Last Few Posts:
Terms In The Audio:
Zero: The fundamental teaching of the late Zen master Joshu Sasaki: “As the Buddha taught, zero inevitably splits into mutually opposing activities which inevitably disappear into zero.”
Reconciling Zero: The investigation of Zero in the pursuit of Effective Zen.
Effective Zen: The one path on Zen Mountain that gives any one individual the best chance of reaching the peak (realizing non-duality).
Zen Mountain: The collection of all possible Zen paths.
Highest Good: That which exists for its own sake (there is nothing greater).
The Realization of Non-Duality: The complete understanding of a self inseparable from circumstance – where complete understanding implies manifestation.
Stillness: The primary characteristic of an unfettered activity.
Framework: The often unique instructional device used by Zen (and Buddhist) teachers.
Zero-Buddhism:
The necessary preconditions for a manifested Buddhism to arise, namely:
A clear picture of the highest good, namely the realization of non-duality.
A clear picture of the path to the realization of non-duality
Motivation and an understanding of the obstacles expected along this path.
Quote From the Buddha’s 1st Sutra:
I awakened to the middle way, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to equanimity, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to unbinding.
Three Common Characteristics of an Effective Teaching Framework:
The framework must be inherently dualistic.
One of the states must be universally preferred.
This universally preferred state can be asserted (learned and chosen).
The Four Questions:
How is it that one arrives at any particular gate?
How does one pass through that gate?
What changes – from pregate to postgate?
As teachers, what is the Buddha doing at this time, and what is Sasaki doing to help their students progress along the path?
The Unbinding Gate:
Generally, one ends up at the Unbinding gate by being dragged - kicking and screaming - by one’s teacher. That is, after passing through the Self-Awakening gate, there is the natural temptation to believe that the battle has been won. And so we see the need for an engaged teacher – one who knows you and understands the Unbinding gate.
Traditionally, we might associate the passing through the Unbinding gate with three insights:
The first insight is that of recognizing the inevitability of chang.
The second insight is that of recognizing the pervasiveness of attachments
The last insight is that of recognizing the delusion of a CEO self
What was ‘practice’ is now ‘the manifestation of the norm.’ That is, what was once perceived as a self-directed activity is now understood to be the manifestation of one’s Buddha nature. For many in the Zen arena, there is the image of the ‘gateless gate.’ And we may see the Unbinding gate as that gate … that in passing through, something is different, yet nothing has changed. Of course, what we have here is yet another koan.
Both the Buddha and Sasaki push, prod, and impress upon students that there is still work to be done – that there is knowledge that has yet to be purified.
Three Insights:
The inevitability of change.
The pervasiveness of attachments.
The delusion of a CEO self.
Purify Your Understanding.
The Question For Next Week: Can We Now Summarize the Buddhist Path?
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