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                 THE FUTURE OF ZEN BUDDHISM IN THE WEST
                                   by
                          ROBERT AITKEN, Roshi

Copyrights (c) 1987 by Rober Aitken and Sydney Zen Centre

I have been commissioned to do a paper for the forthcoming (July, '87) 
conference on World Buddhism in North America that will be titled,  The 
Zen Buddhist Movement in North America: Retrospect and Prospect".  I 
have the first draft finished, and here are some excerpts.  (The 
conference will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is sponsored by the 
Zen Lotus Society under the direction of the Korean teacher Samu Sunim.)

The Middle Way is the Sangha form that we choose, the nature of our 
organisation and the practice we follow as members. Organisation and 
practice are imtimately interrelated matters, but they can be examined 
separately and in categories.

Regarding the organisation: The Buddha's teaching is our guide. You and 
I have no abiding self, but rather we are temporary aggregates, 
individually and socially, depending on each other for our lives and our 
identities. The Sangha that is grounded in this teaching will have a 
number of distinctive qualities.

First, like all beings, the Sangha will have its own personality. This 
will be partly a synthesis of the personalities of its members and its 
teacher, and partly a "je ne sais quoi" spirit that cannot be precisely 
identified. This personality will have a virtuous power that will 
radiate the teaching so long as it is not turned back upon itself in 
self-congratulation.

Next, the Sangha will be grounded in certain rituals - a meditation 
meeting with ceremonies that make it a spiritual home, just as a secular 
home is grounded in the ceremonies of greetings, common meals, in-jokes, 
bedtime stories, and so on. The spiritual home is a particular place, a 
temple perhaps, but it can carry over into the secular home if a corner 
is made sacred with an image, flowers, candlelight, incense, and 
meditation practice, and if gathas are included as grace before meals 
and at other occasions such as bedtime. In this way, the secular home 
becomes spiritual, enhancing the virtues of both spirit and family. The 
Buddha Sangha is then an aggregate of households.

Among the rituals of the Sangha there should, I am sure, be refuge in 
the Three Treasures and acceptance of the Three Pure Precepts and the 
Ten Grave Precepts. As monks of ancient times came together to renew 
their vows every fourteen days, so the lay Western Sangha can work out 
periodic renewal ceremonies that confirm the way of right action. The 
Tiep Hien ceremony of renewal is an instructive model. We are in the 
world but not of it. Like lotus flowers in the fire, we bloom in the 
world of desires including our own, conserving our energies for the 
Dharma wheel, and maintaining the Buddha's noble path as our own.

Other rituals should, I believe, be forms of communication for sharing, 
healing, and reconciliation. Many of these can be adapted directly from 
Theravada ceremonies, some can be taken from contemporary Christian and 
humanistic movements. The sharing and healing rituals of Rissho Koseikai 
that bring lay leaders into member families to help with problems of 
disaffection are very interesting models. All such rituals confirm our 
interdependence, and offer intimate engagement as a way of realisation. 
Depth psychology, the interpretation of dreams, and the study of 
folklore can be important supplements to sharing and healing rituals.

The Zen centre programme should, I believe, also include academic study 
of Buddhism. Traditionally, Rinzai Zen in particular has offered little 
teaching of other forms of Mahayana, and even less of classical 
Buddhism. Yet Zen is a Buddhist stream, and the various formulations - 
the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Four Abodes, the Six 
Paramitas, the Three Bodies of the Buddha - and the many sutras are 
essential lights on our path. There also should be a supplementary study 
of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the pantheon, for these archetypes 
can be personalised as inner guides toward compassion and understanding.

Finally, if indeed the Sangha is all-inclusive, then the Buddha Sangha 
is merely a sub-family of the larger community, and engagement in the 
neighbourhood, city, nation, and world is also the way of turning the  
Dharma wheel. As a Sangha, we can offer specific programmes to the 
homeless or the imprisoned. We can speak out against injustice, violence 
and war - and the exploitation of forests and lakes.

It must be communication, not just projection. The systemic illness of 
Western society that has infected the world arises direclty from the 
neglect of perennial values that Buddhism shares with other religions, 
so when we speak, we communicate best with language that is common to 
all and with actions that resonate across sectarian lines.

The way of Zen Buddhism in the West should, I think, recall the 
perspective of the Buddha in a relevant manner for lay people. Most 
people tend to get locked into a quite dreary round of tasks, and 
experience little peace or harmony. Yet if Nirvana and Samsara are the 
same, we must find upayas that can keep such unity clear at all times.

For this there are three options for meditative practice within the Zen 
tradition. The first is koan practice, the second is shikantaza or "pure 
sitting", and the third is the way of mindfulness through gathas and 
mantras. These three ways inform each other, and can be combined or 
blended. The choice of one of these options, or two or the three of them 
together - reflects the karma, personality and aspiration of both 
student and teacher.

Koans can be called arcana, points of quest, matters to be made clear - 
that enlighten the dark night of the spirit, and release the self from 
its limited preoccupations. The points are examined during periods of 
withdrawal, some no longer than a single breath, some for extended 
periods, with concentration fuelled by a profound questioning spirit.

The essence of this meditative practice is shikantaza, which is pure 
sitting, not merely sitting. I hear shikantaza described as watching 
perceptions come, identifying them, and letting them go. I don't think 
this is adequate. Shikantaza is a matter of sinking into one's bones and 
sinews and facing the bare emptiness of the mind. This mind is both 
inside and outside - neither inside or outside.

The third meditative option, the path of mindfulness through gathas and 
mantras is exemplified by the teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh. Repeating the 
verse:

     Breathing in, I calm body and mind;
     Breathing out, I smile;
     Dwelling in the present moment,
     I know this is the only moment.

you are brought to your breath and to the personal realisation that all 
beings are indeed Buddha, beginning with yourself. Acknowledging your 
need to mature and to understand, acknowledging your past mistakes, it 
is all right to be where you are now in your practice.

In my view, the practice of Zen Buddhism in the future must include all 
three of these options. I do not list them in order of importance 
because all are important and they depend upon each other. First, there 
is the practice of focussing on arcana and experiencing the primordial 
truths of purity, harmony and variety; second, there is the practice of 
grounding this focus in the empty, silent samadhi of the vast and 
boundless universe; and third, there is the practrice of using reminders 
that keep the lotus of the Buddha Dharma blooming in the midst of all 
the demands of our busy lives. 

All this in a setting of a Buddha Sangha that is not preoccupied with 
its own identity, that holds ceremonies of refuge, accepting precepts 
and renewing of vows, that seeks the most open communication possible, 
and reaches outward into the larger community. This is for me an ideal 
image of a balanced Sangha.

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