Yoko on Sawaki

Nothing to get

I’ll read excerpts I translated from Master Kodo Sawaki’s book, a collection of his talks. My interpreter is Mike.^[1]

Some people believe that when you strike a match … then you get satori, enlightenment at once. … Some people … think that satori or enlightenment is the same as the intellect. Some people asked, if they practiced zazen, what could they get from it. He replied “you can get nothing”. … Then he replied, “you can become natural”. … Master Dogen said that Shikantaza is not an idea, but the fact of just sitting in zazen.^[4]

Some priests say that if you get satori, then you should start practicing zazen, and some … that you should practice zazen until you get satori. Those ideas are utterly wrong, Master Dogen said that the state of sitting in zazen is satori itself.^[5]

The posture of zazen

… he was sent to Ryu-unji temple … While he was sitting in zazen, the old woman … happened to enter the zazen hall … She immediately prostrated to him many times … He was also shocked to realise that the zazen posture must be something special, because she was a rather mean person who had always nagged and scolded him … This fact told him that the posture of zazen reflected something about the truth of Buddhism. Zazen is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of the ancient ancestors of Buddhism. Zazen makes you not push others down … You become yourself fully by practicing zazen. If you are born into a rich family, you should be a rich person fully, if you are an eighty year-old person, you should be an eighty year-old person fully, dropping off mind and body.^[4]

The state of Munen Musou … is the state in which you become yourselves fully, without comparing yourselves to others, or to your past life.

Belief in zazen is a kind of action like just tuning in the radio

… This action is gassho – prostration, and just sitting in zazen. … If you put yourself on the wavelength of the Universe as your habitual action, then your state becomes the same state as Gautama Buddha’s.^[5]

Pure sake

The rule of Buddhism is like pure Sake (wine)

Some people have the intention to listen to talks in order to add some ideas …, and then go to listen to other people’s talks, from the Rinzai sect or from something else. What those people are doing is just like adding water into the pure wine or sake. … Practicing Buddhism is not the way to go to some ideal heaven; it is the way to find yourself as you are. It doesn’t help other human beings but it helps you to become a buddha. … Buddhism is not something to learn intellectually or to remember, Buddhism is just our full and sincere conduct here and now. All sorts of sports are momentary action – … without thinking about winning or losing. … Whenever you have breakfast, you just eat fully, whenever you clean your bedroom, you just clean your bedroom thoroughly.^[6]

The four bonno

Gachi means ignorance of self. … you don’t know clearly that your buddha-nature is the same as Gautama Buddha’s nature. … Gaken means individualistic and self-centred. … Gaman means comparing the self … Gaai means love of self … The truth of Buddhism is not satori or enlightenment; it is just to forget everything which you think belongs to you. He thought that the root of the torment and troubles … comes from human beings’ tendency towards these four states, although you may understand intellectually what he means, it will be impossible for you to get rid of these four states without practicing zazen.^[9][10]

Helping others

Question: There was something about not helping other people.

So that means Master Kodo Sawaki discriminated in that case – other people, mediocre people, aren’t helped by your practice.^[11]

Mike: It doesn’t help other human beings, but it helps you.^[11]

Question: Maybe in a small way, if you live with someone who practices zazen, it might change; in the end they’ve got to do their own zazen. Is that the meaning?

No, I think he emphasised, just practice zazen, zazen, zazen. He talked quite fiercely.^[11]

Question: Is he maybe challenging people who practice for others, for their souls?

It could be.^[11]

Mike: So do it for yourself. In Christianity people pray for other people, but not that.^[11]

Question: But a bodhisattva stays and helps others.^[11]

Mike: But Master Dogen says if we practice zazen, we’re buddhas, so we can skip over being bodhisattvas!^[11]

Talks and study

Question: What did he do at university? Should we ignore Mike’s talks?

He emphasised that to listen to the real, true Buddhist talk is important. So he didn’t deny studying Buddhist teachings, we need to study Buddhist theory.^[12]

Mike: Some people go around listening to Buddhist talks, then they think they’ve got something. He’s criticising that attitude. Lots of people in Japan do that, without zazen even.

His title was Professor, but he trained students in zazen, and talked about Master Dogen’s zazen, so he did not teach only the intellectual side of Buddhism.^[12]

His life

… he happened to be adopted by a couple who had no moral sense at all. They lived at the back of a brothel … he witnessed the sudden death of a man in the brothel one day. He was very shocked to realise how severe and fragile life was.^[1]

Question: Does hardship help someone become a Buddhist?

No. He really wanted to become a Buddhist himself when he was very small.^[13]

I’ll read his NHK interview from 1952.^[14]

Sawaki: … I experienced the awful, dirty side of human beings day and night. And so I wanted to go to some pure place.^[15]

Sawaki: … apart from physical practice, I just accumulated only Buddhist knowledge … Having a lot of knowledge about Buddhism did not help me. If you do not have oneness between mind and body, you cannot solve your problems.^[17]

Sawaki: … I decided not to have a temple of my own … to avoid long term disturbances … I am happier without a temple.^[18]

Real zazen

Interviewer: … what do you think about yakozen, which means the zazen of a fox?^[19]

Sawaki: … Many people who believed that they have got enlightenment (Satori) are actually in the middle of a muddy delusion … If you sit in the posture of zazen sincerely without reciting sutras or thinking, … that is real zazen, enlightenment (Satori), and you are a true buddha. … Zazen is the rule of Gautama Buddha.^[19]

Bits of mildew

Master Kodo Sawaki said that he thought human beings are just bits of mildew on the surface of the Earth. … What is the same action as Gautama Buddha? That is zazen; in other words “Human beings are created in the image of Gautama Buddha.” … Zazen is itself the most valuable thing in the world. Zazen is Tenchi ippai which means fullness between the Earth and the Heavens.^[20]