From:
HOW TO COOK YOUR LIFE
From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment--Dogen's classic Instructions for the Zen Cook with commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi
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In 'Farewell to Antai-ji, Uchiyama Roshi's final teisho (dharma-lecture) before retiring from Antai-ji as abbot, he discussed in some detail the so-called *rokudo zen,* that is six types of zen.
It pretty much works out that the depth of one's zazen becomes determined by the
attitude with which one sits. The so-called rokudo zen has no connection with
shikan-taza. It is best to stay away from these types of Zen. Let's just look at them
for a moment.
1. JIGOKU ZEN = You know there are some people who upon just hearing the word
zazen get all nervous. This occurs particularly among priests! I'm talking about the
kind of priests who are required to live for a certain period of time in an official sodo in
order to receive papers which entitle them to be called priests and to take over as head of a temple. They hate being there in the first place, but there's no way to avoid it, and on top of all that, they're forced to do zazen. Doing zazen under those conditions is called jigoku zen, or "Zen of hell".
2. GAKI ZEN = This is the type of Zen done by people who forever go around lusting
after enlightenment.
3. CHIKUSHO ZEN = The word chikusho in Japanese refers to an animal that can be
domesticated, say a dog or a cat, or maybe a cow. Now in that same sense, there are people who enter a monastery because they hear they'll get fed just by following along. Occasionally, those kinds of people even stray into Antai-ji. They figure that by just being here and sitting in the sesshin they will be able to get along. When this kind of person shows up I just have to throw him out. There is an expression "yoraba taiju no kage." It means to look for rest or protection under the shade of a big tree. When people try looking for shade under a scrawny little willow like Antai-ji, though, they're looking for it under the wrong tree. I mean even thinking about being able to eat heartily at Antai-ji--there just aren't any big feeds. The only thing you're likely to get plenty of is brown rice and miso soup three times a day. An itinerant priest thinking he will be well taken care of at Antai-ji is really mistaken. That sort of chikusho zen is just no good either. People like that ought to be ashamed of themselves.
4. SHURA ZEN = These are people who compete with others to gain satori. Or else, they vie with one another over whose practice is more severe. Some carry around the kyosaku (stick), beating each other with it.
5. NINGEN ZEN = The Zen that human beings do solely for utilitarian purposes. This is
the thing I was talking about previously, that is, people doing zazen to get their heads
straightened out or for good health or sexual stamina, and so forth. Anyway, they do
zazen in order to gain something from it. There are a lot of books out now on
humanistic Zen, or Zen for the body, or Zen and psychology. These are clear examples of 'ning enzen', seeking something beneficial for humanity. In any event, the motive for doing zazen is to get something in return.
6. TENJO ZEN = These are the people who want to become hermits. There seem to be quite a number of young Americans who like this kind of Zen. It seems as though these young people are trying to run away from the noise of American materialism, so they go up in the mountains to bathe in the quiet relief they find there. Or, when they get bored doing just that, they get caught up in Zen as a hobby and enjoy just polishing the sceptre some priests carry around. Those people are just practicing Zen as a hobby. Naturally, this sort of hermit Zen has nothing to do with the buddhadharma. To figure out whether or not you're practicing true zazen or not, you have to look at your practice from as broad a perspective as possible. Once you get stuck in one of these six types of Zen, you are no longer able to see an overall view of the buddhadharma.
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