Master Nishijima,
I have a few questions that I have been meaning to ask a teacher for quite some while, so I was wondering if you could answer them for me:
1) Why do the sutras (both Theravada and Mahayana) seem to talk about rebirth so much, while Master Dogen seemed to reject this idea?
2) When practicing zazen, I sometimes become too concerned about whether or not my posture is correct and I adjust and move around too much. What would you recommend?
3) In your view, can a teacher make a mistake in giving the Dharma Transmission to a student? Can someone who has realized the Buddhist Truth become out of balance and lose it?
Thank you very much Master Nishijima
-Christopher
Dear Christopher San
Thank you very much for your sincere questions, and my answers to them are as follows.
1) Why do the sutras (both Theravada and Mahayana) seem to talk about rebirth so much, while Master Dogen seemed to reject this idea?
(Gudo's opinion) I think that human beings are sometimes very weak, and so they sometimes hope to
live forever, and such a childish hope sometimes changes their belief.
2) When practicing zazen, I sometimes become too concerned about whether or not my posture is correct and I adjust and move around too much. What would you recommend?
(Gudo's opinion) I think that it is very important whether our posture in Zazen, is correct, or not. And so it is very preferable habit for us to check whether our posture in Zazen, is good, or not. Threfore it is very valuable for us to correct our posture during Zazen, but at the same time, after our whole body and mind have remembered their regular feeling of whole body and mind in Zazen, it is just our efforts to maintain the posture blindly.
3) In your view, can a teacher make a mistake in giving the Dharma Transmission to a student? Can someone who has realized the Buddhist Truth become out of balance and lose it?
(Gudo's opinion) I think that there might be several times to make my mistakes in giving Dharma to them, and especially in my case I have sometimes given my Dharma for encouraging my students before they haven't matured yet.
Thank you very much Christopher San.
Gudo Wafu Nishijima
I have a few questions that I have been meaning to ask a teacher for quite some while, so I was wondering if you could answer them for me:
1) Why do the sutras (both Theravada and Mahayana) seem to talk about rebirth so much, while Master Dogen seemed to reject this idea?
2) When practicing zazen, I sometimes become too concerned about whether or not my posture is correct and I adjust and move around too much. What would you recommend?
3) In your view, can a teacher make a mistake in giving the Dharma Transmission to a student? Can someone who has realized the Buddhist Truth become out of balance and lose it?
Thank you very much Master Nishijima
-Christopher
Dear Christopher San
Thank you very much for your sincere questions, and my answers to them are as follows.
1) Why do the sutras (both Theravada and Mahayana) seem to talk about rebirth so much, while Master Dogen seemed to reject this idea?
(Gudo's opinion) I think that human beings are sometimes very weak, and so they sometimes hope to
live forever, and such a childish hope sometimes changes their belief.
2) When practicing zazen, I sometimes become too concerned about whether or not my posture is correct and I adjust and move around too much. What would you recommend?
(Gudo's opinion) I think that it is very important whether our posture in Zazen, is correct, or not. And so it is very preferable habit for us to check whether our posture in Zazen, is good, or not. Threfore it is very valuable for us to correct our posture during Zazen, but at the same time, after our whole body and mind have remembered their regular feeling of whole body and mind in Zazen, it is just our efforts to maintain the posture blindly.
3) In your view, can a teacher make a mistake in giving the Dharma Transmission to a student? Can someone who has realized the Buddhist Truth become out of balance and lose it?
(Gudo's opinion) I think that there might be several times to make my mistakes in giving Dharma to them, and especially in my case I have sometimes given my Dharma for encouraging my students before they haven't matured yet.
Thank you very much Christopher San.
Gudo Wafu Nishijima
posted by A Strange Day | 1:27 AM
5 Comments:
Interesting questions, I look forward to hearing Roshi's response (especially for the first two).
In my humble (ignorant) opinion I think it is alright for you to adjust your posture, once you work at it for awhile it will become easier to stay properly aligned. I stugled with this two but believe that I am improving with each sit.
oops type.
I mean to say, "I struggle with this too. . ."
Thank you very much for your reply, Master Nishijima.
-Christopher
Nishijima Roshi,
Thank you for taking the effort to anwser the questions posted here. I always find your perspective to be most helpful and iluminating.
I am currently reading your book, "To Meet the Real Dragon" and am working on the chapter about action, your views on Buddhism are a refreshing breath of the truth -- thank you for helping me in cultivating my practice.
Gassho,
Gregory
Ven. Nishijima,
Yours was an interesting response about rebirth.
(Gudo's opinion) I think that human beings are sometimes very weak, and so they sometimes hope to live forever, and such a childish hope sometimes changes their belief.
I don't disagree with what you say, but I found your answer unsatisfactory, perhaps just incomplete. I have heard another explanation that I thought was also interesting. I hope you will comment on it.
"People are like waves on water. A wave has a birth, and it has a death. When the wave reaches shore, it is gone forever. But nothing is really lost when the wave dies. The wave goes on in other waves. If a wave can realize that it is really just water, then it has no need to fear death." --(paraphrased) TN Hanh
Thank you very much for your valuable time and attention.
-Jules
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