Dharma Wheel

Why do you object then to the doctrine of zazen being practice-realisation? Your quotes are very nice but do not reflect the actual situation within soto, which became void of realization. That is the main point and problem. You will not find it in texts books etc. because it is not business for sc...

I don’t know the details of Suzuki Roshi’s training, but he trained with a number of teachers so unless you know how Suzuki Roshi was trained by each of his teachers we can’t say that what Suzuki Roshi did was “invented” as it may have been transmitted to him from one or more of his teachers. And w...

When I googled “dokusan”, this was the first article (and worth reading), What is dokusan? By Joan Sutherland . I also noticed that there was a long list of Zen centers devoting writings about dokusan. So perhaps dokusan has been absent from Japanese Soto Zen, but it seems that dokusan (a private m...

Of the usual texts attributed to Bodhidharma (少室六門; T2009), kensho (見性) is mentioned in the Bloodstream Sermon (血脈論). However, if we look at that text, it is quite the radical type of Zen that dispenses with all forms of practice, seated meditation included. No you are wrong. This is not radical, b...

Yes, I believe this is true. Sanbo Zen influence especially has been great. But the understanding of dokusan in some places as a time to chat about practice rather than a crucial practice itself, or as a kind of therapeutic meeting, is quite different. Sanbo kyodan way of dokusan originated with Do...

I have not heard one of them “reject satori” and they all offer dokusan. Dokusan these people offer has nothing to do with Japanese soto zen transmitted to the West. It was reintroduced, probably due to influence of other zen groups. Soto zen has no dokusan for pretty long time. In soto it is enoug...

It is very clear. Satori. Kensho how it was originally taught by Bodhidharma or the 6th patriarch. 'To be enlightened (悟) to this Dharma is to be without thought (無念).' (Platform Sutra, ch 2, BDK ed, p 31; T48, no. 2008, p. 350c6-7) 'To be enlightened (悟) to the Dharma of nonthought (無念) is to see ...

So if I understand your posts here and other places correctly, traditionally Soto and Rinzai had no major differences besides method? Soto focusing on Shikantaza as a means to satori/kensho, while Rinzai used koans? Reading some of Meido's posts it seems that this switch happened primarly during th...

Astus wrote: ↑Sat May 13, 2023 10:05 pm

Matylda wrote: ↑Sat May 13, 2023 8:37 pmWell, zen should be just one clear stream, as it was originally. The lineage should be secondary issue in fact.

Clear stream in what sense?

It is very clear. Satori. Kensho how it was originally taught by Bodhidharma or the 6th patriarch.

Meido wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2023 5:31 pm Thank you, that's very useful info.

Will be great if we see more exchange. In the West I think some exchange is starting too now, in a few places.

Well, zen should be just one clear stream, as it was originally. The lineage should be secondary issue in fact.

Thanks, Matylda, for clarifying about Menzan. I'm glad to learn otherwise. Do you see any persons or movement in Soto-shu today that are still emphasizing necessity of satori? Frankly I do not have any idea. There was Harada Tangen, but he died. Harada Sekkei roshi was also clear about it. Might be...

When talking about the "traditional Soto approach" one has to acknowledge changes to that approach instituted by Menzan in the 18th century, and then especially with the recasting of Soto practice and doctrine in the 19th and 20th (Meiji and Showa). Menzan in fact has nothing to do with m...

Anyway, it’s my understanding that the “kan” in Shikantaza does correlate to “reflection” a la Vipassana meditation, and “shi” correlates with shamatha. No, it is wrong translation. 止観 SHIKAN where 止 SHI is for shamatha and 観 KAN for vipassana is correct term. It has notjing to do with SHIKAN 只管 of...

Anyway, it’s my understanding that the “kan” in Shikantaza does correlate to “reflection” a la Vipassana meditation, and “shi” correlates with shamatha. No, it is wrong translation. 止観 SHIKAN where 止 SHI is for shamatha and 観 KAN for vipassana is correct term. It has notjing to do with SHIKAN 只管 of...

As opposed to the focused attention meditation more often associated with Theravada Buddhism? I have pointed before a few times, that opposing zazen to any other form of Buddhist practices lacks any sense. Why? since it is completely irrelevant. Zazen as any other form requires just following instr...

As opposed to the focused attention meditation more often associated with Theravada Buddhism? I have pointed before a few times, that opposing zazen to any other form of Buddhist practices lacks any sense. Why? since it is completely irrelevant. Zazen as any other form requires just following instr...

I think it's just what was available. The first English translation of the Mumonkan (Senzaki/Reps) was published in the 1930s. The first English translation of the Hekiganroku wasn't published until much later--the late 1970s, I think. The first English translation of the Shoyoroku was even later t...

As opposed to the focused attention meditation more often associated with Theravada Buddhism? I have pointed before a few times, that opposing zazen to any other form of Buddhist practices lacks any sense. Why? since it is completely irrelevant. Zazen as any other form requires just following instr...

In modern soto monasteries in Japan koans are talked about. Teishos are mostly on soto koan collection called Shoyoroku, 100 cases. Mumonkan I never heard about, but in the past Hekiganroku was also popular. One may check on Akino Kodo`s Hekiganroku teishos published before the Second World War. Ye...

Well, it's complicated. I think it's hard to say that Soto Zen doesn't place any emphasis on kensho: for example, Keizan Jokin is one of the two Japanese teachers that we give the honorific "Zenji"--Dogen is the other--and he compiled the Transmission of Light, a collection of enlightenme...