Table of Contents

• To Our Dear Sangha

  • Announcements

  • Matsumoto-san's Teisho: What is actually manifesting now

  • Madoka's Memo: Do I still have questions? Do I still do dokusan?

  • Please Share Our Newsletter!

    • This month's photo

To Our Dear Sangha

In Japan, we are entering spring, and I feel like I am coming out of hibernation. How are you?

In this month’s newsletter, you’ll see the word “manifest.” It’s not one we’ve used much in the past. Sometimes using different terms can cause confusion. But sometimes it helps to hear things in different words. Please remember, however, that whatever the words, Matsumoto-san is always pointing to the same thing. He is not engaging in conceptual discourse. If you’re uncertain, please do not hesitate to attend zazenkai and ask. Questions are welcome!

Announcements

Upcoming Online Zazenkai Schedule (Japan time):

Zazenkai with Matsumoto-san:
March 8 (Sun) 19:00-23:00
March 16 (Mon) 8:00a.m.-12:00 noon
April 5 (Sun) 19:00-23:00
April 20 (Mon) 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
(Mornings in Japan are afternoon/evening the previous day in N/S America)

Thursday Zazenkai with Madoka:
Every Thursday at 9:00pm-10:00pm Japan time.  Anyone is welcome!

Zazenkai reservations can be made here:  
https://www.zen-online.info/reservations

Very Useful Time Converter to calculate zazenkai in your local time
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

(Translated by Madoka)

What Is Actually Manifesting Now

Zazen is not about creating some kind of state.
Zazen is being the way it actually is now.

Face forward, and there is the actual way it is that you are seeing.
There is nothing between the actual way it appears and yourself.
There is only the actual way it is.
Even while you read this sentence, there is nothing between the letters and yourself.

There is nothing between something you’re hearing and yourself.
There is only what you are hearing, itself.

When eating, there is nothing between the taste and yourself.
There’s only the taste itself.

When thinking, there is nothing between a thought and yourself.
There is only the content of thinking.

From the content above, I think you can see how it was a misunderstanding if you believed that you needed to create a good zazen state.

Zen began with the Buddha’s enlightenment—the shine of the morning star.
The Buddha awakened to the morning star’s shine itself as his true nature.

In the case of Zen Master Dōgen, his satori happened when his teacher, Nyojyō Zenji, noticed that the novice sitting next to Dōgen was dozing. Nyojyō Zenji took off his straw sandal and used it to whack the dozing novice’s shoulder, saying, “Napping is not zazen!” The whack! itself was Dogen’s satori, and he realized his true nature.

The actual way it is, manifesting now, is the way satori is. This is why there is no method to satori.

When sitting, sit just as seeing, hearing, and thinking happen on their own. In this way, because it is simply the actual way it is, there is no need to judge if you are doing zazen well or not. By “no need to judge,” it means there is no need to monitor how you are sitting. “No need to monitor” means there is no need to be aware of your sitting. This is why at some point cognition can naturally cease completely and true nature becomes clear. 

Do I Still Have Questions? Do I Still Do Dokusan?

 “How often do you do dokusan? Do you still have questions?” These are questions someone recently asked me, so I thought I’d share more widely. (“Dokusan” is one-on-one Q&A with a Zen master.)

I started zazen with Matsumoto-san and Kando Roshi in 2015… wow, 11 years already! When I first started, Matsumoto-san was holding zazenkai 3 days a week at his office in Tokyo. I went at least 2 days a week, and each time I would do dokusan, sometimes for 30-40 minutes. I think I did that for about a year. That’s a lot of questions. I marveled at Matsumoto-san’s patience with me.

So if you ever feel bad for asking lots of questions, please don’t. I have yet to meet anyone at our Zen Online zazenkai who has even come close to the number of questions I’ve asked (I am not bragging). I think it was an indication of how misinformed I was, and how much difficulty I had distinguishing intellectual pursuit from zazen.

But eventually it became clear to me that no amount of questioning and contemplation would give me the answer I was looking for. It would be like contemplating coffee in hopes of discovering how it tastes. Does this mean I think there is no more need for dokusan? Definitely not. Sometimes I ask questions I think I know the answer to. But then Matsumoto-san will do or say something that makes it a “ha!” moment. The best way I can describe it is a slight gasp of sudden clarity. Dokusan is always precious.

So to answer the opening question, these days I do dokusan only occasionally. Maybe 2 or 3 times a year. But I do hear Matsumoto-san’s teishō much more often. When I talk with Matsumoto-san to confirm points so I can translate his teishō for this newsletter, it sometimes feels like dokusan.

That said, how often you do dokusan or how many questions you have is not really the important issue. If, for example, all electricity went out and I completely lost access to Matsumoto-san and other enlightened Zen masters, I would not panic (at least not about my practice). I know I can sit.

And how blessed I feel to have this growing community of people to sit with. Thank you for being a part of it.

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Love and Gassho _/\_