The Zen Life by Koji Sato

9
The Discipline of Taking Meals

As eating food is the basis for the preservation of human life, it is an important question not only for Zen but also for the general populace. Zen monasteries have their own unique table manners, the rules of which are extremely refined, so much so, in fact, that after the famous Chinese scholar of the Sung dynasty ( 9 60 1279 ), Cheng Ming-tao, visited a Zen temple and saw the solemnity of these manners, he is reported to have said, "The ideals of [Confucian] etiquette are completely expressed therein." Even today these manners have not been forgotten. Their importance can also be seen in the fact that Dogen-zenji wrote two works Tenzo Kyokun (A Guide for the Kitchen Supervisor) and Fujuku Hampo (Rules for Preparing Food) devoted to a careful explanation of their proper form.

The table manners of Soto Zen retain much of their original form while those of Rinzai Zen have been somewhat simplified. In Rinzai, for example, meals are eaten not in the Zendo but in a separate dining room, while in Soto they are still eaten in the Zendo, using traditional eating utensils, many of which are no longer used in Rinzai. In addition, Soto makes more use of various sounding instruments such as gongs, bells, etc., during the mealtime than does Rinzai, and Soto monks repeat more sutras before and after meals than do their Rinzai counterparts. Both sects do, however, share such common features as the use of various sounding instruments to indicate the various mealtime actions, the prohibition of conversation, the placing of the palms together in the gassho gesture at appropriate times, the use of the hands for signaling. In the period before and after the meals, various sutras, such as Hannya Haramita Shingyo (the Prajna Paramita Hridya sutra), are recited, blending into a perfect unity with the taking of the meal itself. Representative of the sutras directly concerned with meal taking itself is the following Gokan no Ge (Five Reflections Before Eating):

1.	Considering the meal's effect, we reflect on whence it came
2.	Weighing our virtues, we accept this offering
3.	To defend against our delusive minds and separate ourselves from our faults, we must first of all overcome greed
4.	To cure our bodily weakness, we take this fine medicine
5.	To attain enlightenment, we now eat this food

Although we eat every day, for the most part we do it mechanically, without deep reflection. This is not to say, of course, that we do not sometimes hear people say things like "It was delicious" or "I enjoyed the meal very much." Most people, however, fail to reflect on such things as how many people's beneficence has made it possible for them to eat a particular meal. Where, for example, were the raw materials that go to make up our meals, such as rice, wheat, barley, sugar, vegetables, fruit, etc., cultivated? Or where were they harvested, collected, and processed? How much human effort has been involved? Not only that, but how great a part in this process has been played by the so-called natural forces such as the sun's warmth, the earth's nourishment, the air's action, changes in climate? When it is a question of methods of cultivating rice, or producing other food, not only are the efforts of present-day people involved but those of past ages as well. When we stop to think how the finished foods were transported--for example, how our table sugar, which had previously been cultivated, harvested, processed, and then moved by ship, truck, and other means to the nearby store where we bought it--then we realize that the number of people who have been involved in enabling us to eat is almost infinite. Truly, "considering the meal's effect, we reflect on whence it came."

Considering how great has been the kindness of heaven, earth, and our fellow human beings, we need to ask, "Am I really worthy of receiving the fruit of such cooperation? Have I accumulated such virtue, or moral culture? How apt the saying, "weighing our virtues, we accept this offering."

Zen training is for the purpose of controlling the mind, and curing ourselves of the three primary evil desires: greed, anger, and ignorance. Of these three, however, it must be admitted that greed is the most difficult to overcome. "We must first of all overcome greed" means that when we are about to eat the food that so many people and things have beneficently provided for us, we should be concerned about other human beings who may be starving, and whether or not we are greedily eating that which rightfully belongs to such unfortunates.

Truly, food should be thought of as a medicine to sustain our physical strength. If this is done, then greed will disappear of itself. Thus the expression, "to cure our bodily weakness, we take this fine medicine," was derived.

If we think further about the fundamental nature of this problem, we will come to understand that the reason we are given the opportunity to eat is in order that we may attain the Buddhist Way and realize enlightenment. This might also be expressed as the realization of the four great vows of Bodhisattvahood, beginning with the vow, "to save all sentient beings, however innumerable they may be" and ending with the vow, "to attain the Buddhist Way, however infinite it may be." The vows, expressed more simply, are compressed to, "to attain enlightenment, we now eat this food." The reason the Gokati no Ge are recited at Zen mealtimes is none other than to renew the monks' understanding of the meaning of eating and to deepen their vigilance.

At the midday meal the Zen practitioner makes an offering of approximately seven grains of rice. After this he repeats the following sutra: "We offer this food to all hungry spirits." The "hungry spirits" referred to here are not simply those of the departed but embrace all who are suffering from hunger, whether living or dead.

The anecdote that follows concerns Ryuen- osho who was once chief priest of Toko-in in Kobe. Although the unsui at the temple would heat the water for his bath, Ryuen-osho refused to bathe in the tub, contenting himself with only two bucketfuls of water for washing his body. His explanation was that the priests had dug a well but had found no water, and because they had to bring water from a distant waterfall, they needed to use it with great care. He also refused to eat more than one serving of food, saying he wished to leave the rest for his descendants to eat. It can truly be said that he made the spirit of providing an offering for "hungry spirits" a part of his daily life.

The monks eat a dish called o-kayu (rice gruel) for the morning meal but because this is thirty percent rice and seventy percent barely the name hardly fits.

Zen table manners may resemble those in the West in the sense that, when eating, monks are not supposed to make any noise, just as Westerners are not supposed to when eating soup. In Zen monasteries though, an exception to this rule is made when the monks eat wheat noodles.

The relationship between Zen and tea is a very deep one. In the monastic regulations formulated by Pai-chang during the T'ang dynasty, there is already a section dealing with the way in which tea should be served. And in Japan, Eisai-zenji, the priest who introduced Riiizal Zen to this country, wrote a work entitiled Kissa Yojoki (Rules for Improving One's Health through Tea Drinking). The habit of tea drinking became firmly established in Japan in the latter half of the four- teenth century, and it is thought that it spread through the country from the original practice in Zen temples.

It is well known that the Japanese tea ceremony developed with Zen as its background. In present-day monasteries tea is served on such occasions as when there are ceremonies or meetings. Usually the tea which is served has been grown in the monastery fields and is of inferior quality, but when guests come, or on other special occasions, powdered tea is also used. A traditional monastic practice expressing the monks' consideration for others, is the way in which any two monks who happen to be sitting next to each other will place their tea cups close together to make it easier for the person pouring tea.
10
Zen Food

Since Zen monasteries attempt to be self- supporting in their food requirements through mendicancy and the cultivation of their own vegetable gardens, it follows that their daily meals are extremely plain. However, it is also true that among the vegetarian dishes which have been developed in the Zen sect, there are many which are both delicious and nutritious, although a great deal of time must be expended in their preparation. The Obaku Zen sect's Mampuku-ji, in Uji, Kyoto, is famous for its wide variety of vegetarian food; and the Okutan-style boiled bean curds and other vegetarian dishes served at Nanzen-ji were recently featured in an article in the The New Yorker. Itsugai Kajiura-roshi, who is the head priest of Ibuka's Shogen-ji and the president of affiliated Shogen Junior College, is an authority on Zen vegetarian food and has written Shojin Ryori no Gokui (The Secrets of Vegetarian Food), a book that tells how to make representative vegetarian dishes, thereby elucidating one of the pleasant aspects of Zen life.

The food served in Zen monasteries is carefully prepared, but it is not luxurious by any means. Seasonal foods, foods which are fully ripe, as well as those foods which happen to be at hand, are eaten. At Kajiura-roshi's monastery he has delicious meals made for the unsui, consisting of wild mountain grass and tree leaves as well as horsetail, starwort, dandelion, sorrel, wild butterbur, sprouts, wisteria buds, parsley, trefoil, red beans, etc. He also buys at least one kind of expensive food that the unsui would not normally have a chance to eat. It is said that the unsui at his monastery are very grateful for the consideration he has shown them.

Another characteristic of Zen monastic food is that none of the materials used in its preparation is to be wasted. It is one of Zen's iron rules that even those parts of the materials which might normally be considerd waste should be used to their fullest. This applies whether the food being prepared is Kenchin-style vegetable soup, vegetable stew, or fried bean curds. Also included in this kind of food is the Obaku Zen sect's vegetarian dish known as umpen (literally, "a piece of cloud"). In this dish, too, all of the scraps are utilized to make liquid starch so as not to waste anything. Umpen and mafu (bean curd in which sesame seed has been mixed) are the two most characteristic dishes of Obaku Zen. The ingredients for making umpen are burdock, carrots, lily bulbs, bamboo sprouts, gingko nuts, green peas, lotus roots, Judas's ear, and mushrooms. To all this is added arrowroot, sugar, and soy sauce, the resulting mixture then being fried in vegetable oil. Gemmyo Murase book, Fucha (Vegetarian Food), includes a nutritional analysis of the food which was served at Obaku sect's Mampuku-ji at the time of a convention held there for the readers of the Japanese-language magazine, Zen. The nutritionist who made the analysis said, "Just as I thought, the food served here is extremely nutritious; so much so, in fact, that one meal by itself provides almost one-half of a normal person's daily nutritional needs. . . . Speaking from the standpoint of a specialist, I was most surprised by the high amounts of inorganic salts and vitamins I discovered." He added that, "The use of a large amount of vegetable oil is a characteristic of Chinese-style cooking, of which Zen monastic food is a part. And this is a feature that I would like to recommend from the standpoint of its nutritional value."

Since neither meat nor fish is eaten in a Zen monastery, the monks do not receive any animal protein or fat. However, in place of this they do take in a sufficient amount of high quality vegetable protein and fat through eating such things as soy beans and sesame seeds. However, as soy beans are neither tasty nor easily digestible when eaten in their original form, it is customary to ferment them or change them into either wet or dry soybean curds, thus making them delicious while retaining their nutrition. In addition to curds, the priests also prepare such foods as Suhama- style sweet cakes, made from sugar mixed with soybean flour; Kinzen-ji-style bean paste; and other dishes. Sesame seed is used mixed together with salt to give taste to the morning rice gruel and also as part of the dressing for vegetable salads. Vegetable oil made from either soy beans or sesame seeds is used for frying purposes as well as with other cooked foods. Thus, it can be seen that the nutritional content of monastic vegetarian food is quite sufficient to meet the health needs of the monks.
11
Bathing

The 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, etc., of each month are set aside for the unsui to shave their heads and bathe. On such days the monk in charge of the bath will hang a wooden signboard outside the bath that reads, "The bath is open," informing the other monks that they may bathe. The chief priest of the monastery is the first to bathe, followed by the other monks in an order determined by such factors as their position in the temple, their length of training, etc. Before bathing the monks first show reverence to a statue of Batsudabara (Batsudaharashin), the guardian deity of the bath, by prostrating themselves before it three times. According to tradition this deity is said to have achieved enlightenment as he was about to bathe.

The unsui take turns washing each other's backs, and when a monk is having his own back washed he shows his gratitude by placing his palms together in the gassho position. The bath that is taken on December 8, at the end of the special week-long period of intensive zazen known as the rohatsu dai sesshin, is prepared by the officials of the monastery themselves, and they also wash the backs of the unsui to show their appreciation for their efforts.

The fuel used to heat the bathwater consists of fallen leaves, wood chips, and whatever waste material happens to be available. As I have mentioned previously, in Zen nothing must be wasted or used carelessly. The object of learning Zen is, in essence, to save all sentient beings; but, at the same time, it is to become grateful for the many favors we receive from all beings as well. By the favors received from all beings is meant the realization of how our own existence is sustained by all things, thus becoming grateful for their support and cooperation. In the Zen storytelling tradition there are numerous stories concerning Zen masters who have scolded their disciples for having used even insignificant things carelessly.

On Mount En in the outskirts of Okayama City there is a large Zen monastery by the name of Sogen-ji that was, in ancient times, the family temple of Lord Ikeda, a ruler in the Kan'ei era ( 1624-44 ). During the final years of the Edo period ( 1603 1868 ) and extending into the first part of the Meiji era ( 1868-1912 ) there was an outstanding priest by the name of Gizan-osho whose fame was known throughout the country and in whose monastery there was an exceedingly large number of unsui. The following story concerns a young unsui, Demmoku, who came from the Kyoto area and served as Gizan-osho's personal attendant. One summer evening Gizanosho entered the bath and, finding it too hot, he called for cold water to be brought. In response to his request Demmoku threw out the small amount of water that was left in the wooden bucket and was about to go to fetch some more when suddenly Gizan-osho yelled in a voice that fell like a bolt of lightning, "You fool, each thing has its use whether it be big or small! Why don't you try to make the best use of things? Won't even a little water serve a useful purpose if it is poured on plants or trees? Don't you know about secret acts of goodness? You foolish priest who lacks the desire for enlightenment!"

Gizan-osho was famous for his sharp temper, but Demmoku took his scolding to heart and chose the words "one drop of water" as his motto. Eventually, after long years of training, he adoped them as his own name: Tekisui. In the first part of the Meiji era, he became a very well-known priest, and served as the head priest of Tenryu-ji. The Buddhist verse he wrote just before his death reads as follows:

In my more than seventy years of life
I have not been able to exhaust
That one drop of water of Sogen-ji
That covers both Heaven and Earth.

Many Japanese tend to forget the value of such things as water. When there is a water shortage, however, as there has been in recent years in cities like Tokyo and Nagasaki, they realize how important even a little water is. And when we consider water, we need to think not only of volume but of quality as well. If we remember that in many parts of the world the water is unfit for drinking unless it is boiled first, then we can appreciate the value of our country's pure water.

12
Sleep

In Zazen Yojin Setsu (Points to Watch in Zazen) a want of sleep is listed as one of the three wants that are the cause of a monk becoming lax in his training. During periods of intensive zazen, such as rohatsu dai sesshin, the monks are only allowed to sleep for two or three hours a day with this sleep itself being done while sitting in the zazen position. Once a person becomes used to it, sleeping while in the zazen position is a very efficient method for enabling the mind to recover from fatigue.

Shinkichi Takahashi, who as a youth was famous as a poet of the Dadaist school and later entered the Zen priesthood, has written about his experience during rohatsu dai sesshin as follows: "Upon returning home, after having passed a week without having slept while lying down, I hate to spread the futon on the floor and sleep on them. It's been said that people in ancient times did not sleep in a horizontal position for periods of up to thirty or forty years. and the Buddhist patriarchs in India are said not to have lain down during their entire lives. I realize now that these stories are not necessarily fabrications."

A story is told about how the attendant of a Zen master of recent times was surprised to note that although he spread out the master's futon every night and placed a clean sheet over them, the sheet never became dirty. Later the attendant realized that the master was sleeping in the zazen position and so never used the futon. Another story tells us that the famous warlord Date Masamune (1566-1636), also made a habit of sleeping in the zazen position.

In present-day Zen monasteries, with the exception of rohatsu dai sesshin, the monks are allowed at the end of the day to remove their outer robes, unroll their futon, and sleep wrapped up in them, monks in Soto Zen monasteries sleeping on their right sides while those in Rinzai Zen monasteries sleep on their backs. In some monasteries monks are allowed to use their zazen cushions as pillows, while in others a part of the futon is rolled up and used for the same purpose. In still other monasteries the monks are not allowed to use any pillows at all and must place their heads directly on the wooden rail that runs along the edge of the raised platform on which they sleep. One hour after the sleeping period has begun, an official of the monastery makes an inspection. After that, those who wish to may quietly take their zazen cushions to a veranda of the monastery into the monastery gardens and continue their practice of zazen.
13
Monks and Drinking

While it is true that monastic life involves various hardships, as one gradually accumulates experience, deepening his self-understanding and thereby gaining self-confidence, there are accompanying joys. After having become an experienced monk, a man is able to perform the required monastic activities nearly as well as the roshi. As one of the yearly monastic activities the monks hold a lively party on the evening preceding the winter solstice. Hoshu Miyajima-roshi has compared this party with that held by Christians on Christmas Eve. Making rice cakes at New Year's time, and eating the refreshments that are donated by pious laymen on special occasions throughout the year are also welcome respites in the monastic routine. Daisetz Suzuki has noted in his book, The Training of the Zen Monk, that the monks sometimes practice sumo (Japanese wrestling), but recently they have taken to playing baseball as well. Last but by no means least, it is no exaggeration to say that sake is inseparable from the life of Zen priests.

Gempo Yamamoto-roshi, for example, was one of those who liked sake, and it is said that he left instructions at his death to have the mourners at his funeral provided with ample quantities of it. It is true, however, that one of the ten major commandments of the Zen sect concerns alcohol. Gazan-roshi, head of the Tenryu-ji branch of the Rinzai Zen sect was, by nature, a person who liked to drink sake. When he was still a minor monastery official in training at Ibuka's Shogen-ji, he and some other monks became boisterous and started quarreling after having gotten secretly drunk in his room. The master, Tairyu-roshi, heard the commotion and thundered out, "Who's drinking in that monastery official's room?" Gazan answered with equal vociferousness, "If it's wrong to drink in a monastery official's room, how about the room of the head of this monastery?" Tairyu-roshi himself liked sake, but to restore order he had no other choice than to make a mutual pledge of abstention with Gazan and the other monks. He then gave an order that sake was not to be allowed in the monastery. This order had been in effect for more than a year when a lay devotee, feeling sorry for Tairyu-roshi, secretly sent him a bottle of mirin (a kind of sweet sake) to protect his health in his old age. Gazan discovered the mirin during the roshi's absence, and drank the greater part of it, pouring the remainder on the tatami. When the roshi returned Gazan pretended nothing had happened, but the roshi discovered the mischief anyway and thought, "This is undoubtably the work of Gazan and his fellow rascals!" Not much later he rescinded his prohibition against sake. I think this exchange reveals something of the character of Zen priests.

There is a story according to which Tessen Yamaoka-osho boldly flung Emperor Meiji (reigned 1868-1912 ) down after having been ordered to be his opponent in a sumo match. According to the book Tessen-koji no Shin Memmoku (The True Character of Tessen) what actually happened is quite different. It seems that one evening, when Emperor Meiji was still a young man, he invited Tessen to have dinner with him and one of his chamberlains. During the course of the evening, while they were drinking, Emperor Meiji asserted, "From now on Japan, too, must become a country governed by law rather than decree." In response to this statement the emperor's chamberlain spoke of the necessity of morality as an important factor in ruling the nation. The emperor then asked Tessen what he thought about the matter, and Tessen replied that if Japan was to be ruled by laws alone, the people would eventually stop paying reverence at the shrine of the imperial family. This remark hit the emperor in a tender spot, and he was unable to reply. Instead, and because he had already had a great deal to drink, he got angry, and finally reached the point where he challenged Tessen to wrestle against him in a sumo match. Tessen believed it undesirable for a commoner to fight with the emperor, so he bowed deeply, and explained that he could not act as an opponent. The emperor became even more incensed by Tessen's refusal and he made a lunge at Tessen, trying to strike him in the eye with his fist. But Tessen moved his body in such a way that the emperor lunged past him, and the emperor fell down, injuring himself slightly and getting even angrier.

Later, after the emperor sobered up, Tessen admonished him severely and made him promise to abstain from both alcohol and sumo. Tessen then returned home, where he stayed for the next month in spite of frequent summonses from the emperor to attend this or that gathering. After a month elapsed, he suddenly accepted an invitation from the emperor and presented him with twelve bottles of grape wine. The emperor was extremely pleased with this gift and, thinking that it was now all right for him to drink, proceded to consume the wine in Tessen's presence. I think that in this story it is possible to see Tessen's resolute character, which he had developed through Zen and kendo (Japanese-style fencing), as well as his sympathetic consideration for others.

Tessen died at the age of fifty-three from cancer of the stomach, which is thought to have been caused to a great extent by heavy drinking. Koshu-osho, head of the Daitoku-ji branch of the Rinzai Zen sect for more than ten years during the middle of the Meiji era, died from the same cause when he was sixty- seven. He was extremely severe when giving guidance in Zen and often took part in doing monastic manual labor. He also had a taste for sake, and the story goes that after he had drunk a little, while away from the monastery, he would become a playmate for whatever children might be about, completely unaffected in his attitude.

According to Haku'un Yasutani-roshi, his master, Sogaka Harada-roshi, said, "If you like sake I won't say not to drink it, but you should efface yourself when drinking. With a realization of how difficult it is to escape from one's destiny, you should be careful not to lose your sense of shame or your feeling of repentance." Sake drinking is one of the appealing traits of Zen priests, but dying from stomach cancer as the result of excessive drinking is certainly not a distinction for a disciple of the Buddha.

Ekken Kaibara has written in his book Yojokun (Rules for Health Preservation), "Sake is the nectar of heaven. It is extremely beneficial because just a little will cheer you up, calm hot-headedness, improve the appetite, and cause sorrow to be replaced by pleasure." In a similar vein, Dr. Koji Kondo, has written about a talk he had with Daisetz Suzuki concerning the latter's diet. He asked whether he drank liquor or not, to which Suzuki replied that he drank a little. Dr. Kondo had expected Suzuki to say no and so was a bit amused at his answer. Suzuki then went on to remark that if taken in small amounts sake is a good thing, especially if it is savored.

One time I visited Suzuki at his home and in the course of the conversation I put the same question to him that Dr. Kondo had. His answer then was, "I eat and drink anything." To which his assistant added, "But he doesn't drink very much." By way of refutation Suzuki replied, "There are times when I do drink quite a lot."