In the Zen tradition, the ancient teachers expressed their enlightenment not in straightforward discourse but subtly, slyly, in poetry, allusion, parable, and paradox. To the mind caught up in subject and object, they are obscure—but to the mind of nonduality their meaning is crystal clear. Fortunately, we still have interpreters like the contemporary master Shodo Harada, who reveals to us the deeper truth behind some of Zen’s most famous expressions of awakening.
A single flower blooms and throughout the world it’s spring
In Zen, the word flower often refers to the Buddha, who is said to have been born under flowers, to have become enlightened under flowers, to have transmitted the dharma with a flower, and to have passed away under flowers.
When the Buddha was enlightened under the Bodhi tree, he saw the morning star and exclaimed, “How wondrous! How wondrous! All beings from the origin are endowed with this same bright clear mind to which I have just awakened!” For forty-nine years the Buddha taught that each and every person has the possibility of awakening and that this opportunity to awaken is the deepest value of being alive.
One day on Vulture Peak, instead of lecturing as usual, he silently held out a single flower, and Mahakasyapa smiled spontaneously. With this the transmission of the dharma began.
The Buddha knew that his awakening was the awakening of all people and that no fame or fortune or any possession or knowledge brings a joy as great as the joy of awakening to our deepest mind. We too can be born and can die under flowers, can finish this life as the Buddha did.
When a single flower blooms, it is spring throughout the world.
In spring colors there is no high nor low
Some flowering branches are by nature long, some short
In spring, the ice melts and the severe chill of winter loosens its grip. In the warm sunlight, blossoms appear—plum, peach, apricot, and many others. Everywhere, signs of spring are evident. The insects start to fly, seeking the sweetness of the flowers, and the birds sing. Everything that has endured the hard winter all at once expresses the great joy of this season.
This is the Way of Great Nature, the “sutra” that embraces all and through which we receive everything. Yet each of us carries a multitude of memories and knowledge, dualistic perceptions and strivings that influence our outward perception and distort our view of Nature. We can describe and attempt to explain this Great Nature, but to receive it directly and without hindrances is difficult.
When we let go of extraneous thoughts and see each thing exactly as is, with no stain of mental understanding and dualism, everything we see is true and new and beautiful. For those who have awakened to this truth, whatever they encounter is the buddha-dharma, just as it is. No matter what is encountered, there is nothing that is not the truth. When we look at something and don’t recognize it as the truth, that is not the fault of the thing we are seeing; it is because our vision is obscured by explanations and discursive thoughts.
Doing zazen, we let go of all extra thinking and perceive with a simple, direct awareness. There is no longer any separation between the person who is seeing and what is being seen. No explanations or ideas about what is being seen are necessary. Not holding on to any preconceived idea, we match perfectly with what we see, and there the truth and the world are brought forth spontaneously. If we have no subjective opinions or preconceived notions, no small-minded “I” remains. There is only oneness. Anything we see and hear is truth. There is nothing that is not the Buddha.
From the origin we have a mind like a clear mirror. To know this mind directly and completely is satori. That empty mirror gives rise to many associations as it encounters the outside world. When we become that emptiness completely, the world is born forth, clear and empty. Then, whatever we encounter, we become it completely and directly. This is the subtle flavor of zazen and is the mind of Buddha and of God.
When we see things from this mind, we see that the southern branch of the tree is longer than the northern branch, although the same warmth of spring touches both. Long is not absolute, and short is not lacking in anything. We need to see everything in society in that way as well. When we are with an elderly person we become that elderly person and can say, “Yes, it must be so lonely, so hard.” When a child comes, we are able naturally to sing and play with the child in the child’s way. We see a pine and become a pine; we see a flower and become a flower. This is our simple, plain, natural mind. From there we have the purest way of seeing, and this is where the buddhadharma lives.
An old peasant plucks a flower—spring in myriad lands
This phrase is found in the Record of Rinzai: “The green of the winter pines endures a thousand years. An old peasant plucks a flower—spring in myriad lands.”
The quiet mind of such a person is like spring, and this is the state of mind everyone wants to know. To practice Buddhism is to trust and believe in people. In old age and eternal life we show respect, not hurrying without needing to. If we are pure and clear in our thoughts and actions, our life will be that of a person of true virtue and deep character.
We will become brighter and more open, and our power of the path will be clearer and clearer as we are no longer moved around by anything. Here there is long life, beauty, energy, and joy.
If we hold on to nothing at all, and are not moved around by anything, then we will see that this very body is the body of the Buddha, and there spring is found throughout the world.
I play with flowers and their fragrance clings to my clothes
This line, from the records of Master Kido, is a couplet with “I scoop up water and the moon is in my hands.”
Great works of music and art naturally guide people to the religious. Such works do not come from another realm; those who create them cannot make things that are apart from their minds. But neither do such works come from the disorder of the ordinary world. That which has been expressed from humans’ highest state of mind conveys the profoundest truth. This truth gives birth to a peace that is beyond all conflict and friction, a peace not found in the day-to-day world of people. It is a splendid, clear, and pure state, and we cannot help but honor it with the deepest respect. It is this high level of human character that is called Buddha.
All beings, all of the buddhas and ancestors, are unified in this great mind, as is all time, past, future, and present. We are one with the great joy of the abundant dharma and know the samadhi of delightful play beyond time and space. There is no joy beyond this endless dharma joy, and this realm is what forgives everything.
After living for only a few days, a flower dies, showing the transience of life. Yet in this flower we find eternal joy and the life of the Buddha as well. This flower, whose fragrance scents our garments when we toy with it, is this abundant mind.
Mountain flowers bloom, wild birds sing
Becoming the flowers, we bloom; becoming the birds, we sing. We lose track of whether we are the bird or the bird is us; all distinctions drop away. When our mind opens completely and we pierce through the bottom of the ego, there is nothing throughout the heavens and the earth that we need to seek. This body, as it is, is the Buddha. When we can receive this, the scenery of spring is more than just the forms of nature. When the Buddha saw the morning star he was awakened to his clear Original Nature. Kyogen was enlightened upon hearing a piece of rubble hit a stalk of bamboo, and Hakuin upon hearing the sound of the morning bell. These are all everyday moments. In the midst of our ordinary lives, who knows when or where we will encounter the great radiance of buddhanature? Sweeping the garden we ask, “What is this?” Eating our food we ask, “What is this?” Prostrating to everything we ask, “What is this?” This is our living, vivid energy. We creatively continue without letting go, and we don’t know what it will be that will bring this great sudden amazement and wonder.
A bird sings and the mountain is quieter still
This line forms a couplet with “The wind stops, but the flowers still fall.” Immediately following a huge gust of wind, the branches and trees and flowers that had been blown about are again still, and in that stillness the birds become quiet and the falling of the flower blossoms can be heard and felt even more clearly. The quiet in the mountains is beyond the imagination of one who lives in the city. This silence goes to the most profound depths of our heart. This serenity is broken by the calling of one bird, and in the ensuing stillness we feel an even greater serenity. Each and every person is born with this perfection, but it is not something we can understand by thinking about it. When conceptual thinking falls away and we are no longer moved around by the winds of words and opinions, we know the depths of this true serenity.
First, I went following the fragrant grasses
Now I return chasing falling leaves
These lines are from the thirty-sixth case of the Blue Cliff Record.
One day the priest Chosha Keijin went for a long walk in the mountains. When he returned to the monastery, the head monk was waiting for him. The monk asked, “Master, where have you been? There are many disciples gathered here for training—what are you doing, just wandering around?”
Chosha responded, “I went to the mountain to play a little. The cherry and the peach flowers were so beautiful, and while I was looking at them they pulled me right into the deep mountains, and then the clover and the dandelions were blooming and the butterflies were dancing, and while looking at them, I arrived home again.” He was saying that the meaning of life is found in the encounters of each and every moment. Although we need to have goals, if we aren’t acting playfully within each and every second of realizing our goals—if we think, while in the midst of living and struggling, that we have to wait until later to play—then we aren’t realizing the true value of life.
People who work from Monday to Friday often think they have to wait until the weekend to be happy. After five days of suffering through our work, we try to make up for that with two days of being happy—what kind of life is this? The samadhi of the Buddha isn’t about waiting for the future but about finding joy no matter where we are, no matter how difficult or miserable our circumstances. It is about living wholly and totally in each instant.
Our lives cannot be lived in a vague way. We have to keep our sight on each footstep and live fully and thoroughly in each second. Life isn’t about enduring pain every day and looking forward to something else that will come along later and far away. When each and every moment is true, when our goal is to have a deep worth, to be complete, then in each and every moment we will find deep wonder and amazement and joy, and the value of life will be clear. We must hold this kind of life precious.
The moon by the window is always the same
When we look out the window at the moon, it is always the same moon. But if any thoughts or desires come between us and the moon, what we see changes completely. In original mind, everything is one and the same. Our original nature is deep and clear and bright. One who when seeing becomes the seeing, when hearing becomes the hearing, who becomes the very thing itself, is an eternal, living buddha.
There is nothing but this in the buddhadharma, and there is nothing beyond this. Any analysis we make about it is a mistake, only adding clutter after the fact. When we live with no separation between ourselves and what we are experiencing, we know the truly bright and clear mind that is our original nature. But as long as we carry around an ego filter, it’s impossible to experience this.
To clarify ourselves to this point is the path of the Buddha. We have to let go of everything we get caught on. Then we can receive this world with a fresh awareness and a true life energy. The moon is always shining brightly, but we have to see it ourselves, directly. When we know it deeply from our true mind, it’s not just scenery but a slice of our own original nature.