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necessary to wear out the attempt to grasp until it becomes intolerable. As against this violent way there is also a judo–a. “gentle way,” the way of seeing that the mind, the basic reality, remains spontaneous and ungrasped whether one tries to grasp it or not. One’s own doing or not doing drop away by sheer irrelevance. To think that one must grasp or not grasp, let go or not let go, is only to foster the illusion that the ego is real, and that its machinations are an effective obstacle to the Tao. Beside the spontaneous functioning of the “Unborn mind” these efforts or non-efforts are strictly null. In the more imagistic language of Shinran, one has only to hear of the “saving vow” of Amitabha and to say his Name, the Nembutsu, even just once without concern as to whether one has faith or not, or as to whether one is desireless or not. All such concern is the pride of the ego. In the words of the Shin-shu mystic Kichi-bei:

When all the idea of self-power based upon moral values and disciplinary measures is purged, there is nothing left in you that will declare itself to be the hearer, and just because of this you do not miss anything you hear.16

So long as one thinks about listening, one cannot hear clearly, and so long as one thinks about trying or not trying to let go of oneself, one cannot let go. Yet whether one thinks about listening or not, the ears are hearing just the same, and nothing can stop the sound from reaching them.

The advantage of the koan method is perhaps that, for general purposes, the other way is too subtle, and too easily subject to misinterpretation–especially by monks who might all too readily use it as an excuse for loafing around the monastery while living off the donations of the devout laity. This is almost certainly why the emphasis of the T’ang masters on “not-seeking” gave way to the more energetic use of the koan as a means of exhausting the strength of the egoistic will. Bankei’s Zen without method or means offers no basis for a school or institution, since the monks may just as well go their way and take up farming or fishing. As a result no external sign of Zen is left; there is no longer any finger pointing at the moon of Truth–and this is necessary for the Bodhisattva’s task of delivering all beings, even though it runs the risk of mistaking the finger for the moon.

1 In Suzuki (5), p. 99. The regulations also say, “When submitting to the keisaku, courteously fold your hands and bow; do not permit any egoistic thoughts to assert themselves and cherish anger.” The point seems to be that the keisaku has two uses–one for shoulder massage and another, however politely worded, for punishment. It is of interest that Bankei abolished this practice in his own community, on the ground that a man is no less a Buddha when asleep than when awake.

2 Zuimonki chapter. In Masunaga (1), p. 42.

3 Shop chapter. Ibid., p. 44.

4 Kenbutsu chapter. Ibid., p. 45.

5 In Suzuki (10), pp. 177–78.

6 This outline is based on information given in a conference at the American Academy of Asian Studies by Ruth Sasaki.

7 One can hardly exaggerate the importance of the great Buddhist symbol of the bhavachakra, the Wheel Becoming. The angels and demons occupy the highest and lowest positions, the positions of perfect happiness and perfect frustration. These positions lie on the opposite sides of a circle because they lead to each other. They represent not so much literal beings as our own ideals and terrors, since the Wheel is actually a map of the human mind. The human position lies in the middle, i.e., at the left of the Wheel, and it is only from this position that one may become a Buddha. Human birth is therefore regarded as unusually fortunate, but this is not to be confused with the physical event, for one is not actually “born into the human world” until one has fully accepted one’s humanity.

8 Translated by R. H. Blyth in “Ikkyu’s Doka,” The Young East, vol. 2, no. 7. (Tokyo, 1953.)

9 R. H. BIyth, ibid., vol. 3, no. 9, p. 14, and vol. 2, no. 2, p. 7.

10 For details, see above, pp. 160f.

11 In