The Five Varieties of Zen
PRESENTED BY
the Wanderling
An old Zen student called Hsiang-yen went to dokusan with
Kuei-shan Ling-yu (771-853), the T'ang dynasty master, and Kuei-shan
gave him a koan, of which over and over he was unable to see into it's
mysteries.
Hsiang-yen decided that it was all too much for him and he
would surrender. He went away and found a sacred site, the grave of
the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese Zen, Hui-neng, and maintained it as a
shrine. Day in and day out he had no thought about the world except
his sweeping. Then one day, sweeping away, he swept a pebble into a
bamboo grove beside the shrine. The pebble hit a piece of hollow
bamboo and went "ping!" and he jumped up and down.
The "ping!" shook him to pieces and he said, "One ping! and I
have forgotten all I knew!" and he composed a poem in his excitement:
"Last year's poverty was not true poverty, this year even the wind can
get through". Hsiang-yen was Enlightened (source)
Among the various types of Zen presented to the people of today
there are some which are profound and some shallow, some that lead to
Enlightenment and some that do not. It is said that during the time of
the Buddha there were ninety or ninety-five schools of philosophy or
religion in existence. Each school had its particular mode of
practice, each was slightly different from the other. Since most
religions have prayer in some form or another and prayer needs
concentration of mind, most religions have at least a whiff of Zen.
The different methods of concentration, almost limitless in number,
come under the broad heading of Zen. Rather than try to specify all of
them, the five main divisions of Zen as classified by Keiho-zenji, one
of the early Zen masters in China, whose categories are still valid
and useful, will be discussed here. Outwardly these five kinds of Zen
scarcely differ, however beginners need to bear in mind that in the
substance and purpose of these various types there are distinct
differences.
I. BOMPU
The first of these types is called bompu, or "ordinary," Zen as
opposed to the other four, each of which can be thought of as a
special kind of Zen suitable for the particular aims of different
individuals. Bompu Zen, being free from any philosophic or religious
content, is for anybody and everybody. It is a Zen practiced purely in
the belief that it can improve both physical and mental health. Since
it can almost certainly have no ill effects, anyone can undertake it,
whatever religious beliefs he happens to hold or if he holds none at
all. Bompu Zen is bound to eliminate sickness of a psychosomatic
nature and to improve the health generally.
Through the practice of bompu Zen you learn to concentrate and
control your mind. It never occurs to most people to try to control
their minds, and unfortunately this basic training is left out of
contemporary education, not being part of what is called the
acquisition of knowledge. Yet without it what we learn is difficult to
retain because we learn it improperly, wasting much energy in the
process. Indeed, we are virtually crippled unless we know how to
restrain our thoughts and concentrate our minds. Furthermore, by
practicing this very excellent mode of mind training you will find
yourself increasingly able to resist temptations to which you had
previously succumbed, and to sever attachments which had long held you
in bondage. An enrichment in personality and a strengthening of
character inevitably follow since the three basic elements of mind -
that is, intellect, feeling, and will - develop harmoniously. The
quietist sitting practiced in Confucianism seems to have stressed
mainly these effects of mind concentration. However, the fact remains
that bompu Zen, although far more beneficial for the cultivation of
the mind than the reading of countless books on ethics and philosophy,
is unable to resolve the fundamental problem of man and his relation
to the universe. Why? Because it cannot pierce the ordinary man's
basic delusion of himself as distinctly other than the universe. (BACK)
SEE:
Laya
II. GEDO
The second of the five kinds of Zen is called gedo. Gedo means
literally "an outside way" and so implies, from the Buddhist point of
view, teachings other than Buddhist. Here we have a Zen related to
religion and philosophy but yet not a Buddhist Zen. Hindu yoga, the
quietist sitting of Confucianism, contemplation practices in
Christianity, all these belong to the category of gedo Zen.
Another feature of gedo Zen is that it is often practiced in order
to cultivate various supranormal powers or skills, or to master
certain arts beyond the reach of the ordinary man. It has been
reported that some who have practiced this Zen have attained the
ability to make people act without them having to say a word or move a
muscle. There is something called the Emma Method which aims to
accomplish such feats as walking barefooted on sharp sword blades or
staring at sparrows so that they become paralyzed. All these
miraculous exploits are brought about through the cultivation of
Joriki the particular strength or power which comes with the strenuous
practice of mind concentration. A Zen that aims exclusively at the
cultivation of Joriki for such ends is NOT a Buddhist Zen. See also
Siddhi.
Another object for which gedo Zen is practiced is Rebirth in
various heavens. Certain sects practice Zen in order to be reborn in
heaven. This is NOT the object of Zen Buddhism. While the Zen Buddhist
does not quarrel with the idea of various strata of heaven and the
belief that one may be reborn into them through the performance of ten
kinds of meritorious deeds, he himself does not crave rebirth in
heaven. Conditions there are altogether too pleasant and comfortable
and he can all too easily be lured from Zazen. Besides, when his merit
in heaven expires he can very well land in hell. Zen Buddhists
therefore believe it preferable to be born into the human world and to
practice Zazen with the aim of ultimately becoming Buddha. (BACK)
III. SHOJO
The third type of Zen is shojo, literally meaning "Small Vehicle."
This is the vehicle or teaching that is to take you from one state of
mind (delusion) to another (Enlightenment). This small vehicle is so
named because it is designed to accommodate only one's self. You can
perhaps compare it to a bicycle. The large vehicle [Mahayana], on the
other hand, is more like a car or bus: it takes on others as well.
Hence shojo is a Zen which looks only to one's own peace of mind (see
Pratyeka Buddha).
Here we have a Zen which is Buddhist but a Zen not in accord with
the Buddha's highest teaching. It is rather an expedient Zen for those
unable to grasp the innermost meaning of the Buddha's Enlightenment,
i.e., that existence is an inseparable whole, each one of us embracing
the cosmos in its totality. This being true, it follows that we cannot
attain genuine peace of mind merely by seeking our own salvation while
remaining indifferent to the welfare of others.
There are those, however, who simply cannot bring themselves to
believe in the reality of such a world. No matter how often they are
taught that the relative world of distinctions and opposites to which
they cling is illusory, the product of their mistaken views, they
cannot but believe otherwise. To such people the world can only seem
inherently evil, full of sin and strife and suffering, of killing and
being killed, and in their despair they long to escape from it. (BACK)
IV. DAIJO
The fourth classification is called daijo, Great Vehicle
[Mahayana] Zen, and this is a truly Buddhist Zen, for it has as its
central purpose Kensho, that is, seeing into your essential nature and
realizing the Way in your daily life. For those able to comprehend the
import of the Buddha's own Enlightenment experience and with a desire
to break through their own illusory view of the universe and
experience absolute, undifferentiated Reality, the Buddha taught this
mode of Zen. Buddhism is essentially a religion of Enlightenment. The
Buddha after his own supreme Awakening spent some fifty years teaching
people how they might themselves realize their Self-nature. His
methods have been transmitted from master to disciple right down to
the present day. So it can be said that a Zen which ignores or denies
or belittles Enlightenment is not true daijo Buddhist Zen.
In the practice of daijo Zen your aim in the beginning is to
awaken to your True-nature, but upon Enlightenment you realize that
Zazen is more than a means to Enlightenment - it is the actualization
of your True-nature. In this type of Zen, which has as its object
Satori, it is easy to mistakenly regard Zazen as but a means. A wise
teacher, however, will point out from the onset that Zazen is in fact
THE actualization of the innate Buddha-nature and not merely a
technique for achieving Enlightenment. If Zazen were no more than such
a technique, it would follow that after Satori, Zazen would be
unnecessary. But as Dogen-zenji himself pointed out, precisely the
reverse is true; the more deeply you experience Satori, the more you
perceive the need for practice.
SEE:
Dharma-Megha-Samadhi
V. SAIJOJO
The last of the five types is saijojo Zen, the highest vehicle,
the culmination and crown of Buddhist Zen. This Zen was practiced by
the Buddha - Shakyamuni - and is the expression of Absolute Life, life
in its purest form. It is the Zazen which Dogen-zenji chiefly
advocated and it involves no struggle for Satori or any other object.
It is called Shikantaza.
In this highest practice, means and end coalesce. Daijo Zen and
Saijojo Zen are, in point of fact, complementary. The Rinzai sect
places daijo uppermost and saijojo beneath, whereas the Soto sect does
the reverse. In saijojo, when rightly practiced, you sit in the firm
conviction that Zazen is the actualization of your undefiled
True-nature, and at the same time you sit in complete faith that the
day will come when, exclaiming, "Oh, this is it!" you will
unmistakably realize this True-nature. Therefore you need not
self-consciously strive for Enlightenment.
Today many in the Soto sect hold that since we are all innately
Buddhas, Satori is unnecessary. Such an egregious error reduces
Shikantaza, which properly is the highest form of sitting, to nothing
more than Bompu Zen, the first of the five types.
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