What you’re agreeing to carry: Sotoshu essentials
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Abiding by the True Dharma singularly transmitted by the Buddha-ancestors, the Sotoshu doctrine is to realize shikantaza (just sitting) and sokushin zebutsu (the Mind itself is Buddha).
—Sotoshu Shuken Doctrine
We are all children of the Buddha and come into this world endowed with the Buddha-Mind (busshin). However, failing to realize this, we live selfish, willful lives, causing much suffering. If we make repentance to the Buddha and take refuge in him, our minds will come to rest, our lives will experience harmony and light, and we will rejoice in being of service to society. We will also experience the deep faith that will allow us to stand up under any hardship. To discover happiness and a life worth living is the teaching of the Soto Zen School. The Soto Zen School’s Zazen
The foundation of the Soto Zen School’s teachings is zazen. This originated with Shakyamuni Buddha who devoted himself to the practice of zazen and subsequently attained enlightenment. “Zen” refers to seeing into and discerning the truth of the way things are, then harmonizing the mind to properly correspond with that understanding. It is also to maintain the harmony of body, breath, and mind by sitting in a stable position with a focused mind. The zazen of Soto Zen School is “shikantaza,” which is to sit single-mindedly. Zazen isn’t a means to achieve some sort of goal. The form (posture) of zazen itself is the form (posture) of buddha; it is the form of enlightenment. In our everyday lives, we tend to be swayed by our selfish desires as well as by the surface of things. In zazen, however, the important thing is to be free from all sorts of delusions and desires. Dogen Zenji also taught that the practice of zazen isn’t only sitting, but discovering that all of our everyday activities have the same value as zazen to do them as the practice of Zen. It may seem as if practice is something special, somehow removed from regular life. However, our practice is to undertake all our daily activities as if they were the same as zazen and to continue and maintain that practice. |
Basic key terms of Soto Zen Teaching
只管打坐 Shikantaza (Just sitting) 自受用三昧 Jijuyu Zanmai (Self-receiving-and-using samadhi) 身心脱落 Shinjin Datsuraku (Shedding body-mind) 即心是佛 Sokushin Zebutsu (The Mind itself is Buddha) 袈裟功徳 Kesa Kudoku (Virtue of the Kashaya) 現成公案 Genjo Koan (Complete manifestation of established truth) 修証一等 Shusho Itto (Oneness and equality of practice and realization) 非思量 Hishiryo (Non-thinking) 道場大衆一如 Dojo daishu ichinyo (In activity and stillness at one with the community) 一佛両祖 Ichibutsu Ryoso (One Buddha Two Founders) 行持道環 Gyoji Dokan (The circle of the Way in continuous practice) 梅花 Baika (Plum blossoms) 佛性 Bussho (Buddha-nature) 有時 Uji (Existence-Time) 道得 Dotoku (Able to speak) 平常心是道 Byojoshin Zedo (Ordinary Mind is the Way) 正法眼蔵涅槃妙心 Shobogenzo Nehanmyoshin (The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, the Marvelous Mind of Nirvana) 禅戒一如 Zenkai Ichinyo (The oneness of Zen and the precepts) 発菩提心 Hotsu Bodaishin (Arousing the aspiration for enlightenment) 面授 Menju (Face-to-face transmission) 黙照禅、看話禅 Mokusho Zen and Kanna Zen (Silent Illumination Zen and Koan Zen) 夢中説夢 Muchu setsumu (Explaining a dream within a dream) 深信因果 Jinshin Inga (Deep faith in cause and effect) 覚触 Kakusoku (Enlightenment, awakening, realization) Short introductory papers on each of these topics are available from Sotoshu. |
