Kensho: 40 Haiku inspired by Zen practice
On the contrary, it demands an education in culture-specific language and behaviour, which is measured by specific and strict cultural norms. These accounts are not verbatim recordings of such "experiences", but well-edited texts, written down decades or even decennia after the supposed sayings and meetings. Once, during late-night zazen, Rujing told the monks, "Studying Zen is the dropping off of body and mind.
He went at once to the Abbott's room and burned incense. Rujing asked him, "Why are you burning incense? Rujing said, "You have dropped off dropping off. He also experienced many mystical experiences throughout his lifetime. In one instance he recalled a particularly vivid one during a ceremony at Eiheiji. In this instance 16 Arhants appeared before him, and others, and statues began to glow. This is truly a very auspicious sign showing that, in their deep compassion, [the Arahats] are protecting the men and the Dharma of this mountain.
This is why it appeared to me. In the past, I obtained the fruit of Arhatship during the time of the Buddha Vipasyin, and died in the Himalayas, north of Mt. I became the deity of the Kubara tree, a four-legged animal with a dog's head, an owl's body, the belly and tail of a snake. Although I was a tree-spirit, I had obtained the fruit, and lived thereafter on the Himalayas, together with the fourth Arhat Subinda, in the continent of Uttara-kuru. Owing to these affinities with the northern country, I have now been reborn here as an uiiko of Hakusan….
Hakuin gives this description of his first kensho, when he was At around midnight on the seventh and final night of my practice, the boom of a bell from a distant temple reached my ears: I rose clear of even the finest dust. Overwhelmed with joy, I hollered out at the tops of my lungs, "Old Yen-t'ou is alive and well! Hakuin's kensho was not approved by Shoju Rojin, who subjected Hakuin to more koan-training. This resulted in a second kensho, where-after Hakuin left Shoju Rojin.
It was only when he was 41 that he attained "his final great enlightenment": Years later, when Hakuin asked his student Torei the same question, Torei's answer — "To work for the salvation of my fellow beings" — brought a laugh from Hakuin. Although the Zen tradition is reluctant to speak openly about the 'experience' of kensho, [66] personal accounts can be found in Zen-texts. Keido Fukushima, a 20th-century Rinzai abbott, gives the following description:. At Nanzenji there is a small hill. I used to walk near there, look at it, and often smile at the high school students who walked by there as well.
One day as I walked by, I looked at the hill and it was truly amazing. I stood gazing at the hill.
Empty & Aware: 40 Haiku inspired by Zen practice by Jennifer Hu
Some students walked by and one of them said something like 'look at that crazy monk'. Finally I came out of it. Life was never the same for me. In it, she described three different stages of kensho experience, as well as descriptions of visions, and past lives. However, her experiences were not without historical precedent in Soto Zen. The founders of Soto Zen, Dogen and Keizan, both experienced many such visions themselves, and in some cases recounted them vivid detail. However, due to the large amount of misconception about such experiences, the scant supply of published material on the subject available at the time, and with to help dispel the fear of such things in practitioners who may experience them, she felt that the benefits of releasing such information outweighed the risks.
Unfortunately documentation of such experiences, other than the first type, is extraordinarily scant; hence the tremendous amount of misconception and mystique surrounding them. It occurred to me, therefor, that a book in English was much to be desired on this subject, showing clearly the various stages that such later experiences take… If those who have experienced these things speak out, much fear can be removed, much joy can be experienced and much grief prevented.
Other accounts can also be found throughout the Zen-literature. For example, Richard Clarke , who studied with Philip Kapleau , states that he had a spontaneous kensho when he was It was in February of that year, and I was 26 years old. My second serious relationship was ending, and I was feeling very confined and conflicted. I needed to get some space, so I went out to the Mojave desert for a three-day camping weekend with two friends. On the Friday, I hiked up a mountain alone.
I knew nothing about meditation or spiritual practice. I was just sitting there, thinking about my life and the things going on. I felt I had gotten pretty screwed up for such a young age.
I could see my VW camper, my home for the weekend, parked a few miles away,. But at the same time, I was aware that my home was back in Long Beach, California. And a natural koan came to me: All of a sudden, I had a kind of breakthrough. I felt myself fall away, and I became one with the cosmos, one with the universe, one with all things. I knew in that moment that wherever I am, that is home; home is everywhere. That experience completely changed my life. More descriptions of "spontaneous kensho" can be found throughout the Zen-literature, [note 14] while a classic example may be Ramana Maharshi 's awakening.
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According to Harris, working towards kensho is usually a lengthy process stretched out over years or even decades. Rinzai tends toward the use of Koans as a technique to unroot the habitual workings of the mind. During intensive zazen various hallucinations and psychological disturbances may arise. These are referred to as makyo. Distinguishing these delusions from actual kensho is the primary function of the teacher, as the student may be erroneously convinced they have realized kensho. In the Rinzai school , kensho is seen as indispensable:. At some point in time we pass from imprisonment in ignorance and delusion to a true vision of Zen realization: In the Rinzai-training, the student is expected to pour oneself totally into both koan-study and daily activities 'to become one' with it.
The " genjo-koan ", or the "koan of everyday life" which "appears naturally in daily life", [87] is emphasized. According to the tradition of Soto Zen, although working on a koan is one way of attaining kensho, the best way is zazen. Indeed, Dogen , the founder of Soto Zen, expounded that zazen itself is enlightenment, and as long as the adept maintains a pure state of non-thinking in Zen, he is a Buddha. According to Houn Jiyu-Kennett the accumulation of insight happens in three stages of kensho, along with a fourth that can occur at the time of death: Yasutani's emphasis on koan training and the importance of kensho was transmitted to his American students: He spoke more openly about it then anyone of his times, going so far as to have a public acknowledgement of those who had experienced kensho in a post-sesshin ceremony of bowing in gratitude to the three treasures.
It is also reflected in the inclusion of a relative great amount of kensho stories in "The Three Pillars of Zen", written by Philip Kapleau , a student of Yasutani. Practice is to be continued to deepen the insight and to express it in daily life. Ch'an expressions refer to enlightenment as "seeing your self-nature". But even this is not enough. After seeing your self-nature, you need to deepen your experience even further and bring it into maturation. You should have enlightenment experience again and again and support them with continuous practice. Even though Ch'an says that at the time of enlightenment, your outlook is the same as of the Buddha, you are not yet a full Buddha.
Kensho: 40 Haiku inspired by Zen practice
It is, rather, a new beginning, an entrance into a more mature phase of Buddhist training. To take it as an ending, and to "dine out" on such an experience without doing the training that will deepen and extend it, is one of the greatest tragedies of which I know. There must be continuous development, otherwise you will be as a wooden statue sitting upon a plinth to be dusted, and the life of Buddha will not increase.
This trajectory of initial insight followed by a gradual deepening and ripening is expressed by Linji Yixuan in his Three mysterious Gates , the Four Ways of Knowing of Hakuin , [96] and the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures [97] which detail the steps on the Path. Post-awakening practice is called seitai choyo , the "long nurturing of the sacred fetus". Thus, for decades, many Zenists, after their awakening, went among the people, living among beggars and leading an existence of hard physical labor. Thus it was proved whether or not the truth received was of permanent value, or whether it would vanish among mundane affairs.
During the T'ang-era, the term became associated with the ideal of the recluse who leaves the world. According to Hakuin, the main aim of "post-satori practice" [] [] [] gogo no shugyo [98] or kojo , "going beyond" [] is to cultivate the "Mind of Enlightenment" , [] [] "benefiting others by giving them the gift of the Dharma teaching". Post-satori practice for Hakuin meant finally ceasing to be preoccupied with his own personal condition and attainment and to devote himself and his practice to helping and teaching others. Finally, at long last, he realized that true enlightenment is a matter of endless practice and compassionate functioning, not something that occurs once and for all in one great moment on the cushion.
One also has to purify oneself by ongoing practice, [] [] since. Kensho does not eradicate our unhealthy habits [ And "experience" has to be supplemented by intellectual understanding and study of the Buddhist teachings; [] [] [] otherwise one remains a zen temma , a "Zen devil". It became part of the Traditional Zen Narrative in the 8th century. Chinul , a 12th-century Korean Seon master, emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. The contemporary Korean Seon master Seongcheol opposed this, emphasizing "sudden enlightenment, sudden cultivation".
Though the literal meaning is self-awakened, or awakened on one's own, the emphasis in Zen, when using these terms, lies in the ultimate reliance on one's own insight, instead of the authority of a teacher:. It is awakening that is one's true master.
With Shakyamuni, the awakening was his master. In other words, the awakened self is one's master. Apart from getting awakened to that master, there is no awakening. Here practitioner and master are of one body, not two. Instead of having another verify or confirm one's awakening, one does so for oneself. Of course in this case the self that is verified and the master who does verification are undivided. In their being completely identical is the autonomous, independent, or ultimate nature of the authenticity. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again.
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Preview — Kensho by Jennifer Hu. I hope you enjoy! To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Kensho , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. These are good haiku but only some have that "aha" moment when you "get it". I'd like to post this but Amazon requires a few more words.
Dec 20, Benjamin Barnes rated it it was amazing. Another beautiful series These are a very beautiful series of Haikus. The visualization are stunning and funny at times. Read this little book.