​Gate 105: Endurance of obedient following

Endurance of obedient following is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we obey the Dharma of all the buddhas.  
順忍是法明門、順一切佛法故.

Elsewhere, this "endurance of obedient following" (junnin) is translated "tolerance of accordance," so we're in the realm of endurance, tolerance, patience and forbearance.  The central word here is the Sanskrit kshanti with a root meaning of "having capacity," the ability to function in the midst of something.

In Japanese, the endurance of obedient following is one of the gonin, the five kinds of endurance, or five tolerances.  There are myriad lists of tolerances in the Buddhist tradition, so we have to be careful not to get tangled up.  This list of five comes from a text called the Sutra for Humane Kings, a fairly influential text in East Asia that is supposed to be a translation of an Indian text, but was really written in China and Korea.  It's technically part of the prajna paramita literature, but actually a blend with Yogacara and other kinds of teachings.  Interestingly, this is not a text aimed at practitioners, either lay or ordained, but aimed at rulers.  Where usually the questioners in sutras are arhats or bodhisattvas, in this case it’s kings.  Also, rather than overtly focusing on zazen and prajna, it’s about humaneness and forbearance, the most applicable religious virtues for governing a state.  We’ll come back to this sutra shortly so we can dig into this alignment of kings and bodhisattvas through endurance or patience.

The text lists the five kinds of tolerance to be cultivated:
1) self-control, working to loosen the grip of the three poisons.
2) firm belief, or faith in practice and the three treasures, knowing that good deeds lead to good consequences, or we could say, belief in cause and effect, which happens to be a very important teaching point for Dogen and Soto Zen.
3) patient progress towards the end of all mortality.
4) [the realization of] the birthlessness of phenomena.  In other words, in the absolute sense there is no birth and death, or arising and perishing, or coming and going.
5) extinction, the patience that leads to complete nirvana, when we finally extinguish the fires of the three poisons that started with self-control, the first thing on this list.

The kanji in our gate statement that are translated there as endurance of obedient following are somehow translated in this list of five tolerances as the third one, patient progress toward the end of all mortality.  How are these the same thing?

The overall sense of this thing is being intellectually receptive to the nature of the dharma.  We “endure” or tolerate putting aside our own views and being in accord with reality, listening to and remembering what Buddha taught and then gently and patiently putting that into practice.  There’s a real sense that this is not about being tough or being a martyr.  It’s not that kind of “endurance”

In order to get the whole picture, we need some context.  In early Buddhist teachings, patience was about following a linear path of various kinds of training.  There are stages of meditation and you sort of climb the ladder, moving toward liberation and leaping off the wheel of life and death, so we can see where “patient progress toward the end of all mortality” comes from.

As we know, even though in Zen we hear things like awakening is already here and zazen is good for nothing, practice is still a lifelong endeavor.  We can’t sit down once or twice, have a flash of some kind of peak experience, and then we’re cooked.  There’s a lot we have to learn and unlearn, and gradually we untwist our karma and delusion and unwholesome habits, and then we can recognize awakening and reality and act on that basis.

We also have to bring into this conversation kshanti-paramita, or the perfection of patience.  There are six paramitas, or perfections, common to all of Buddhism: generosity, ethical discipline, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom.  The paramita of patience has three aspects:
- tolerance toward other living beings
- tolerance of circumstances
- tolerance that comes from wisdom and insight into the essence of reality

Tolerance toward other living beings

Okumura Roshi has explained that in the Mahayana tradition in general. endurance or patience is the practice of laypeople.  In a monastery patience is not considered so important because monks are assumed to have similar values and aspirations. Laypeople are in greater contact with people who have different philosophies and ways of thinking. For this they need patience. For a bodhisattva, patience is one of the most important practices. (1)

However, anyone who’s practicing in a training temple needs an incredible amount of patience and diligence in folding into or being in accord with what's happening, particularly if you’re a foreigner.  People in the training temple are just as human as anyone else!

This endurance of obedient following is a real open question for us in North America today, as it has been since Soto Zen arrived here a hundred years ago.  In these days and circumstances, which are very different than those where Soto Zen originated, what does it look like to follow Buddha obediently?  Can we keep the spirit and intention of our ancestors even though our practice may look different on the surface because of our culture?  Okumura Roshi has talked about how living in America as a foreigner requires a great deal of patience on his part.  American Buddhist practitioners who practice with teachers from Japan or other Asian Buddhist countries must need the same sort of patience. Actually, any two people who live or work together will sometimes have conflicts and need to practice patience.

Of course, this is just one example of tolerance toward other living beings.  We’ve all got plenty of personal experience with being annoyed with bugs or weeds in the garden, noisy neighbors, incompetent coworkers, selfish family members or decisionmakers that don’t do what we want.  There are plenty of irksome people in our lives, bless 'em.

Tolerance of circumstances

One way to understand suffering is that we want things to be other than what they are, and we somehow assume that the universe has made a contract with us that things will go as we expect.  The universe doesn’t care what we want or think; it’s just functioning.  Tolerance of circumstances doesn’t mean we don’t work for change when that’s necessary.  It means that we accept what’s unfolding without looking away or being in denial about what’s going on.  If we don’t examine our circumstances carefully and pay attention to cause and effect, we can’t work for change effectively and we can’t operate in accord with the dharma.

Tolerance that comes from wisdom and insight into the essence of reality

This is real endurance of obedient following, being completely in accord with the dharma.  The bodhisattva that embodies all of these three aspects of patience sympathizes with living creatures, understands their problems, sees how they think and respond and what they can take in and process, and can discern the real reasons for their behavior.  

“Obeying” the dharma of all buddhas is same kanji as obedient following, in other words, being in accord with the teachings of our ancestors means being in accord with reality.

Let’s return to the Sutra for Humane Kings that listed the five kinds of tolerance, including ours.  The text sets up a parallel or similarity between the virtuous ruler and the bodhisattva.  The ruler’s main virtue is in his relations in society and how he protects and transforms those relations.  Bodhisattvas are also regarded as kings and are also focused on protection and transformation, but of all beings rather than just one society.  They cultivate qualities or virtues that support their practice and the manifestation of buddha nature.  According to the sutra, the basis of cultivating the virtues necessary for both rulers and bodhisattvas is the perfection of forbearance, endurance, patience and tolerance, so it includes list of five forbearances, of which the third is found in our gate statement, endurance of obedient following.

The text makes use of a pun in Chinese where the word for humaneness and the word for forbearance has the same sound.  We can see how it’s setting up the parallel between the humane ruler and the bodhisattva who has cultivated patience.  It also makes reference to one of the Jataka Tales, stories of Shakyamuni’s previous lives, called "The Preacher of Forbearance.”  In this life, Buddha is an ascetic who practices the perfection of patience.  The local king believes that he’s lured his concubines away and harasses him and physically assaults him pretty mercilessly, but Buddha wins in the end because he refuses to become angry at this injustice and shows his inward mastery of forbearance.  The king, on other hand, has shown his complete lack of mastery over himself or anyone else, even though it appears outwardly that he has power.

The sutra makes the point that both the humane king and the bodhisattva as the king of forbearance are engaged in the transformation of people.  Both of them cultivate and protect their “states.”  For the king, the state is the nation and its functioning.  For the bodhisattva, its his personal condition.  We can see a connection here between inner and outer mastery or authority or, we might say, wisdom and skillful or beneficial action.  We have the outer kingship of benevolently ruling a nation, and we have the inner kingship of patience and all of the other paramitas that form the basis of embodying awakening and ruling ourselves.  The king works for the good of his people and the bodhisattva works for the good of all beings.

The sutra sets up a hierarchy that says that the more buddha-fields in which a bodhisattva lives, the greater a king he is and the more heavenly realms over which he presides.  It says, “This is what is meant by Bodhisattva-mahasattvas appearing as kings in order to transform and guide [sentient beings].”  Although it might looks like kings and bodhisattvas are on separate paths, it’s simply a difference of appearance; they’re actually doing the same thing.  The “outer” common goal of the humane king involves the
transformation of the state, while the “inner” goal is the cultivation of Buddhahood and the transformation of sentient beings through forbearance.

In this forbearance, there is certainly an element of being patient with people’s shortcomings or mistakes.  The sutra says, “Hearing of good he is not overjoyed, hearing of bad he is not angry.”  Yet we can’t forget the aspect of “endurance of obedient following.”  The sutra equates being a humane king with explaining the dharma and modeling and encouraging virtue.  In order to assume any kind of mastery, we have to be in accord with dharma, to put aside our own stuff and commit to following and integrating the teachings.

The title of “king” goes with self-transformation first, and "humane king" goes with being able to protect the state.  That happens because the humane king puts things in order according to the dharma, but he does this in an evenhanded, quiet, unobtrusive way.  He is protected from making mistakes because of obedient following and the state is protected as well.  

In this sutra, the goal of both the humane king and the bodhisattva is inner transformation that manifests outwardly as skillful action.  There’s another layer that’s being alluded to here as well, and that’s the Two Truths, or the relative and absolute, or form and emptiness.  We have the king working in the world and the bodhisattva functioning in emptiness, and also, these two realms and two people are the same.  Because these two realms and two people are functioning according to the endurance of obedient following, they’re both empty.  In other words, they have no permanent self-nature because the causes and conditions that lead to their arising are always changing.

If we put ourselves in the place of the humane king and the bodhisattva and consider what they’re aspiring to do, to cultivate some mastery of themselves and their situations for the good of others as well as themselves, and then remember that all around them everything is changing all the time and there’s nothing they can really hold onto, well, that certainly takes some patience!  Say I’ve come up with this great project that’s going to change lives and I’m really committed to it.  I’m working hard to gather the resources and build the relationships, and I’m making some progress in helping people.  Then a tornado comes along and flattens the facility we’re building and we have to start all over.  Holy mackerel!  How do you not get frustrated and discouraged?  Yet there’s no one to blame; a tornado is simply the universe doing what the universe does, and we can see that only if we’re engaged in obedient following and not getting caught up in the impatience that can go with self-involvement and the three poisons

Moment by moment, anything and everything can change, despite our best risk management efforts, and it can sure feel like nirvana is pretty far away.  Still, bodhisattvas know that there’s no use getting impatient because it won’t change anything.  It can’t move samsara and nirvana any closer together because no matter what it looks like, they’re both right here.  

We might think of endurance or patience as something that’s abstract, but actually, we have to remember that it’s something we practice.  That means it’s related to the things with which we create karma: body, speech and mind.  Thought leads to speech and action, and we can attune ourselves to feeling when impatience is arising and remember that probably our impatience is based on not being in accord with the dharma and having some expectations that universe isn’t meeting at the moment.  However, endurance of obedient following is not about feeling like we’re under the thumb of some outside force or a power hungry dictator.  Probably the dictator is really our own ego, but be that as it may . . .  

“Endurance” might make us think that we need to be martyrs or to put up with unfair treatment.  Endurance is not better than action.  It shouldn’t paralyze us in carrying out our vows; that’s not obedient following.  Okumura Roshi has reminded us: We should try to see the whole situation and do what is best for everyone. If we aim only for patience, we may harm ourselves or others. Patience alone can be a kind of poison. It can make the situation worse. (2)  

It’s really about seeing clearly what the universe is doing and what’s really happening beyond what we expect or want to happen.

We may be surprised to know that one of the names of a rakusu or okesa is the robe of patience, but really, what better opportunity do we have for obedient following than when we’re wearing Buddha’s robe and Buddha’s teaching?  We’ve got it actually, physically wrapped around our bodies and we’re in intimate contact with it.  This is another matter of protection, protecting our practice and attitude.  The robe of forbearance or endurance comes from the tenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra called "Teacher of the Law."  In addition to the cloth robe, it’s an image or symbol of putting on the spirit of forbearance required to teach the sutra.  The robe protects against external hindrances, both physically and mentally.

The sutra refers to the robe of gentleness and patience and says that if you want to preach the sutra after Shakyamuni’s death, you should put on the Thus Come One’s robe, and that this robe is the mind that is gentle and forbearing so the robe and patience are the same thing.  There are three essentials for preaching the Lotus Sutra: the robe, the seat, and the room of the Thus Come One, or Buddha.  All are aspects of mind that one puts on, if you will, before teaching.

The sutra says:  These good men and good women should enter the Thus Come One’s room, put on the Thus Come One’s robe, sit in the Thus Come One’s seat, and then for the sake of the four kinds of believers [i.e., monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen] broadly expound this sutra. The ‘Thus Come One’s room’ is the state of mind that shows great pity and compassion toward all living beings. The ‘Thus Come One’s robe’ is the mind that is gentle and forbearing. The ‘Thus Come One’s seat’ is the emptiness of all phenomena.” 

Before we share the dharma, we bring forth our gentleness, forbearance, wisdom and compassion.  The robe helps us to be in accord with and embody the Buddha’s teachings.  It takes patience and endurance to study and construct a rakusu or okesa.  You make a mistake and have to take stitches out and try again.  Even if you know about regular sewing, sometimes it’s not easy, and in fact I think it’s harder because of the assumptions you make.  This is not like everyday sewing in technique or attitude.  You have to put aside your desire to make an art project or something impressive, or copy some cool thing you saw someone else wear.  In this family, we’re very careful to carry on what Sawaki Roshi taught during his 20th century nyoho-e movement, so if you make a robe here, you’ll need to endure your disappointment about not making something else.  It can be a real practice of obedient following.

When I made my zagu for transmission, I copied the commercial Sotoshu zagu because I didn’t realize it was different from one made according to nyoho.  Eventually, some years later, I took it apart and replaced all the white fabric with grey.  If anyone should be an obedient follower of our family style, it should be the person heading up the practice here!  Was it a nuisance?  Sure.  Yet it was important to be patient with it for the sake of other people who would see it and think white fabric in a zagu was OK.

If you’ve studied robe sewing here with Yuko, you’ve heard the phrase ehou ichinyo, the robe and the dharma are one.  Putting a robe on this body is a skillful action toward saving all beings.  We can’t help but engage in obedient following when we wear it.
 
Overall, the message of today’s gate is: be patient with the practice.  It’s no fun to get up at 3:30 am to start sesshin at 4 am, but that’s what the sangha is doing.  It takes putting down that interesting thing you’re doing and getting on a cushion here or at home, but we do it because it’s time to do it and the bell is ringing.  It’s hard to let go of our deeply held delusion and our self-clinging, but that’s the practice of a bodhisattva, and that’s what we’ve vowed to do.

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Notes:
(1) Okumura, S. (2012). Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts. United Kingdom: Wisdom Publications, p. 137
(2) Living by Vow, p. 138

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Questions for reflection and discussion:

• How do you exercise patience in setting aside your own preconceptions in order to be receptive to the dharma?  When you're impatient with those encounters, what's that like?
• How do you practice tolerance in encountering people who are different from you in some way?
• How does patience enter into your practice of accepting the reality of this moment and aspiring to take skillful action?
• What do think about the parallel between the humane king and the bodhisattva?  What do you think each could learn from the other?