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 Zazen as an Enactment Ritual

Taigen Dan Leighton

in Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Theory in Practice

Chapter 5 addresses what many today would consider the central ritual of Zen—zazen—or seated meditation. Although zazen is commonly understood by way of instrumental logic as a means or method for ... More

Chapter 5 addresses what many today would consider the central ritual of Zen—zazen—or seated meditation. Although zazen is commonly understood by way of instrumental logic as a means or method for attaining enlightenment, from the Sōtō Zen perspective initiated by Dōgen and featured in this essay, the order of cause and effect is reversed—zazen is “the practice‐realization of totally culminated awakening.” In developing this approach to meditation, Leighton traces its roots to Vajrayana teachings that were influential not simply in Japanese Shingon, but also in Nichiren, Tendai, Jōdo, and Zen. Upon that Buddhist foundation, the essay develops the “unity of practice and realization” by showing how this theme appears in Dōgen's instructions for meditation ritual (Eihei shingi), in his extended essays (Shōbōgenzō), and in direct teachings to his monks (Eihei kōroku). The essay claims that when meditation is taken as “the expression or function of buddhas,” rather than as a technique of spiritual acquisition, an emphasis on meditative awareness in everyday life is made possible.Less

Sekito Kisen and the Sandokai

in Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai

Sekito Kisen (Ch. Shitou Xiqian, 700–790), author of the Sandokai, was born in Guangdong Province in southern China at the beginning of the eighth century. This was a formative era in which Zen was ... More

Sekito Kisen (Ch. Shitou Xiqian, 700–790), author of the Sandokai, was born in Guangdong Province in southern China at the beginning of the eighth century. This was a formative era in which Zen was growing in popularity and was first articulated as a unique school and lineage. It was also during this period that Zen became known for its emphasis on the direct experience of reality and the practice of seated meditation. Not much is known about Sekito's life. The first recorded event is an encounter, at the age of twelve, with the Sixth Ancestor, Daikan Eno (Ch. Dajian Huineng, 638–713). The Sandokai (Ch. Cantongqi) addresses the division between the Northern and Southern schools as well as other dichotomies such as one and many, light and dark, sameness and difference. Made up of twenty-two couplets (forty-four lines), the poem often follows a pattern of distinguishing first discontinuity, then continuity, and finally complementarity.Less

Funerary Zen: Sōtō Zen Death Management in Tokugawa Japan

Duncan Ryūken Williams

in Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism

This chapter discusses how the spread of standardized Buddhist funerals in the Tokugawa gained momentum from the temple certification system (terauke seido). This was how the Japanese came near ... More

This chapter discusses how the spread of standardized Buddhist funerals in the Tokugawa gained momentum from the temple certification system (terauke seido). This was how the Japanese came near universally to acquire a hereditary Buddhist sectarian affiliation and, as the contemporary expression has it, to “die Buddhist.” The chapter also shows how the Soto school of Zen was able to spread in the provinces and entrench itself in village life by incorporating local customs into its death rites, thus creating a Zen funerary culture that was soon embraced by other sects as well. Outside academic circles, Westerners tend to think of Soto Zen in connection with its emphasis on seated meditation, but its most pervasive influence on Japanese culture lies in the development of what are now called traditional lay Buddhist funerals.Less