"It's about jumping over," 1 September. 2022

私たちはより良い世界にするために、何か解決策を考える必要があります。今日も禅の世界をのぞいてみましょう。(English) We need to have some solutions to make the world a better place. So let us take a look into the world of Zen today.

No. 603 - "It's about jumping over," 1 September. 2022.

1)

1 September marks the 99th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake.

In Buddhist terms, this is the year of the 100th anniversary of the disaster.

The number of dead and missing is said to be 105,000.

One can only imagine how tragic the disaster must have been.

2)

The number of people who experienced the disaster is decreasing.

We received a letter from one person.

He had heard a lecture by an international political scientist from Ukraine.

He said, "Russia is fighting with Russian justice, so there is no way to stop the war by discussion or persuasion; the only way is to stop it by military force."

The person wrote that he felt unable to do anything about it.

3)

"This war is between liberalism and a dictatorship, so the liberal countries must not lose."

"Is there no other way?" the person wrote in the letter.

4)

The letter also contained the following sentence from "Suzuki Daisetsu's One Word a Day."

"It is essential to jump over. Stand not on the same plane but a plane of a different dimension."

5)

"Even so, many people think wrongly."

"You must be prepared to break into the unknown and give up your whole being."

"The time will come when we must do so."

6)

"The contemplative is always on the outside.

In other words, he is habituated to an objective attitude.

Therefore, he cannot be of a 'drastic' mind."

7)

"There stands an insurmountable barrier between the Zen master and the ordinary philosopher."

These are words from the book "The Oriental View."

8)

The following analogy is made in the book "The Oriental Way of Seeing."

"It's like a fly or a bee sticking to a glass window and trying to get through."

9)

We are in a sensible world.

So it represents that we cannot jump over to the senseless world on the other side.

What to do about it is a challenging problem indeed.

10)

In his book "Love and Power" in "Zen," Daisetsu Master writes the following.

"Those who rely on power fail to realize that power is what blinds people and confines them to a narrow vision."

"And power is associated with the intellect, which uses it in every possible way."

11)

"But love transcends power."

"Because Love permeates the very core of existence.

Love far transcends the finitude of the intellect. And it is infinite."

"One cannot see the infinitely expansive relations, or realities, without love."

12)

"Or, to put this in reverse, one cannot truly experience love without the infinite relations of the real."

"Love trusts. It always affirms and embraces all."

"Love is life. Therefore it creates."

13)

"Everywhere it touches, it gives life and moves towards new growth."

"If you love an animal, it gradually becomes wise."

"If you love a plant, you will know its desires."

14)

"Love is never blind. It is a fountain of infinite light."

"Because it limits itself, power cannot see the real, its truth."

"Therefore, what it sees is a lie."

"Power itself is also a lie."

15)

"So also everything that touches it is a lie.

Power flourishes only in a world of lies.

And it becomes a symbol of false deeds and lies."

16)

Sadly, we cannot jump over to the other side forever, like the suffering flies and bees inside the glass.

In "Practical Methods of Zen Teaching" in Zen, Daisetsu Master said:

17)

"According to Zen philosophy, we are too caught up in old traditions, in the way of thinking that does not try to adopt new ways of thinking, a dualistic way of thinking."

"Flexibility" is unacceptable.

"In our everyday logic, the fusion of opposites never takes place."

18)

In contrast, he says the following.

"Zen, however, turns this system of thought upside down and replaces it with a new one.

There is no logic, no dualistic arrangement of ideas."

19)

We are not concerned with this world of discrimination, this world of power, this world of conflict.

Diving into the world of indiscretion, the world of Love, is essential.

20)

But "jumping in" does not mean that there is a great wall separating us from this world of ours.

If there is, it is only something we have made up for ourselves.

21)

When you realize that the wall-like thing you have built up is like an illusion, you acknowledge that there was initially no wall or separation.

22)

There is no such thing as a glass window, but you think there is and worry that you can't get past it.

23)

We assume that this reality is all there is.

So, you have to be prepared to "jump in."

24)

We were initially born into a world where things are not divided and live in a world of Love.

So it should be easy to overcome.

I think of the heart of Daisetsu Master, who expressed that we must "jump in."

No. 603 - "It's about jumping over," 1 September. 2022. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txUY2arkV-o