First of all, Zen students need to know distinctly that there are two indispensable requirements when they begin to practice Zen.
1) The first requirement concerns the fact to search for a true Master.
A true Zen Master never fails to attain the Dharma-Seal transmitted from the Patriarchs and should conduct himself in his daily life never to contradict Tao, setting aside his private feelings at the same time. When students make a mistake in search for a true Master, their precious aspiration will not be accomplished, being cursed by wrong views of the Dharma and their efforts will produce no results.
2) The second requirement concerns the attitude of students themselves.
First of all, Zen students should not deceive themselves at all, establishing their whole-hearted faith in the Buddha Dharma and their Masters, setting aside their private feelings. And they must stick to the aspiration for the Buddha Dharma fundamentally. It means that they should fulfill the mission to turn always the wheel of the Four Great Vows as follows,
How innumerable sentient beings are,
I vow to save them.
How inexhaustible the deluding passions are,
I vow to exterminate them.
How immeasurable the doctrines of Dharma are,
I vow to study them.
How inaccessible the Buddha-Way is,
I vow to attain it.
This spirit is what is called "Bodhi mind," which is the indispensable basis of Zen practice. When students do not hold this mind, their Zen practice itself will lose its proper foundation and will fail to attain the true enlightenment.
The pivot of Rinzai Zen practice should be summarized in the word as "seeing into one's own real nature"(Kensho). Then what is the substantial truth of Kensho? The fundamental principle of Buddhism is "Sentient beings are intrinsically Buddha" or "Every sentient creature is endowed with the intrinsic wisdom and virtuous characteristics of Tathagata."
But in actuality this wisdom and virtuous characteristics are concealed by the five skandhas of the delusive ego and become truly functionless. In other words, it is the real state of affairs that people cannot clear up what is the true self or what is Tao at all and struggle furiously in a bad fix, putting the cart before the horse.
The purport of Zen practice is to prove the intrinsic Sunya of the five skandhas as the source of delusions by introspection of Koans and to awaken the wisdom and the virtuous characteristics of Tathagata.
As it is universally known, the great Patriarch who had founded the Way of enlightenment by Zazen as "seeing into one's own real nature" was Bodhidharma. This one word "seeing" includes really the great power of Tao like lifting up a mountain.
Now we want to prove this fact in the biography of Hakuin Zenji. Hakuin Zenji became a priest at 15 years of age, and raised a doubt about his Zen practice, when he read the story of Master Ganto Zenkatsu's death in the biography of Ganto at 19 years of age. In the spring of his 24th year, he repented his past and devoted himself to Zazen day and night for a few days without sleeping and eating, raising a big doubt about Joshu's "Mu!" at Eigan-ji Temple in Hokuetsu. When he heard the ringing of the bell from a distant temple, he was suddenly enlightened and thought that there was no person who had realized enlightenment so poignantly in 300 years than he did. Then he visited Shoju Rojin at Iiyama and asked for his view.
Rojin looked at him and said at once. "It is nothing but an illusion and sensuous view." After he was trained harshly by Shoju Rojin for eight months and had mastered the secrets, he returned to Shoin-ji Temple and devoted himself to unsparing Zen training for eight years.
When he was 42 years old , he took up "The Lotus Sutra" and when he came to read the third Chapter, he had realized that his enlightenment of the past was wholly wrong and awakened to the profound meaning of "Tathagata sees Buddha-Nature in his own eyes" in "The Nirvana Sutra" and wept aloud.
We will now be able to understand how deep and heavy the meaning of the one word "see" in Kensho is through the confession of Hakuin Zenji. Such being the case, to really prove "seeing into one's own nature" by introspection of Koans is conspicuously difficult and is of serious significance in Buddhism.
When students introspect using Koans, there are three essential prerequisites, which they must fulfill always. Since old times, these have been
(1) the great faith (2) the great doubt (3) the great indomitable courage.
If students lack one of these, they cannot succeed in the introspection of Koans earnestly and fail to attain true enlightenment.1) The Great Faith
The great faith has to contain the following three elements:
2. Secondly the truth that "sentient beings are intrinsically Buddha" indicated by Shakyamuni Buddha is absolute and anyone can awaken to this truth when he sees into his own real nature by exhausting the five skandhas and attain the intrinsic wisdom and the virtuous characteristics of Tathagata.
3. Thirdly students should have the whole-hearted faith in the Master who received the Dharma-Seal handed down from the Patriarchs.
Student must establish the priority of this great faith over all and must not have a shadow of a private view in the least.
2) The Great Doubt
The great doubt is the doubt, which students should have when introspecting on a Koan. From old times it has been said in Zen that having no doubt is a disease of the mind or great enlightenment can be attained only under great doubt.
The term of Koan literally means the documents or cases of instruction by the public office, but its substance indicates concretely the absolute Truth pointed out by the Patriarchs. It indicates that the incomparable marvelous Tao of all the Buddhas is hidden there.
Then if the student to whom a Koan is given by the Master does not come into the great doubt, it proves that the great faith has not yet been established, because the student is being obstructed by some private view. Students must become a lump of great doubt from head to toe in introspecting on a Koan.
The introspection of a Koan serves as the great sword to uproot the cause of the ego, banishing worldly thoughts of hesitation and delusions from one's mind. When students apply themselves to doubt a Koan and the great doubt presents itself distinctly, they forget both sleeping and eating and reach a complete inner impasse. This is called the zenith of the great death. When they come to the summit of it, they suddenly resuscitate themselves by some chance accidentally and awaken to their own real nature and attain the enlightenment of Dharmakaya, obtaining an immeasurably great delight.
3) The Great Indomitable Courage
Furthermore, students must awaken the indignation with themselves by all means in the true Zen practice. This is called the great indomitable courage.
If they do not set up this courage and practice Zen with the absence of discriminative thought towards objects, they will be drowned in the dead water of monotonous stillness and fall into the cellar of dead Zazen. They will not be able to see into their own real nature at all. It will be the same as "One might wait a hundred years for the Yellow River to flow clear."
If students reflect on the examples of the great indomitable courage like the cutting off his own hand by the second Patriarch Eka or driving a drill into his own knee by Jimyo Soen Zenji and arouse in themselves the great indomitable courage, they will be convinced that there is nothing they will not be able to accomplish if they concentrate their minds in devotion of Zen practice at the risk of their lives. Ten persons among ten persons, one hundred persons among one hundred persons will be able to see into their own real nature.
It is said that Hakuin Zenji strived throughout his life to conform to the daily encouraging motto, "Surely there can be seen the great brightness at the end of the great painful endeavor" of Jimyo Soen Zenji. Every great Patriarch never betrays the confidence of his students without fail.
Case 1: HONRAI NO MEMMOKU -------------
The Original Aspect
○Before your father and mother were born what is your original aspect?
○After your death what will it be?
Notice:
This case related to the conversation between the Sixth Patriarch Eno and the monk Myo at the mountain path of Daiyu Rei. Patriarch Eno spoke first."Thinking neither of good nor evil." Hence the next spoken words "Father and mother so on" symbolize virtually the relativity of the status in which every being in this world should be put as the universal attribute. These words therefore have the same implication as "birth and death" "Positive and negative" and the like.
After all the student should attain the Dharmakaya by breaking the relative ego through this case for the first time.
Therefore this case has the important significance as the first moment to have insight into one's own real nature.
Case 2: SEKISHU ONJO -------------
The Sound of the Single Hand
○Hakuin Osho held out his hand and said, "This hand sounds exquisitely subtle. It is called the sound of the Single Hand. Listen to it!"
Notice:
"Osho" is the chief priest of the Buddhist temple.
Case 7: ENPO NO TOKA -------------
A Lamp Light Far in the Distance
○Blow out here a lamp light glimmering far in a thousand miles distance!
There are 200 Koans systematically compiled to be introspected at Ningen Zen Kyodan.