Questions to Master Deshimaru

Question

Are koans used in Soto Zen?

Answer

Everything is koan. True koans are not play-acting. The master must create questions: What is ku. What is mu? What is your original nature? But when they are used again and again afterward, they become play-acting. The disciples understand only by books. Koan teaching as in Rinzai Zen is not so effective. In Soto Zen the teacher also uses koans. But "here and now" is most important. These are not university examinations. The only problems are the real problems of everyday life. You suffer, you are worried, you are not satisfied, you are full of questions. And the master answers. And the answer becomes a koan. I give long explanations and people understand. The answer becomes a question that is a koan. My answer has become your koan. It is more effective. You must not make categories. Nowadays, in Rinzai Zen, koans have become more like formalities. But the great Rinzai masters did not use koans. Only little masters use them; they read the question before zazen and tell the disciples to think about it during zazen. During zazen the real master says, "You must not think with your brain but with your body." When you study koans you think with your brain. Everyday life is a koan. "Hello, how are you?" becomes a koan. I can also say, "Chin in" or "Beautiful posture," and that becomes a koan. "Stretch your spine": that's a koan. During zazen you must not think with your brain. The consciousness of each person is unlimited, infinite. You must let your thoughts pass by and at the end they wear out of their own accord and then you can think unconsciously. In this day and age people think too much, are too complicated. After zazen their faces have changed and if they continue to practice they become smiling. After six months or a year of practice everything is completely different. You become light, free, not complicated. Your karma wears out.