Question
... (All the quotations here are yours.) "Every day, we must go to the zero point, the root, nirvana, the origin—call it what you will. Being without a goal is fundamental in Buddhist practice. [...] Awakening is the original state of everything. [...] That is why we say: awaken with the ten thousand beings."
"Everything in the universe tends toward something. [...] It is the universal movement of life that means we must have a goal in life, otherwise we are a vegetable. [...] When we have no goal left in life, life ends. [...] So what is mushotoku in everyday life? Sensei said: do not hide your tail. Do not hide your karma. That means we should not keep our motivation hidden. [...] As for mushotoku within zazen itself, we must understand that unlike the rest of the universe, zazen is not expanding, because it turns its light inward. It is a kind of black hole."
So, Master Kosen, how can I be without a goal, go to the zero point, the root, nirvana, in everyday life, outside zazen itself, whatever my activity, whatever life I lead?
"The essence of Zen teaching through action is expressed by the term mushotoku. If you realize mushotoku, you have satori, you are a Buddha, you are free, upright, natural, nondual."
This outside-zazen aspect raises questions for me, for example when you discuss actions that can define an authentic master. "The first and most important thing in judging a master is to know who his master was, how long and how intensely he followed him, from whom he received shiho, and finally whether he continues practicing vigorously alongside his disciples. If he stays in his room and merely holds interviews with his disciples, he is a bad master. Some very great masters enjoyed making love, drinking alcohol, or eating meat. That is secondary, provided they are stronger than their passions. [...] If a master is worthless, even if he follows the precepts perfectly and fully conforms to puritanism [...] he remains worthless."
So, Master Kosen, how can we realize mushotoku in everyday life?
To the question "How do we choose a master?" you answer, "We must become our own master."
So, Master Kosen, how can we, in everyday life and outside zazen, return to the root, realize mushotoku, and become our own master?
Gassho.
machin
Answer from Master Kosen
Let us keep it simple and not mix everything together. Zen is first of all an experience, and we cannot understand its true substance through words. Even if words are sometimes useful for a certain form of communication and can create images in our brains that seem to satisfy our curiosity or calm our anxiety-provoking doubts.
Your question, in essence, is: "How, then, Master Kosen, can we realize mushotoku in everyday life?"
The distinctive quality of zazen is stopping and breaking with everyday life, entering the silence and stillness of the dimension of mushotoku. This is why it is beneficial: it balances the one-sided tendency toward expansion that characterizes the universe of everyday life.
Being able to go in the opposite direction by returning to the zero point is extremely beneficial, but it does not mean spending the day sitting with our legs in a pretzel, saying there is no goal to attain.
So my answer is: realizing mushotoku in everyday life?
It means understanding that we are not mushotoku.
Kosen