Zen Buddhist Monks

"After Shorei Sokin's death, Rikyu became a devoted follower of Shorei's successor, Kokei Sochin. Kokei was a member of the Asakura family and, although ten years Rikyu's junior, was greatly admired by Rikyu for his abilities. It is said that when Kokei became head abbot of Daitokuji in 1573, Rikyu bestowed upon him the unprecedented sum of one hundred kanmon as a congratulatory gift. An event that well illustrates the trust between Kokei and Rikyu is the tea gathering held by Rikyu on 1 588."

"For over sixty years I often cried Katsu! to not avail. And now, while dying, Once more to cry Katsu! Won't change a thing."

"Koho Kenichi (1241-1316) was one of the most renowned Zen prelates of his era, his era, not least because of his Japanese origin. As son of , he began his religious career in the esoteric Buddhist school. In 1256 he was admitted into the Tofukuji by Enni Ben'en. Four years later he met Gottan Funei, who had just moved there from China. As instructed by his teacher Enni Ben'en, Koho followed Gottan Funei to Kamakura. On Ichio Ingo's recommendation he came under the care of Koho Kennichi. He was calm and self-willed and preferred to live in seclusion. For this reason he spent many years in a remote area until his appointment as leading priest of the Jomyoji in 1300 and later of the Manjuji in Kamakura. In 1314 Mugaku Sogen entrusted him with the leadership of the great Kenchoji."

"Hogo acquired importance as a calligraphic art expressing the personality and the cultural attainments of the zen priest writer... Typical of such is the hogo written by Mugaku Sogen (1226-1286) and presented to Ichio Ingo, ( -1281)."

"Three and seventy years I've drawn pure water from the fire - Now I become a tiny bug. With a touch of my body I shatter all worlds."

"Togan Ean (1225 - December 29, 1277) was a priest of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in the mid .... After he first received religious precepts as a priest and learnt doctrine at Mt. Shosha, he studied the same at Sennyu-ji Temple, too and went to Hakata to visit the Sung dynasty in China in 1257, but he met Goku kyonen and was inspired by him, and he converted to the Rinzai Sect."

"The truth embodied in the Buddhas Of the future, present, past; The teaching we received from the Fathers of our faith Can all be found at the tip of my stick."

"As a spiritual successor to the 19th-century Zen poet Gizan Zenrai (and anyone who has ever felt wistful thinking that everything we’ve ever known will one day vanish), [Harold Whit] Williams writes: “A child once again, / Gazing out to where forever ends. / Everything orbiting, gently orbiting.”"

"I was born into this world I leave it at my death. Into a thousand towns My legs have carried me, And countless homes - What are all these? A moon reflected in the water A flower floating in the sky Ho!"

"Zen master Dairin Soto (1480-1568), founder of Nanshuji temple in Sakai, wrote [a verse] on a portrait of : Formerly, he maintained bonds to the unhindered cause of Amida Buddha's [Vow], Then changed schools and actively endeavored [in Zen]."

"A tune of non-being Filling the void: Spring sun Snow whiteness Bright clouds Clear wind."

"Also associated chiefly with Tofukuji was Daido Ichi'i (1292-1370), a native of Awaji Island. He came to the capital, studied under Kokan Shiren (1278-1346) and was eventually appointed to the most prestigious positions in Kyoto's monastic society: twenty- eighth abbot of Tofukuji and thirty-first of Nanzenji. Daido Ichi'i was renowned not only for his eminence in religious matters, but also for his scholarly accomplishments and literary talents as one of the leading Gozan literati of his days."

"The use of circle imagery became increasingly significant in formal portraits of various Zen masters, becoming standard beginning in the fifteenth century, and became known as Ensō-zo (circle portraits). In these images,the master is shown as if contained within a painted “halo”or round window frame within the larger format of the composition. One of the earliest examples is a set of portraits contained in an album depicting twenty-eight patriarchs, each one shown as a bust portrait contained within a round “frame.” The series of portraits begins with the first patriarch, Daruma (Bodhidharma), covered in a red robe..."

"My whole life long I've sharpened my sword And now, face to face with death I unsheathe it, and lo - The blade is broken - Alas!"

"Realize that the taste of tea and the taste of Zen are the same and absorb the wind in the pines. Then will your mind be undefiled."

"Dairin Soto (1480-1568), ninetieth abbot of Daitokuji temple in Kyoto and founder of Nanshuji Temple in Sakai, wrote on a portrait of . Jōō practiced Zen under Dairin and received the layman's title Ikkan ~53 in 1549, at the age of forty-eight."

"You're a self-centered rascal, aren't you!"

"Here in the shadow of death it is hard To utter the final word. I'll only say, then, "Without saying." Nothing more, Nothing more."

"Hurrying to die, It’s difficult to find a last word. If I spoke the wordless word, I wouldn’t speak at all!"

"Dôkyô Etan (1642–1721) Japanese Rinzai monk from the Myôshin-ji lineage, best known as the master of Hakuin Ekaku (1768–1768), the great Rinzai sect reformer. Etan was the son of a samurai and his concubine. He was raised in the household of Lord Matsudaira Tadatomo, where he was first introduced to Zen. On a trip to Edo in 1660, Etan became the disciple of Shidô Bu'nan (1603–1676), having already attained an experience of enlightenment. He received the master's certificate (J. inka) after only one year of practice. He then returned to his native Iiyama in Shinano, where he lived a simple life in a small hermitage called Shôju-an. From the hermitage Etan received his nickname, Shôju Rôji, “the old man of the Shôju hermitage.” None of Etan's writings were published, although some of his teachings are scattered within Hakuin's work."

"All my life I taught Zen to the people - Nine and seventy years. He who sees not things as they are Will never know Zen."

"Koho Kenichi (1241-1316) was one of the most renowned Zen prelates of his era, his era, not least because of his Japanese origin. As son of , he began his religious career in the esoteric Buddhist school. In 1256 he was admitted into the Tofukuji by Enni Ben'en. Four years later he met Gottan Funei, who had just moved there from China. As instructed by his teacher Enni Ben'en, Koho followed Gottan Funei to Kamakura. On Ichio Ingo's recommendation he came under the care of Koho Kennichi. He was calm and self-willed and preferred to live in seclusion. For this reason he spent many years in a remote area until his appointment as leading priest of the Jomyoji in 1300 and later of the Manjuji in Kamakura. In 1314 Mugaku Sogen entrusted him with the leadership of the great Kenchoji."

"Although Zen teachers—immigrants as well as native born—could now readily be found in Japan, some of the more serious students still felt it necessary to travel to China to get the training they wanted. One of these was Enni Ben’en, also known by the posthumous name, Shoichi Kokushi—Shoichi, the National Teacher."

"Buddhas bear the same relation to sentient beings as water does to ice. Ice, like stone or brick, cannot flow. But when it melts it flows freely in conformity with its surroundings. So long as one remains in a state of delusion he is like ice. Upon realization he becomes as exquisitely free as water. And remember, there is no ice which does not return to water. So you will understand there is no difference between ordinary beings and Buddhas except for one thing - delusion. When it is dissolved they are identical."

"From the first, in people and in things, there is no such thing as trash. These words point to the fundamental truth of Buddhism, a truth I could not as yet conceive in those days."

"When a Zen Monk writes the word "dew," it is not to the natural phenomenon that he refers, but to direct revelation. Nothing concealed anywhere. Truth, revealed in all things. Buddha revealed in all things. Dharma revealed in all things. If you all just let the scales drop from your eyes, you realize that everything everywhere is filled with truth; everything is filled with Buddha; everything everywhere is to be appreciated! That is what the scroll of "dew" is hanging there to say."

"Once there was a megalomaniac in the Sugamo hospital who called himself "Ashiwara Shōgun." He hung a cardboard medal around his neck and bestowed dignified words to those he met to take with them on their way. Now that the war is over, we can see clearly that what the military did wasn’t at all different. And now they want to reintroduce medals yet again... After winning the Russo-Japanese war, we thought we’d won colonies. But what really came of it? After losing the Second World War, we realized that we had only earned the hatred of the Russians... Everyone is talking about loyalty to the fatherland. The question is simply where this loyalty will take us. I too was completely convinced when I went to war against the Russians, but after our defeat, I realized that we had done something that we shouldn’t have. In any case, it’s better not to make war in the first place."

"We stop the one who can't cease from seeking things outside, and practice with our bodies with a posture that seeks absolutely nothing. This is zazen."

"I went to the Russo-Japanese War and killed people until I had enough of it. If you think about it soberly, this is a serious matter. Today the newspaper writes about the extermination of the enemy or how we clean them away with machine gun fire. That almost sounds like everyday household cleaning. They fire with machine guns and call it "cleaning away the remains of the enemy". Imagine that would happen in the midst of the ginza: people getting "cleaned away" as if you were shooting animals! It would be a serious affair. Compared with today the former war was old fashioned. We shot only one bullet at a time. That was not so gross like shooting your machine gun as if you were spreading water with a watering can, or throwing big bombs, or poison gas. I also once killed enemies at the battlefield of Baolisi, chasing them into a hole, and I was never punished for it. I even received monthly payments as a veteran after I came back from the war. That means that you do not always get punished for killing a person. It depends on the regulations of the time if you get punished or not. But these regulations are made by men."

"The asshole doesn’t need to be ashamed of being the asshole. The feet don’t have any reason to go on strike just because they’re only feet. The head isn’t the most important of all, and the navel doesn’t need to imagine he’s the father of all things. It’s strange though that people look at the prime minister as an especially important person. The nose can’t replace the eyes, and the mouth can’t replace the ears. Everything has its own identity, which is unsurpassable in the whole universe."

"Hey! What are you looking at? Don’t you see that it’s about you?"

"You can’t even trade a single fart with the next guy. Each and every one of us has to live out his own life. Don’t waste time thinking about who’s most talented."

"Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone."

"How we live our everyday lives has to be the main concern of religion."

"My sermons are criticized by certain audiences. They say that my sermons are hollow, not holy. I agree with them because I myself am not holy. The Buddha's teaching guides people to the place where there is nothing special... People often misunderstand faith as kind of ecstasy of intoxication... True faith is sobering up from such intoxication."

"You are the strongest and the others keep their distance. It is no longer necessary to win victories over them."

"Religions remain what they are. Zen is meditation. Meditation is the foundation of every religion. People today feel an intense need to go back to the source of religious life, to the pure essence in the depths of themselves which they can discover only through actually experiencing it. They also need to be able to concentrate their minds in order to find the highest wisdom and freedom, which is spiritual in nature, in their efforts to deal with the influences of every description imposed upon them by their environment. Human wisdom alone is not enough, it is not complete. Only universal truth can provide the highest wisdom. Take away the word Zen and put Truth or Order of the Universe in its place."

"We should learn to think with our fingers."

"Think with your whole body."

"If you are not happy here and now, you never will be."

"To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give."

"You must not take out your sword because if you try to kill someone, you must die for it yourself. What you must do instead is kill yourself, kill your own mind."

"We feel our shell keeps us safe, but it crushes us and others, and keeps out light and sun."

"Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance."

"If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is really and truly composed of H-2-O, or even mineral water, or saki. Meditation is Drinking it!"

"Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance — embracing all opposites."

"You have to practice until you die."

"You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair."

"Train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the martial arts is not there."

"Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit."