how rare is Kensho?

Felsefe okuyan biri olarak "who and what" sorularının kafa karıştırıcı hatta yanıltıcı olabileceğini düşünüyorum. Özellikle "who am I" or "what am I" gibi sorular soruyorsanız bir yanılsamaya girmemek için çok dikkatli olmalısınız. Bir solucan ikiye bölündüğünde, artık 2 adet solucan olduğunu söyleriz. Bir taş veya kaya ikiye bölündüğünde halâ 2 adet taş ve kaya vardır diyebiliriz. Peki neden? Çünkü halâ işlevseller. Fakat taş ve solucan ikiye bölündüğünde parçalarda kütle fiziksel değişiklikler olduğunu da söyleyebiliriz. Aynı zamanda taş ikiye aldıldığında her iki parçayı halâ iki ayrı taş olarak yorumladığımız hâlde taştan yapılan heykel ikiye bölündüğünde ikisini ayrı iki heykel olarak görmeyiz, bunun sebebi heykele yüklenen kavramsal anlam ki "ben neyim" sorusunu sorduğumuz "ben" de kavramsal anlam taşır. Gelelim bir veya iki kolu kesilen insana, şimdi burada "ben o kol değilim" demeden önce dikkatli düşünmek lazım. O kol artık yok ise bu sende hem kütle hem form olarak değişiklik yarattı. Evet sen halâ "alex" sin fakat "sağ eliyle yemek yiyen veya resim yapan alex" değilsin artık. Evrende kapladığın yer ve yerçekimi ile etkileşen kütlen aynı "Alex" değil. Ayrıca ikiye ayrılan solucan ve taşların aksine Alex iki tane oldu demeyiz. Çünkü "Alex" in işlevleri (yani düşünme, hareket etme, karar verme, ve diğer tüm özellikleri ikiye ayrılmadı ve kolda bu işlevler olmadığı için biz sadece bu işlevlere sahip vücudun diğer kısmına "Alex" diyoruz, oysa "solucan ve taş" bölündüğünde durum böyle değildi. Doğal olarak kopan kol artık Alex değil; fakat Alex'de artık kolu kopmadan önceki Alex değil. Değişti, evrende her şey her an değişir. Bu durum "Ben kolum değilim veya ben bedenim değilim" şeklinde bir yargının yanlışlığını gösterir. Çaya şeker katarsan şekerli çay olur. Ama şekersiz ise halâ çay diyebiliriz ona. Düşünce, duygu, form gibi özellikler insanın katmanlarıdır. Birini çıkardığınızda insan hala oradadır. Ancak tüm katmanları çıkardığınızda artık "Alex" dediğimiz şey yoktun. Tümüyle değişmiştir. Çünkü bireysel varlıklar; yani tekiller; yani özne mutlak varlık değildir. Bu kadar basit !

Very clear and insightful teaching, thank you

Interesting.

I just love your channel, Daizan. You have a wonderful way with words.

Isn't Rinzai the way when you ask alot of riddles and when you get the wrong answer you bash him up with a bambu stick?

Thank you so much, I love the analogy. It helps understanding the koan practice, and teaches patience, to do the practice without expectations. Thank you for sharing wisdom

This is an answer sent. I have come to a crossroads this last year. I have been a little lost and floundering in this world. I have been praying for guidance and asking to be shown the next step on my path. My words. And this popped up out of nowhere. Thankyou so much. 🙏🙏🙏

Thank you so much! Coming from Soto practice I had a lot of judgment about this practice especially practicing koan in action, i thought it would be splitting my attention more, i was absolutely shocked and totally wrong about this. Practicing mu during work has done exactly what you and Shinkai Roshi said it would, by increasing my daily meditation time every day. It has been a highly successful practice for me. 🧘🏻‍♂️ it has also made me much more focused and efficient!

Right now I’m really relating this with koan practice!

I’ve been looking into the enlightenment intensive book and am looking forward to asking Shinkai about the group sanzen and how it influenced this process! Me I’m absolutely sold on this process and would encourage anyone who is seeking to try it. Thanks so much 🧘🏻‍♂️🙏🏻

Kensho happens and it’s very important! Thanks 🙏🏻 Roshi !

Thank you 🙏🏻

Hmm.. - Let me meditate on that one for awhile! ;-)

Enter the world of doubt? - I don't know.. Maybe, maybe not .. I'm not really sure!

And this is why I was caught up in zen for so many years!. It's so spot on and without any kind of yada-yada. It really turns things upside down before you have time to shelter your molded ideas of how reality must be ..

such a great analogy with the arm. my respect to youwards.

Somehow it truelly feels like this is what I need right now in life. Thank you Daizan!

For some reason this one caught me totally off guard and resonated with something very deep inside eventhough I have been meditating for decades. I never thought about the process in this way before.

Who's speaking in the video? Solvitur ambulando.

The fundemental root problem , as I see it , is simply Wanting . Knowledge , wisdom, disatisfaction with being what & where one is ( or seems to be ) . Isnt there some saying " thou shall not want " ascribed to a certain personage ? AND , anyone who desires power or control over others should just be a busnessman or be in the military , NOT in the spiritual marketplace , unless theyre perverse & stupid & want to take on further bad karma !

Thank you for this informative talk. 🙏🏽

Well I’ve been zen monk for more than 10 years and I think I’ve seen it all. Use and abuse of power at every level and in every form. Advising to open your eyes to a beginner is just not gonna cut it, because you basically don’t know what to look for do you? Otherwise abuse wouldn’t be possible. I’ve seen students being gladly abused. And you might ask : well is it abuse then ? Hell yes it is ! As a beginner you don’t sign up to be abused but to practice. Along the way you fall under the spell of this charismatic being : the master. It’s position itself confers him or her a spécial « aura » and most of all a great deal of power that one should only use to serve the well hearted students. Alas, such was not always the case. The most conscious of bot protagonists in a relationship is responsible for the relationship. Is the student supposed to be the responsible one ? I don’t think so. Saying that nobody is perfect is just an evident truth but as a master you are not asked to be perfect but to be conscious of your power and the responsability you agreed to take upon yourself by accepting to be in this role and guide a disciple.

My 2 main zen shadows may be: 1) zen teaching me to endure stuff rather than act upon it; and 2) me hoping zen will fix things rather me doing something about the problems.

May be, the Zen shadow refers also to something called Zenbyo or Zen sickness, which happens when some Zen practisioners (mostly Rinzai) have a mental breakdown when they relentlessly pursue Satori. That happens in some Zen temples in Japan and Dogen Zenji strongly advised against that practice focussing instead on Shikantaza or just sitting.

Thank you for this. So simple, yet powerful stretch. I love Zenways, has an answer for everything

Roshi, is calling teachers in the west this name 'Zen Masters' wise? My understanding is that in Zen tradition the equivalent 'Zenji' is a special honorific title reserved for very distinguished teachers in the Zen lineages. Also, sensibilities may be muddled by the fact that in Japanese Zen lineages people may be under the impression that if someone dresses like a monk then they ARE a monk (subject to full monastic Precepts) when, in fact, they may be a lay person. Bringing back the ancient Buddhist social teaching of the world of money (exploitative and profit-driven) and social climbing as Samsara, as driven by selfish desire and ignorance, would help matters, IMO. And generally: More women! ... men, as a group, have a lot more social-power delusion to work out, and women could help address that, I think. All the best, Hanrei.

My interpretation is the shadow is: they traits we have that we are not fully conscious of. Ie, if I am manipulative and I know I am manipulative that is not a shadow that is bad behaviour.

Oh, I interpreted the question quite differently, to be about possible harms of the meditation practice itself. Dissociation for example. Having spent too much time on the internet, I've seen plenty of posts in this vain and assumed the questioner was refering to those as what they've "been hearing".

🙏 greetings Daizan Roshi. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on these topics. 🙏

You know, this is kind of impressive. I have watched your videos for some time now. You made me want to learn more about Gondai Myoo and the fiur kings. I do yoga daily. I meditate daily. It is good to see that everyone who wants this has to do the same, because why should they have it any better?😂

Wow daizan i just listened to this on my way home from the breakthrough to zen retreat. This is so relatable to my insight over the weekend. I simply cannot put into words my gratitude to you. I am ready to begin 🙏

I’ve just discovered Russell’s work and as someone who’s been plunged into the psychiatric/ mental health system - your blend of the spiritual and mental health world is really incredibly helpful, validating and reassuring. Let’s me know I’m on the right path. Could I ask Daizan, what would your understanding of psychosis and schizophrenia be? Is it someone who’s too in their head, not in their body enough. Many thanks for this material. Present and past videos. 🙏🙏🙏

I like it that. Thanks. One thing, if I may share, that helped me was realizing that we often identify with our emotions. "I'm sad" or "I'm happy" When it's really the case that we carry a feeling of sadness, or joy. It's like dressing in green clothes and saying "I'm green." But, have a glass. Fill it with the sweetest drink, the glass will not be sweet. Fill the same glass with vinegar, the glass will not be acidic. We are like the glass, the emotions just fill us up, but it doesn't change who we are, only what we feel. It doesn't take away the sadness, but, it can make it easier. And, it takes time before you really understand that we are not our feelings. Because as usual, you can understand it on an intellectual level, but it may take time to understand on a deeper level.

Hmmm that might be the illusory body, that beautiful picture behind you. I used to practice in the sunset with a bokken sword. I would do the basic cuts seated, by the sun line of the ocean, then close my eyes and feel it. Now, winter, I sit in the dark and blindfolded. I see my illuminated body, and a fiery sword kan shoot from my hand. Like an extension.

🙏

Daizan, I realize you use both Hakuin and Bankei's teachings and I really appreciate it. I wish you had read a little further to page 57 in the Mount Iwataki chapter of "Wild Ivy." Although Hakuin never mentions Bankei, he calls the Unborn "false teaching" and "do nothing Zen". I have searched through your book "Practical Zen" trying to find a balance between settling into the Unborn and pushing oneself through the barrier as Hakuin did. I am guessing that maybe Bankei's Unborn teachings had degenerated into "do nothing Zen" and that Hakuin had not heard Bankei's actual teaching. There are some things Hakuin teaches that I admire and others things that are superstition (following a book that he had pulled out of pile) and his being blind and opinionated.

Thank you

Was seriously a shock to me for 3 seconds to see Bill Burr talk about Awakening, until I realized it's not Bill Burr.

After over 20years with practising Yoga and Zen and all other sorts of mystical stuff...I say Yoga is like a divine Dance= a bit grazy= all including and Zen= my home ...where I can rest...take my dancing shoes of and fall into peace, serenity, tranquility and calm and clearity= grounding. Both kinda fit well 2gether...they fullfill both a great purpose . Thx 4 the uploud and talk❤ All great back.❤

Love to hear the story of Shinzan Roshi- the rebel - this is why i gravitated to Zen. I tried love and light not for me. thank you daizan- dawn 🙏

This was a very essential teaching regarding intention and the power of the example of the practitioner achieving kensho. I had never heard this before, thank you for this insight.

🙏 A wonderful talk Daizan Roshi. It occurred to me this seems in some way, very practical. Practical Zen. ☺️ And for a moment I imagine my self as a farmer. Growing enlightenment while then sharing it with others. And as you say this in turn is a cycle. Breathe in, breathe out. My sincere gratitude 🙏

cats anyone? :) my dad...three strokes, after three stokes, he is a walking zen master...never did meditation in his life...meanwhile i "meditate" HAHAAHAHAH :)

Thank you for your service🤍

🙏 greetings Daizan Roshi. You have welcomed me here and offered kind words. Once again your comments offer inspiration and insight. Thank you. No, really, I mean that. Thank you. 🙏

This answers the question for me on so many levels. 🙏

Big thanks again for this speach. My Master is also not monastic person. Greetings from Poland

You answered the question Daizan, Gasso 🤍

Thank you! I love the way Master Daizen explains wisdom, the mode of the presentation is so clear.I am truly grateful.