Japanese
Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona
October, 2013
Zen &
Satori: Part II (if you have not read the first
part, please do read)
空手把鋤頭 歩行騎水牛
人従橋上過 橋流水不流
傅大士 (Fu Da
Shi)
Not carrying anything in hand, yet carrying a shovel (plough).
Walking, yet, riding an ox.
As a person passes over a bridge,
The bridge is washed away, yet the water is not running.
Most of you think that this is a crazy poem. Therefore, first, I need to define what
Zen is not. Zen is not
metaphysic. Zen is not a religion,
nor a philosophy. Zen stands on
the sharpest edge of a samurai sword, asking you to realize what is not. When you see a pencil and you confirm
it as a pencil, then, Zen is no longer there.
So, what is this crazy poem about? This poem is perhaps the most revealing
poem on Zen of all times. It could
only be written by a person who has “realized” which Zen calls, “satori” or the
Realization. To cut short, this
poem is all about the true freedom.
Master Fu is absolutely free in the Realization, standing alone in his
total clarity. Remind you that
many of us have it, and yet not carrying it. You may call it conviction or faith (Zen does not seek these
and in a different realm). You
cannot touch and carry these, yet you are carrying them, each of us, every
day. So what Master Fu carrying,
yet not carrying? A plough
of the Absolute Affirmation that destroys the duality. It is a very formidable weapon. What kind of state is he in when he is
carrying? “Walking” here implies
the Way, the Dao (aka: Tao). Physically, riding an ox is easier and
comfortable especially for a long journey. What he implies by riding an ox is that he is comfortable;
meaning he is at peace. With a
plough of the Absolute Affirmation, he has woken and is experiencing the
eternal peace (常楽).
A person on the bridge is none other than himself. The bridge is the dualism. He was on it, but he broke it with the
plough. What did he attain? Not even a drop of water remains in his
clarity. The Absolute Clarity
(Freedom) which is the Realization.
He is no longer in our realm of:
1 +1 = 2, or A is not B. He
has understood that A is not A, therefore, it is A and went beyond (all
encompassing). Nothing binds him,
for he is to none (我浄). Do
you still call a pencil a pencil*?
Let me (my humble being) ask you a question. When you see an ink drawing scroll (a
calligraphy) by a Zen master of a circle, what do you see? And when I ask you what this is, how do
you answer? Satori is at between
the “whiteness” of the paper and the “emptiness” of it (白と空の間). For English speaking people, satori is
at between the “The” and the “a”:
The Circle is not a circle (円は円でない). Again, for Zen, representation does not
mean anything. Discerning what is
illusional and real is lifetime endeavor.
But once broken, you see no water left in its clarity.
Let me expand my question further. When a Zen master points at a pencil
and asks: What is this? How do you answer if you were
mute? Another dilemma? I bet you can figure out yourself. If not, “30 hits by a Zen master’s
staff…”: namaste.
Epilogue:
Some people think that I am a Buddhist or a Zen-ist. Or, at worse, preaching something. I am neither and don’t belong to any
religion, temple, or church. If, …
I am forced to say, …then, I am a do-er.
Namaste
*: For example, the color brown does not
exist in the light spectrum. It is
always within the yellow, but we see as brown. And what of other optical illusions? We simply cannot trust the brain,
especially for vision. Nuclear
physicist always questioning what is real and not real.
© 2013 Dr. Y.
Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC
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