Study Hall

I am still working my way through Zen Pivots by Sokei-An, and have been surprised by the depth of what he was teaching people all those years ago. Here is a passage that struck me this morning:
'In the beginning, when I was giving lectures here in New York, when I sat in SILENCE the audience thought the Reverend has forgotten a word and is thinking about it. But it is not that. My meaning was that there are no words to speak about it with. Then some of my audience would say, "Reverend, do you need a dictionary?"
No, I don't need a dictionary. This is not written in a dictionary. The human being cannot explain THIS. I said THIS; I didn't say "this attitude" or "this silence". I said THIS. Human beings cannot explain THIS.'
I remember reading that people who heard Suzuki Roshi lecture in Japanese thought that he was much more compelling in English. It makes me wonder, if you can't express the dharma in words, using a language you are less comfortable with, and have fewer habitual patterns of expression in may yet bring you a little closer to the things you cannot explain. It gives the mind more opportunity to fall through the gaps.

Study Hall

This week I have picked up Zen Pivots by Sokei-An. I have long been interested in the earlier zen pioneers in America, particularly Sokei-An and Nyogen Senzaki, and how they tailored their message to a mid-century audience who were much less familiar with Buddhism than even the first disciples of Suzuki Roshi, Maezumi Roshi or Eido Shimano Roshi. This constraint does not cause a dilution of the teaching as far as I can see, but I notice how Christianity is often referred to, as a way to point out differences and similarities in the ways of thinking. Here is a passage that struck me this morning, again using Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu as the starting point:
'So why did Bodhidharma say, "No benefit. There is none"?
Gaining benefit by doing something is an entirely human problem. If I am gaining something from Buddhism, I am not following Buddhism. The idea of benefit is such a small idea. Must there be something to gain from everything you do? Of course, today is a day of utilitarianism, we are utilitarianists.Every moment we are thinking about what we can get. To spend a whole life and in the end gain nothing? A wonderful conclusion to accept and make the basis of human life!'