Questions to Master Deshimaru

Question

You wrote that when we practice zazen we are in our coffin. But even though we know we don't exist we still have the feeling of existing

Answer

Of course. We're not dead! If you did not feel your own existence you would be completely dead. What I said was that you should practice zazen as though you were entering your coffin. It's an illustration. Why is death always a central problem for religions? Because people are egotistical and the ego is important. If you can solve the question of death, then you completely abandon the ego. If a person is not afraid of death, that person is not an egotist. So I say you must practice zazen ``in your coffin." True zazen is letting go of the ego. The ego doesn't exist. No noumenon. It's satori. What is an ego? Ears, nose, heart, brain? Is it separate from the rest? Everybody is egotistical, but when all is said and done we are ``lived" by the cosmic order. You cannot stop your heart from beating; it's impossible. You don't want to think but thoughts rise up. We live through interdependence, through the power of interdependence. Substance does not exist so it is possible to let go of it. If you understand that, if you let go of the ego, then you can become completely happy. But so long as one remains attached to oneself one cannot be happy. Egotists catch diseases, they are not free. But if they become less egotistical they can become happy. All true religions teach that. In Christianity Jesus sacrificed himself for everybody else and so he is still living. Religions teach that we should abandon the ego in order to help, to serve others; and that is exactly the hardest thing for a human being to do. Our modern civilization could hardly be more egotistical. And people are unhappy. Abandoning the ego is difficult, but it is necessary, in order to influence others.