Question
I would like to share a reflection and have you clarify something. I have been practicing for some time, and even long before I began Zen, I had the feeling that “everything is Mind,” that matter is a kind of alchemy between consciousness, love, and energy, a question of vibration… But when I try to think about something other than soccer, a question often comes to me: Fuck, if fundamentally everything is Mind, why do actions matter? Despite everything, I realize that acting rightly, openly, and compassionately is not the same as acting like an asshole. Yet I struggle with this karmic retribution business. I find it infantilizing and imprecise, even though we are far from knowing all the causes and accompanying circumstances of our actions… So are our actions fundamentally important to Mind? I hope I have expressed myself clearly enough. Thank you. JF.
JF
Answer from Master Kosen
Dogen to his master:
“Can obstacles such as illusions [bonnos], external conditions, and karma bring us onto the Way of the Buddhas and patriarchs?”
Nyojo said:
“You must protect and have faith in the teachings of the ancient patriarchs, such as Nagarjuna. Their teachings cannot be wrong. But as for karmic obstacles, when we practice diligently, we should then be able to transform them.”
I asked: “Should we concern ourselves with causes and effects [inka]?”
Nyojo replied: “We must not reject the relationship of cause and effect.
Thus Yoka [Yoka Daishi] declared: ‘The true freedom of ku [emptiness, void] rejects the relationship of cause and effect; everything then falls into complete confusion and disorder and brings abominable catastrophe.’ Those who reject the relationship of cause and effect cut the good roots of the Buddha-Dharma. How then could these people be considered the grandchildren of the Buddhas and patriarchs?”
Kosen