A Life of Bankei by John M Evans. Part of the Zen Masters Series.

It is interesting that the issues we now associate with the term “political correctness” arose even in Bankei’s day.

At one public meeting a woman stood up, unintimidated by the eminence of the master. She spoke with some heat: “You know that women are not allowed to climb the sacred mountains,” she said. “And we are not allowed into the precincts either. Why is it said that women have deep karma and that this bars us from such things?”

Bankei sensed he was now in the realm of politics not spirit, so he passed it off with a jest. “You know,” he said to the woman, “that there is a nunnery in Kamakura?” She nodded. “Unfortunately, it’s closed to men!”

Women, he knew, were often treated badly by institutionalized clergy who liked to carve a cosy exclusive niche for themselves. But Bankei was aware that enlightenment was barred to no-one. However, as an administrative problem he could only give a view and hope that it would have some effect on others.

A rather stern, middle-aged monk addressed him from the floor. “In the past,” he began, “great masters like Engo and Daie used koan to lead their students to enlightenment. Why do you not do so?”

Bankei used a stock reply, he was often asked this one. “Did the great masters before the two you name also use koan?” The monk sat down discomfited. It had been a long day, despite the bright weather. Bankei brought the session to a close, thanked the visitors for their efforts in coming to see him and urged them all to take very good care of themselves.

Bankei’s enlightenment eventually came after fourteen years of unremitting labour. In the final days, as did the Buddha before him, he brought himself to the brink of death before nature relented and gave him the vision he had so long sought.

From the day he had been asked to leave his home at the age of eleven, the young Bankei had looked in vain for a competent Zen teacher. In the absence of one, he had tried a number of other options, including the constant repetition of the name of Amida Buddha. This had induced a temporary samadhi, but brought him no nearer to “clarifying his bright virtue”.

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A Life of Bankei by John M Evans. Part of the Zen Masters Series.

What I call “nirvanoception” is the third, usually latent, mode of knowledge. I say “usually latent” because we’re mostly unaware of it. We freely use body-mind modes of “perception” (senses) and “conception” (mind) to navigate around our world, while remaining completely in the dark about “space consciousness”, which is working in the background.

Normal consciousness is narrowly focused in our heads. Nirvanoception is wide, space consciousness, which takes no heed of trivial daily concerns. It clarifies during nirvanic experiences because perception and conception are “left behind” with the body-mind.

The aim of any spiritual path is to clean up the doors of perception and conception so that nirvanoception shines brightly in our consciousness. To be precise, it’s how Nirvana experiences itself.

Seventeenth-century Japanese Zen Master, Bankei, made nirvanoception the whole basis of his method. The following is a serialization of his life:

A layman approached Bankei and said: “Master, it is said that you can read people’s minds. If this is the case what am I thinking right now?”

Bankei replied: “You are thinking that.”

Like most Zen masters, Bankei had a droll sense of humour which he often displayed in a self-effacing manner. At other times he would use it remorselessly against an arrogant interlocutor, or as a sharp pointer to the truth when he judged that an intellectual bubble had to be burst. Humour is a natural accompaniment to Zen because it feeds on hubris and paradoxical situations. The following mondo (Zen conversation) is typical:

A monk asked T’ou Tzu, a Chinese master of the T’ang period: “I have heard that all sounds are the voice of the Buddha.”

“Yes, you are right,” said T’ou Tzu.

“Am I also right that all assertions, no matter how derogatory, are reflections of absolute truth?”

“Yes, you are right,” replied the master.

“May I then call you a donkey?”

In many ways Bankei (1622-1693) resembled the old Zen masters of the T’ang Dynasty, whose teachings were vibrant with austere insights expressed in a direct and simple style. Though he lived more than a thousand years after the time of Bodhidharma, and over eight hundred since Hui Neng, Huang Po and Rinzai, Bankei was out of Zen’s top drawer. He was also a highly original interpreter of Buddhism.

Dr. D.T. Suzuki, who rescued his work from obscurity, said of him: “His ‘Unborn Zen’ espoused a fresh departure for the first time since…Bodhidharma. Unborn Zen is truly one of the most original developments in the entire history of Zen thought. Bankei, indeed, must be considered one of the greatest masters that Japan has ever produced.”

The scene is the Winter Retreat of 1690 at the Ryumon-ji temple, which was founded by Bankei himself. In the assembly hall are gathered 1,683 people: priests, masters, novices and laity. They come from all the major Buddhist sects in Japan, Soto and Rinzai Zen, Shingon, Nichiren, Tendai, Jodo and Jodo Shin. The atmosphere, though calm befitting a Buddhist gathering, is expectant, for Bankei is the greatest preacher of his age, likened by his scribe to the Buddha himself.

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We sometimes republish Andrew Cohen’s weekly email quotes here, especially when they strike a particular chord. This week’s certainly does. It develops Andrew’s ideas of “evolutionary enlightenment”, the notion that the whole of the manifest world is a straining for greater consciousness on the part of the unmanifest.

To sign up for the emails, click the link at the bottom of the piece :

Reaching for the Unattainable
The traditional, premodern notion of enlightenment was all about coming to an end, a final state of perfection or a complete attainment. But when we redefine enlightenment in an evolutionary context, there is no longer an end–development is constant. Of course, the unmanifest ground of all being, which is the foundation of traditional enlightenment, is inherently full and perfect as it is and will never change or develop. But in evolutionary enlightenment, we awaken not only to that unmanifest ground but also to the evolutionary impulse that is driving the manifest, evolving universe. And that impulse is only interested in higher and higher development. That is its nature. So if our goal is to become a living expression of that impulse, which is what evolutionary enlightenment is all about, we as evolving individuals would have to become very interested in the notion of perpetual development, and let go of any emotional or philosophical investment in the idea of attaining perfection any time soon.

As evolving human beings, we are inherently imperfect and we’re not capable of reaching perfection, because we are in a constant state of development. But the path to evolutionary enlightenment is paradoxical, because I have found that the most appropriate posture for consistent higher development is one of ceaselessly reaching for perfection while knowing full well that we’ll never be able to achieve it. Only reaching toward that which is absolute–ever striving to attain the unattainable–puts the self in a position to consistently evolve. And it’s a lot to ask of any human being, because our nature is to seek comfort, security, and rest. But when we reach that point in our own spiritual journey where our attention is no longer primarily focused on our own comfort and security or even on our own enlightenment, but has become dedicated to the evolution of consciousness itself, we will find the courage to bear the creative tension of ceaselessly extending ourselves toward the unattainable.

Andrew Cohen

I’ve been checking up on some of the reviews of the Peaceful Warrior movie and they seem pretty mixed, as author Dan Millman said over on our Celebrity at Work blog. However, the audiences were not so critical. Here are a few snippets:

“By turns a riveting study of the world of competitive gymnastics, a parable for an alternative vision for today’s society, and a study in the psychology of mentoring, ‘Peaceful Warrior’ is a satisfying movie-going experience, with or without ‘the message’.”
– Les Wright, CULTUREVULTURE.NET

“While speaking with Millman recently about Peaceful Warrior, the author confirmed that my Chicken Soup Theory had severely plagued the many versions of script.”
– Kevin Biggers, FILMSTEW.COM

“I found some enjoyment by watching it as though it were an updated, Americanized version of some 1980 Hong Kong movie about training at the Shaolin Temple — which it pretty much is, come to think of it.”
– Andy Klein, LOS ANGELES CITYBEAT

“This woozily uplifting saga is big on homilies and deficient in just about everything else.”
– Peter Rainer, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

“The filmmakers can’t be faulted for trying; it’s a decent effort, but nevertheless misses out in both the mind and body categories, and rather overdoes the spirit.”
– Bridget Byrne, BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE

“The sometimes dreamy pace of Peaceful Warrior is offset by good rapport among Nolte, co-star Scott Mechlowicz and an engaging ensemble cast.”
– David Germain, ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Peaceful Warrior begins promisingly, with welcome doses of quirky humor holding the syrupy bathos at bay, yet it ultimately becomes just another average inspirational, sports-themed flick, albeit with an overlay of New Age philosophizing.”
– Timothy Knight, REEL.COM

“It may often seem like an extra-pretentious Karate Kid for grown-ups, but Warrior’s soul lessons go much deeper, to universally vital places.”
– Bob Strauss, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

“Strong performances by Scott Mechlowicz as Millman and Nick Nolte as the mysterious mechanic who changes his life ground the film in effective drama.”
– Sheri Linden, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“The film is better than it has any right to be, considering the prosaic source.”
– Ruthe Stein, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Well, critics tend toward cynicism and they did their job well. Readers of the book may hold different views. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s released here in England.