Grounding being on the inner light

 

Finished reading "Mystics and Zen Masters" by Thomas Merton.  It took me several months, so I decided to read the first chapter again (with the same title) to get a good idea of what the whole book was all about.  Have known Merton to be this contemplative Trappist monk who was famous for his commentaries particularly on the Vietnam war and on his reflections about Christian theology and spirituality in light of such and other key political and social issues of the day, towards the latter part of the twentieth century.  Knew that he died in tragic and quite mysterious circumstances: alone in his room in Bangkok, apparently electrocuted from a toppled small desk fan.  Not sure about the real reason why I have often confused him with another Christian author who had the same first name.  Have one of Merton's several-volume journals (the exact title of which evades memory at the moment - but I know it has "mountain" in it) somewhere on these shelves at home, and could even recall starting to read it years ago.  Might have to find and read it from cover to cover soon, to better understand the man, his life, his struggles, and his thoughts.

Anyway, Mystics and Zen Masters (the chapter) was a good introduction to this work by Merton which was not entirely about Zen concepts and practice but also touched on other contemplative and mystical traditions, mostly Christian, around the world.  The chapter's linchpin story was that of the fifth Zen patriarch in China, Hung Jen, and his subsequent choice for his successor and the manner by which this was done.  The patriarch asked the candidate monks to compose verses that would embody their understanding and deepest insights on what Buddhist enlightenment was.  Shen Hsiu, the leading candidate, talked about the practice of meditation under a Bodhi tree as something that was comparable to wiping clean a mirror and ensuring that it was free from any speck of dust at all times.  This earned his practice the monicker of "mirror-wiping" Zen. 

Then there was Hui Neng who was not even properly a monk (or was the monk who, as his meditative practice, had been assigned to the kitchen to do all the cooking and the dish washing for the sangha (or community of monks).  Taking off from Shen Hsiu's verse, Hui Neng's poem essentially put a question mark on the reality of all notions that Shen Hsiu had in his - the Bodhi being a tree, the mirror standing in front of the meditator, and even the grains of sand or dust that were supposed to dull the "purity" of the reflective surface.  The implications being there was nothing at all to polish and wipe clean, and the whole practice of sitting meditation was not that central to attaining clear mind.  Another reminder of the value of not being too attached to any single practice and to the view of clear mind or enlightenment as something to be achieved.

So the story ended with Hui Neng being named the sixth Chinese Zen master, and his no-mind perspective would later be the foundation of the Japanese Rinzai school of Zen with its famous practice around these sudden flashes of insights and the cultivation of even broader and deeper realizations by meditating on spiritual "riddles" called "koans".  Shen Hsiu and followers would be continuing with their own mirror-wiping practice of Zen, emphasizing the nitty-gritty of sitting meditation and honing such practice and the resulting awareness by counting breaths, simply being aware of all the inhalations and exhalations, and focusing on and watching sensations and thoughts arise and go by during each sitting.  They would go on to influence the Soto school of Zen in Japan that organizes these mentally and physically demanding meditation retreats, with their characteristic zazen ("just sitting") marathons and audiences with the Zen master.

As mentioned above, may have to read again the whole book to recall what the rest of it was actually all about.  Had this vague sense that it went on to examine related practices especially of the Christian contemplative traditions or groups, drawing out insights in the process.  My own path took me from Christianity (i.e., the crash evangelical, "born again" variety in high school) to something much akin to the Soto Zen school's frequent zazens.  At one point, the sitting was interspersed with writing down each unique experience and visions that came with the counting of breaths.  But after reading Charlotte Joko Beck's book "Everyday Zen" a couple of years ago, was more and more enamored with the idea that this whole existence, with all the things that it could throw along the way, was both the practice and the path.  So, it has been a journey so far across various spiritual traditions in an effort to continuously ground being on this inner light, rather than a notion of belonging to or being a part of a single school of beliefs or thought.