many zen stories depict, is shattered by some sight, sound or event, which makes one see one's true nature (j. kensho). In a nutshell, Yasutani describes concentration practice of heightened intensity that is then plunged or shattered, which makes the natural state appear, to effect an insight, and he calls all of this with one term, that of shikantaza. This is where the pedagogical mistake is, for heightened concentration, or heightened attention is not the same as kensho, which is a synonym for shikantaza. For this reason, there is a significant difference between Yasutani's and Zen master Dogen's instructions.



Yasutani: In short, shikantaza is the actual practice of buddhahood itself from the very beginning - and, in diligently practicing shikantaza, when the time comes, one will realize that very fact. However, to practice in this manner can require a long time to attain enlightenment, and such practice should never be discontinued until one fully realizes enlightenment. Even after attaining great enlightenment and even if one becomes a roshi, one must continue to do shikantaza forever, simply because shikantaza is the actualization of enlightenment itself.

Kim's Comment: In correct buddhanature sitting, there is no beginning, realization or diligent practice. In correct shikantaza, there is no effort, nor distraction, such as drowsiness, to a slightest degree. I offer my further comments. 

 

Samsaric beings, such as myself, have two kinds of minds: one bound by confusion (samsaric mind) and the other one free (buddhanature). The way to illuminate the samsaric mind and its many traits, in Rinzai-style of zen buddhism, is to focus strongly and keep focusing strongly (samadhi), for in some cases several years, until some spontaneous event from outside occurs, breaks the samadhi, and in consequence, the practitioner momentarily sees his or her buddhanature. What happens with concentration practice, is that one becomes focused, instead of being distracted, while at the same time, establishing calmness of the mind. This is how it ideally is, but in some cases strong concentration, carried over a long period of time, can also create great health problems. For this reason instructions like this, without learning how to relax well, can be altogether counterproductive. In regards to strong sitting, I find it questionable what is the benefit of this for older people, from middle-aged and older, who many are already calm and in general have less vitality than younger people.

Being concentrated is in a way, being self-immersed, self-indulgent. Because the mind is restless and distractive, it requires a lot of training to be able to create a samadhi, a state of complete self-immersion or absorption. In rinzai zen, the logic is to create this samadhi which when it is accomplished, will be automatically smashed into bits by a sound or a sight, such as view of mountains, red Autumn leaf falling from a tree, barking of a dog, sound of rain, seeing of a flower or a yell of a zen master. The main point here is that the cause that shatters the samadhi, never comes from the mind of the practitioner him- or herself, because the mind is in samadhi, in a state of immersion, without thought. In tantric terms, the cause that generates kensho, always comes from outside of the practitioner's energy field.

In my view and experience, as well as those of my students, it is not necessary to generate samadhi first. I have discussed this in Rethinking Zen and Kensho, which mentions how the whole process could be made more efficient, through dynamic concentration. In the instruction above, Yasutani speaks of dynamic concentration, done silently, actually at a medium, rather than high intensity.

If the reader is not familiar how concentration is used in Open Heart, as in Tibetan dzogchen, we use short sharp shouts, like short vocal explosions, to cut through the many layers of the mind, to access and recognise the natural state. This is not unfamiliar to zen buddhism where teachers and students yell to each other, or in some lineages have shouted MUUU! for hours on end to have kensho.

The main difference between medium and (truly) high intensity focus is that with short explosion the desired outcome, that of recognition of buddhanature which is kensho, is accomplished in few seconds, while with medium concentration it takes a lot longer, for the above mentioned reason that one constantly gets distracted. Medium intensity concentration also needs to be fed with energy which makes it demanding of vitality and can even ruin one's health, as in the cases of young zen master Hakuin, and my own, for example.

It is a simple fact that the process of samadhi can be bypassed, while prioritizing the recognition of buddhanature. The essential point is that it is not through concentrative focus but through many kenshos that one becomes familiar of one's buddhanature.

Thank you for reading,

- Kim Katami, 10.12.2018

Helsinki, Finland.

In my book, available free of charge, I have given detailed instructions about dynamic concentration and its effectiveness, What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice.

See demonstrations of dynamic concentration, playlist here.

Rethinking Zen and Kensho

Rethinking Zen and Kensho

There are many examples of zen practitioners, both monastics and laypeople, who experienced seeing one's true nature, or kensho, first by cultivating one-pointedness (skt. samadhi, jp. zanmai), and then shattering that one-pointedness through various spontaneous or purposeful ways. What happens when one-pointedness becomes shattered is that one's mind shifts from self-based and self-experienced concentrative calm, to one's natural state, or buddhanature.

I have questioned the necessity of cultivating samadhi because, from the point of view of having kensho, it seems quite useless, that takes a lot of time and effort to come up with. While from one perspective being mindfully concentrated is better than being distracted, neither of these conditions are the natural state, that is, kensho. Thousand hours of concentration on one's breath or koan is little, based on queries and observations, and still it is not certain that kensho will happen. All in all, it is very unreliable. The good side is that it needn't be so.

Buddhism teaches that all sentient beings have buddhanature, so the question is how can we most effectively access this buddhanature of ours, instead of remaining in our samsaric state? If we managed to recognise our natural state correctly, on regular basis, we'd be glimpsing and familiarising (kensho) our buddhanature all the time.

In my view, the reason why kensho zen is near to extinction is because training in samadhi has taken the place of prioritising kensho. It's all backwards. If recognition of one's buddhanature was prioritized, we would instantly see a change in our sanghas and in the whole zen culture.

The thing is that in order to have kensho, we need not cultivate samadhi. We need not go through the hardship of learning how to concentrate but by the means of dynamic concentration (pg. 21 in What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice) can access the natural state as soon as we utter a sharp shout. In this way we can bypass samadhi cultivation and save a lot of time and energy, while inevitably having one kensho after another.

Thank you.

-Kim Katami

Open Heart Sangha,

www.en.openheart.fi

That Was Emptiness!

That Was Emptiness!

There is little agreement between buddhist schools and lineages about what is what and the qualifications. Some have low standards, some high, some think they have high standards when in fact they have low standards. The point is that there is little consensus, so who can be considered an authority?

Anyway, buddhism is concerned with confusion and removing of it. That's all buddhism is meant to do and the way it is done, is through the emptiness principle. Emptiness or selflessness means that we come to perceive ourselves and all things in our mind, having no solidity, no entityness, no fixed existence. That's all. Everything else is just an elaboration of this core teaching. This very point removes all of our problems, because it removes all of our narrowminded selfing.

Stream entry is known by most schools of buddhism, although the names vary and the methods of getting there vary. For the sake of clarity and simplicity I'll call it awakening. What is awakening? What's the point of it?

We have basically two minds: 1. basic mind that is clear, pure, untainted and without confusion and 2. confused mind that is the construction of the self, in various forms. We are confused because we are stuck in the self-based mind, without knowing the basic mind and that the confused mind is actually also the basic mind. The purpose of vipashyana meditation, that is typical to buddhism, is to enable us to see that me, my thoughts, my emotions and my subtle body is actually the basic mind that is free and has no confilct. The purpose of buddhist meditation is to see and realise this simple fact. This realisation comes about through glimpses, awakening and integration. Awakening or stream entry is the first irreversible hit, or a blow, that causes the sharpest peak of our selfing to collapse, so that it won't reconstruct. This cannot be accomplished through calmning down meditation, although it is useful in the process.

An analogy of a glimpse, where a dog represents the basic mind that has no self. Imagine you are sitting in front of a small window, hoping to see the dog on the other side of it. If we haven't seen the dog, we don't know what to expect, even if we know other people's descriptions of it. Then, out of nowhere, the dog runs past the window. Swoosh! All we see is smudge run by. We are not completely sure how the dog looked because it went by so quickly but we saw it well enough to see that it had four legs, a tail, two ears and had the general appearance of a dog, just like the dog specialist said it would. This is a glimpse of the basic mind. It is something but it is not enough for us to see the dog well, so that we'd have certainty about the dog.

Awakening is different from glimpse. You sit behind the window again, hoping to see the dog, and then all of a sudden it comes, sits down, right behind the glass for a brief moment, during which you can see it perfectly for the first time ever, until it stands up and runs away again. Ah! That's it! That was the dog! Woohoo! Maybe you have such initial joy and wonder, many do. After the initial excitement passes, you realise that seeing the dog has somehow changed you. You no longer feel the same as before. Something is clearly different and its so much better now. You feel more you, freer, clearer, more natural, chest doesn't feel heavy and so on. It's all because you saw the dog, your true nature, without "you", the entity, in it. And because you did, it deconstructed your sense of self as an entity. That's why you feel different post-awakening. Now you gained unshakable certainty about the dog.

Whether we call this awakening, kensho, stream entry or anything else, is of no importance. The importance is on what it does to one's confusion and dissatisfaction, that, as I said above is the heart and soul of buddhism. What matters the most is how our confusion, or self, comes torn down, or seen through.

Now, some say that awakening is this or awakening is that, and are keen to deny if some single specific criterion is not checked. "You're still getting angry, huh? Well, that wasn't stream entry then". "You can't have your finger chopped off, without screaming on top of your lungs and becoming grudgeful against your abusers? Oh, you certainly didn't wake up!". As I said, there is little consensus but the way I see it, is like I explained above. What matters most is the selfless hole in the mind, that no longer has selfing in it, and that is also what is most meaningful for the person her- or himself. Whether one can read other peoples minds, walk on water, have light shining from one's heart, see past lives and so on, are just side dishes, somethign extra that you can do without. Emptiness is the main meal that fills the belly.

Yamada Ryoun Roshi on Enlightenment Experiences

Yamada Ryoun Roshi speaks of awakening experiences, difference of depth and clarity in them and finally how "the whole wall collapses" and one becomes a buddha. This is exactly how we talk about progressing through the bhumis in Open Heart. 

See: http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.fi/2016/02/stages-of-spiritual-attainment.html

 

 

 

Buddha and Awakening

Buddha and Awakening

I was listening to a dharma talk given by a zen teacher. In the talk she gave an account of Shakyamuni Buddha's life, his search and his struggles.

"He searched for 6 years. He studied with three profoundly important teachers of the time. He studied various meditation techniques, he struggled with the ascetic tradition, he wondered from place to place, he had a few friends who were also on the path with him, and he became quite discouraged because he couldn't seem to break through his question which was why do we suffer, and what is the mystery of suffering, and how do we end suffering."

 - Enkyo O'Hara Roshi

Listening to this bit got me wondering of this like many times before. Shakyamuni, before his awakening, had the problem that despite of his utmost efforts he was doing wrong practices, practices that wouldn't and didn't get him awake from his suffering. As the story goes he studied with three masters of the time and came to master various states of meditation but these states would come and go without any permanent change on his mind. Also, Shakyamuni was neglecting his body by meditating too much and by not eatingand sleeping. He had studied with all the greatest yogis of his time but he just couldn't get to a place where the knot of his confusion would untangle. This is the problem I had and many others have.

So Shakyamuni sat down to concentrate and swore to sit as long as it would take him to break through. And it happened to him through sitting for a week. On the eighth morning as he lifted his gaze, as he was finishing his concentration exercise, he saw the star Venus in the sky. That simple and yet direct moment of seeing the bright star penetrated his sense of self. Through this awakening experience he had a shift from the self-based mind to selfless mind. And it set him free.

There are similar stories of awakening. One zen roshi I know woke up by seeing a tree leaf being touched by a gust of wind, after he had finished his meditation. Another zen roshi woke up by hearing the sound of his piss splashing in the urinal after his zazen. Awakenings through these kind of incidents happen. It happens but it is random.

I wonder if Shakyamuni, before his awakening, ever knew why he had the yearning to seek. I wonder if he knew exactly why he was pursuing the ascetic path and then the yogic path until he woke up. I don't assume he did because had he understood that his suffering was caused by his sense of self, or me-ness, he would have been able to tackle it head on. But he didn't, his path testifies that. Apparently his ascetic masters didn't really know either why they were doing all the things they did because otherwise Shakyamuni wouldn't have needed to leave them to find the answer on his own.

Many meditators of the modern day share the same problem Shakyamuni did: I need to wake up but it just isn't happening even though I am doing everything according to the instructions of the tradition. Shakyamuni sat for 6 years, I sat 8½. I know people who sat up to 10, 20, 35 years (long days!) but were not able to break through. Many modern meditators have the same problem Shakyamuni did *2500* years ago. It is a valid question why it is so random.

There is no way to avoid suffering, or existential confusion, living as a human being. But there are definite ways for extinquishing the fire of self-delusion. We need to have an understanding what exactly is the matter. When we understand that we have to have a technique, an exercise, to tackle the issue. And thirdly it is very helpful to receive instructions from someone who is already there.

I hope that in another 2500 years techniques for awakening, like the Two-Part Formula, are a household name so that the future generations don't have to suffer the way we did.

- Kim Katami, 30.4.2018

The Two-Part Formula: http://www.en.openheart.fi/113

When Zen Master Buried His Head in the Sand

When Zen Master Buried

His Head in the Sand

A month ago I read a testimony by someone online (anonymous) where he related his own as well as his friend's experiences with a few Zen buddhist teachers. He narrated, as you can read below, specifically the problem of not having kensho in the case of his friend. I had a private conversation with him and got to know some additional details of the matter, including the lineage and the names of the teachers involved. To my surprise I found out that these teachers come from a lineage whose head teacher had recently written an article about the problem of ”minimizing of kensho” and bringing it back in Zen buddhism. After this I had a brief email discussion with the head teacher over email.



Anon wrote: > I attended a retreat a few weeks ago lead by a couple of Zen masters, attended by one other and a rotation of Dharma holders. During a discussion after teisho, one student mentioned that after 4 years of dedicated practice, attending retreats and so on, he still had not had kensho, did not have any insight into the dharma. The fundamental question for him is, "Who am I?" The teachers laughed 'knowingly' but offered literally no help to him, no insight, no instruction. It made me angry... This incident, that someone like that could train with them for 4 years and not even have initial realization, makes me question their competence and whether I should continue to participate in this organization. It seems to me that it is largely a matter of students not receiving appropriate instruction.
The universal formula at this temple is to start everyone interested in awakening through the koan Mu. This has always seemed to me like a strange and inefficient method. Apparently it works for some people, but it is not uncommon to find students who have been working on Mu-koan for years. At what point do you offer a different approach? The only other practices offered are just sitting (jap. shikantaza) and following of breathing.

Kim's comment: From this blog you can find many other examples of people who sought to answer their existential problems through traditional buddhist or hindu practice, with authorised teachers but for one reason or the other could not get the first irreversible insight, or awakening here called by it's Japanese name kensho.

Again, here we have a practitioner who has devoted a notable amount of his time, energy and money to Zen buddhist practice instructed by Zen masters but the practice doesn't work for him. The core of the problem here is that koans are indirect tools of generating awakening (sudden enlightenment) or further purifying the mind (gradual enlightenment). They also require one on one guidance from a teacher and in many cases a lot of time to create ”doubt” about the koan. Doubt could be rendered as interest or yearning to pierce through the koan such as Mu. Due to several reasons, including cultural, it doesn't get much more indirect than this. Find my proper analysis, A Look at Awakening and The Two-Part Formula, from my free Awake! -ebook downloadable from the Open Heart-website.

I am sure the knowing laughter of the teachers was sincere, not meant to cheapen the student. I have heard the same laughter in dharma communities all over the world many times, when someone in similar frustrating situation bursts out to the teacher that they aren't experiencing any shifts despite of sound effort. It's the laughter of common ignorance of teachers and their senior students who do not exactly know how awakening is generated. This is a very widespread problem. By the time one becomes a teacher or a senior student, possibly after more than a decade conditioning into the tradition, they think asking such questions is silly talk of a beginner that can be chuckled at. They get amused because the common and mistaken thought is that one can do something to approach awakening but that it is a folly to think that one could somehow make it happen purposefully. They do not know that practices like this exist. They think that it's such a silly and childish idea, that you can only be amused about it. What is even more concerning is how large crowds of unawakened people who have become habituated to this kind of thinking are equally amused by such questions. However, I think that asking question shows common sense that beginners still have. They have not yet identified with the ways and forms of the tradition and think for themselves.

Anon: > I have done koan training for a couple of years and remain unconvinced that I should continue this practice. I have met teachers who have completed that training who still appear to lack clarity. I talked to one teacher and my heart sank when it occurred to me that, although she had completed the 1000 or so koans of the curriculum and was on her way toward receiving formal transmission, still she had not had realization of emptiness. A few days after having this intuition, she admitted the fact in the course of a dharma talk, but did it in such a way as to suggest that this kind of realization is unimportant. I wonder.



Kim's comment: What was said first, I have heard numerous times before. I have also heard of the poor quality of koan training within American Zen buddhism but I had never heard of someone who had passed most of the koan curriculum without insight. This indicates that something is very wrong with the way koans are taught in this lineage. It is obvious that their way of training has deviated from proper koan training where the student does not pass or graduate a koan without an irreversible shift or kensho. Internet search reveals how John Tarrant Roshi describes his way of teaching: ”I studied and taught Zen in a classical, pretty much Japanese, manner for about 15 years before developing new ways of introducing koans that even people with no experience of meditation can find useful. source” To think that a senior student, about to become a teacher has spent many years doing 1000 or more koans, without having an insight, while downplaying ”this kind of realization as unimportant” is a really corrupted state of affairs.
When I studied with Shodo Harada Roshi, who has the custom of putting all the Western Zen teachers and masters practice deep abdominal breathing (jap. susokkan) regardless if they have finished koan training, I heard that the koan training had deteriorated greatly in American Zen but I could never have imagined that it had gone this bad.
As I learned the names of the teachers involved, I realised that I had read a good article by the head teacher of this lineage just a few months earlier. He wrote:



”In the Western Zen scene today words like enlightenment, kensho, and satori have been pushed to the background. Any emphasis on the experience of awakening has been minimized... However, that acknowledged, the great project of Zen is nothing less than awakening... Zen without awakening is a hobbled eagle. I suggest if we want Zen to be more than a mindfulness practice that will get us an edge in whatever project we want an edge in, we need to reclaim awakening as the central purpose of the project.”

Revisiting his article, I felt puzzled. It is stated that there is a mission to ”reclaim awakening” in their school but then even extensive training is not getting it done. I wondered, if the head teacher knew about this or possibly other similar situations within his own lineage.

I emailed the ”Roshi” (I shall adress him with this title. This is not John Tarrant Roshi who was mentioned earlier in the text.) where I introduced myself, pasted the quote and asked for his comment in the light of his article. I mentioned I had studied Zen with notable teachers and had been asked to teach myself.

Roshi replied: ”Kensho is a natural part of the human condition. But, koan introspection is a practice, discipline concerned with encouraging the insight, and once encountered to deepen and broaden what it can mean. And that I am part of a project, all heirs in the lineages of Daiun Sogaku Harada, within Soto to reclaim the discipline.”

Receiving his reply, I wondered if he had read and/or understood the issue or whether he already ducked the question, either because he didn't want to discuss the matters of his lineage with a stranger or because he had nothing to say about it. I replied to him stating the facts again that clearly showed that the noble effort of reclaiming kensho in Soto zen didn't seem to be working, not in these cases at least. In the spirit of sharing the dharma, I also let him know that in dzogchen, including Open Heart teachings, there are practices that mechanically produce kensho and included half page instructions of the Two-Part Formula. I was worried he would feel my post to be pushy but at the same time I expected a dharma veteran of 50 years to be able to listen and filter any beneficial information.

Techniques that generate awakening are not known outside traditional dzogchen (doing my best to change that) which is the reason why kensho is viewed mistakenly and even strangely in many traditions. I have presented these faults in the quotes of Zen teachers in this article.

Roshi replied: ”I don't believe there is any universal practice, something applicable to every heart. I personally am content with my disciplines, but thank you for your offer. Please forgive my being blunt. I am not interested in pursuing this conversation any further. Thank you for sharing your concerns.”

I can appreciate how a Zen veteran after a life long training is happy and content in his lineage and it's ways. But like most other Zen buddhist authorities he made a grave misjudgement in making this a matter of belief, instead of a matter of study and exercise. He stated that he does not believe that there would be a practice that would function mechanically and generate kensho for anyone because of his identification with the Zen buddhist method. It's the amused laughter again. Like this he unknowingly chose his own mistaken belief. This is unacceptable for a yogi in any situation.

Having received many strange messages online, it can be that he took my message as another crazy email written by someone who doesn't know what he is talking about, presenting what to him are sheer absurdities. I have gotten many weird emails but I have always read them, especially if they are well written and struck the key points, like my emails to him did.

Perhaps the Roshi read and understood my posts but trusted or hoped that if there were any problems in his Zen school, the system would take care of them, even if his reaction was in direct disharmony with what he was informed. But to be honest, I think he put his head in the sand.

On behalf of all seekers out there, it concerns me greatly that he wasn't listening or if he was, he ducked the issue. In his position as a head of the lineage, he could help a lot of people, while accomplishing the very mission of reclaiming awakening in his Zen school had he better tools. But no is a no and there is nothing anyone can do about it. OK, then. At least I tried.

After this I wrote a note to Open Heart-teachers:

If you meet a practice method or a single technique that is told to work better than some aspect of Open Heart-teachings, you are obliged to look into those teachings. I do not approve that you become negligent because the students have to pay for your attachments. If something better is available, always choose that. The moment you stop being interested and open to learn something new, and hopefully better, is the moment you stop being an Open Heart-teacher.

Obstacles are many.

Mind made, man made.

No other option than to pray

for the lighting to strike.

- Kim, 8^th of March 2018

Omori Sogen Roshi's Awakening

Omori Sogen Roshi's Awakening

For eight years Omori Roshi (1904-1994) commuted between Kyoto and Tokyo. In 1933, finally, he ”broke through” and passed the koan Mu. About this realization, Omori Roshi says:

”My experience was not very impressive or glorious, so I don't like to talk about it but... One day after finishing zazen, I went to the toilet. I heard the sound of the urine hitting the back of the urinal. It made a splashing sound. It sounded very loud to me, and at the very moment I realized, ”AHA”, and I understood. I had a realization.

”I AM!” I was very happy. But it was not a showy experience. It was not even very clean. Sound is not the only thing that can trigger this experience. Yamada Mumon Roshi, with whom I trained, had a very different experience. He was walking down the hallway when he saw the red color of the autumn leaves, and suddenly he was enlightened.

When you are enlightened, you realize very clearly that you are right in the middle of Mu. This becomes a little theoretical, but according to Nishida's philosophy, it is stated that the infinite circle has infinite centers. In effect, what happens is that you realize that that center of the infinite circle is you.

When you are in the state of samadhi, whether you call it Mu-samadhi or another type of samadhi, you are unconditionally in the realm of Absolute Nothingness (zettai mu). At that time, because of some incident, when you break through the samadhi, you will attain realization. It is like ripe fruit on a tree. When the wind blows or the branch sways, the fruit will just fall from the tree. If the fruit is not ripe, though the wind may blow or the branch sway, the fruit will not fall.

You will realize with your entire being that you are at the center of Absolute Nothingness (zettai mu) and at the center of the infinite circle. To be at the center of the infinite circle in this human form is to be BUDDHA himself. You have been saved from the beginning. You will understand all these things clearly and with certainty.

Even if you are in the state of samadhi but do not have this realization, you are merely in that state. You will not feel that, ”I am glad I am who I am. A great burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I am content. I am saved”.

From ”Omori Sogen, The Art of a Zen master” by Dogen Hosokawa.

Kim's note: Omori Sogen Roshi was the teacher of my teacher, Terayama Tanchu Sensei.

Shane's Awakening

Shane's Awakening

Read also: 

Awakening by reading a book

Mark's Awakening

T's Awakening

Shane's Awakening

See Shane's before and after photos below.

 

"Before I discovered the Two-Part Formula I hadn’t much experience in meditation, in fact, for reasons that I am not entirely sure of, I hadn’t meditated for nearly 10 years.

My brother introduced me to meditation about 12 years ago and the first method I learned was a breathing awareness meditation. This seemed to have a very positive effect on me so I made a commitment to practice everyday, even though the idea of awakening or enlightenment was completely unknown to me at this stage. Around this time I also took part in a small number of retreats that were focused mainly on the practice of pure awareness. I stuck with this meditation for a while but found it

hard to stay committed. My daily practice became less and less frequent until

eventually I stopped.

During the 10 years of not meditating I had considered returning to a daily practice but could never find the inspiration that I needed. One day my

brother mentioned to me that he had discovered a new meditation technique that was awakening nearly everybody who tried it. As you can imagine I found this quite hard to believe but simply hearing about it was enough to reignite a spark in me. I didn’t go to the 2PF straight away, there was definitely something in me that was resisting it. It took a few months before I eventually decided to give it a go.

The 2PF felt strange at first and was quite unlike any meditation technique I had tried before. I certainly wasn’t one of those individuals who awakens

after one or two days. In fact, it took several weeks to break through the illusion. The 2PF never felt like it was having a very strong effect on me. I found it difficult to trigger any strong sensations of self, but I was committed and eventually it worked.

My awakening happened early on a Saturday morning, but since the afternoon of the previous day I had felt like a shift had occurred. I went out that evening to meet friends and go to a concert and throughout this whole time I felt unusually peaceful. So content and relaxed, yet energised. Socialising was much easier than usual. I often had difficulty relaxing in large groups and would usually resort to excessive drinking as a way of dealing with the tension. While cycling home I decided to try out the affirmation. Saying the words out loud and in my head, I couldn’t help but notice how the words had lost some of the meaning that they previously had. Almost to the point where they felt like they weren’t bouncing off anything, like they weren’t triggering anything in me. I went to bed when I got home and as I lay there, already after 4 am at this point, I couldn’t stop thinking to myself that something was missing. This couldn’t be awakening. My experience lacked heart, lacked warmth and love.

While lying there I became increasingly aware of a glow between my eyes. I had felt something like this before during meditation, but it had previously felt more like tension, like a clenched fist, or a rock, or a knot in my forehead. Now it felt like it was coming to life , growing warmer, and pulsing with energy. I decided to focus my entire being on it and as I did so it started to expand. The more it expanded the warmer and freer I felt. Suddenly I realised something that I had known before, but there was a sudden shock realisation of what it truly meant. For the first time in my life I realised I can be me now, really me. I said this to myself out loud. “Oh my God, I can be me now”. Nothing to be scared of anymore, nothing to chase, no-one to be, except me.

These words had such profound meaning to me that I needed to repeat them several times, completely shocked by the realisation. Suddenly I started crying

and the warm glow that was expanding across my forehead suddenly exploded, releasing a massive wave of energy across my entire body. The feeling was so indescribably intense that I broke down in completely uncontrollable tears.

My body was shaking. It felt like a huge amount of dark energy was bursting out of my body through this point in my forehead. I’m not sure how long the tears lasted but as they calmed down they were replaced by laughter and a feeling of lightness and energy like nothing I’d felt before. Even though it was 5 am I felt like getting dressed and running down the road telling everybody I met what had happened to me and how much I loved them! Crazy! I did go for a walk but you can imagine what the few people around would be like at that time on a Saturday morning, so I kept it to myself.

My awakening was such an intense experience that it took several days to recover from. The whole experience had rattled me so much that I could do

very little for those few days. But as my life gradually returned to normality reality started to sink in. The sights, the sounds, I no longer feel separated from them as I did before. I feel so connected with everything and everyone around me. Such a strange but beautiful feeling. My self could never have experienced life in this way." 

Before

After

For more info and instructions of the Two-Part Formula:

http://www.en.openheart.fi/113