Thinking, Not Thinking, Non-Thinking Part 1

Talk on Zen Koan of "Thinking, Not Thinking and Non-Thinking": Examines misconceptions regarding the role of thinking in meditation from the Soto Zen perspective of Eihei Dogen and questions "quietist" assumptions with contemporary interpretations & implications for practice.

Transcript

June 18,

2019.

Thinking,

Not thinking,

Non-thinking.

This is one of Zen Master Dogen's favorite stories.

He mentions it in Fukan Zazenji,

And he does a very close reading and unpacking of the dialogue in Zazen-shin,

And he also repeats it in other places in his extensive writings.

The story goes like this.

Once when Great Master Huang Tao of Ruishan was sitting in meditation,

A monk asked him,

What are you thinking of sitting there so fixedly?

The master answered,

I'm thinking of not thinking.

The monk asked,

How do you think of not thinking?

The master answered,

Non-thinking.

A common view of meditation is that thinking and meditation are antithetical,

And that thinking must somehow be eliminated.

For example,

The Zen philosopher Toshihiko Itsuzu views thinking as a major obstacle to realisational attainment,

And he argues for,

Quote,

A mistrust in thinking and an elimination of discursive thinking.

By now,

Many Zen teachers have exposed this erroneous view and have endeavored to correct it.

Yet in many quarters,

A devaluation of thinking still exists,

Often operating subliminally in the background of consciousness and guiding the practitioner's experience of practice coupled with an unnecessary ongoing judgmental evaluation of one's own practice experience.

This orientation,

No matter how subtle,

Creates a practical problem,

Because the mind is supposed to think.

That's what it does.

Eyes see,

Ears hear,

Nose smells,

Tongue tastes,

And mind thinks.

As Zen teachers,

A still mind is a dead mind.

The notion of calm or stillness within the rising and falling of mental processes,

Not an elimination of mental processes,

Is the key.

Suzuki Roshi,

In his classic book,

Zen Mind Beginners Mind,

Notes,

Calmness of mind does not mean you should stop your activity.

Real calmness should be found in activity itself.

We say it is easy to have calmness in inactivity.

It is hard to have calmness in activity,

But calmness in activity is true calmness.

He offers this advice.

If you want to obtain perfect calmness in your zazen,

You should not be bothered by the various images you find in your mind.

Let them come and let them go.

Then they will be under control.

Further,

In terms of practice,

He advises,

When you are practicing zazen,

Do not try to stop your thinking.

Let it stop by itself.

If something comes into your mind,

Let it come in.

And let it go out.

It will not stay long.

When you try to stop your thinking,

It means you are bothered by it.

Do not be bothered by anything.

It appears as if something comes from outside your mind,

But actually it is only the waves of your mind.

And if you are not bothered by the waves,

Gradually they will become calmer and calmer.

Suzuki Roshi's advice echoes Dogen's critique of quietism.

In Zazen-shin,

He writes,

Stupid illiterates so common in the sun,

Who think that zazen aims at a state of peace and calm attained through mental vacuity,

Vain programs for suspending considerations and freezing in tranquility.

As I hope to emphasize,

Both philosophically and practically,

That what requires attention is not the false dichotomy between thinking and not thinking,

Or to confuse not thinking with transcendence,

But the more pertinent question,

What is our relationship to thinking?

I might add,

What is our relationship to not thinking?

What is our relationship to any perceptual process for that matter?

Thinking can,

Of course,

Be egocentric.

That is,

Characterized and driven by love and hate,

Grasping,

Pushing away,

Or by attachment and aversion.

Alternatively,

Thinking can emerge spontaneously and intuitively out of compassion and wisdom,

Or as Kim describes as,

Quote,

Re-evaluated thinking.

By re-evaluated thinking,

He-Jin Kim means that we take our realisational experiences as pointers to activity and relationships in our everyday lives.

In this manner,

We meet the Mahayana Bodhisattva ideal to bring self and others across,

Or to save all beings.

This view moves the discussion out of philosophical abstraction and into action.

In other words,

How do we relate to any situation when informed by the wisdom and compassion that evolves out of the intuitive wisdom or prajna of ongoing practice?

Whether conscious or unconscious,

The false quietest view that characterizes thinking as an obstacle to realization,

And that must be overcome,

Not by removing the view,

But by seeing through it.

This false view parallels the mortification and negation of the flesh,

A practice ideal that devalues physical being as contaminated,

And that functions as an obstacle to higher spiritual realization or transcendence.

The Buddha,

Who was deeply engaged in such practices for many years,

Eventually gave them up.

The devaluation of thinking continues to support practices that are clearly not consistent with Dogen's views of what constitutes what he describes as house thinking,

His term for authentic practice,

Or right thinking.

On this point,

Heejin Kim argues that even within the Soto Zen school,

There is a persistent tendency to transcend the lies or minimize thinking.

As a result,

He concludes,

Thinking has almost been incapacitated in the tradition.

This current tension between quietism and insight is not new,

And has been debated for centuries across Asia.

See,

For example,

Peter Gregory's edited collection,

Sudden and Gradual Enlightenment,

For an extensive discussion of the issues involved.

The idea seems to be,

As Dogen expresses in Fukanzazenji and in other writings,

To not dwell in,

Grasp after,

Or push away,

Demonize or idealize either thinking or not thinking,

But to simply stay present in the practice-realizational moment.

This staying present,

Or presencing,

If you will,

Is the activity of hishiryō,

Or non-thinking.

So what was Dogen's view?

The relationship described in the often quoted,

Terse and seemingly enigmatic,

Mondo,

Or question-and-answer dialogue that I quoted at the beginning,

Dogen's writing on thinking,

Not thinking,

And non-thinking,

Serves as an experiential entry into this intriguing but highly practical area of inquiry.

The mondo expresses,

Surely,

Albeit enigmatically,

Dogen's view,

And commentators have translated and understood hishiryō in a variety of ways.

My intention,

By reviewing the major responses,

Variations,

Is to create a non-dogmatic understanding that will facilitate developing,

Enhancing your own understanding of this subtle concept based on the lived insight that emerges through your experience and practice.

That your experience and practice is not a wild,

Anything goes situation,

But is structured and informed by the teachings.

In the next discussion,

We'll look at each term in the mondo.

Thank you.

Reviews

Once again, thank you 🙏 As you commented last evening, yes, I am (trying) to ramp up my understanding. Thanks to you and your teachings, I think I'm on the right path....one step followed by another as they say...

Thank you for this talk . A lot of new ideas for me about thinking , not thinking and non thinking . Thank you for sharing 🙏

I think I need to repeat this lesson a few times. Is this anything like the natural acceptance of the present moment that animals do naturally? Thanks

I will listen to this one repeatedly. Enjoyed it very much. Very clear.

Thank you 🙏

Short and clear.

Thank you for the pointers to better understanding this koan.

This talk was very helpful. It answered some questions that I've been struggling with. Thank you. 🙏🏾

Hate to say it .......... Got me thinking!
Grateful, Thank you 🙏🙏

Very insightful talk
Namaste

Presence as nonthinking, this was a very helpful clarification for my practice. Thank you. I was able to relax the grasping to push thoughts away. Very grateful

I am 11 months into the exploration of my enlightenment. Meditation has changed my life in dramatic ways and it continues to evolve in it's meaning to me on a daily basis. I hope to cultivate inner peace for the rest of my life. This app is a life saving tool in many ways. Namaste 🙏❣️