Zen 101: A Kwan Um Primer

Primer: A short informative piece of writing

I’ve begun to write about my history with Zen practice a bit since I’ve been posting, so I feel that it’s time (for my sake, if not yours) to get reacquainted with Zen at an introductory level. Welcome to Stroke Triumphant’s Zen primer!

My first introduction to Zen came from reading Suzuki Roshi’s book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, when I was 16.

In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s, there are few.

Suzuki Roshi’s words set me off on a long journey and today’s post serves as a helpful reminder along that road. I’m 47 years old, have been married twice (had a kid each time), and am recovering from a major stroke— I’ve become quite an expert already; I think that it’s time to try my beginner’s hat! In actuality, with the amount of work I have to do to recover my mind, brain, and body, I feel a lot more comfortable with the title BEGINNER.

Circa 1988 — after sitting each morning for about a year, the next stage in my training appeared when I moved into the Empty Gate Zen Center and met my teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn, at the Center’s monthly retreat. Zen Master Seung Sahn is the founder of the Kwan Um School of Zen. Every morning during practice he’d ring a bell, and you’d walk up the stairs to his room for an interview. Before sitting down you would bow three times (full prostrations to the floor) and then sit directly in front of him. There might be a moment of small talk, but generally he would jump right into Kong-an practice with you.

A Kong-an is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the “great doubt” and to practice or test a student’s progress in Zen. Kong-an practice is the private exchange between teacher and student wherein the teacher checks the student’s grasp of the point of the kong-an. This primer is from one of those talks.

The first step in Zen practice is what we call Primary Point or simply “pay attention,” represented in Kong-an practice by hitting the floor. In the past, teachers shouted “Katz!”, hit you with a stick, or raised one finger, all representing the reset button on the calculator - clear your mind and wake up! Usually, one had traveled many miles, waited for days to speak with the Zen Master, and thought long and hard about the question you were going to ask. When the moment finally arrived, quite a lot of energy had been built up, a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and the master’s response or question was usually an explosive or quizzical one intended to cut through the practitioners thinking.

My teacher commented that all these answers were not bad, but another step was necessary. After you hit the floor and your mind is clear, what do you see? What do you hear? The sky is blue, and a dog is barking — that is the truth! Having a Ph.D. is not necessary, just open your eyes and listen.

Once JoJu asked Zen Master Nam Cheon, “What is the true way?”

Zen Master Nam Cheon replied, “Everyday mind is the true way.”

What is everyday mind? When you are hungry, eat, and when you are tired, sleep. If someone is hungry, give them some food and if someone is thirsty, give them something to drink. That is everyday mind.

Then JoJu asked him, “Then shall I try to keep it or not?”

The Zen Master replied, “If you try to keep it, you’re already making a mistake.”

JoJu asked again, “If I do not try to keep it, how can I understand the true way?”

Zen Master Nam Cheon said, “The true way is not dependent on understanding or not understanding. Understanding is an illusion. Not understanding is blankness. If you completely attain the true way, it is clear like space. So why do you make right and wrong?”

When JoJu heard that, he got Enlightenment. So I ask you, what did JoJu attain?

If you had just gotten enlightenment and your teacher is sitting right in front of you, what would you say? I’ll tell you what I would say. “Thank you for your teaching, master!” I’d throw in a bow for good measure too.

When I first started practicing, I thought there must be some mystical meaning behind “clear like space.” I have only recently realized it means simply that everything’s clear when you’re not lost in thinking. What do you see? Red comes, only red. Someone’s hungry, give them food — not complicated. No matter how much you know or how dumb you feel, just do what comes natural. This master who’s spent his entire life practicing Zen has just helped your mind open — there’s no super-advanced answer — say thank you and bow! Clear…like…space.