Sokei-An Says
Buddha
Buddha is that even mind, even and calm, which radiates in multifold directions at once. The word Buddha came from the Sanskrit root "to know." Buddha is one who knows, the knower. So this present consciousness is the Buddha, the knower. We know, we see, we hear, we smell, we taste, we touch. Legendarily, we say Buddha.
But we do not need to think Buddha and "I" are different existences in the universe. There is only one universe, one universal power in all the world, and one universal intrinsic wisdom throughout all sentient beings and all insentient beings.
This power of knowing actually performing within us is Buddha. This is our God. We worship this. We do not bow down to worship this Buddha. We meditate upon it. We do not call its name; we do not look up to the sky or peep down into the earth to find it. It is in us. We do not know where the Buddha-mind is. It is not in the brain, or in the stomach. But we know it exists. We rest in it and meditate.
"Just sit down and meditate. Throw yourself into the great universe. Don't put a little tag 'I' on yourself. Peel the label off and throw yourself into the great universe... On a lovely spring day, go sit on a park bench by the Hudson and forget yourself. When your heart beats with the rhythm of the universe, there on a park bench you will find Buddha."
— From a lecture, April 19, 1939
When I Was A Child
When I was a child I didn't like to keep my bird in a cage. When my mother brought me any bird I always opened the cage and let it go. And when my father brought me another sparrow—"It came back, father!" But today I think that all those sparrows were not the same sparrow.
The Sixth Patriarch told a monk that his way of practicing zazen was wrong; that instead of observing mind activity he tried to stop it. If you put your bird in a cage and cut its wing feathers and stop him from singing his beautiful song—it is not the way to keep your bird.
O Sesshin
By Ruth Fuller Sasaki
The first week in December, I had Rohatsu Sesshin at Daitoku-ji Sodo (monastery) and through most of the Sodos of Rinzai sect in Japan. Some Sodos celebrate Rohatsu—the first part of January, as soon after the New Year as possible, as they follow the old calendar. But for the most part the new calendar is followed, and that brings this long and severe meditation the first week of the 12th month, December. The 8th of December is considered by Zennists to be the day Sakyamuni attained his Great Enlightenment. So this week is a kind of memorial week when all good monks and laymen try with special zeal to make some strides along their path toward awakening.
This year I, too, could arrange things so as to have at least three days of absolute quiet, and to sit with the monks in the zendo (meditation hall) in the evening after supper for the entire week.
It was wonderful to get up at six in the morning and to sit for two hours before dressing and having breakfast. After breakfast I went for a long walk, two hours, in the country. One day I walked along the Kamo River. Workmen and workwomen... were taking their morning tea. It was a beautiful warm sunny day... I sat on a bench on a high bank. The warm sun was shining, the river was running merrily, the distant mountains were quiet and saturated with repose... It was ideal for meditation.
I am always happy when I can sit again in the zendo. The first night I sat in Nanzen-ji zendo I knew that at last I had come home... There is an atmosphere which no other place can quite duplicate. The big quiet room, the dim light, the faint smell of coarse incense, the cold fresh air... You are not aware all. You are not outside of them. You include them all. Some time I hope you may know the experience.
On Daily Practice: The other day, when Father Dumoulin was visiting me I took him to meet a Roshi at the Sodo. Roshi told Father Dumoulin that he thought the important thing was to sit every day without any intermission. That is, to sit an hour every day and let nothing come in to interfere. I said I thought that was very necessary, but what was equally as necessary was every so often to have a long period of sitting, such as sesshin, when over several days your mind is kept more or less in the meditative state. I know by long experience how much long periods of meditation can do. So try to have a sesshin as often as possible, that you may prove to yourselves what the value is.
Obituary: Edna Kenton
Edna Kenton, 78, long the Treasurer and Historian of The First Zen Institute, and a senior Sangha member, died at her home in Greenwich Village February 28 after an illness of several months.
Miss Kenton was born in Springfield, Mo., and came to New York before World War I. She was an ardent feminist and often contributed articles on feminism and women's suffrage to newspapers and magazines. In the '20's and '30's she wrote many books on the Jesuits and early American history. Later her interest turned to Henry James. A recognized authority on James, Miss Kenton's last book, Eight Uncollected Tales of Henry James, published in 1950, was received with critical acclaim.
It is greatly to be regretted that a long-contemplated biography of Sokei-an did not reach completion. The anecdotes appearing under the title "When I Was a Child" are taken from Miss Kenton's preparatory notes for this book.
Sesshin Schedule
It has been suggested by several out-of-town members that they might informally observe sesshin in their own homes at the same time that observance is made at the Institute. Sesshin is now regularly held the first weekend of each month.
- Saturday: 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
- Sunday: 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
- Monday: 7:45 AM - 10:30 AM (Regular meeting time)
Members of the Institute in New York are invited to take whatever part they can. Those who list their names with the secretary will be reminded by postcard.