Roshi was away this week at the AZBA (American Zen Buddhist Association) conference.  This organization recognizes and certifies teachers recognized by the large training temples in Japan.  Roshi noted that there are many Zen organizations and many conferences, but many of these programs seem to be superfluous to the core message of Zen.  For instance, some conferences emphasize Zen outreach to underrepresented groups.  While laudable, isn’t it true that we already vow to save all beings – ALL BEINGS.  So yes, it is important to be reminded about this vow, but do we really need to spend time dissecting the particulars of one group vs another?  The goal is to save everyone, to lessen everyone’s suffering.  Fixating on differences is just another dualistic delusion.

However, this particular AZBA conference focused on ‘Shingi’ or the standards and rules for Zen priests.  Most westerners automatically recoil when they hear about rules, but Roshi thought this could be an interesting topic considering our upcoming sesshin.  Roshi noted that in Shakyamuni’s time there were no real formalized rules for the Sangha.  However, as time progressed, we seem to have lost the original “flavor” of Buddhist life.  This is why the forms become so valuable.  Yes, they serve as a skillful means to train the mind, but in a deeper sense they connect us back to the initial time of the historical Buddha.  In our tradition, we follow the forms laid out by Dogen and then subsequently refined by Keizan.  Roshi likened Dogen as being the “bones of practice” whereas Keizan represents the “flesh of practice.”  Dogen lays out the forms in their absolute whereas Keizen puts them in perspective with his wisdom.

Roshi reiterated that the challenge with Shinge in Japan is that practitioners focus on perfect execution of the forms rather than the deeper meaning.  This seems to be a common issue with traditions having deep roots in a country.  Many people in the West say a similar thing about the Abrahamic traditions.  They leave the tradition because it just becomes a building with priests in fancy clothes repeating a script over and over.  Zen in Japan is facing this exact issue.   

So, what about Zen in the West?  It is all new and fresh right now – so we assume it will flourish.  However, this is really building our edifice on quicksand!!  First of all, if we teach forms without a deeper understanding, people will naturally drift away like they did with their original faith.  Second, in the West, and especially in the US, we talk about RIGHTS quite a bit.  Can we demand a right to enlightenment?  Should we allocate enlightenment as a social good ensuring that it is evenly distributed across the population.  Here Roshi stopped, and pointed out the absurdity of this thinking.  Everyone is already enlightened!  There is nothing to give or distribute. 

Roshi wrapped up by reminding us that the Shingi are simply tools that we can use to focus the mind and connect us with the rich 2500-year tradition we find ourselves in.  Roshi likes the aphorism, “Same Taste – One Mind”  If we practice the Shingi here in New York, we will feel totally comfortable in a Zen center in London, Berlin, Beijing, or anywhere!  Like everything else in Zen, they are simultaneously critical and utterly worthless.  After all, all we really need to practice is the breath!