So, Sam, what about "Bankei’s Promise?". Isn’t this sesshin supposed to be about that?
Yes, the previous talks in this sesshin have been laying the groundwork to talk about Bankei and his promise. What Bankei says is extremely simple, but I don’t think it is so easy to grasp.
But now, with some days of sitting, with the flow of sesshin taking hold, I want to give it a try. First, we need to get a little deeper bead on this no-story mind.
Say somebody we don’t know came to the door, right now, and demanded "Who’s in charge here!" (You know, some guy with a shaved head, black robe; you get the picture.)
Now, look around in this sesshin. You have to answer this guy. You have to answer right now! "Who is in charge here!"
Look around. Who is in charge here? It’s not so easy to see this in ordinary life, but in sesshin, don’t you just kind of have to laugh?
Someone might answer "You came to the right place!" "Have a seat."
Or maybe: "Oh, I’m sorry, the master isn’t in right now. Here - grab these clippers and start cutting bamboo." Then, you know, 20 years later, "Sorry, still not in — can you help out in the kitchen here while you wait?"
Or, you know, pick a story, let’s make one up! It could be like that "Lost" program on TV. A new story every week that explains almost everything, sort of.
You might say "Oh I get it, no one is in charge!" And that is a pretty good answer. But then I will ask you "Have you really seen this NO ONE?" "What is this NO ONE like?" "Have you met this NO ONE face-to-face?" And, OK, having gone this far, "What are the implications of this meeting?"
Let me just throw this out there: How willing are you to see the truth? How willing are you to live it?
One thing you might say about this NO ONE is that it is unborn; you could say unconditioned; you could say non-manifest. Your Unborn nature. Bankei uses this term a lot.
OK, on to Bankei, and his promise:
Everyone, do exactly as I’m telling you, and, following my instructions, start by trying to abide in the Unborn for thirty days. Learn to abide in the Unborn for thirty days, and from there on, even if you don’t want to — whether you like it or not — you’ll just naturally have to abide in the Unborn. You’ll be a success at abiding in the Unborn! Since that which is unborn is the Buddha Mind, you’ll be functioning with the Buddha Mind at all times. That way you’ll be living buddhas here today, won’t you? So listen to my teaching just as if today you were all born anew and starting afresh. When you’ve got some fixed notion, you won’t take in what you hear. Listen as if you were newly born right now and it will be like hearing my teaching for the first time. If you don’t have any fixed notion in your mind, at a single word you’ll instantly understand and attain complete realization of the Dharma.
Why not just abide in the Unborn for 30 days like Bankei says? Why not just dive right in and stay there always? You hear that it is bliss, joy, so why not just do it?
Well, yes, abiding in the Unborn feels like bliss and joy, but it also feels like a couple of other things that you probably don’t want to feel:
To abide in the Unborn is to abide in your constant irrelevance. This might be a bit of a blow to your ego. Your opinions don’t matter, what you want doesn’t matter.
To abide in the Unborn is to abide without control, to relenquish control. All the time. An example of control: seeking pleasure and trying to avoid pain. Hmmmm.
It’s a package deal. You want the bliss and joy? You have to pay for it by handing over your relevance and your control.
I think it is very common to get a glimpse of the bliss and joy and then "OK, now that I know what I am, thank you very much, I’ll take my relevance and control back please!" Then you can be "the guy who had a glimpse", and you can be important. "Wow, cool, you’re that guy who had a glimpse; I want to go out with you!"
Bankei has something to say about that!
…although people who’ve experienced some "realization" will turn up from time to time, there hasn’t yet been one who acts according to his realization in all his affairs right here and now. To understand is easy; to practice is hard.
But we are up for a challenge, right?
Back to the topic of this talk: turning away. Hopefully now it is a little clearer what turning away is all about. And, if you really want to do it (if you are still interested!) Bankei has given a great roadmap: abide in the Unborn for 30 days.
Why not try it? Hey, after 30 days we can just go back to our old ways, right? He is probably wrong when he says that after 30 days “…whether you like it or not — you’ll just naturally have to abide in the Unborn.” Here is the plan: we abide in the Unborn for 30 days, and then get out of it, and prove that he is wrong! It is just 30 days, I think we can handle it.
This is a topic that I want to pursue tomorrow at the Shosan: is there a way we could do a practice like this here? Back in the days of the first sdzen sesshins, Mary Peck and I talked about organizing a month long embedded sesshin. A sesshin embedded right into our lives. Perhaps rotating through various houses.
Anyone interested? By the way, we have lots of leftovers (Ofra made this great soup), so come tomorrow to Shosan and lunch, even if you didn’t sign up, and lets talk about Bankei’s promise.
I want to end this talk with Bankei describing the Unborn in his own words:
Among all you people here today there’s not a single one who’s an unelightened being. Everyone here is a buddha. So listen carefully! What you all have from your parents innately is the Unborn Buddha Mind alone. There’s nothing else you have innately. This Buddha Mind you have from your parents innately is truly unborn and marvelously illuminating. That which is unborn is the Buddha Mind; the Buddha Mind is unborn and marvelously illuminating, and what’s more, with this Unborn, everything is perfectly managed. The actual proof of this Unborn which perfectly manages [everything] is that, as you’re all turned this way listening to me talk, if out back there’s the cawing of crows, the chirping of sparrows or the rustling of the wind, even though you’re not deliberately trying to hear each of these sounds, you recognize and distinguish each one. The voices of the crows and sparrows, the rustling of the wind — you hear them without making any mistake about them, and that is what is called hearing with the Unborn. In this way, all things are perfectly managed with the Unborn. This is the actual proof of the Unborn.
Sam Gabriel, San Diego, CA
http://home.roadrunner.com/~clothespin
sam_gabriel@yahoo.com