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THE UNFETTERED MIND -- NOTES |
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The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom 1. Fudo Myoo is, literally, "Immovable Enlightened King," (Skt. Achala.) One of the Five Wisdom Deities, in Zen Buddhism he is considered to manifest the true nature of all living things. 2. Kannon, a bodhisattva, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. (Skt. Avalokitesvara.) Originally depicted as male, in one of the three common forms of representation she has a thousand eyes and a thousand hands. 3. The text here
gives the names of the twelve notes of the musical scale used in China and
Japan. Going up the scale, they are: 4. Bukkoku Kokushi: 1256-1316 5. Saigyo (1118-90): A Shingon priest of the late Heian period famous for his wanderings and highly admired as a poet. Eguchi was located within the modern city of Osaka. Saigyo is said to have stopped there one evening and asked for lodging, prompting the above reply by the courtesan. 6. It should now be clear that concentrate on might be used in the text as an alternative to put the mind. Concentrate, however, narrows the sense of the author's phrase in the original. Both ideas should be kept in mind. 7. The tanden, a point three finger widths below the navel, is considered by some Taoists to be the proper residing place of the mind. It is very nearly the body's center of gravity and is referred to often in martial arts' literature. 8. Seriousness, also translated as reverence, for the Neo-Confucianists meant an internal attitude of attentiveness and composure applied to efforts in handling affairs. As a desired state of mind, it contains a certain sense of meditation as well. The quotation is from Mencius (Bk 6, pt. 1, chapter 11): "Mencius said, 'Human-heartedness is man's mind. Righteousness is man's path. How sad that he abandons that path and does not rely on it; that he loses that mind and does not know to seek it. When a man has lost a cock or a dog, he knows to seek it, but having lost his [proper] mind, he does not know to seek it. The Way of Learning is nothing other than seeking the lost mind."' 9. Jien (1155-1225), also widely known by the name Jichin, was a poet and monk of the Tendai sect. 10. A favorite phrase of the Chinese Neo-Confucianists to explain "seriousness." 11. Mugaku (1226-86): A Chinese priest of the Linchi (Rinzai) sect, invited to Japan by Hojo Tokimune in 1278. The above story refers to the invasion of the Southern Sung by the Mongols in 1275. A gatha is a metrical hymn or chant, often found in the Buddhist sutras. The entire verse runs, "In all of heaven and earth, no place to stand up a single pole. / Happily I understand: Man is Emptiness, the Buddhist Law is Emptiness. / How wonderful is the three-foot sword of the Great Yuan. / With the speed of a flash of lightning, / Cut through the spring breeze." 12. Shao K'ang-chieh (1011-77) was a scholar of the Northern Sung Dynasty. Rather than "lose," the verb here might be translated, "let go of." 13. Chung-feng (1263-1323): A Chinese Zen priest of the Yuan Dynasty. 14. From the Pi Yen Lu, a collection of Zen problems, sayings and stories of the patriarchs. A monk asked Chao-chou, "Is a newborn child possessed of the six perceptions?" Chao-chou said, "Throw a ball into a swift current." The monk then asked T'ou-tze, "What does it mean, 'Throw a ball into a swift current?'" T'ou-tze said, "It never stops." 15. A poem at the end of the twelfth section of the Ise Monoga-tari (ninth century). The section runs: A long time ago there was a man who stole a young woman from another man and, when they went off to Musashino, being considered a thief, he was hunted down by the governor of that province. He hid the woman in a thicket and fled. A traveler said, "There is a thief in this field," and a fire was to be set to smoke him out. In her distress, the woman cried, "Today, burn not the fields of Musashino, /Both spouse and I lie hidden / in the grasses of spring." 16. The quotation is based on the Doctrine of the Mean (chapter 1): "There is nothing as clearly seen as that which is hidden, nothing as apparent as that which is dimly seen. Therefore the gentleman is careful when alone." 17. Ranbu: A dance rendered between performances of No. 18. Sarugaku, literally "monkey music," is an ancient form of drama and is the predecessor to No. The Clear Sound of Jewels 1. Right-mindedness is the term finally chosen to represent the Japanese gi, although it falls short of being an exact equivalent. Among alternatives considered, righteousness was rejected because, at one extreme at least, the Westerner self-satisfied in his own righteousness is apt to embark on the task of correcting others. Probity ("unimpeachable integrity") is closer and should be kept in mind. The emphasis lies in the individual's first setting himself right, through self-reflection, training and discipline. This does not automatically, or even eventually, lead to proselytism, and many, in fact, are the stories in Zen and the martial arts of would-be students going to great lengths to receive the instruction of the master. See also p. 54. 2. The principle in dying is to recognize why, and in what way, one should die. 3. Ch'eng Ying and Ch'u Chiu: Two dependents of the House of Chao Shu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-403 B.C.). Knowing an evil minister was planning to massacre the entire Chao family, Ch'eng Ying and Ch'u Chiu conceived of a plan whereby Ch'u Chiu and his son, who resembled the heir of Chao, would feign an escape and be killed, and Ch'eng Ying would flee to the mountains with the true son. The plan succeeded, and much later the heir was able to overthrow the evil minister and continue the House of Chao. Ch'eng Ying then recited the incident at the grave of Ch'u Chiu and committed suicide. 4. Po I and Shu Ch'i: Two brothers who lived in the last days of the Yin Dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.). At the time King Wu of the Chou was about to kill the last emperor of the Yin, the brothers admonished him, saying that it is improper for a vassal to kill his king. This advice was ignored and King Wu went on to establish the Chou Dynasty. The brothers, feeling it would be to their shame to eat the barley of the Chou, fled to Mount Shouyang, eating only bracken. In the end, they starved to death. 5. The Six Desires: the desires aroused by the six senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought; or the six sensual attractions arising from color, shape, carriage, voice, soft skin and beautiful features. 6. From the Golden Light Sutra: "The Absolute Body of the Buddha is like Emptiness. The manifestation of form in response to the material world is like the moon in the midst of the water." 7. The Twelve Links in the Chain of Existence: ignorance, action, consciousness, name and form, the six sense organs, contact, sensation, desire, attachment, existence, birth, old age and death. Starting with ignorance, each causes the next in the chain, so if ignorance is eliminated, old age and death will not occur. This is also referred to as the Chain of Causation. 8. Li Po (Li T'ai Po, 701-62) was one of the great poets of T'ang period China. This paragraph is the introduction to his poem, "Banqueting in the Peach Garden on a Spring Night," and this sentence is from Chuang Tzu; "This life is like a dream; this death is like a current." 9. The sense of thing meant here is "phenomenon." 10. A proverb dating from the T'ang period. 11. Ippen Shonin (1239-89): Founder of the Jodo sect of Pure land Buddhism. Hotto Kokushi (1207-98) was a monk of the Rinzai sect who travelled to Sung China in 1249. 12. Namu Amida Butsu, "Homage to the Buddha Amitabha," is the liturgical and meditative formula of faith of, particularly, the Pure Land Buddhists. 13. Kogaku Osho (1465-1548): A Rinzai monk who taught Zen to the Emperor Go-Nara. 14. The Ten Essential Qualities can, in accordance with the Lotus Sutra, also be translated as "thus" or "so," in other words, the "suchness" of a thing. 15. The Ten Worlds can also be explained as states or unchanging aspects common to all life. Some have alternate designations, as follows: Hunger: Hungry Ghost (Skt. Preta). They are in differing degrees of suffering and torment. Anger: Demon (Skt. Ashura). Lowly beings who in Hindu mythology were continually at war with the god Indra. Heaven: Realm of the Devas. A place where the meritorious enjoy the rewards of good karma but do not make progress towards bodhisattva enlightenment. (Man of) Learning: Hearer (Skt. Sravaka). Originally a disciple who had listened in person to the Buddha's teaching; by extension in Hinayana Buddhism, any disciple of the Buddha. (Man of) Realization: (Skt. Pratyeka-buddha). One who lives apart from others and independently attains awareness of the Chain of Causation. (See Note 7 above.) He is in contrast to the bodhisattva, who chooses to stay on in the cycle of reincarnation to help others, as well as himself, attain enlightenment. Like a Sravaka, a bodhisattva may be either layman or cleric. 16. The lower six remaining in the world of illusion, the upper four achieving some stage of enlightenment. 17. Skt. Avatamasaka. Japanese: Kegon Kyo. 18. Buddhahood (Bukka), lit. the "effect" (fruit) of the Buddha. Besides being homonyms, the characters for ka (effect) and ka (fruit) resemble each other, providing opportunities in the following pages for some untranslatable punning. 19. In northeastern Japan there was once the custom of setting up a branch of honeysuckle at the entrance of the house of one's intended. If she agreed to meet, she would take it inside. If not, the suitor would put up another and another until there were said to be a thousand. 20. Mountainous locations in China. 21. The Five Roots are the five sense organs: the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, (Cf. Note 5 above,) 22. Consciousness (Skt. vijnana). The sixth of the six means of perception (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and consciousness), it is mind in the widest sense of all mental powers, but especially the faculty of thought. 23. Fan-i Ming-i Chi; a Sung Dynasty Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary in seven chapters. Annals of the Sword Taia 1. The fully indented paragraphs were composed in a terse Chinese style and are the heart of Taiaki. The longer sections in between, written in Japanese, are basically exegeses of the Chinese sections. 2. Personal view is a Buddhist term signifying an individual view based on the erroneous idea that the ego, or personal self, is reality and can perceive things realistically. 3. World Honored One is one of the ten titles of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. The Snowy Mountains are the Himalayas. 4. It is said that when Shakyamuni was born he took seven steps in each of the four directions, pointed his right hand to the heavens, and intoned this phrase. 5. This Buddhist term indicates situations in which one inspires respect by his deportment. The four are representative of all the states in man, which are calculated to number eighty thousand. 6. "Created phenomena" result from the law of Karma; "uncreated" are independent of action, word or will. 7. Mara is a Demon, the Sanskrit literally meaning "Robber of Life." The reference here is to the Deva Mara, who from his position in the Sixth Heaven obstructs the practice of Buddhism. 8. Kashyapa (Mahakashyapa), foremost in ascetic practices of the ten chief disciples, became the leader of the disciples after the Buddha's death. 9. The text here is unclear. Grammatically, it would seem to equate the example of the "one and the three" with the reference to Shakyamuni and Kashyapa, but this fits neither in terms of the total meaning nor with the development of the text. The reference to "the one and the three" is probably from the Confucian Analects (7:8): "The Master said, 'Ido not enlighten those who are not enthusiastic or educate those who are not anxious to learn. I do not repeat myself to those who, when I raise one corner, do not return having raised the other three." The latter part of the sentence is from Pi Yen Lu, a collection of Zen problems, sayings and stories of the patriarchs. "Raising the one and understanding the other three, distinguishing subtle differences in weight with the unaided eye--these are the ordinary tea and rice of the Buddhist monk." 10. Original Face is the pristine nature of the Mind, as yet unstained by human affairs or intentions. 11. Not relying on the written word and transmission without instruction are two points especially stressed in Zen. They underscore the principle that one is to look into his own nature rather than rely on texts or the teachings of others. 12. Bodhidharma: The first patriarch of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism in China, he is said to have arrived in that country from India in either A.D. 470 or 520. Ta Chien (637-713): Commonly known as Hui Neng, he was a pivotal figure in the development of Zen. 13. "Five Houses and Seven Sects" are the various sects and subsects of Zen. Daio Kokushi (1234-1308). A monk of the Rinzai sect who studied Buddhism in China. Daito Kokushi (1282-1337): A follower of Daio Kokushi who is regarded to be the founder of Zen at Daitokuji. Nai Chi Hsu T'ang (1185-1269): Also known as Hsu T'ang Chih Yu, he was a Chinese monk of Linchi Buddhism. 14. The original text here defines the Edo period measurements used as examples. 15. From the Pi Yen Lu: "There is no set way for manifesting this great ability." 16. From the Cheng Tao Ko and possibly the Hsin Hsin Ming, two early treatises on Zen. The sources say, respectively: "Contrary action, orderly action--even heaven does not determine this," and "If you want to obtain its manifestation, do not think of order or contrariness." |