Q: Is Zen a religion?

A: Yes.

This is a question I come across more often than I would have thought. Actually, I don't think I've ever thought about whether or not zen is a religion before I heard the question for the first time. For me zen has always been a religion among the others, a branch of buddhism among other branches of buddhism.

In fact, I don't see a single reason why zen wouldn't be a religion. Just because you can take the ideology of a religion and practise it without its religious aspects doesn't somehow erase the original product. Just because you could live by christian ethics without actually belonging to a denomination or believing in God doesn't make christianity any less a religion. And that, I think (ooh, she thinks! Scary!) is what has happened to zen - particularly in the west.

I'm all for the "treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself" and "don't kill" and whatnot, basic civilized rules that are laid out in the book known as the Bible. I can pretty much say that I live by these rules, but I'm not a big fan of the religious stuff, believing to God and Jesus and resurrection and sins. But I'm happy to take this "Golden Rule"-thing and use it to make my life better. Am I a christian believer? Nope. Can I say that just because I use christian ethics in a non-religious way, christianity is not a religion? No.

Zazen, a.k.a. "zen meditation" (a term that it is a bit misleading in some cases, but let's deal with that later), can be a valuable tool for anyone. You don't need to be buddhist, even less zen buddhist, to practise zazen and enjoy its good effects. Doing zazen doesn't make you a zen buddhist either, no more than the act of going to the church makes one a christian. You might get peace of mind from hearing a mass or saying the prayers with rest of people there, but that still won't necessarily make you a christian. The same thing with zen philosophy - if you get something out of it, good for you. If you can incorporate it to your own life and situation, even better. But don't for gods' sake come to tell me that just because YOU might not think zen is YOUR religion, that it isn't a religion at all!

First of all, zen is a type of buddhism, and buddhism is, at least when I last checked, one of the major world religions. Ergo, zen = buddhism = religion. All the zen schools draw their roots to a buddhist monk called Bodhidharma, Daruma in japanese, who brought his variant of buddhism to China in the 5th c. and who emphasised inner enlightenment, transmission without reliance on words and meditation as the most important practise. Humans being what they are the school split into several branches first in China, and then some of these were transmitted to Japan - the biggest schools being Rinzai and Sôtô. The importance of this dharma lineage is shown for example in the Sôtô practise of chanting all the names in your own lineage from Shakamuni (Shakyamuni) to the head of your own monastery each morning. I've seen the list of names and it's no mean feat to memorize them all...

And secondly, doing zazen and using the "zen way of thinking" (whatever that might be) to be able to cope better with your everyday problems is just fine, but that's actually not zen at all. And from now on I'll speak of Sôtô zen, since that's the school I know something about. There's a special reason for zazen, and it's not to make your life easier (though that might also happen). We do zazen because that's when we literally become buddhas. Zazen, when properly done, is not a way to enlightenment, it IS enlightenment. 一分座れば一分仏, sit for one minute and you're a buddha for one minute. Those who recognize something religious in this way of thinking raise your hands? Maybe something, mm ... I don't know ... supernatural? I mean, suddenly turning to a buddha and all? And no, this ISN'T a metaphor. Suddenly there's all these thing's to believe in: First of all, you must believe that story about Buddha, suffering and enlightenment. And as if that wasn't enough, you must believe that we all have the same ability (and need) for the said enlightenment, and that it's possible by following the principles laid out by Dôgen zenji, basically by sitting facing a wall. Which part here doesn't look like "religion"? (Although I admit that getting up voluntarily at 4.45am just to be able to sit for 40min facing a wall, being hit with a stick and then cleaning the temple grounds without getting paid sounds somewhat more like a cult than a religion... *g*)

So, Sôtô zen has validity both as a religious tradition and organization, and there's religious beliefs behind it all. And what's more important, there are believers - a religion without followers would indeed be a useless thing. And as long as these three can be found, I'm of the opinion that zen is a religion.

Once again I was asked to come for the tea ceremony practise, and once again I complied, though this time I'll go on tuesday. When walking back from the morning zazen I started thinking more about the reasons why I want to do these kinds of things, going for tea ceremony, wanting to do shakyô and calligraphy, be interested in learning some ikebana, not to mention reihô practise. And let's not forget my attempts at haiku.

It's not just that I like to hang out with the people, even though that's one part of it.

And it's not that I'm planning to devote my life to each of these arts so that I'd really gain any proficiency in them - I've got my hands full with iaidô for the moment, thank you very much.

Then why?

They won't probably get me a better job, nor feed me, nor be of any "use" in the modern society. I see them as methods of learning something I might call a "way of being". Sounds very esoteric, but in the reality it's very simple. I have mentioned that my body language can change completely depending on the situation - just last wednesday I amused (once again) our haikukai by changing it in mid-conversation as I was speaking about my enbu this week and slipped without noticing to my "iai-mode". I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but they instantly told me my posture, eyes and tone of voice changed the moment I started talking about wearing a montsuki. *g* And people who have seen me interpret any sensei know how funny this change can look, it's like another version of me.

Now, even though I have this other well-behaving version of me that often is activated without any conscient efforts, it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be polished. It's not only to impress the japanese (though that's funny too, as I might have mentioned now and then), but somehow it really serves a purpose to know how to behave in a tea room, how to write with a brush, when and how to bow, to understand the barest essentials of an ikebana arrangement. The way of thinking that is taught in the tea room is useful even when not in the middle of tea ceremony. The way you're taught to handle the teacups and pay attention to them helps to get in to the japanese aesthetics and really teaches you to handle things in a more elegant way. Or, should I say that it makes you pay more attention to the way you handle things.

Yes, this can go to extremes, as when I'm doing too much interpretation and my head gets all messed up - so that I start holding beer pints with both hands as I would do for a teacup, which by the way looks ridiculously stupid. :)

That's also why I'd like to attend reihô practise (Ogasawara Ryû, for example) - to learn how to move: sit, walk and stand. None of these are as easy as you'd maybe think... I'm good enough not to make any hideous mistakes, but still far from what I'd like to be.

All of these would be means to an end, though, not my Michi. Michi, or "Way" as it can be literally translated is more like a purpose in itself, not just something you do in the hopes of attaining something. My michi at the time is iaidô - there's different things I get from it, but the practise itself can't be described as instrumental. It fits well with the saying "it's not the destination that is important, but the travelling itself". That's the way with michi - it doesn't have anything you can "attain" and then just go find something else. The whole point is the continous practise itself. And I for example don't have time at the moment for 2 michi...

And even though I have some dislike to the usual zen-culture-all-is-one-BS (I know there's truth in it, but I just can't help feeling that sometimes people just mix things up too much), sôtô zen is very much a michi too. It's not that once you get enlightened you can just say bye-bye to your zafu and levitate to greener pastures (and once again, I'd much prefer a hondô at 6.30am with chanting monks and incense, but ... I digress, as always *g*). According to Dôgen one needs to renew the experience of being enlightened again and again, it's not enough to just get enlightened once - because as nothing is permanent, neither is enlightenment. You're properly enlightened when you're able to manifest your inner buddha-nature 24/7, so to say. And, you might have guessed,this is why we need to practise it, and practise hard.

In this way zen isn't "Bukkyô (仏教)", Buddha's teaching, but "Butsudô, Hotoke no Michi (仏道)", Buddha's Way. Knowing the teaching isn't anywhere near enough, you have to live it, do it, breathe it, practise it. And do it now. And now. Now. Again and again.

The thing that most captivates me in Sôtô and Dôgen is his question: "If we all have inborn buddha-nature, why is practise needed?" And the answer is what I just wrote. It's not enough to just have it, you also have to manifest it. And it's manifested IN the practise, not as a result of it.

I'm soon going to creat a new "Monk posts" category to this blog. I need to leave the house in 30 min, so this will stay quite short, but I just need to say this.

Have I ever mentioned that young monks are a pleasure to look at? :)

I just came back from the Ôsejikie that was held today at Rinsenji. It's one of the important ceremonies of our temple with many people coming for it, so people from our zazenkai were asked to help if possible. So, I've been cleaning the graveyard, carrying boxes, packing bentô lunches etc etc for the whole morning. I had to leave a bit earlier because I still have iai practise in the evening, and I really really can't skip it in favor of the ceremony (although I'd want to - if the shinsa wouldn't be next week I would have skipped today's iai), and couldn't help with the cleaning up - not mention the PARTY aftertewards! The woe!

I'm still thinking about coming for the sanjikai (=3rd party) that will probably be going on at the temple by the time I'm free from my practise, at least if I'm at all alive and get back relatively early... :D Only I can't really drink since I have practise tomorrow morning, too, and on top of that have some interpretation to do afterwards. But still, I could go for a few beers to the temple. I'll let you know what happened - I might be too shy to go when I'm a bit unsure whether there even is anything. Then on the other hand, knowing our zazenkai people... ;)

It was also very interesting to see a buddhist service with several monks - usually we have only jûshoku and Manabe-san, but today I counted 14, of which 12 officiated in the service. And about half of them a pleasure to the eyes... *drool* Ok, I'll behave now, I promise. *g* Maybe that's why we are facing the wall when doing zazen, because if one would be meditating face to face with those guys, I know that at least MY zazen would stay very very shallow. :P

Now I need to start going to Yokohama, but you can be sure that I'll do it with a smile on my lips, thinking about ... *g* I think I just came up with the best stress reliever ever - it's second only to skydiving.

I'm becoming strangely addicted to sûtra chanting. It's one of the most relaxing things one can either do or listen to. Right now I'm listening at a cd with Shingon monks chanting various sûtra (I actually just had a nap with the thing going on in the background - very nice), and started longing for Kôyasan (Mt. Kôya) once again. I probably don't have time anymore to go there before returning to Finland, and I doubt I'll have time the next time I come to Japan, but... It's a place I simply have to go back to at some point. It's also the place that really got me hooked to temples and sûtra chanting. Sitting half-asleep in a hondô and listening to monks chanting Rishukyô at 6.30am just has a certain ... special feeling in it. I like to chant them myself too, like at the zazenkai, but on the other hand listening to a well-trained bunch of monks chanting is a whole another thing. Add sounds of rain, incense, a dimly lighted buddha hall and young monks, and you're pretty close to my image of what paradise might be like (who cares about "green pastures" anyways, besides maybe the sheep?). *g*

In addition to Hannya Shingyô (the Heart of the Wisdom Sûtra), we chant various shorter vows etc., like the "I put my faith in buddha/dharma/sangha", but there is a certain rhytm that sûtra chanting has and the other pieces seem to lack. If that doesn't calm me down nothing does.

I did ask about the sûtras yesterday, since some 2 weeks earlier the Pâli student had mentioned that sûtras chanted in chinese are very similar to the sanskrit originals, sound-wise. So, I was a bit confused, since sûtras, unlike darani and shingon (japanese for "mantra"), can usually be understood, they're not only a random bunch of sounds. For example, the shingon for Yakushi Nyorai goes "On gorogoro sendari matôgi sowaka", which would have a meaning in it's original sanskrit, but is absolutely unintelligible in japanese. On the other hand the most important part of Hannya Shingyô, "Shiki soku ze kû, Kû soku ze shiki" can be understood very easily (from a linguistic point of view - I'm not enlightened yet I'm afraid, and so can't say that I'd really understand what that means) when you see it written - "Form is nothing but emptiness, Emptiness is nothing but form". Anyways, the explanation was that some of the sûtras were translated into classical chinese, and some were just transcribed. And of course all the important terms, like "bodhisattva" or "prajna pâramitâ" were transcribed as such, so that gives us "bodaisatta" (usually shortened to bosatsu) and "hannya haramitta" in japanese. Usually there's a bit of both in most sûtras - after all the chinese text the ending of Hannya Shingyô goes "Gyatei, gyatei, hara gyatei, hara sô gyatei, bodhi sowaka" and it has no meaning as such in japanese (but it's still the part that is the easiest to remember in the whole sûtra).

I'm also starting to get a hang with whom to hang at the post-zen party (and becoming more and more adept at avoiding some other people) - as the topics of the discussion change completely depending with whom you speak. I once again got a haiku lesson - I'm once again being way too descriptive. Mori-san (the haikukai organizer) promised that both he and Nakazono-san (Nakazone?) will rewrite my haiku for next week. They're both THE haiku guys in our small circle, and they both tried to defer the honor of being the expert to each other - always funny to watch. (If you want to see something hilarious, try to find 2 grannies having a cup of coffee, and then watch the battle of being the one who pays the bill in the end - and then how the loser of the battle, the one who didn't get to pay, tries to pay her share of the money to the other. I've never seen anything as funny as two grannies fighting over a 100y coin - I think it ended by the other slipping it unnoticed to the pocket of the other, and boy did she look smug after managing this almost impossible task) As far as I'm concerned, I take any hints offered how to make my haiku more haiku-like. Manabe-san is always a good choice for discussions about buddhism and religion. Want to speak about tea? Maru-san and Manabe-san. Want to hear that you're cute? There's people for that too. Budô? Jûshoku. Spiritualism, shamanism and Yi Jing - seek no further than Takahashi-san. Or actually he often seeks you. ;) Want to hear about 50 times in one night how Shakespeare and Nô are absolutely great? ... Well, yes - you might hear this even though you wouldn't care, at least after the first 5 times. But on the whole I absolutely love the place and the discussions, but then again, you might have read that between the lines already. *g*

They should start paying me for always bringing new people there and for all the good PR work I'm doing to them. But then again, they let me practise there, I get great conversation practise and learn to talk about buddhism in japanese. So, in the end I think we're pretty much even.

It is funny the way you feel about a song can change according to your moods. A prime example is Circuit Breaker by Royksopp. The last week its rhytm has been feeling somewhat chaotic, just like my own head. Today, as I was walking back from the temple after getting some extra iai practise, I realized how calming the song actually is - there is a form in that chaotic rhytm after all. Needless to say, I had calmed down too.

It was interesting to practise at the temple. The hondô, main hall where the altar etc. are and where we usually do zazen, was free, and as it has the highest ceiling I practised there. It was a bit awkward coming to the temple, as I saw all the lights were off and no one in sight - and I wasn't even 100% sure the jûshoku remembered he had told me that tuesday would be ok (it WAS 1am by the time I had gathered enough courage to ask)... And I really am quite shy in situations like this. So, there I am on the doorstep of a temple, standing in the misty rain and seriously thinking about just going back home (yes, pathetic, I know), but after a short mental discussion on the lines of "shut up and ring the damn bell" I did. The earth didn't swallow me, no fire nor brimstone, nothing else but the sound of jûshoku's voice on the interphone and him coming to open up the place for me. It was somewhat weird seeing him in a T-shirt. *g* And now I also know they have 3 small dogs, and I have this picture in my head about him walking the small noisy dogs in his robes, and I'm not sure how I can listen to him with a straight face next time I see him...

But I digress. (And no, I still can't stop giggling at the said image - someone needs to go to bed soon.)

I also looked the hondô a bit closer than what I've been able to do before. I absolutely love the japanese way of offerings to ancestors - I saw canned coffee (Blue Mountain if I remember correctly, the small light blue cans you can buy from vending machines), Hello Kitty stuff and some wagashi (sakuramochi and maybe warabimochi?) with the more "orthodox" things like incense. I mean, if the dead guy liked Blue Mountain, what would be a better offering? You can also often see the small vending machine type sake cans offered instead of money in shinto shrines. The bookshelf wasn't bad either, but I think I'll wait a while before making any new requests... I was also told that I could use the hondô next week on both tuesday and friday, if I so wanted, and why not. Some extra practise is never bad, and by that time I should have turned in both my essay and the written part of the shinsa, and will have plenty of time for stressing myself to death about the shinsa itself. No, some extra temple/practise time certainly won't hurt, on the contrary. The temple kind of calms me down even as a place - there's a nice smell to it, probably a mixture of incense and tatami.

And if there's something I miss in Japan, it's the smell of tatami matting. I know it does sound a bit weird, I mean, Japan being the country of tatami and all, but at the moment the temple is the only place where I get to be in tatami rooms, while back in Finland I sleep on 2 tatami mats almost every night. I have a hard japanese mattress on top of those 2 tatami, a bed that I love and my boyfriend hates, but it is very good for my lower back that likes to torment me from time to time (I think it's in league with the right leg, or something). In Japan I have only a dusty carpet and a cheap bed with a cheap mattress - not a good exchange, I tell you. I want my tatami back.

Thank gods I can at least burn incense.