Zen Buddhism is a Koan

Since the early 1970's I had an interest in Zen and its philosophy and practice. I fell in love with the works of Alan Watts and slept with Suzuki Roshi's 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind'. If a book had the word Zen in it, I bought it.

It wasn't until around 1988 that I began formal studies with a bona fide real life Soto Zen priest. I sat my first sesshin with Rev. Nonin Chowaney out of Omaha, Nebraska. It wasn't what I thought it was. From what I read Zen was about spontaneity, freedom and of course meditation. When we started sesshin I thought there would be more action, but all we did was sit and stare at a wall for what it seemed like, well, forever. My knees ached, my back ached and I had no idea that there was also so much bowing and full prostations. Then chanting sutras in Japanese! Totally lost.

Well, to get to the point of my post. Zen without Buddhism is basically Taoism. It is more in tune with nature and is about harmony and maintaining balance. Zen is about following the Way and developing a sensitivity and insight into the world, not necessarily the teachings of Buddha.

Buddhism is about ending suffering, finding enlightenment and following the teachings and doctrines of the historical Buddha. In some circles Buddhism can be very dogmatic and overly concerned with form and politics, not unlike the Catholic Church. Yet, I love the teachings of the Buddha and am very much influenced by them.

It just seems to me that Zen and Buddhism can be polar opposites. Zen and its humor and spontaniety...Buddhism with its form, scriptures and ritual. In many ways having them together is a living koan. Reconciling these two into a practice and way of life seems to be the conundrum that I have struggled with over the years....part of my bias is I distrust formal religion and its heirarchy. No wonder Nonin gave me Shinzen....Trust Zen....as my Dharma name.

But just now as I write, my Dharma name is Trust Zen, not Trust Buddhism...or even Zen Buddhism. Interesting...oh well. My wife wants to talk to me now and put my 'mistress', the laptop aside.

Hands palm to palm,

Shinzen

image courtesy of Buddhism Now

The Only Koan You Need

You

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen

(koan courtesy of Crazy Cloud Ikkyu)

Zen Koan Defense

Last evening I received a phone call from Andy, a martial artist who is currently out in Los Angeles. He is a Shorei Kempo student out of Green Bay and would come to study with us from time to time.

Andy is very inquisitive and loved discussing koans and using words as a self-defense tool to freeze the opponent's mind. It makes sense since he is a linguist and contracts with the military.

Well, Andy is around 28 years old and he stated he was out on a date and around 4 in the morning they were out and wanted some gum. They stopped at a gas station, which he sort of knew he shouldn't cause it wasn't in the best neighborhood, but he did. When he went in, four males confronted him on what he was doing and threw some racist and harassing words at him. One of them began approaching him asked what was he doing here...

Andy said his heart was beating and his mind was racing and all of a sudden he said, "I am coming from church." The fellow asking the question looked at him like, 'huh' and all of sudden they were his buddies. He got his gum and left.

Andy said they either couldn't figure out what he was talking about or they had a healthy respect for Jesus. He was just glad everything worked out and he and his date were able to leave without harm. He said he had to call me to tell me about his Zen Koan Defense and its effectiveness...and to thank me for the lesson. The real lesson learned is not to get gum in a bad part of LA at 4 am...unless you just came from church.

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen





pic from Gahan Wilson

Ohhh's or Aha's...which do you prefer?

In my last post I put up a koan that has been spinning in my head for over 20 years. Now, I am not much of a koan guy nor classically trained in them. In Soto Zen our central practice is Shikantaza...just sitting zen. However, this one koan, 'Why is a mouse when it spins?' tickles my brain for some reason, so I dwell on it from time to time.

Now, I have a certain understanding of this koan, which I am sure a Rinzai Zen Master would not accept, but what the #@%^, I really don't care. For myself this koan has helped me see 'sideways'. This is all I can say about that, without sounding totally like I just flew in from Venus.

One thing I have come to know about koans, is that there are two experiences you can have with them. One is the , "Oh, I See" experience. This is when the koan is sort of explained to you. Your intellect grabs onto it and says it understands, but this is limited understanding.

What is more important, at least from my limited and extremely delusional perspective, is the 'Aha' experience. This occurs when you can 'see' the koan in its wholeness and get the 'feeling' behind it. Your whole body feels it. You may have the same answer as the person who gets the 'Oh, I see' experience, but your understanding is authentic as it comes from a deeper place within you.

It's similar to solving a word in a crossword puzzle you have struggled with without using a dictionary or asking for help. It pops into your head and you go, 'aha!' When you use the dictionary you get the 'oh, I see' experience...it is a bit unsatisfying.

My karate teacher, Mr. Paul Dean, was good at just letting us practice without a lot of criticism or critique (until you got to certain levels). He allowed you to explore the art's techniques and katas, especially when exploring a kata's bunkai, or hidden self-defense techniques.

Exploring bunkai on your own and getting the 'aha' is much more inspiring and exciting than having someone just tell you what a certain move means. When you can find it coming deep from within yourself, that 'aha' helps you grow and expands your mind larger than you know. (Right ZenHG?...check out his On the Dojo Floor blog). It is the road to mastery of your art.

So, as you go through life, what do you want? Do you want the "Oh, I see" or the "Aha!"...with a big 'Yes!' running behind it? I know what's more fun. How about you?

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen

Why is a mouse when it spins?

Brain Freeze

Did you ever eat ice cream too fast and get a brain freeze? I love root beer floats and devoured mine quickly while on vacation. For a moment I almost felt incapacitated, unable to think or move. My daughter caught me going, 'damn this hurts'.

Now my wife, during my brain freeze was tremendously empathetic...ha ha. She usually tells me to just suck it up. Well, by now you are probably wondering what does all this have to do with karate, zen and what I usually blog about.

About 13 years ago, one of my karate students, Mike, was accosted by three guys. Now, Mike is a tough black belt and a very dedicated zen-head. In relaying his story to me about the attack, Mike stated one of the guys put him in a headlock and began to smack Mike's face. Mike said that his thoughts were racing and he was thinking, "I can't believe this is happening".

Brain freeze. Mike was in the middle of an assault and his brain had froze. He was caught in between fight or flight. His analytical mind was too engaged in judging the experience. To make a long story short, Mike's training took over and he successfully defended himself from these three guys. Mike stopped using his discursive analytical mind that wanted to figure out what to do and trusted his protective mind that had been trained to kick butt.

Our analytical mind basically houses our ego...our judger of experiences... and is always one step behind the actual reality of the flow of Now. It wants to be in charge, but it really can't because it is so limited in it's ability. You see the analytical mind operates in a linear step by step fashion and typically sees life as on/off or black/white...and as I said earlier...it is judging what is happening which is always one step behind the action of the actual happening Now.

The protective mind works more holographically and is in tune with what is really happening as it is happening. This is the part of the mind that can be trained with high repetition of simple self-defense movements and will protect you, if you let it. Trust is involved here...and no brain freeze can happen. Only flow exists.

Self-defense involves training your protective mind to move your body in a well-coordinated fashion for survival, if you let it. When you let your ego take over you are going to be one step behind the action and more apt to get lost in analysis....and brain freeze can happen, plus get your ass kicked.

So, using self-defense as a microcosm of our daily life experience, ponder how this can relate to your every day activities as well. Be aware of your brain freezes...as well as those opportunities to enter into the bubbling of the now...then notice how your ego wants to take over. In many ways it is like a battle. So just watch.

What do Zen koans do to your mind?

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen