The First Enlightenment : Zazen (1) Misunderstandings for so many ages
I have a memory that I have explained a short explanation of Zazen, which is the central method of practice in Buddhism in this blog before, but about such a theme, there is a problem, which is called 'Satori, or enlightenment', and on such a subject there are so many miscellaneous interpretations in Buddhist societies, and so here I would like to try my some a little profound interpretation on the problem, because I think that such a kind of profound interpretation of Buddhist explanations might be very useful to explain the true meaning of Buddhist philosophies.
Ton-go and Zen-go
In the interpretation of enlightenment in Buddhism, there are two kinds of oposite insistenses on the situation of enlightenment. And the one is called Ton-go, and the other is called Zen-go.
In Ton-go, Ton means sudden, and go means enlightenment. Therefore Ton-go means a sudden enlightenment, and it suggests that the Buddhist enlightenment always visit us suddenly, and so it is necessary for us to think that the Buddhist enlightenment always visit us suddnly.
But at the same time there is another idea that Buddhist enlightenment usually comes gradually, which is called Zen-go, or gradual enlightenment, because zen (different from Zen) means gradual and go means enlightenment. Therefore Zen-go means a gradual enlightenment, which gradually aproaches us usually utilizing rather long time.
In Japan there are three sects of Buddhism, which practice Zazen mainly, and among them Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect are rather bigger, but those two Sects have different ideas of getting enlightenment for many years. And generally speaking Rinzai Sect insists the idea of Ton-go, and Soto Sect believe in Zen-go.
Because in Rinzai Sect they usually think that the enlightenment comes suddenly at once after so hard practice of Zazen for many years, but in Soto Sect they think that the first enlighten- ment in Buddhism comes just at the first beginning of practicing Zazen, because they think that the first practice of Zazen includes the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, and so we can think that by practicing Zazen everyday, we can get enlightenment day by day.
And when we think the reason why those two kinds of so big Buddhist Sects actually have the difference of situations to get enlightenment, such difference comes from their rather long historical processes of their situations.
Master Bodhi Dharma transmitted the practice of Zazen as the fundamental basis of Buddhist philosophy to China in 527, and then Master Taiso Eka, Master Kanchi Sosan, Master Dai-i Doshin, and Master Daiman Konin have succeeded the position of Patriarchs one by one, and arrived at the 6th Patriarch Master Daikan Eno.
And even though Master Daikan Eno had several excellent Patriarchs, among them the two Masters' lineages, that is, the one is Master Nangaku Ejo's lineage and the other is Master Seigen Gyoshi's lineage, have continued for rather long time. And later the lineage of Master Nangaku Ejo was called Rinzai Sect and the lineage of Master Seigen Gyoshi was called Soto Sect. And those two kinds of Buddhist Sects have been continued for rather long time, and even today they are working as powerful Buddhist Sects in Japan.
And generally speaking, in the case of Rinzai Sect they think that "Satori, or enlightenment" have to be got one day suddenly, but in Soto Sect we think that the "Satori, or the enlightenment" is just the balance of the autonomic nervous system, and so we think that the enlightenment occurs at every moment, when we begin Zazen, and so we can get enlightenment everyday, but at the same time such a kind of enlightenment occurs many times later, and so people usually suppose that in the case of Soto Sect, it might be Zen-go, or the gradual enlightenment.
Therefore, generally speaking, people usually have thought that in Rinzai Sect they believed in the idea of Ton-go, or the sudden enlightenment, and in Soto Sect they believed in the idea of Zen-go, or the gradual enlightenment, but it was very strange that even though both Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect belong to Buddhism, they have had fundamentally different ideas in those two Buddhist Sects.
The true meaning of the enlightenment
Fortunately, however, in the 20th, and the 21st century, we human beings have begun to understand the true substance of Buddhist enlightenment.
For example, I have written and published my first Buddhist book entitled "Bukkyo-dai san no Sekai-kan, or Buddhism-the third worldview" in Japanese for the first time in 1967, I wrote the explanation of relation between Zazen and human physical conditions in the book from p. 197~204, as follows.
[What is the meaning of Zazen, which is researched from the viewpoint of physiology?]
And the sentences explained the problem from the following four viewpoint; that is, (1) The true habits of muscles (2) Regulation of the brain, especially the interbrain (3) Regulation of the autonomic nervous system and (4) Normalization of internal secretion.
Therefore when I translate the article (3), it may be as follows.
[ (3) Regulation of the autonomic nervous system
The third article, which is related with the physical function of Zazen, is "Regulation of the autonomic nervous system." Our peripheral nervous system is divided into the two kinds, the one is the brain and nervous system, and the other is the autonomic nervous system. And between them the existence of the autonomic nervous system, which we can not control with our human will, or human physical function, should never be thought light at all. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts, the one is the sympathetic nervous system, which pervades through the brain, the internal organs, the limbs, and almost all parts of body, and the other is the parasympathetic nervous system, which also pervades almost throughout the body mixing with the brain and nervous system. And between those two kinds of nervous systems, that is, the sympathetic nervous sytem, and the parasympathetic nervous system. And, generally speaking, when the one system works as a promoting function, the other works as a supressing function. And when the those two kinds of the autonomic nervous system works well as the two kinds of contending nervous system equally, our mental and physical functions work well together, and our human body and mind work vigorously.
Therefore when the contending function of those two kinds of nervous systems are keeping well, our breathing, circulation, digestion, reproduction, are regularly maintained. However if the one kind of autonomic nervous system has become abnormally stronger than the other, the balance between the two nervous systems has broken, and then some kinds of physycal function has become abnormally promoted, or abnormally suppressed. For example, in the case of our digestive function, which is the fundamental basis of our healthy conditions, has so much familiar relations with our daily happiness and unhappiness, when the sympathetic nervous system has become abnormally stronger comparing with the parasympathetic nervous system, the digestive function has become enormously suppressed, and we have to fell down into the chronic indigestion. And in the case of this phenomenon, even though we promote our digestive function by utilizing a kind of medicine as a half-way solution, without recovering the mutual contending fuction between the two nervous systems, the fundamental solution is perfectly impossible, and at the same time because of the half-way solution of utilizing the same medicine, the condition of the disease will become much more worse. And when we find the cause of indigestion in the fact of too much eating, even though we make our efforts to decrease the volume of our meals, the real cause of indigestion is in the weak situation of the parasympathetic nervous system itself, and so it is impossible for us to make the sitations better by decreasing the volume of our meals at all, and in such a situation it is impossible for us to prevent making the bad situation worse any more.
As I described above, even though I have picked up only one example of digestion, when the balance between the sympahetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system has broken, and the normal contending function of the two kinds of nervous system, doesn't work well, some kinds of pathological symptom appears, and the symptom continue to become diseases. And when we look at a kind of continuous process, I am prone to think that the facts are similar to the situations, which are so straightforward as vibration is called sound, and oxidation of matter is called combustion. Therefore I think that it might be not wrong for us to say that the unequality between the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system, is just a kind of disease itself already. And at the same time we should clearly notice that those two kinds of nervous systems are both the autonomic nervous system, which can never be changed utilizing our human mental will. Even if we have read through tens of thousand volumes of Buddhist books, or if we have become some kinds of very great authorities in Buddhist research, it is perfectly impossible for us to overcome our autonomic nervous system with mind freely, and controle them under our own will. Because the autonomic nervous system works and moves having no relations with our own will.
In that situation, is it necessary for us to follow always only the situation of our autonomic nervous system as if we were slaves of our autonomic nervous system, and should we be governed by the autonomic nervous system throughout our life? If it were true, it would be so shameful for us as the human beings, which have the highest spirituality among all living beings. And if we, human beings, want to proud of ourselves as the highest spirituality among all living beings, it is necessary for us to maintain the real ability or method to control the autonomic nervous system for keeping the pride of human beings. And at that time what has emerged clearly and inevitably in my mind was the practice of Zazn as the method of controling the autonomic nervous system."
Following such a consideration, which I described above, I have got my proposition that the reason why we, human beings, have been attracted by the practice of Zazen since about 2,500 years ago, comes from the fact that the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system was just the Buddhist enlightenment iself. And at that time, when it was in 1967, my idea was only a kind of proposition, but since then I have checked for many years whether my proposition has been true, or not, and and even in 2007, it is not necessary for me to change my proposition at all.
Fusion between Ton-go and Zen-go
And after finding the proposition, I have begun to understand the miscellaneous Buddhist philosophical problems one by one by practicing Zazen, and at last I have arrived at the ultimate conclusion of the Buddhist philosophical system. Therefore I have clearly to proclaim that if it was impossible for me to arrive at the proposition that the Buddhist enlightenment is just the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, I could never understand the total meaning of Buddhist philosophical system at all, and it might be true that I coudn't arrive at the ultimate conclusion of Buddhism for ever.
For example, the problem of discussion between Ton-go, or sudden enlightenment and Zen-go, or gradual enlightenment, can be solved by the theory that the Buddhist first enlightenment is just the balanced autonomic nervous system at once.
As I have explained before we can generally think that Rinzai Sect usually believes in Ton-go, or suden enlightenment, and Soto Sect usually believes in Zen-go, or gradual enlightenment, but it is very strange that even though both Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect are belonging to Buddhism, they have fighting for about more than 13 hundred years in different idea of Ton-go and Zen-go.
But fortunately in the 20th and 21st century, because of enormously developed psychology and physiology, we can arrive at the theory that the Buddhist enlightenment is just the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, and utilizing such a theory, we can solve the fundamentally contradictory discussion between Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect completely.
Because even though it is insisted that in Rinzai Sect that the Buddhist enlightenment appears suddenly, but if we accept the theory that the first Buddhist enlightenment is just the balanced autonomic nervous system, such a kind of enlightenment can appear at once, when we begin the practice of Zazen keeping the authentic posture in Zazen, and so in the case of Rinzai Sect there is a simple fact that Zazen in Rinzai Sect has also a kind of Ton-go in its practice. But at the same time such kinds of practice should continue again and again , and so in Zinzai Sect Zazen also has the same situations of Zen-go too. Therefore we can think that even in Rinzai Sect the 1st enlightement of Zazen has also both the characteristics of Ton-go and Zengo.
And at the same time even in the case of the second enlitenment, Rinzai Sect insists that the second enlightenment comes suddenly at once, but before getting the second enlightenment there were so many times of practicing Zazen, and so it is necessary for us to say that even in the case of enlightenment, it is necessary for them to practice Zazen so many times before getting the second enlightenment, and so we can say that in the second enlightenment of Rinzai Sect, we have to say that it has both the two characteristics of Ton-go and Zengo too.
And in the case of Soto Sect we accept that when we begin the practice of Zazen folding our legs and keep our spine straight vertically, we can enter into the first enlightenment at once. Therefore even in the case of Soto Sect the first enlightenment is Tongo, but at the same time such a kind of practice of Zazen have to continue everyday for many years, and so Zazen in Soto Sect has also characteristics of Zen-go.
And in the case of the second enlightenment in Soto Sect can be experienced after so many years practice, and so it is just the case of Zen-go, but at the same time such a kind of the second enlightenment appear after for many years more than 30 years at least. And so even it appears suddenly at the present moment, therefore it can be called Ton-go, but at the same time the second enlightenment can be realized after everyday Zanzen for so many years, and so the case of the second enlightenment it is necessary for us to insist that even in the case of Soto Sect, we can say that the second enlightenment in Buddhism has also the two characteristics of Ton-go and Zen-go.
Relying upon the processes like this, if we accept the proposition that the first enlightenment in Buddhism is just the balance of the autonomic nervous system, we can solve all Buddhist philosophical problems completely and perfectly relying upon the proposition, and so we can throw away all philosophical problems, which have bothered us for thousands of years without fail. Therefore we should notice such an incredibly happy condition, which we have fortunately met in 21st century already, and relying upon such a kind of historical condition we should grasp the ultimate Buddhist philosophical conclusion exactly (the end).
Ton-go and Zen-go
In the interpretation of enlightenment in Buddhism, there are two kinds of oposite insistenses on the situation of enlightenment. And the one is called Ton-go, and the other is called Zen-go.
In Ton-go, Ton means sudden, and go means enlightenment. Therefore Ton-go means a sudden enlightenment, and it suggests that the Buddhist enlightenment always visit us suddenly, and so it is necessary for us to think that the Buddhist enlightenment always visit us suddnly.
But at the same time there is another idea that Buddhist enlightenment usually comes gradually, which is called Zen-go, or gradual enlightenment, because zen (different from Zen) means gradual and go means enlightenment. Therefore Zen-go means a gradual enlightenment, which gradually aproaches us usually utilizing rather long time.
In Japan there are three sects of Buddhism, which practice Zazen mainly, and among them Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect are rather bigger, but those two Sects have different ideas of getting enlightenment for many years. And generally speaking Rinzai Sect insists the idea of Ton-go, and Soto Sect believe in Zen-go.
Because in Rinzai Sect they usually think that the enlightenment comes suddenly at once after so hard practice of Zazen for many years, but in Soto Sect they think that the first enlighten- ment in Buddhism comes just at the first beginning of practicing Zazen, because they think that the first practice of Zazen includes the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, and so we can think that by practicing Zazen everyday, we can get enlightenment day by day.
And when we think the reason why those two kinds of so big Buddhist Sects actually have the difference of situations to get enlightenment, such difference comes from their rather long historical processes of their situations.
Master Bodhi Dharma transmitted the practice of Zazen as the fundamental basis of Buddhist philosophy to China in 527, and then Master Taiso Eka, Master Kanchi Sosan, Master Dai-i Doshin, and Master Daiman Konin have succeeded the position of Patriarchs one by one, and arrived at the 6th Patriarch Master Daikan Eno.
And even though Master Daikan Eno had several excellent Patriarchs, among them the two Masters' lineages, that is, the one is Master Nangaku Ejo's lineage and the other is Master Seigen Gyoshi's lineage, have continued for rather long time. And later the lineage of Master Nangaku Ejo was called Rinzai Sect and the lineage of Master Seigen Gyoshi was called Soto Sect. And those two kinds of Buddhist Sects have been continued for rather long time, and even today they are working as powerful Buddhist Sects in Japan.
And generally speaking, in the case of Rinzai Sect they think that "Satori, or enlightenment" have to be got one day suddenly, but in Soto Sect we think that the "Satori, or the enlightenment" is just the balance of the autonomic nervous system, and so we think that the enlightenment occurs at every moment, when we begin Zazen, and so we can get enlightenment everyday, but at the same time such a kind of enlightenment occurs many times later, and so people usually suppose that in the case of Soto Sect, it might be Zen-go, or the gradual enlightenment.
Therefore, generally speaking, people usually have thought that in Rinzai Sect they believed in the idea of Ton-go, or the sudden enlightenment, and in Soto Sect they believed in the idea of Zen-go, or the gradual enlightenment, but it was very strange that even though both Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect belong to Buddhism, they have had fundamentally different ideas in those two Buddhist Sects.
The true meaning of the enlightenment
Fortunately, however, in the 20th, and the 21st century, we human beings have begun to understand the true substance of Buddhist enlightenment.
For example, I have written and published my first Buddhist book entitled "Bukkyo-dai san no Sekai-kan, or Buddhism-the third worldview" in Japanese for the first time in 1967, I wrote the explanation of relation between Zazen and human physical conditions in the book from p. 197~204, as follows.
[What is the meaning of Zazen, which is researched from the viewpoint of physiology?]
And the sentences explained the problem from the following four viewpoint; that is, (1) The true habits of muscles (2) Regulation of the brain, especially the interbrain (3) Regulation of the autonomic nervous system and (4) Normalization of internal secretion.
Therefore when I translate the article (3), it may be as follows.
[ (3) Regulation of the autonomic nervous system
The third article, which is related with the physical function of Zazen, is "Regulation of the autonomic nervous system." Our peripheral nervous system is divided into the two kinds, the one is the brain and nervous system, and the other is the autonomic nervous system. And between them the existence of the autonomic nervous system, which we can not control with our human will, or human physical function, should never be thought light at all. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts, the one is the sympathetic nervous system, which pervades through the brain, the internal organs, the limbs, and almost all parts of body, and the other is the parasympathetic nervous system, which also pervades almost throughout the body mixing with the brain and nervous system. And between those two kinds of nervous systems, that is, the sympathetic nervous sytem, and the parasympathetic nervous system. And, generally speaking, when the one system works as a promoting function, the other works as a supressing function. And when the those two kinds of the autonomic nervous system works well as the two kinds of contending nervous system equally, our mental and physical functions work well together, and our human body and mind work vigorously.
Therefore when the contending function of those two kinds of nervous systems are keeping well, our breathing, circulation, digestion, reproduction, are regularly maintained. However if the one kind of autonomic nervous system has become abnormally stronger than the other, the balance between the two nervous systems has broken, and then some kinds of physycal function has become abnormally promoted, or abnormally suppressed. For example, in the case of our digestive function, which is the fundamental basis of our healthy conditions, has so much familiar relations with our daily happiness and unhappiness, when the sympathetic nervous system has become abnormally stronger comparing with the parasympathetic nervous system, the digestive function has become enormously suppressed, and we have to fell down into the chronic indigestion. And in the case of this phenomenon, even though we promote our digestive function by utilizing a kind of medicine as a half-way solution, without recovering the mutual contending fuction between the two nervous systems, the fundamental solution is perfectly impossible, and at the same time because of the half-way solution of utilizing the same medicine, the condition of the disease will become much more worse. And when we find the cause of indigestion in the fact of too much eating, even though we make our efforts to decrease the volume of our meals, the real cause of indigestion is in the weak situation of the parasympathetic nervous system itself, and so it is impossible for us to make the sitations better by decreasing the volume of our meals at all, and in such a situation it is impossible for us to prevent making the bad situation worse any more.
As I described above, even though I have picked up only one example of digestion, when the balance between the sympahetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system has broken, and the normal contending function of the two kinds of nervous system, doesn't work well, some kinds of pathological symptom appears, and the symptom continue to become diseases. And when we look at a kind of continuous process, I am prone to think that the facts are similar to the situations, which are so straightforward as vibration is called sound, and oxidation of matter is called combustion. Therefore I think that it might be not wrong for us to say that the unequality between the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system, is just a kind of disease itself already. And at the same time we should clearly notice that those two kinds of nervous systems are both the autonomic nervous system, which can never be changed utilizing our human mental will. Even if we have read through tens of thousand volumes of Buddhist books, or if we have become some kinds of very great authorities in Buddhist research, it is perfectly impossible for us to overcome our autonomic nervous system with mind freely, and controle them under our own will. Because the autonomic nervous system works and moves having no relations with our own will.
In that situation, is it necessary for us to follow always only the situation of our autonomic nervous system as if we were slaves of our autonomic nervous system, and should we be governed by the autonomic nervous system throughout our life? If it were true, it would be so shameful for us as the human beings, which have the highest spirituality among all living beings. And if we, human beings, want to proud of ourselves as the highest spirituality among all living beings, it is necessary for us to maintain the real ability or method to control the autonomic nervous system for keeping the pride of human beings. And at that time what has emerged clearly and inevitably in my mind was the practice of Zazn as the method of controling the autonomic nervous system."
Following such a consideration, which I described above, I have got my proposition that the reason why we, human beings, have been attracted by the practice of Zazen since about 2,500 years ago, comes from the fact that the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system was just the Buddhist enlightenment iself. And at that time, when it was in 1967, my idea was only a kind of proposition, but since then I have checked for many years whether my proposition has been true, or not, and and even in 2007, it is not necessary for me to change my proposition at all.
Fusion between Ton-go and Zen-go
And after finding the proposition, I have begun to understand the miscellaneous Buddhist philosophical problems one by one by practicing Zazen, and at last I have arrived at the ultimate conclusion of the Buddhist philosophical system. Therefore I have clearly to proclaim that if it was impossible for me to arrive at the proposition that the Buddhist enlightenment is just the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, I could never understand the total meaning of Buddhist philosophical system at all, and it might be true that I coudn't arrive at the ultimate conclusion of Buddhism for ever.
For example, the problem of discussion between Ton-go, or sudden enlightenment and Zen-go, or gradual enlightenment, can be solved by the theory that the Buddhist first enlightenment is just the balanced autonomic nervous system at once.
As I have explained before we can generally think that Rinzai Sect usually believes in Ton-go, or suden enlightenment, and Soto Sect usually believes in Zen-go, or gradual enlightenment, but it is very strange that even though both Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect are belonging to Buddhism, they have fighting for about more than 13 hundred years in different idea of Ton-go and Zen-go.
But fortunately in the 20th and 21st century, because of enormously developed psychology and physiology, we can arrive at the theory that the Buddhist enlightenment is just the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, and utilizing such a theory, we can solve the fundamentally contradictory discussion between Rinzai Sect and Soto Sect completely.
Because even though it is insisted that in Rinzai Sect that the Buddhist enlightenment appears suddenly, but if we accept the theory that the first Buddhist enlightenment is just the balanced autonomic nervous system, such a kind of enlightenment can appear at once, when we begin the practice of Zazen keeping the authentic posture in Zazen, and so in the case of Rinzai Sect there is a simple fact that Zazen in Rinzai Sect has also a kind of Ton-go in its practice. But at the same time such kinds of practice should continue again and again , and so in Zinzai Sect Zazen also has the same situations of Zen-go too. Therefore we can think that even in Rinzai Sect the 1st enlightement of Zazen has also both the characteristics of Ton-go and Zengo.
And at the same time even in the case of the second enlitenment, Rinzai Sect insists that the second enlightenment comes suddenly at once, but before getting the second enlightenment there were so many times of practicing Zazen, and so it is necessary for us to say that even in the case of enlightenment, it is necessary for them to practice Zazen so many times before getting the second enlightenment, and so we can say that in the second enlightenment of Rinzai Sect, we have to say that it has both the two characteristics of Ton-go and Zengo too.
And in the case of Soto Sect we accept that when we begin the practice of Zazen folding our legs and keep our spine straight vertically, we can enter into the first enlightenment at once. Therefore even in the case of Soto Sect the first enlightenment is Tongo, but at the same time such a kind of practice of Zazen have to continue everyday for many years, and so Zazen in Soto Sect has also characteristics of Zen-go.
And in the case of the second enlightenment in Soto Sect can be experienced after so many years practice, and so it is just the case of Zen-go, but at the same time such a kind of the second enlightenment appear after for many years more than 30 years at least. And so even it appears suddenly at the present moment, therefore it can be called Ton-go, but at the same time the second enlightenment can be realized after everyday Zanzen for so many years, and so the case of the second enlightenment it is necessary for us to insist that even in the case of Soto Sect, we can say that the second enlightenment in Buddhism has also the two characteristics of Ton-go and Zen-go.
Relying upon the processes like this, if we accept the proposition that the first enlightenment in Buddhism is just the balance of the autonomic nervous system, we can solve all Buddhist philosophical problems completely and perfectly relying upon the proposition, and so we can throw away all philosophical problems, which have bothered us for thousands of years without fail. Therefore we should notice such an incredibly happy condition, which we have fortunately met in 21st century already, and relying upon such a kind of historical condition we should grasp the ultimate Buddhist philosophical conclusion exactly (the end).
posted by GUDO NISHIJIMA | 2:17 PM
2 Comments:
Dear Nishijima Roshi,
Thanks you and Gassho for your blog. It is wonderful to have a Zen master who is bringing the Dharma to everyone online.
About Ton Go and Zen Go: isn't it that these two are not mutually exclusive? In other words, both exist and are true together?
For instance: in the practice of Budo, no one can master to sword without the correct effort of Shungyo and a true Sensei. Long and hard training makes gradual and slow progress, but then sometimes all of a sudden there is a new enlightenment that seems to arrive out of no where. But actually, even though this enlightenment seems to come all of a sudden, it comes out of hard practice.
I am thinking that the sudden enlightenment comes after slow improvement. And perhaps sudden enlightenment never comes, but gradually out of hard practice full enliughtenment is slowly revealed.
Slow or fast, the destination is the same.
Gassho
Cuchulain
For Cuchulain San
Thank you very much for your question, and my answer for your question is as follows.
In realistic phase Ton-go and Zen-go are completely mixed, but in the intellectual area they are absolutely seperated.
And what you write all belong to the area of practice, and so what you write is true.
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