Just Show Up Zen Sangha

Our Soto Zen Tradition

We practice in the tradition of Soto Zen. The founder of this school of Zen Buddhism is recognized to be the Chinese master Dongshan Liangjie (Japanese: Tozan Ryokai) (807-869). In China, the word for Zen was Chan. The Soto (Chinese: Caodong) school, along with the Rinzai (Chinese: Linji) school, is one the two still existing schools of Zen that were founded during the Tang dynasty in China—the “golden age” of Zen.

An important predecessor to the Soto school, and a significant influence to this day, is the Chinese master Shitou Xiqian (700-790), the author of the important teaching poems Sandokai (Harmony of Difference and Equality) and Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage.

The last few lines of the Sandokai emphasize that enlightenment is right where you are, and that, in the words of Suzuki Roshi, “moment after moment, we should live right here, without sacrificing this moment for the future.”:

Progress is not a matter of far or near,

But if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way.

I respectfully urge you who study the mystery,

Do not pass your days and nights in vain.

Soto Zen was brought to Japan by Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), a Japanese priest who studied in China. Dogen is a towering figure in Japanese Buddhism and philosophy, and his teachings continue to be studied and practiced today. One of his most famous passages is the following, from a piece called Genjokoan:

“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be verified by all things. To be verified by all things is to let the body and mind of the self and the body and mind of others drop off. There is a trace of realization that cannot be grasped. We endlessly express this ungraspable trace of realization.” (transl. Shohaku Okumura)

The second great founder of the Japanese Soto school is Keizan Jokin (1268-1325). Keizan wrote a treatise on Zen practice titled Zazen Yojinki, in which he describes meditation, or zazen, as follows:

“Zazen clears the mind immediately and lets one dwell in one’s true realm. This is called showing one’s original face or revealing the light of one’s original state. Body and mind are cast off, apart from whether one is sitting or lying down. Therefore one thinks neither of good nor of evil—transcending both the sacred and profane, rising above delusion and enlightenment—and leaves the realm of sentient beings and Buddhas.”

Soto Zen was brought to America by Shunryu Suzuki (Suzuki Roshi) (1904-1971). The following brief expressions from his classic book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind give some sense of the flavor of practice in his style:

Posture—”These forms are not the means of obtaining the right state of mind. To take this posture is itself to have the right state of mind. There is no need to obtain some special state of mind.”

Breathing—”What we call ‘I’ is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.”

Mind weeds—”You should be rather grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.”

The marrow of Zen—”In the zazen posture, your mind and body have great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.”

Zen and excitement—”Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”

Another significant figure in the transmission of Soto Zen to the United States was Dainin Katagiri (Katagiri Roshi) (1928-1990). After teaching in California at the San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center as assistant to Suzuki Roshi, Katagiri Roshi founded Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis and Hokyoji Zen monastery in rural Eitzen, Minnesota. Here is a brief passage from his book You Have to Say Something:

Everyone likes zazen at first. They feel that in zazen they can relax. But actually zazen is beyond tension or relaxation. If you do zazen, forget about relaxing and just sit down.

Regardless of whether you understand it or not, just do zazen with wholeheartedness, completely beyond any thoughts or speculations about obtaining any benefit. Just put all that aside and just sit. This is realizing Buddha. If you become a buddha, your body language speaks of your life—not merely of the little life you are living now in this moment, but of your whole life.

The important point is not to try to escape your life but to face it—exactly and completely, beyond discussing whether or not your zazen or your situation is good or bad, right or wrong. This is all you have to do.