UnMind 51. Trusting Mind Quartet 3: Harmony of Difference and Sameness

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Harmony is great!
But must include everything —
It’s the same diff’rence!

The second of the three main Soto Zen liturgical recitations from Ch’an Buddhism, Sekito Kisen’s Sandokai — variously translated as “Identity of Relative & Absolute,” “Merging of Difference and Unity” or “Harmony of Difference and Sameness” — is mercifully brief, especially compared to Kanchi Sosan’s Hsinhsinming — Trust in Mind. And while the three great masters do not simply repeat the same ideas in different terms, they are certainly pointing to the same aspects of Zen’s insight into practical reality, “chopping wood and carrying water,” as the trope goes. The mendicants’ dependence upon the begging bowl — as a business model for the earliest Order of monks and nuns in India — assimilated the social independence of Taoism, while fostering an interdependent connection to society more typical of Confucianism. This kind of self-sufficiency combined with social awareness is very American, if more characteristic of our grandparents’ generation. The first line sets the stage for what follows:

The mind of the Great Sage of India is intimately transmitted from West to East

China is laying claim to the self-same awakening to original Mind as expressed in Buddha’s awakening and its transmission to the 28 ancestors in India, culminating in Bodhidharma’s bringing it to China. The operative word here is “intimately” — indicating the face-to-face transmission of master to student. While buddha-dharma may have already made its way to China in written form, the method of Zen — i.e. zazen — with its reliance on intimate, in-person training, apparently had not.

While human faculties are sharp or dull, the Way has no northern or southern ancestors

A couple of Zen principles are combined here, the first being that the transmission of the Buddha Way is not dependent upon the relative intelligence, education or erudition of the individual, as it is more a natural birthright than an intellectual capacity. Huineng, sixth ancestor in China, is reputed to have been illiterate, and yet he became the founder of the so-called southern, or “sudden enlightenment” school, while his highly-educated, senior Dharma brother became the successor in the northern school, characterized as “gradual” in its process. The original Mind is present, to be uncovered, or recovered, in all human beings. This does not mean that quickness of intellect is a problem; but it is not necessarily an advantage. Huineng was quick enough. He spent only about nine months under tutelage of the fifth patriarch. But in truth, there was little or no difference between the northern and southern schools.

The spiritual source shines clear in the light; the branching streams flow on in the dark

Shohaku Okumura Roshi in Living by Vow, and others, have commented extensively on this brief poem. The symbolism involved in opposing light and dark is surely part of the intended meaning of the great sage, but I like to think he is simultaneously pointing at direct experience, in meditation, and as a result of meditation. The spiritual source shining “clear in the light” is referenced in Buddha’s own teaching, for example in the Surangama Sutra, where he goes into great detail describing the inner visions of the mind, and their implications. Branching streams here I assume to refer to the branches of Buddhism as it spread throughout China, and as a general statement that, whether in the light of day or in the darkness of ignorance, this truth is immanent, whether we know it or not.

Grasping at things is surely delusion
According with sameness is still not enlightenment

These two statements I believe go together, the first indicating that all ordinary pursuits, such as of wealth, pleasure, or simple satisfaction — or even the pursuit of knowledge itself, through the usual means of examining the myriad things in exhaustive detail — is not the Zen way. The holistic approach of the Buddha way can include the analysis, comparison, and categorization characteristic of science, but in the end it has to pull things together in a new synthesis. The delusional extreme is to fantasize that we will reach some sort of universal truth by taking everything apart, like Tennyson’s “Flower in the Crannied Wall.” Plucking things from their living matrix, pulling them apart under a microscope, will not reveal their true nature. Yet merely regarding all the many particular things as somehow being the same, under a mere appearance of difference, is still an incomplete, one-sided view. We do not assert that all is one, but as Master Sosan reminds us, “To come directly into harmony with this reality just simply say when doubt arises, ‘Not two.’” Master Kisen goes on to illustrate this principle in personal terms:

All the objects of the senses transpose and do not transpose
Transposing they are linked together not transposing each keeps its place
Sights vary in quality and form sounds differ as pleasing or harsh

I say personal here, as he is bringing us back to our senses, literally. The objects of the senses would include the sights, sounds, and feelings we experience, along with thoughts, as the objects of the mind. If memory serves, another translation substitutes “interact” for “transpose,” which I prefer, in that it seems to more accurately capture what the great sage is pointing to. It is as if the senses overlap, as in a Venn diagram, as is experienced in extreme fashion by synesthetes, who see colors associated with hearing, and hear sounds associated with seeing. One assumes that the other senses, smell and taste, are similarly interconnected and interactive. We can all point to examples that we have experienced, including the sounds and sights of a fireworks display, which some find pleasing, where their pets find them frightening. The master repeatedly associates general principles with particular case experiences in this manner, reflecting R. Buckminster Fuller’s definition of intelligence.

Darkness merges refined and common words
Brightness distinguishes clear and murky phrases

Again, the reference to light and dark provides context for language, another contrast that Master Kisen engages repeatedly — phenomena as experienced versus principles as expressed in language. “Refined and common words” may refer to the erudite exegesis of buddhadharma, versus street language, which in the darkness of unknowable reality are merged in an equal inability to capture the truth in words, however refined. Some of the most famous expressions of Zen wisdom appear vulgar. “Brightness,” on the other hand — the direct, experiential light of wisdom, or insight — enables us to distinguish between artful and clumsy expressions, pointing at the truth that is beyond words.

The four elements return to their natures just as a child turns to its mother
Fire heats wind moves water wets earth is solid
Eye and sights ear and sounds nose and smells tongue and tastes

After contrasting the clarification that arises in meditation, and incoherent attempts to put it into words, the master turns to the functioning of insentient nature, through empirical observation and human-centered references, connecting raw elements to mother and child, as well as to the senses and their objects. The natural functioning of fire, wind, water and earth are conflated with those of eye, ear, nose and tongue, which of course manifest the four elements internally, in the form of biology. The inclusion of body and mind are assumed, as would be the other elements of space and consciousness.

Thus for each and every thing according to the roots the leaves spread forth
Trunk and branches share the essence; revered and common each has its speech

Here the dendritic form is deployed to envision the natural growth of all systems, including those of human origin, such as the “branching streams” of Buddhism itself, or the theory of evolution. Each and every essential being stems from shared roots, variations branching from the trunk, manifesting temporarily as leaves in season. The last sentence, which seems to be a whiplash into irrelevancy, is another reminder, in case we didn’t get it the first time, that language itself shares this quality. Those high holy things we hold in great reverence and those we consider common, even beneath our contempt, are rendered the same in that we alone identify them as different. Zen allows no separation of the sacred and mundane.

In the light there is darkness but do not take it as darkness
In the dark there is light but do not see it as light
Light and dark oppose one another like the front and back foot in walking

Returning to the trope of light and dark, the master once again conflates direct experience and its deeper implications. I favor the direct interpretation, in that the light of daytime is floating on a deep background of the dark of outer space, and the edge of darkness starts just at the limits of our peripheral vision. In the dark of night, light is manifest as the movement of energy on the neuronal networks. As a basic binary, light is always begetting dark, and vice-versa. Can’t have the one without the other. Spoiler alert: Hokyo Zammai, Precious Mirror Samadhi, touches on this idea: “In darkest night it is perfectly clear; in the light of dawn it is hidden.” Inner light is more obvious, in the absence of sunlight.

Each of the myriad things has its merit expressed according to function and place
Existing phenomenally like box and cover joining
According with principle like arrow points meeting

These three lines seem to hang together, but cover a broad insight, in my estimation. “Each of the myriad things” covers a lot of territory, sometimes referred to as the “ten-thousand things,” meaning all of the many things in existence. “Merit” may seem an odd choice to attribute to a thing, any thing, but I think stands for the absolute noumenon, or essence of a thing, while using “function and place” to denote phenomena, the unique and irreplaceable manifestation of each being and particle in its dharma location. Merit here does not express solely the utility of an object in the context of human needs, but its place in the ecosystem, and further, its deeper implications as “Myriad objects partake of the buddha body” in Master Dogen’s Jijuyu Zammai, Self-Fulfilling Samadhi. “Existing phenomenally like box and cover joining refers to those things we can understand and control to some degree, while “according with principle like arrow points meeting” represents the near-impossible, the simultaneous apprehension of both form and emptiness in each and every phenomenological instantiation of reality.

Hearing the words understand the meaning; do not establish standards of your own

Once again we are parsing the closing comments into briefer one-liners, as each is replete with its own meaning, though intimately connected to the rest. We have already heard many words, but do we really understand the meaning, or intent, of the master? If we simply force or twist the more challenging ideas into pretzels of our own preference, we may miss the meaning altogether. Listen for echoes of these tenets in Tozan’s poem to come.

Not understanding the Way before your eyes, how do you know the path you walk?

The “Way before your eyes” reminds us of Master Sosan’s “Emptiness here, emptiness there, but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes.” This is partially a critique of substituting theory or doctrine for the evidence of your own senses, I think, such as that represented by the early models of the celestial bodies with Earth at the center. We may tout the theory of emptiness as if we know what it is, and thereby discount the preponderance of evidence. If the path we walk is comprised of comforting beliefs and self-fulfilling prophecies, in spite of evidence to the contrary, it amounts to just another fantasy.

Walking forward is not a matter of far or near
But if you are confused mountains and rivers block your way

These two lines I believe are meant to be considered together for their full import. “Walking forward” I think means to suggest real progress on the path, though there is no forward or backward to it. “Not being a matter of far or near” I take to mean that going on extensive journeys, pilgrimage, to find the truth, is a step in the wrong direction, for as Master Dogen reminds us in Fukanzazengi, Principles of Seated Meditation, “The Way is completely present where you are, so of what use is pursuing enlightenment elsewhere?” I also think it implies that that which is distant is not fundamentally different from that which is near, much like the modern astronomical view of the universe appearing the same from any vantage point. However, the very example of mountains and rivers constantly manifesting the body of Buddha and expounding the Dharma will only add to our confusion, unless and until we make the right move, which is to enter into stillness, or better yet, stillness in motion and vice-versa, mokurai.

I respectfully urge you who study the mystery: do not pass your days and nights in vain

Zen is nothing if not respectful. As far as we know, the person we are talking to already has the Dharma, and may grasp it more deeply than we do. If nothing else, our poor words are subject to the duality of the language itself, and so may be inadvertently fostering more confusion. If you are studying the mystery with single-minded diligence and single-hearted devotion, there is nothing more you can do, and nothing more that the old man can offer, other than to encourage you to go 24/7 in your endeavor. It is not a waste of time, in fact is the best use of your time, which is all you have. Zen is not in vain.