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Monks at Shokoku-ji emerge from the monastery’s kitchen, known as kuri. Over time, the quarters evolved to house temple offices and to function as an administrative center. The bell-shaped windows and doors that open outwards were features introduced from China.
In terms of the master–pupil relationship, the Rinzai master is said to be like a wise general ably directing his students, while the Soto master resembles a wise farmer, concerned with nourishing his plants. The difference in approach goes along with differences in practice: Rinzai does zazen facing the center of the room, Soto faces towards the wall. There is a distinction also in the length and manner of holding the kyousaku, the stick used for hitting sitters. As for walking meditation (kinhin), Rinzai prefers a brisk energetic manner with left hand wrapped round right wrist; Soto adopts a slow pace, with right hand wrapped round left. Such distinctions are of little significance, however, compared with the difference in emphasis, for while both aim at attaining a state of compassion, Rinzai is inclined to shout “Wake up!” whereas Soto urges “Just sit!”
Eat, Sit, Sleep:
The Daily Routine Of a Zen Monk
The seven great Zen temples of Kyoto each head a separate school of Rinzai Zen. These schools are administratively distinct but basically the same with regard to practice and teachings, and Zen priests are free to move from one school to another. Each school is headed by a chief abbot who is a qualified Zen master or venerable teacher (roshi). Assisting him in his duties are senior prelates, almost all of whom serve as priests at their own temples. Rinzai was originally a celibate tradition, but following the end of Japanese feudalism in 1868 the government authorized marriage for Buddhist monks as part of a program to weaken the religion. Although most of Kyoto’s great monastic abbots maintain the custom of celibacy, it is no longer obligatory.
To enter the Zen clergy it is first necessary to become the disciple of a temple priest. In the majority of cases, this means the son of a priest registering as a disciple of his father (Japan maintains the hereditary principle in several areas of traditional life). Laypeople are able to become disciples of a local priest or a priest with whom they practiced zazen sitting mediation. They will typically spend a year or two at the priest’s temple, then have an ordination ceremony qualifying them to enter a training monastery.
Entrance to the training monastery (known in Rinzai as sodo or senmon dojo) involves arriving at the entrance hall early in the morning and presenting the necessary documents from the ordaining priest. Applicants are refused entry for two days as a test of resolve. After waiting patiently for the two days, they are moved from the entrance hall to a small room where they must meditate for five days facing the wall. Only when this trial period is completed are they accepted into the monastic community.
A thick wooden block is struck like a gong to summon monks for functions. This one from Manpuku-ji has a Chinese inscription that reads “All who practice the way, pay attention! Birth and death are grave matters. Nothing is permanent; time passes quickly. Awake! Do not dawdle; devote yourself to your practice.”
Zen Training
The Zen sodo is basically a training hall. It is not, as in Christianity, a cloister in which to spend one’s life. Monks who wish to become temple priests are asked to train for at least three years. In this case, the sodo serves the function of a seminary. However, monks who are interested in a life of meditation remain at the monastery many years longer in order to advance as far as they can, which involves working on and passing koan (Zen riddles). In this case, they stay until they have completed the training process, something that can take from twelve to twenty years.
The few monks who finish the entire koan curriculum and are judged to have the qualities necessary to teach others receive a certificate of approval known as inka shomei, which qualifies them to become a Zen roshi. For such individuals it is common to undergo a period of post-monastic training, lasting several years, before they assume their teaching duties.
Just a few decades ago, Rinzai monasteries comprised communities of thirty or more monks, but nowadays, with the steep decline in the number of young people in Japan, most sodo manage with ten monks or fewer. The training consists of zazen, koan study, sutra chanting, physical labor (known as samu) and takuhatsu (begging for alms in nearby communities). However, zazen is central, for the meditative mind should be maintained even during all the other activities.
The formal practice of zazen occupies up to seven hours a day of the normal schedule. It is the basic technique by which practitioners seek to awaken to levels of mind deeper than discursive thought. By observing the mind’s workings, the practitioner comes to realize the illusory nature of the ego, which is basically no more than a construct of thought. This leads to a deeper understanding of the mind as something that is empty yet dynamic in nature. Ironically, in losing the sense of self, the meditator finds oneness with everything. Realization of this is called kensho (‘seeing one’s original nature’).
Koan are enigmatic problems that cannot be solved with the rational mind, such as, “What was your original face before you were born?” or “Does a dog have Buddha nature?” If used properly, they allow the practitioner to access a new mode of understanding beyond logical thought. In monastic practice, koan are assigned to students and their progress checked by the roshi during interviews. Once the master is satisfied with a student’s understanding, he assigns a different koan to deepen and refine the newly acquired insight. Traditionally, there are said to be 1,700 koan in all, though the number employed by any particular master varies considerably.
There are two main styles of zazen sitting meditation. That of the Rinzai and Obaku sects is done facing inwards towards the center of the room, whereas the Soto style is done facing the wall.
The Daily Routine
Apart from the formal practice of zazen, much of the monastic day is taken up with physical work, which is considered a vital means of cultivating mindfulness and distinguishes the Zen monastery from other Buddhist sects. Indeed, a Zen saying states that cleaning comes first, then religious practice, and thirdly study. By focusing on the job in hand, monks free the mind of needless distraction. Tasks include sweeping the grounds, cleaning, splitting firewood, cultivating vegetables and preparing food. As one wag put it, for people who sit around all day, there is a lot of hard work involved.
The monk’s life is carefully regulated, and first-timers are often startled by the military-style promptitude with which activities are carried out. This contrasts with the romantic image prevalent in the West. As Pico Iyer puts it in The Lady and the Monk “The Zen life is like a mountain wrapped in mist—though it looks beautiful from afar, once you start climbing there’s nothing but hard rock.”
The daily schedule differs between monasteries and there are variations according to season, but the basic routine is essentially the same. Early rising is followed by sutra chanting, zazen, cleaning and physical chores. Meals are carried out in silence. Takuhatsu mendicancy is conducted at least twelve mornings a month, while bathing is reserved for days with a four or nine in them (i.e. every five days). A typical day may run as follows, though it is not prescribed:
4 am Wake up
4.10–5 am Sutra chanting
5–7 am Zazen and interview with abbot
7 am Breakfast of rice gruel, salted plum and pickles
8–10.50 am Cleaning and work duties
11 am Lunch, typically barley rice, miso soup, cooked vegetable and pickled radish
1–3.50 pm Work duty
4 pm Light meal similar to lunch
5–8.30 pm Zazen and interview with abbot
9 pm Lights out
9–11 pm Night sitting
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