Toxic Zen Story #17.4: Christian Zen, D.T. Suzuki and Father Thomas Merton ^<
Nichiren Shoshu is the Greatest Slander of the Law in the Past, Present and Future
Merton ^
Zen is the snake that bites it's own tail. If you embrace the void and
acausality, you will find yourself later in the midst of catastrophic
emptiness saying "how'd that happen?".
Under Prajnatara (Perfect Wisdom Shining Star) of India, there was a
disciple named Bodhidharma (Buddha Law). Under these grandiose names,
they studied the Buddha's teachings, after Buddhism had traveled East
to China. The Buddha foretold that Buddhism would fall into a Hellish
path in India, after the Buddha's highest teachings had moved on.
When Bodhidharma traveled from India and arrived at Ching-Ling (now
Nanking) to meet with the Emperor's emissary (some say Emperor Wu of
the Liang Dynasty, see footnote), where they discussed the Sutras.
As Bodhidharma (also called Da Mo, or Ta Mo in China, and Daruma in
Japan) believed in dhyana or meditation upon the emptiness at the
heart of life, and as the Lotus Sutra had been translated into
Chinese by Kumarajiva who traveled from India a century earlier and
had served the Liang Dynasty well, the lesser teaching of dhyana was
rejected by practitioners of the highest teaching, and Bodhidharma
was banished from Imperial territory.
As an icchantika, or incorrigible disbeliever in the Lotus Sutra, he
could not be allowed to spread his teachings in the Emperor's domain
(they wished to live happily, you see). But by banishing him, they
did not act as bodhisattvas, to thoroughly refute his evil and not
let him slip away to corrupt others, and thusly fall into the hell of
incessant sufferings (Aviichi Hell) for countless lifetimes. Out of
this single uncompassionate act, much of the suffering of the world
has come.
Bodhidharma's school was known as Dhyana (from the Mahayana source),
or as Cha'an in China, and eventually as Zen in Japan. It comes to
flower in many different forms, in many different places down through
the ages.
Bodhidharma's very existence is denied by the Zen community,
rendering the life of their founder as itself a void. This allows no
one to be responsible, and the Zen community to walk away from the
train wreck. So let's assume that the history is true, and hold
Bodhidharma and Zen accountable, just this once. There was surely a
founder who brought Dhyana from India, however many names he is
called.
Footnote:
Concerning Emperor Wu: from "The Selection of the Time - Nichiren,
disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha", Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.
544:
'Those concerned about their next life would do better to be common
people in this, the Latter Day of the Law, than be mighty rulers
during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the
Law. Why won't people believe this? Rather than be the chief priest of
the Tendai school, it is better to be a leper who chants
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! As Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty said in his
vow, "I would rather be Devadatta and sink into the hell of incessant
suffering than be the non-Buddhist sage Udraka Ramaputra."'
This reference is to a document in which Emperor Wu (464--549), the
first ruler of the Liang dynasty, pledged not to follow the way of
Taoism. It actually says that he would rather sink into the evil paths
for a long period of time for going against Buddhism (yet nevertheless
forming a bond with it) than be reborn in heaven by embracing the
non-Buddhist teachings. This story appears in The Annotations on
"Great Concentration and Insight." Udraka Ramaputra was a hermit and
master of yogic meditation, the second teacher under whom Shakyamuni
practiced. He is said to have been reborn in the highest of the four
realms in the world of formlessness.
__________________________________________________________
We know the basic story of D.T. Suzuki, and the fact that he had one
face showing towards Japan's Imperial Way Zen, and a different face
showing towards the West. And that, for obvious reasons, never the
twain would meet.
We know that he went to America as a young man, to accompany his
master, the Rinzai priest Soyen Shaku, to LaSalle-Peru, Illinois, at
the behest of Dr. Paul Carus, a German who was the managing editor of
Open Court Publishing, which was owned by Zinc magnate Edward Hegeler.
We know that he had a variety of collaborators, a flock of followers,
and influenced many others:
Collaborators in the propagation of Soyen Shaku (D.T.'s Master)-D.T.
Suzuki Zen:
Beatrice Lane (wife), Paul Carus, Edward Hegeler, Martin Heidegger,
Father Thomas Merton, Alan Watts, Eric Fromm, Carl G. Jung, Richard de
Martino, Karen Horney, and a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to
lecture extensively at Columbia University and other East Coast
schools in the 1950's.
Followers of Shaku-Suzuki Zen:
John Cage, Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Philip
Whalen.
Those strongly affected by the Shaku-Suzuki Zen Influence:
Aldous Huxley, Karl Jaspers, Arnold Toynbee, Gabriel Marcel, Herbert
Read, and Lynn White Jr.
___________________________________________________
Father Thomas Merton was a fine person, with a humanism which presages
the philosophy of Pope John Paul II, which attempts to derive ethical
value based upon the definition of a "person". This creates a joining
point, where those who feel that a "person" is from the source of the
ultimate and divine, and those who do not. The qualities and
definition of divinity, per se, also becomes less the focus, which is
the enabler for the modern ecumenical movement.
His biography states (http://edge.net/~dphillip/Merton.html):
'A monk and a prominent writer, Thomas Merton, b. Prades, France,
Jan. 31, 1915, d. Dec. 10, 1968, became one of the most famous
American Roman Catholics of the 20th century. As a young man Merton
traveled with his artist parents (his father was a New Zealander, his
mother an American) in France and studied briefly at Cambridge
University, England, before he went to the United States and earned
(1939) a master's degree from Columbia University. During those years
he gradually changed from an agnostic to a devout Roman Catholic. '
'After teaching English for a while and working in a Harlem
settlement house, Merton decided (1941) to become a monk, choosing the
Trappist order for its discipline of silence and solitude. Within the
monastery he served for years as master of students and novices.
Outside it, his writing, which included poetry, meditations, and works
of social criticism, brought him prominence in American letters. '
'His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), became a
bestseller. Merton's social criticisms burned deeply into public
awareness of racism, economic injustice, and militarism. '
Father Thomas had a tough life filled with loss, and after much
accomplishment in overcoming that loss, he had the ill fortune to gain
inspiration from D.T. Suzuki and Zen. As his biography finishes the
next year after meeting Dr. Suzuki:
'Seeing parallels between Oriental mysticism and Western tradition,
Merton gained permission to attend an ecumenical conference of
Buddhist and Christian monks held in Bangkok, Thailand. While
attending that meeting, he was accidentally electrocuted. '
Even though there are many instances of the corruption of Christianity
by Zen, it must be noted that the "Christian Zen" movement traces its
origin to Father Thomas Merton in 1967.
___________________________________________________
Here is a chronology of Father Thomas Merton's life
(http://www.merton.org/chrono.htm):
1915 - January 31-born at Prades, France, son of Owen Merton (artist
from New Zealand) and of Ruth Jenkins (artist from USA)
1916 - moved to USA, lived at Douglaston, L.I. (with his mother's
family)
1921 - his mother dies-from cancer
1922 - in Bermuda with his father who went there to paint
1925 - to France with his father, lived at St. Antonin
1926 - entered Lycee Ingres, Montauban, France
1928 - to England-Ripley Court school, then to Oakham (1929)
1931 - his father dies of a brain tumor
1932 - at Oakham School he acquired a scholarship to Clare College,
Cambridge
1933 - visited Italy, spent summer in USA, entered Cambridge in the
fall - study of modern languages (French and Italian)
1934 - left Cambridge and returned to USA
1935 - entered Columbia University
1937 - at Columbia - editor of the 1937 Yearbook and art editor of the
Columbia Jester
1938 - graduated from Columbia, began work on M.A.
1938 - November 16 - received into the Catholic Church at Corpus
Christi Church
1940 - 1941 - taught English at St. Bonaventure College
1941 - December 10-entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani,
Trappist, Kentucky.
1944 - March 19-made simple vows, published Thirty Poems
1946 - A Man in the Divided Sea
1947 - March 19-solemn vows, published Exile Ends in Glory
1948 - Publication of best-seller autobiography, The Seven Storey
Mountain and What Are These Wounds?
1949 - May 26-ordained priest; Seeds of Contemplation; The Tears of
the Blind Lions; The Waters of Siloe
1951 - 1955 - Master of Scholastics (students for priesthood)
1951 - The Ascent to Truth
1953 - The Sign of Jonas
1955 - No Man Is an Island
1955 - 1965 - Master of Novices
1956 - The Living Bread
1957 - The Silent Life; The Strange Islands
1958 - Thoughts in Solitude
1959 - The Secular Journal of Thomas Merton; Selected Poems
1960 - Disputed Questions; The Wisdom of the Desert
1961 - The New Man; The Behavior of Titans
1961 -Emblems of a Season of Fury; Life and Holiness; The Last of the
Fathers
1964 - Seeds of Destruction
1965 - Gandhi on Non-Violence; The Way of Chuang Tzu; Seasons of
Celebration
1965 - 1968 - lived as a hermit on the grounds of the monastery
1966 - Raids on the Unspeakable; Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
1967 - Mystics and Zen Masters
1968 - Monks Pond; Cables to the Ace; Faith and Violence; Zen and the
Birds of Appetite
1968 - December 10-died at Bangkok, Thailand, where he had spoken at a
meeting of Asian Benedictines and Cistercians.
___________________________________________________
When you embrace the void, your initial intent to bring tranquility
and enlightenment to your life doesn't matter ... the result is always
the same: chaos and misery, and utter ruination and emptiness to you,
your family, and your country.
But things don't have to be that way ...
___________________________________________________
Nichiren Daishonin writes (Encouragement to a Sick Person, WND p.
78):
"During the Former and Middle Days of the Law, the five impurities
began to appear, and in the Latter Day, they are rampant. They give
rise to the great waves of a gale, which not only beat against the
shore, but strike each other. The impurity of thought has been such
that, as the Former and Middle Days of the Law gradually passed,
people transmitted insignificant erroneous teachings while destroying
the unfathomable correct teaching. It therefore appears that more
people have fallen into the evil paths because of errors with respect
to Buddhism than because of secular misdeeds."
Because Bodhidharma discarded the Buddha's highest teaching (the Lotus
Sutra), and due to his lazy nature turned to shortcuts to
enlightenment, he came to the distorted view that life is acausal and
empty, that the true entity is the void.
This erroneous view really comes from a misunderstanding of the Sutra
of Immeasurable Meanings, where the True Entity is described by
negation (the only way it can be): "... neither square, nor round,
neither short, nor long, ..."
The description of the True Entity is logically voidal, but the True
Entity itself is not. Bodhidharma was simply confused, due to the
slander of negligence (laziness), and false confidence. The truth of
life is that at the heart of the True Entity is the compassion of a
bodhisattva for others.
Non-substantiality does not mean empty. Life has value. Humans are
respectworthy. There is a purpose to everything. And every cause has
an effect, so we are responsible for our thoughts, words and deeds.
Zen is acausal. Zen is to the Lotus Sutra, the highest teaching of the
Buddha, like Satanism is to Christianity.
"Zen is the work of devilish minds." - Nichiren
-Chas.
a prescription for the poisoned ones:
The only antidote for the toxic effects of Zen in your life ...
be that from Zen meditation, or the variant forms: physical
Zen in the martial arts, Qigong, Acupuncture, Falun Gong,
Copenhagen Convention of Quantum Mechanics, EST,
Landmark Education, Nazism, Bushido, the Jesuits,
Al Qaeda, or merely from having the distorted view that life
is acausal, and that the true entity of all phenomena
is the void ...
with the effects of the loss of loved ones, detachment,
isolation or various forms of emptiness in your life ...
is the Lotus Sutra: chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo
at least 3 times, twice a day, for the rest of your life,
in at least a whisper ...
and if you can, chant abundantly in a resonant voice !!!
__________________________________
A fine reason for discarding the scaffolding of Nichiren Shoshu is
stated in the Gosho "Reply to the Mother of Ueno", Writings of
Nichiren Daishonin, p. 1073-1074:
'However, those who declare that the Lotus Sutra is superior to all
the other sutras are justified in doing so. In fact, they will enjoy
great benefits. This is because their declaration accords with what
the sutra itself says.'
'Prefacing the Lotus Sutra is a work called the Immeasurable
Meanings Sutra. It is like the vanguard of generals who go before the
procession of a great king to quell disturbances. This Immeasurable
Meanings Sutra states, "In these more than forty years, I have not yet
revealed the truth." These words are like the great bows that the
generals carry to drive away the king's enemies with arrows, or the
swords with which they cut those enemies down. They are like a royal
proclamation, sharp as a sword, directed to the members of the Flower
Garland school who read only the Flower Garland Sutra, the priests of
the Precepts school with their Agama sutras, the Nembutsu believers
with their Meditation Sutra, and the True Word teachers with their
Mahavairochana Sutra, chastising them for failing to follow the Lotus
Sutra and bringing them to submission. They are like Yoshiie attacking
Sadato, or Yoritomo destroying the forces of Kiyomori. These words of
the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, "In these more than forty years . . .
," are the sword and rope of the wisdom king Immovable, or the bow and
arrows of the wisdom king Craving-Filled.'
'When the late Nanjo Goro made his way across the mountains of
death and the river of three crossings, the soldiers who escorted him
and repulsed the mountain bandits of earthly desires and the pirates
of past offenses and allowed him to proceed safely to the pure land of
Eagle Peak were these words of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, "In
these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth." '
'The "Expedient Means" chapter in the first volume of the Lotus
Sutra states, "The World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines
and now must reveal the truth." It also says, "Honestly discarding
expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way." In the fifth
volume we read, "Only the bright jewel that is in his topknot . . . ,"
[Lotus Sutra Chapter 14] "This one jewel exists only on the top of the
king's head," and "the way that powerful ruler did when he took the
bright jewel he had guarded for so long and finally gave it away." '
'The import of these passages is this: The great collection of
scriptures has been brought to this country of Japan, numbering 7,399
volumes, and each one of these various scriptures is a follower and
retainer of the Lotus Sutra. To illustrate, the men and women in this
country number 4,994,828, but all are subjects of one man, the ruler
of the country.'
'As for the significance of these various scriptures, let me give
an analogy that even an uncomprehending woman can understand
immediately. Suppose that one is building a great pagoda. In addition
to the lumber to be used in the pagoda itself, one gathers together a
large quantity of small timbers and uses them to build a scaffolding
ten or twenty feet in height. After one has done this, one uses the
original lumber to construct the pagoda. And when the pagoda is
completed, one then removes the scaffolding and discards it, leaving
the pagoda in place.'
'Now the scaffolding represents the various other sutras, and the
great pagoda, the Lotus Sutra. When the Buddha preached the other
sutras, he was in effect erecting a scaffolding in preparation for the
preaching of the Lotus Sutra.'
'In the same manner as the sutra describes when it says, "honestly
discarding expedient means," persons who put their faith in the Lotus
Sutra should first cast aside and fling away the Namu Amida Butsu
invocation based on the Amida and other sutras, the teachings of the
True Word school based on the Mahavairochana and other sutras, and the
two hundred and fifty precepts of the Precepts school based on the
Agama sutras, and other teachings, and then they should embrace the
Lotus Sutra alone. When one is preparing to build a great pagoda, the
scaffolding is of great importance. But once the pagoda is completed,
then the scaffolding is removed and thrown away. This is the meaning
of the passage about "honestly discarding expedient means." '
'Though the scaffolding is necessary to complete the pagoda, no one
would ever dream of discarding the pagoda and worshiping the
scaffolding. And yet the people who seek the way in the world today
spend their whole lives reciting Namu Amida Butsu only, and never once
chant Nam-myoho-rengekyo. They are like persons who discard the pagoda
and worship the scaffolding. They are examples of the secular saying,
"seemingly wise, but actually foolish." '
'The late Shichiro Goro did not take after other people in Japan
today. Though still a youth, he followed in the footsteps of his
sagacious father. And at an early age, having not yet turned twenty,
he began chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and thus he became a Buddha.
This is what the sutra means when it says, "Then not a one will fail
to attain Buddhahood." [Lotus Sutra Chapter 2] I hope that, if you,
his loving mother, are thinking with longing about your son, you will
chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and pray to be reborn in the same place as
the late Shichiro Goro and your husband, the late Nanjo.'