If I were to describe a more modern form of Zen Buddhism that, nevertheless, remained faithful, above all, to Buddhism it would begin by teaching that Buddhism teaches the absolute is unconditioned whereas the transitory part of life—the life we are involved with—is always conditioned.
The conditioned part is our psychophysical body and the external world it inhabits both of which are never without change and always suffering in one degree or another. It is only by realizing the unconditioned that we escape conditionality and all that it entails.
Turning to the means of realizing the unconditioned which is accomplished through Zen or in Sanskrit, dhyâna, one has to first draw a sharp distinction between the animative principal (the unconditioned), itself, and the animated (the conditioned). In the actual practice of Zen, the beginner is only familiar with the animated which is his psychophysical body consisting of physical shape, feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness, including the conditioned world he sees through it. He is not at all aware or familiar with the animative principle. Moreover, he is confused as to the difference between the two.
The animative principle is, intrinsically and fundamentally, who and what we are. It is always interfacing with the animated psychophysical body completely attached to it, unable to break away from its deadly grip. Until the animative principle directly recognizes itself it remains bound down to the animated always, it seems, dependent upon it—never free.
The goal of meditation or dhyâna consists in the animative principle penetrating through the conditioned, entirely, thus uncovering and realizing itself which is also a gnosis. Illustrating this Szu-hsin Wu-shin of Huang-lung (1044–1115) writes:
"While still alive, be therefore assiduous in practising Dhyâna. The practice consists in abandonments. ‘The abandonment of what?’ you may ask. Abandon your four elements (bhuta), abandon your five aggregates (skandha), abandon all the workings of your relative consciousness (karmavijnana), which you have been cherishing since eternity; retire within your inner being and see into the reason of it. As your self-reflection grows deeper and deeper, the moment will surely come upon you when the spiritual flower will suddenly burst into bloom, illuminating the entire universe. The experience is incommunicable, though you yourselves know perfectly well what it is."
It is not too difficult to understand what this Zen master is telling us. We are to abandon conditionality for only then will the unconditioned realize itself, the spiritual flower blooming. What is realized is the unconditioned animative principle. This is what Bodhidharma means when he says:
"Everyone wants to see this mind [the animative principle], and those who move their hands and feet by its [animative] light are as many as the grains of the sand along the Ganges, but when you ask them, they can't explain it. They're like puppets. It's theirs to use. Why do they not see it?" (The brackets are mine.)
The answer is simple. They are deeply attached to the animated in the example of their hands and feet, not to mention their psychophysical bodies.
Wishing to stop at this point, distinguishing (prajñâ) between our animativeness and the animated—the unconditioned and the conditioned— it is like distinguishing sunlight on a rock from the rock itself.
The rapturous experience strikes without warning when the consciousness is prepared through meditation and the right karmic influences which remove the conditionality of ordinary mind. It is not easily intelligible when this spiritual flower blooms. In modern times there are attempts to deny the mystical nature of this revelatory state of consciousness, but wisdom masters for ages have recognized it, and it is to these ancient teachings we must look and not to pop psychology or superstition. If we cannot convince ourselves of the fundamental unreality of samsara, we should at least be prepared to recognize what we grasp to holds our awakening at bay, like a ring of armed guards. We must walk alone into the heart of our fears, finding courage in the determination to shed ignorance and rise from the mud unfettered and unspoiled in purest consciousness. Fear of losing something is a dreadful setback and prevents the exposition of our sublime true nature as beings.
Posted by: n. yeti | December 16, 2013 at 08:16 AM
This information is familiar...but my question is WHY does the animative hide in the animated? Other religions say that we are separated because we've been "bad" and Buddhism identifies animals as existing on a lower level than humans saying that their whole lives are governed by fear--not true. The fear we associate with suffering is an entirely human characteristic. Animals, having only rudimentary egos can't see far enough into the future to fear failure or the death of a personal ego. Of course they experience discomfort and the fear associated with natural predators vs. self-preservation, but they don't dread death. But I do understand that this mental limitation and denseness keeps them from both human dread and from the human dissatisfaction that can eventually result in awakening.
When I talk with my two best friends, both Christians, they say, in effect, "What does the East have against the individual?" and "If I want a different 'view' of reality, I could take LSD. Would that be 'realer' than what I see now?" I actually can't answer those questions except to say "Yes, other people see things I can't see, and claim that it's the truth, and that it's inexpressable, and I want to see that too."
Get the problem?
This way of thinking: "Wink, wink! I know I'm just God fooling myself! It's all a masquerade on the cosmic scale!" usually ONLY results in more a more skilled net of delusion consisting of finer and finer degrees of conceptualization and basically stopping at the samadhi stage and mistaking THAT for liberation (present company excepted!)
I often wonder which of the modern, non-traditional Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachers that you as The Zennist respect and give credit to... If IT's happening now, IT has to be happening without respect to one fixed Dharma--because I've been through the Diamond Sutra so many times that I'm actually beginning to take it seriously. (Anyway, these are my thoughts today.)
Posted by: Susan | December 15, 2013 at 11:54 PM