Three Requirements for the Study of Zen

The Fireplace Records, Chapter 10

One afternoon, Master Hakuin said "I once read that Master Gaofeng Yuanmiao preached that there are three requirements for the study of Zen. The first is a great root of faith. The second is a great ball of doubt. The third is a great tenacity of purpose.  A man who lacks any of these is like a three-legged kettle with one broken leg."  

Layman Mujiang, replied to Hakuin saying, "There are always more than three."

Hakuin asked "More?"

Mujiang said, "How about being able to sit still quietly for many hours?" 

Hakuin said, "I doubt it."

Mujiang said, "How about reciting the sacred scripture or Names more?"

Hakuin said, "I doubt it."

Mujian said, "You will never give up the quest for Buddhahood, will you Master Hakuin."

Hakuin said, "I doubt it."

Layman Mujiang's Verse:

Grab hold of the Koan by one of its Three Limbs:
Have faith in the Buddha's Hands;
Heal the bruises of Doubts;
Hold on tightly, keep your grip, Persist.

The Three gives birth to the Ten Thousand Things.
Somehow/someway changing by profound and decent ways.
Doubts hinder many and spur a few to act.
Plant the great Root of Faith deep in good soil.  Water it daily.
Big Doubts, little doubts, Great Doubts, minor doubts.
I don't know, doubting it, maybe so, hypothetical, provisional. 

I can't see the Big Harbor because of the dense fogs.  
I doubt the fog will lift this morning.  

Japanese Zen Master Hakuin Ekaku (1868-1769) was extremely influential in reviving the practice of using koans/mondos/verbal encounters/stories in his Rinzai Zen Buddhist training program and with his priestly work with rural workers.  He stresses the direct interaction between a master koan teacher and a koan student, face to face dialogues, regular one on one testing, interaction, and evaluation. 

Hakuin Ekaku was an accomplished artist and calligrapher.  He also emphasized good fitness and health practices to prepare the body for the rigors of Zen training.  

Hakuin believed that quiet sitting or simple daily activities combined with the contemplation of koans was a very effective practice for imparting Buddhist wisdom teachings (Dharma) and inducing enlightenment. 

Hakuin thought about and he experienced personal realization, or kensho, or satori, or enlightenment, or interpenetration of suchness at the intersection of the Fundamental Point, or fully understood his authentic changing selfhood by using koan practice while sitting or gently moving.  

You can Contemplate your Assigned Koan: absorb it, mull over it, get frustrated by it, doubt it, think about it, meditate on it, discard it, cuss it, sink into it, respect it, analyze it, confound it, introspect it, leap over it, word tail it, kick it around, not-think it, hear its messages, swallow it and spit it out, submerge with it, cherish it and hate it, study it diligently, become one with it, keep it first in mind, squeeze all the insight from it, be surprised and amazed by it, catch it with a capping phrase, reflect on it, huatou keypoint at it, laugh at it, reflect on it, cry over it, stop analyzing it, grab it by the throat, don't let it go.  

Persist in Contemplating your Assigned Koan until your deeper intuitive understanding occurs, or you are somehow/someway changed in profound and decent ways, or you have chosen to work/study another koan, or you just try and try again like a dog begging for extra treats, or you somehow/someway graduate to a new awareness of our precious lives, or you quit doing koan practice, or ...   

You might find that "something should take place not unlike the cat springing upon the mouse or the mother hen hatching her eggs, then in a flash great livingness surges up. This is the moment when the phoenix escapes from the golden net, when the crane breaks the bars of its cage."
- Ruth Fuller Sasaki, The Zen Koan, 1965, p. 42

Cloud Dragon: The Joan Sutherland Dharma Works

Joan Sutherland Koan Collections  

Gates: Miscellaneous Koans  Joan Sutherland

Gateless Gateway  Joan Sutherland

The Blue Cliff Record  Joan Sutherland and John Tarrant  

Rinzai Zen Buddhist School  

Pacific Zen Institute  

  

"Sometimes our practice is something like this. We don’t know how much our understanding is limited. That is why you have to study koans. Koans will open up your mind. If you understand your way of life more objectively, you will understand what you are doing."
- Suzuki Roshi

  

Hakuin, Self-Portrait, 1767 

He gently touches his ceremonial whisk;
he frowns, he seems displeased
about something or someone.  
Maybe his stomach is upset.
Maybe that great ball of doubt
is stuck in his soul.

Related Links, Resources, References

The Zen Koan by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, 1965, p. 42.

Blue Cliff Record, Case 52, The Bridge at Zhaozhou, Joshu's Stone Bridge

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Dialogues.

The Daodejing by Laozi    Best? 

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

Taoism

Buddhism

Fireplaces, Stoves, Campfires, Kitchens, Pots, Firewood

Chinese Art

Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong

Meditation Methods

Zen Koan Books I Use

Song Dynasty, China, 960-1279  

Zen Koans, Testing Verses, Mondos, Dialogues, Stories
Bibliography, Quotations, Notes, Resources
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

The Fireplace Records By Michael P. Garofalo

Bodhidharma by Hakuin

Doubting Might Be a Good Tactic

 

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts and the stupid ones are full of confidence."
- Charles Bukowski

"The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."
- Bertrand Russell

“I like the scientific spirit—the holding off, the being sure but not too sure, the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine—it always keeps the way beyond open—always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance to try over again after a mistake—after a wrong guess.” 
- Walt Whitman

“Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”
-  George Carlin

“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”
-  Voltaire

An Old Philosopher's Notebooks   
By Michael Garofalo

Pragmatism and American Philosophy

Reasonable vs Unreasonable Doubt

Chi Kung: On Smiling and Doubting

In nearly all of the photographs of persons doing standing meditation their faces are impassive, close mouthed, neutral, glum, even mean looking.  Do you ever see any pictures of persons doing Zhan Zhuang with a nice smile on their face?  Don't the majority look rather stern, stiff, and aloof?  Is the coolness, toughness, frowning, and closed eyes of these faux standing posts a defiant reaction to the many other people who look at them and smile or laugh at them?  Is the gruff expression a bodily mudra to affirm the Buddhist claim about the inherent unhappiness and suffering of human existence?  Is the Yiquan toughness required to endure this demanding standing physical exercise the source of this hard, 'don't mess with me' facial expression?  C'mon Man!  Why all the serious, sad, and stern looks? 

Also, most persons doing hours and hours of seated zazen mostly look, to me, just tired, frustrated, aching, and pissed off about their inner insights. 

I don't resist smiling or having pleasant and easy going look on my face when I do seated or standing meditation.  I've read about smiling meditation, laughing yoga, smiling heart qigong, and Inner Smile Taoist Neidan.  Seek and embrace more options than glum, neutral, stern postures and attitudes.  More Yin, Less Yang!!

Hours and hours of these standing or seated "meditation" practices are often just boring, dull, uneventful, uninspiring, and non-productive for me.  Twenty minutes a couple of times a week are more than ample.  I lay odds that if you try to do standing meditation for an hour a day you will end up frowning, stiff, tired, grumpy, and ready to quit.  It would be far better to take a walk each day and enjoy yourself.

I enjoy doing Chi Kung (Qigong), Taijiquan and Yoga movements because they are fun and provide fitness exercise variety.  Their gentle stretching benefits have be objectively verified. Their benefits can also be explained scientifically.  

On the other hand, when the qigong or yoga teachers drone on about invisible organs and esoteric anatomy, contradict one another, discourage questioning, are vague and confusing, share only anecdotal reports of benefits, overuse flaccid metaphors, worship specific lineage traditions and bad mouth competing styles, don't explain much or seldom talk, or are too secretive ...  then I just loose my interest and move on.  I recommend learning early on about how to smell out that kind of bull crap qigong or bull crap yoga.  

I would question the claims that long sessions of standing post will make your legs stronger, build up your Qi, or give you super powers (siddhis) of some kind.  I would argue confidently for more benefits to your legs and overall fitness from walking, jogging, squats, weight lifting, stretching, form practice, sports, and other leg intensive exercises.  I often call Tai Chi "Thigh Chi."  

Since there is no known way of quantifying and measuring Qi, how do you know you have built up, increased, or amplified your Qi??  Increase in leg strength in squats is easy to quantify and measure, as are positive blood pressure and other physiological changes.  

And, as for those super powers (siddhis), they are the unreal stuff of our playful imaginations, fantasies, reading too many Wuxia novels and comic books, and watching amazing motion picture special effects. 

I don't deny that a few, rare, and unique persons have unusual and powerful inner martial arts skills.  Likewise, a few yogis are superior contortionists and gymnasts that can do extreme postures, or lower their heartbeat.  But, so what!   So you can defeat everyone you meet in push hands, so you can stand on one leg for two hours, so you can walk/run 70 miles in a day .... fine, and some of us will be amazed.  However, most reasonable people don't aspire to Olympic standards of performance, and don't need to endure the strict training regimes of the extremely rare Amazing Masters and Siddhi Adepts.  Further, I do not have much of a pressing need to fly up walls, defeat 40 swordsmen like the blind Zatoichi, repulse ten men with a single magical push, kill a man with the touch of a finger, disappear through walls (doors work quite well), read your mind (probably as hohum as mine), or live to 300 years of age and have to dutifully work at seven careers.  Since I am a poor swimmer, I might have an occasional need to walk on water, but I might die before completing the required discipline of forty days and nights in the desert alone fasting, doing yoga and chanting - so that particular unpleasant task and marginal benefit are now off of my bucket list. Playing drums, dancing, and chanting for three hours before walking on burning hot coals might appeal to some, but I will pass on that experience also.  

Some people claim profound inner experiences, mystical insights, revelations, epiphanies, ecstasy, personal gnosis, satori, kensho, illumination, or enlightenment as a result of enduring these strict bodily disciplines.  Even the Buddha tried these physical austerities for many years until he "realized" that enough is enough and that moderation is a better course.  I hear LSD takers and steady alcohol drinkers and marihuana pot heads claim the same "benefits" of consciousness expansion.  Personally, I'd rather water my garden each day, do some Taijiquan, take walks, play, and read good books; and not be a drug user or face a cave wall in stiff seated meditation for seven years like the Bodhidharma.  Some say they practiced for many years, even decades, to gain a "glimpse" of some degree of profound, unified, or universal consciousness.  Seems to me like a very big investment of time and effort for very little return.  Sharpening your critical thinking and reasoning skills, and obtaining more scientific knowledge, would reap more "insight" rewards and much faster.

Some people take up these hard physical practices because their guru, preacher, master, roshi, sifu, or other authority or leader tells them or orders them to do so.  Students are taught to trust, obey, submit, respect, and kow-tow to the guru.  I say, keep your independence!!  Sensibly respect and learn from worthy teachers, but don't be slavish.  Some degree of healthy skepticism is valuable.  Practice on your own rather than humble yourself before some faker, phony, braggart, secretive or expensive master.  Discover what works for you to earn better fitness and well being rather than dumbly following an unbending formulaic physical regimen lineage invented by some illiterate old man 400 years ago.  Not obeying a goofy or exploitative guru is quite sensible.  Some rich gurus, preachers and masters are often merely just trying to tap the soul of your wallet.  Beware of quacks, and keep thinking clearly.

Long periods of standing, fasting, sitting, and self-humiliation may be required as a kind of initiation or hazing ritual before the neophyte applicant is allowed into the practice group.  These disciplinary practices are to test the mettle, seriousness, intent and grit of the applicant.  Stories abound about monks being struck with a stick, insulted and rebuffed and made to wait standing outside in the cold for weeks until the "master" allowed them into the temple or training center.  College fraternities have bizarre hazing rituals, and occasionally young applicants have died in the process.  Criminal gangs may beat up new members or make that potential gang member beat up, rape, or kill some enemy or random person before they are admitted to the gang.  ISIS recruits probably have to blow up some antiquity or decapitate a retired museum director to get into the inner circle of that cabal of True Believers.  Military recruits must endure Boot Camp to prove they have guts, are obedient, and have a killer attitude.   Sports have their "hell week" of double practices to test the toughness of new players. Likewise, new Tai Chi players may be made to stand like a post for long periods of time, maybe for weeks, before the exalted Taiji Wizard will teach them anything.  You have to prove to the regular members of the group that you are trustworthy, obedient, loyal, submissive, and can endure discipline.  In some cases it makes sense and the initiation is worth the effort; but, in many cases the hazing and self-humiliation are unnecessary and just humbug. 

Yes, I do exaggerate here to try to make a few points.  I do greatly enjoy and benefit from Taijiquan, Yoga, and Qigong.  But, in addition, being a doubter and skeptic and smiler all do have their own benefits. 

I might not push hands with this guy.
He probably could have flung my disrespectful and sassy rear end ten feet away.
Maybe not!  I'm pretty tough, big, and strong myself - but with a smile.

 

Another sad looking group doing serious
standing meditation to find inner peace.

The 'enlightened' and sour puss Bodhidharma.
He might cut off your finger if you question him improperly.

An "unenlightened" and smiling old Taijiquan player.
Me!

Maybe So, Probably Not

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts and the stupid ones are full of confidence."
- Charles Bukowski

"The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."
- Bertrand Russell

“I like the scientific spirit—the holding off, the being sure but not too sure, the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine—it always keeps the way beyond open—always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance to try over again after a mistake—after a wrong guess.” 
― Walt Whitman


An Old Philosopher's Notebooks
By Michael Garofalo