Satori churr

He [Hakuin] let out an involuntary shout and began weeping uncontrollably.

—Hakuin Oshô Nempu

In the biography of the Zen priest Hakuin it is said that he “realized the understanding he had gained from all his satoris had been greatly mistaken.” Anyone who has sincerely sought Zen satori is more than likely to be in the same boat as Hakuin prior to his great awakening when he was forty-one. Delusion can be very subtle.

It is not too difficult to learn why Hakuin wept. Anyone would weep who finally discerns darkness from light. True satori, in Hakuin’s case, revealed both the true and the false. In other words, the nature of truth must reveal not only itself, but the false, also, which are false satoris.

It really wasn’t the churr of a cricket by which Hakuin, it is said, become one with the Lotus Sutra. It was the animative light of the Buddha which is eternally working in samsara to liberate all beings that he recognized in a split second. In fact, he also recognized that the Buddha’s light never departed for highest nirvana. It is always here. Thus, the story of the Buddha’s death and entry into final nirvana has been greatly exaggerated.

I think the great disease of Zen, which few overcome, including Zen masters, is to mistake extraordinary concepts for genuine awakening. In genuine awakening one turns the Dharma wheel instead of being mesmerized and turned by it. Or we can put it this way. One minute you are following your thoughts; then the next minute you are the very creative source of those ordinary thoughts! What is more, this is the way it has always been since beginningless time. The problem has been, all along, looking at the tail and not the head or source. When Hakuin looked at the source, hearing the cricket churr—be became the source instantly. He couldn’t escape his wonderful fate! I hope we can all weep for joy one day.

Comments

[Charlie]

Hiya, Z;

I see you are still alive and kicking. Good to see you are still plugging away. You should email me sometime and let me know what your IM handle(s) are these days. I'm doing some work on the Buddha-nature in various Sutras lately. Finally found a decent job as a technical writer, but still poor. Now I write crap about machines instead of being the poor sod operating them.

Charlie.