Consciousness
What is the difference between subconscious and unconscious?
In Buddhism there are six forms of consciousness: alaya, manas and so forth. Manas consciousness corresponds more or less to Jung's collective unconscious. But Jung did not practice zazen so he did not know hishiryo consciousness. From his own experience all he knew was the consciousness of the forebrain and maybe something of the primitive brain, so he was not able to get very far. He was unable to practice a true meditation and could study other kinds only as objects. And in the end, it all turned into nothing but thoughts. Rinzai Zen and the collective unconscious have a good deal in common. Nietzsche went mad. Van Gogh .... . They were looking too hard for purity, the absolute, God, true truth, and in the end they went mad. The same thing can happen by concentrating too hard on koans in Rinzai, except that there you have a master who guides you and keeps you from making mistakes. If you have a true master to guide you, you can understand, and wake up. The master says to the disciple, "leave this room! No, no, not by the door!" So the disciple turns to the window. "No, not by the window!" "Then where?" "Just leave!" You cannot leave through this exit or through that, not by the summit or by the base, not by the south or by the west. And so the master awakens the disciple's understanding. But with philosophy it is very difficult. Sometimes philosophers go mad in the end because they use only their forebrain. But we can also think with the body, think infinitely... But you must not make categories! It is written in the Shodoka that it is not necessary to seek truth or sever illusions. I am always saying during zazen, "Do not run after anything and do not run away from illusions." It is not necessary to say to oneself "I must not think," because that's still thinking. You must be natural, let the subconscious arise... But one time, you have to let go, let yourself drop completely, as though to the bottom of the sea, then rise to the surface again and float. Neurotic people are always anxious. They're like somebody who doesn't know how to swim and falls into the water. They start to sink, become frightened and say, "I must not sink, I must not sink," they swallow more and more water and in the end they drown. But if they let go of their thoughts and let themselves go down to the bottom, their body will come back to the surface naturally . . . That's Zen. If you are in pain during zazen you must continue, keep straight, to the end. If you are in pain you can abandon your ego and experience satori unconsciously, naturally, automatically.
I don't understand what you mean by going down to the bottom.
When you're in the water and sinking, when you let go of any thought of life and death, let go of your ego completely, then your being concentrates solely on breathing out and you come to the surface. It's the same state of mind as in zazen. A monk on a ship was caught in a great storm and in his panic, instinctively, he began zazen, accepting death, accepting that he was about to go to the bottom of the ocean. Concentrating naturally on breathing out, he let himself sink, and he rose naturally back to the surface, and that went on until he floated to shore, just breathing in and breathing out. Another man had an epileptic fit as he was crossing a stream, and he fell off the bridge into the water. Later, he woke up lying on the bank. He realized that the fit that had caused him to fall had also saved him by making it impossible for him to feel the fear of drowning.
When I wake up I always remember my dreams. Should I attach importance to that or not?
You remember your dreams because your brain is tired. Everybody dreams. The body sleeps but the mind is still awake and it dreams. If your brain is healthy you forget your dreams when you wake up. In half sleep you also have dreams and their imprint remains when you wake. Some people try to run after their dreams and that makes them feel tired when they get up. You should forget, let them pass by, not run after the recollection of a dream.
Does it change anything to analyze dreams?
That is not necessary.
Do you mean that dreams have no value?
They make you complicated. The strong sensations and impressions of everyday life come back, the karma of your brain, the jolts recorded by your neurons. Zazen also brings out your subconscious and your illusions, but in very different conditions. When you dream you don't know you are dreaming. For example, there is the famous Zen story of a man who was dreaming that he was walking down the street on a winter evening. Suddenly he sees a pouch full of coins on the ground. He tries to take hold of it but it's stuck fast in the ice. What to do? He urinates on the ice' to melt it and grabs the pouch with both hands. But oooh, ow, it hurts, what's happened? The man wakes up: instead of a starry sky he sees the ceiling of his bedroom, his testicles are clutched in his hand and aching painfully, and the bed is soaked! That was the only thing real in the dream ... When we dream we don't know where reality is any longer. During zazen it's easy to know where it is. You can see your illusions and your karma objectively. In dreams everything comes pell-mell: terrors, shocks, the past, impressions. During zazen you can contemplate whatever comes up from the subconscious as in a mirror, recognize that this or that desire is not so important . . . You are no longer afraid and can observe yourself. It's not the same as in dreams. You shouldn't be attached to the memory of dreams. And in zazen you shouldn't be attached to thoughts or run after illusions, but rather let them go by. The germ of one thought arises, another one follows ... let them pass by. After zazen one's brain feels clear and rested. Dreams do the same thing but it's not necessary to try to remember them. Better to forget them.
What do you think about premonitory dreams?
They're part of the metaphysical world. We cannot deny our relationship with that world. If you have faith, you can communicate with the metaphysical world. If your thought concentrates strongly on certain objects, it will create seeds of karma in the neurons and as a result will influence you yourself and your environment.
What about magic powers?
Magic powers are not so difficult to acquire. But in Zen no importance is attached to them. In some religions people are always trying to acquire magic powers but those are not true religions. Magic powers can be used on certain special occasions. I can use them. But it is not the object of Zen to obtain anything at all . If you carry your practice of zazen to extremes, day and night in a cave in the mountains without eating, and drinking nothing but water for months on end, you will certainly acquire magic powers. But they do not last. The moment you drink a glass of sake they vanish away. To want to acquire magic powers is an egotistical desire, trivial, and ultimately of no importance. It's no different from wanting to become a prestidigitator or a circus artist. Religion is not a circus.
One often has involuntary thoughts during zazen one wants not to think about something but it keeps coming back.
That is the subconscious, or the collective unconscious. It is like a dream, an illusion. During zazen you don't use your forebrain, ·but you shouldn't try to prevent unconscious thoughts from arising, because the thalamus becomes active automatically. Jung said that if one could devise a means of revealing the unconscious it would be a momentous discovery. With zazen it is possible. Psychoanalysts are always looking at dreams. But during zazen you can become completely intimate with yourself see and know yourself objectively.
What is natural consciousness, body consciousness?
Bioconsciousness. I call it body consciousness, the scientists say bio-consciousness. It is what explains the fact that we can think with the body. Ordinarily people use only the left side of their brains to think with; but if you concentrate hard enough on your posture and breathing, the entire body can begin to think. According to Dr. Paul Chauchard every cell has a soul, so we don't think just with the brain anyway. During zazen the consciousness of the left hemisphere becomes less intense and the soul in the cells can receive transmissions from the cosmic consciousness. That is what I mean when I speak of body consciousness, bioconsciousness. Nowadays the right hemisphere of the brain, the seat of intuition and instinct, has grown weak; but we can reconnect it through zazen. When a fly senses danger, instinctively it flies away. That form of sensation is body consciousness, but in most people today it is weak and we can no longer understand or sense danger.
You talk a lot about samu in Zen. Does intellectual work count?
If you don't ever work with your hands you become too intellectual. Professors are too intelligent and can become a little bit crazy. Wisdom is not just a matter of the forebrain. True wisdom ·arises from both thalamus and hypothalamus. When both are strong you have great wisdom. But if you spend all your time ·reading philosophy only your forebrain is working, while your old brain grows weak. The two are out of balance and you become tired and nervous and sometimes a little crazy. Your memory grows weaker and weaker, and even though the forebrain is developed by books it is tired. When you start to grow old you lose your memory. But through the hypothalamus things are engraved in the brain. Their essence remains in the subconscious and during zazen it revives. Not sexual ideas, not pleasant thoughts: the things that have made a profound impression on the body, they are what revive during zazen. For me, the sutras, my master's talks, all those important things have marked not my memory but my thalamus, through the subconscious. Accumulating facts to pass exams, on the other hand, was very hard work for me, and now I've forgotten them all. During zazen, when I talk, the words penetrate to your thalamus and become seeds that will grow; in five, ten, twenty years they will become wisdom. That is the highest psychology.
What is mushin?
Mushin: nonthought. D. T. Suzuki wrote at length on mushin. It's "nonthought," "unconsciously," "mind without thought," nothought. It is the essence of Zen. Supposing you do something or want something in your ordinary life: if you act consciously, you are not mushin. If the impulse is expressed as conscious thought, it is not Zen. That is why training in a practice that involves the muscles and whole body is so important. It's important for speaking too. Most people speak after the brain has given them the order to do so. But if you become mushin, hishiryo, you can speak unconsciously, without thought. Take a mondo: if you ask a professor a question he has to think before he answers. But the Zen monk answers without thinking, unconsciously. That's why a Zen mondo is important. It's the same with actions. The brain thinks and you act afterward. That is not mushin. Mushin is the body thinking If you understand that, you can understand Zen. Most Zen stories have to do with mushin. Wisdom and intellectual learning are not the same. In everyday life, in conversations, most people think first and then answer; but very intelligent people use wisdom and do not think. They speak band answer through intuition. Book-learning is different from true knowledge. In time, one ceases using the brain to answer questions. Through zazen you can understand how one can speak unconsciously. Your superficial brain rests and your inner brain becomes active and receives energy. In a mondo my answers come from the inner brain; the activity begins there. My inner brain answers you unconsciously, mushin. That's why a zen mondo is different from an oral examination at the university. Speaking out of one's book-learning is not wisdom. From long practice of zazen you will acquire this unconsciously: wisdom, not book-learning. When I give a talk, for example, I must prepare what I am going to say. Learning first ... and a bit of wisdom. But the moment I stand up in the hall I begin to talk unconsciously and I don't always stick to what I have prepared. I look at the faces and see whether I need to change my talk. There is no more plan, my words come out of the unconscious, and that is why they impress people so strongly. That is teisho. Buddhist philosophy and Zen philosophy do not entail knowledge alone. That is true of the martial arts too. How should I act? If I have to think about everything I ought to do I will not be able to act effectively at all. So mushin is necessary; it enables the body to react without thinking. That is why the practice of zazen is so useful in the martial arts. If you think too long your opponent will be quicker than you.
Sometimes you want to act in a certain way, but unconsciously some thought comes and you make a mistake!
That is not really unconscious. You aren't concentrated enough, that's all; you're thinking about something else. If you develop the habit of concentrating, everything becomes mushin. But training is necessary. Afterward, it comes of itself. First you have to train, for painting, for any art, for any type of work. Then afterward you become mushin. You don't have to think, "I want to make something beautiful or good." Most great painters create their works unconsciously. That is the activity of true art. For actors it's the same thing. If they think, they don't move the audience. If they act unconsciously their acting becomes beautiful and the audience feels that they are living their character. When people think, there is no activity, and you don't feel any ki, any force of energy, when you watch them. When you think, your action is neither strong nor beautiful. Pigeons don't think and they are very beautiful. People in our age think too much and the result is that nobody is impressed. The actions of people who practice zazen are unconsciously precise and right, and their manners become very beautiful, natural.
When you talk about the normal condition do you mean something that used to belong to all mankind and then got lost or do you mean something else?
It is hard to explain. As it relates to the body, the "normal condition" is easy to understand; but in relation to consciousness it's not so easy. Psychology, philosophy, religions have all tried to explain it: the mind or spirit of God, or the nature of Buddha, for example, are the normal condition. There are as many different concepts as there are religions, and every age and period has been preoccupied by the question. In zazen, the normal condition of consciousness is hishiryo: non-thinking. When you think all the time you are not in a normal condition; it's your imagination, your personal desires, that are expressing themselves. You think more and more, you're afraid, you grow anxious. And if it goes on too long, complications arise and even madness. If you stop thinking, you return to the normal condition of consciousness. But then you go to sleep . . . While you sleep, consciousness stops. Dreams bring the subconscious to the surface; but when you dream you are not in a phase of deep sleep. In zazen you can return to a normal condition. You don't sleep but your muscular tonus is right, and your consciousness becomes similar to that of sleep. It is not easy to stop thinking during zazen. The process is that of Master Dogen's hishiryo and, to some degree, Jaspers's nicht denken that is the basis of the Zen philosophy of normal consciousness. Fushiryo means to not-think; hishiryo means to think without thoughts. If you deliberately try to stop your personal consciousness you're still thinking. But "without thinking" is something you can experience during zazen. Thoughts arise, the sub conscious appears, but you don't need to stop it; being natural is best. How can you use your personal consciousness to stop thinking? By concentrating on your posture. When the posture is good the muscular tonus is right, and the state of consciousness is closely connected to muscular tonus. If your muscles can return to their normal condition, so can your consciousness. We have to balance, harmonize the two. If the tonus is weak consciousness takes over, and your thumbs droop, your head sags, and you are sad, melancholy. When muscle tone is right, the thoughts of the personal consciousness cease and the subconscious rises to the surface. Some people have too many things buried in their subconscious. They are the cause of the modern ailments of the autonomic nervous system, neuroses, hysteria, insanity. During zazen that all comes out. And after zazen everybody has a good face. When you look at people who don't practice, you will surely see the difference, and if you continue practicing for a long time they will strike you as a little bit "muddy" because through zazen you will have become pure and returned to a normal condition.
What does Zen contribute to the mind?
Nothing You must not want anything or have any desires at all. Practice without purpose, and the effects will come afterward, automatically. It is written in the Shodoka, "You must neither strive for truth nor seek to lose your illusions." If illusions manifest themselves during zazen one should neither repress them nor follow them up. It is very important to have no object in mind, to make no "use" of zazen. Zazen is not a means to something. If we have a goal, an object, our life will be troubled. We must follow the Way naturally; if we have no object our life will not die. In the twelve years I have spent in Europe I have seen many students coming to practice zazen for some purpose or other, and they have not persevered. Sometimes they are very sincere in their search but in the end they grow tired and give up. You must not use the Buddha or Zen to obtain anything whatsoever. My master was always insisting upon the idea of mushotoku, non-profit. That is the essence of Zen and of Buddhism: obtain without trying to obtain. We repeat that every day when we chant the Hannya Shingyo. That is the highest and most authentic philosophy. It's as if you were painting and consciously wanted to create a masterpiece; when the work was finished, it would never be better than mediocre. But if you are truly concentrated and have no object in mind, you may be able to create something beautiful. The highest dimension of spiritual life is mushotoku, without a goal, nonprofit.
to be continue...
Topic: Questions and anwers to Master Deshimaru (Read 8158 times)