Question
“Well, since they love quoting Kodo Sawaki in their kusen, why don’t they sometimes think of imitating his actions?
He himself received shiho from his master’s successor, a former fellow disciple.
Despite a competitive relationship between them in their youth, he did so humbly, because he wanted to succeed in that master’s lineage, not another.
There is an example of an authentic monk.”
That was not Master Deshimaru’s attitude: he preferred to receive transmission from a Sotoshu master rather than from a former fellow disciple of Master Kodo Sawaki, who had nevertheless named several successors before his death.
Could you clarify this point for me?
Thank you.
Anonymous
Master Kosen’s answer
Studying transmission is very important, said Master Dogen Zenji. That is why I will take the trouble to answer you.
First, shiho and transmission are two different things, although they are not separate. In Zen, we consider that the subjective must be reflected or certified by the objective. Therefore, according to our tradition, transmission must be certified by shiho.
Shiho is a ceremony, an initiation rite that itself also contains an element of subjective transmission from master to disciple.
Transmission, meanwhile, is an objective act by the master toward his disciple. If he considers the disciple worthy, he literally transmits a cool, luminous energy called the marrow of Zen. This energy is transmitted like water from one bottle to another. But because this phenomenon is known only to the master and disciple, it cannot be regarded as objective in the eyes of other people. This transmission must therefore be certified by shiho, a document handed over during the ritual I mentioned earlier.
Clearly, transmission is what matters above all, but if it is authentic, it must reveal itself objectively for all to see when the time comes.
Someone who has received true transmission from his master does not need shiho, and in many cases someone who has received shiho has not necessarily received the marrow of a true master. Sometimes, it should be noted, transmission and shiho take place at the same time. Now let us turn to your actual question, the historical explanation.
We must understand that the history of transmission from master to master since Buddha has been a particular story for each successor. It would be foolish to believe history will repeat itself several times, or every time, in the same way.
But we can draw a lesson and deepen our understanding of this subject by recognizing that the very history of transmission is the expression of mind itself and cosmic truth itself.
It is always a message and a teaching for practitioners of the three times who have open eyes and hearts, and who are not tempted to lie to themselves and others out of concern for appearances and worldly success.
Master Kodo Sawaki gave, I believe, five shihos, but only three transmissions: “the flesh” to a nun who cut off her finger to obtain permission to follow him, since she had previously been another master’s disciple and Kodo refused to accept her. She was foremost among his disciples in knowledge and sewing of kesas.
A monk was expelled from the sangha over false accusations by Kodo’s secretary, who at the time was Nishiyama Kocho. This monk lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a little hut, doing nothing but zazen. My master loved and respected him greatly and visited him whenever he went to Japan. He received “the flesh.” He was foremost in zazen practice. Then there was Deshimaru, who received the “marrow of Zen” just before his master’s death. He was the incarnation of a great bodhisattva, with an innate dimension superior to all the others, and Kodo Sawaki had always known it.
Given Deshimaru’s personality, he never concerned himself with certifying his transmission through shiho—and shiho from whom?
He naturally needed no one to do what he had to do, certainly not Narita Roshi. Although Narita had received Kodo Sawaki’s teaching for many years, he was above all the disciple of his own father, who asked Kodo Sawaki whether, out of friendship, he would do him the favor of giving shiho to his son in his name. It should also be noted that apart from the disciples he borrowed from my master, rightly or wrongly, Narita Roshi never had any disciples or sangha of his own.
As for Master Deshimaru’s shiho: a few years before his death, he nevertheless agreed to make his transmission objective by receiving shiho. But shiho from whom? Quite simply, from the highest authority in Japanese Zen at the time, the equivalent of the pope: the zenji of Eiheiji, Yamada Reirin. That is the story as I, Master Deshimaru’s heir, tell it.
You can easily observe that those who did not receive true transmission from their master are incapable of expressing anything coherent and clear on this subject. They spread only confusion around them and even end up allowing their own master to be insulted.
KOSEN
REPLY TO THE ANSWER:
Dear Kosen,
As you say, it would be foolish to believe history will repeat itself several times, or every time, in the same way.
I did not know Master Deshimaru, but I have practiced long enough to have experienced your departure from the AZI. At that time I suffered as though my own family were breaking apart. At the same time, I felt as though something powerful that the whole group had carried until then was evaporating and disappearing with this split. Something I had witnessed and that now existed only within me.
Since then, I have followed this voice within me, helped by interactions with different masters as I follow my own path, to realize this thing I saw within the AZI while you were still there. Whatever the case, I hope you and the AZI will eventually reconcile completely and find unity. I try first to realize this unity within myself by seeing no opposition between these two paths.
Best wishes.
Kosen