Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership

by Thomas Cleary (Translator)

Overview

This guide to enlightened conduct for people in positions of authority is based on the teachings of several great Chinese Zen masters. Drawing on private records, letters, and long-lost documents of the Song dynasty (tenth to thirteenth centuries), Zen Lessons consists of short excerpts written in language that is accessible to the reader without any background in Eastern philosophy. This book serves as a guide to recognizing the qualities of a genuine Zen teacher; it also serves as a study of the character and conduct necessary for the mastery of any position of power and authority—whether religious, social, political, or organizational.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834825826
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	04/20/2004
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Thomas Cleary holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. He is the translator of more than fifty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Islamic texts from Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Pali, and Arabic.

Read an Excerpt

Translator's
Introduction

Zen
Lessons
is a collection of political, social, and psychological teachings of Chinese
Zen
(Chan)
adepts of the Song dynasty, from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries.

If the Tang dynasty, from the early seventh through the ninth centuries, may he called the classical period of Chinese Zen, the Song dynasty may be called its baroque period, characterized by complexity of form and ingenious imagery with multiple meaning.

In contrast to the relatively plain and straightforward Zen literature of the Tang dynasty, Song dynasty Zen literature is convoluted and artful. This is not regarded, in Zen terms, as a development in Zen, but as a response to a more complex and pressured society and individual. The Zen adepts of Song times did not regard the reality of Zen as any different in its essence from that of classical times, but considered the function of Zen to have become complicated by the complexity of the contemporary mind and the rampant spread of artificial
Zen based on imitations of a few Zen practices.

The proliferation of false Zen was stimulated by the enormous impact of real Zen on
Asian civilization. After the Tang dynasty, there is hardly anywhere one can turn in Chinese culture without seeing the influence of the Zen charisma.

The ill effects of the resulting influx of insincere followers into public Zen institutions are already noted in the works of great masters of the latter Tang dynasty, and these Zen Lessons. The inner dimension of the outward history of
Zen, during which it first breathed life into a new Buddhism and later revived other philosophies when that Buddhism grew aged and ill, is hardly observed by those who think in political terms, but nevertheless it is consistently emphasized by the Zen adepts themselves.

These
Zen
Lessons
illustrate the art of combining ultimate and ordinary truths, using society and conduct as a way into Zen enlightenment, by the practice of constructive criticism and higher education. This was one of the original tools of Buddhism, but in many schools it had lost its edge through excessive formalization by the time the
Zen Buddhists revived its original open flexibility.

Among these schools may be counted even the Complete Reality schools of Taoism and the Inner Design schools of Confucianism. The results of Zen methods applied to
Taoist and Confucian classics, these schools had as profound an impact on
Chinese culture as had the original Chan schools.

The classical period of Chinese Zen is usually said to have been the Tang dynasty,
from the seventh through the ninth centuries. The first large Zen commune was established in the mid-seventh century under the fourth founding teacher of
Zen, and countless people were said to have been awakened by the public talks of the sixth founding teacher who was founder of the so-called southern tradition. The fourth, fifth, and sixth founding teachers were all invited to be imperial teachers, and many of their spiritual descendants became teachers of leaders of Chinese society at all levels of organization, from local to imperial.

During the Tang period some of the most influential men and women on earth studied Zen on a par with some of the humblest and most obscure men and women on earth. Zen introduced a revolution in social practice that maintained its energy through centuries of opposition and corruption, and provided one of the only historical forums for unbiased social understanding as well as spiritual understanding.
Zen also influenced painting and poetry, two of the most important of Chinese arts, traditionally used for emotional education and therefore of great social significance.

As noted earlier, the Song dynasty was characterized by complexity of form and multiplicity of function within its intricate, ingenious, and often ambiguous designs. Song Zen further extended its influence through the urban arts and soft sciences, but also maintained its contact with the huge countryside of
China by means of the travels and retreats of Zen workers through the network of Tang dynasty relics.

Over the Tang dynasty, Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism in particular, grew to the point where there could have been no class of people or general geographical region untouched by its influence in the China of the Song dynasty. The problem was,
as predicted in Buddhist scripture, that the very success of the work would eventually attract the wrong kind of people, or rather that too many people would come with the wrong aspirations. By the last century of the Tang dynasty there are already notices of Zen establishments losing their order due to the invasion of people with faulty aspirations, and by Song times the tone among the distinguished teachers is one of emergency.

Put in elementary Buddhist terms, Zen establishments were originally set up to free people from the poisons of greed, aggression, and ignorance that ordinarily afflict individuals and societies to greater or lesser degrees and do not allow humankind to attain complete practical understanding of its real destiny.

According to Zen teaching, when people in positions of great responsibility in society trust Zen adepts, it may be because of the reputation Zen gained over the centuries in this enterprise, or it may be an unconscious response to the safety felt in the presence of a truly detoxified human being. In either case,
the false appeared in such profusion precisely because the true was so effective.

A
complication introduced by this situation was that followers of Zen, both inside and outside the Zen establishments, often had no objective means of judging the authenticity of Zen adepts. These
Zen
Lessons
reflect some of the lengths to which Zen teachers and outside supporters went in order to maintain the existence of certain organizational and psychological ideas capable of stimulating accurate perception of Zen mastery under appropriate conditions.

An enormous proportion of the Zen canon uses techniques honed to perfection during the baroque period, and therefore consists in one sense largely of technical descriptions of misconceptions of Zen and human values, analyses of the major problems of human thought and behavior in individual and social life. These descriptions are like designs of the locks that bind the conditioned human mentality, and are used to unlock those locks. The results of this unlocking are popularly called enlightenment, regarded in Zen as the initiation into higher learning experiences available to humankind.

One of the major problems encountered in the dissemination of the liberative Zen arts was the usurpation of the teaching function by imitators without the genuine inner knowledge of human psychology and Zen enlightenment. The fetishism that came to surround tokens of initiation and adepthood in Zen orders was to the true Zen leaders simply a sign of trivialization, but it was enough to deceive many naive Confucian grandees who, in the words of a late
Song Zen teacher, "only admired the flowers and did not take the fruit."

Traditionally,
the relationship between teacher and apprentice in Zen was formalized only after a period of association in which a certain tacit recognition had taken place. When the would-be apprentice was a monk or nun, a homeless wayfarer and professional student, it was ordinarily the teacher who recognized the student;
when the would-be apprentice had home, family, and social ties, the teacher awaited the student's recognition.

By the dawn of Song times, there was already a considerable degree of formalization of many aspects of Zen procedure, demanded by the large number of followers who flocked to the gates of the prestigious Zen institutions. There developed a system of public monasteries under government control, where known
Zen masters were invited to teach large assemblies during summer and winter study periods.

In the original Zen communities, everyone had to work, and duties were assigned according to ability as perceived by the core of adepts guiding the community.
The Tang dynasty literature has tales of certain adepts working as cooks or hospitalers for twenty years in the communities of their teachers, but in the
Song dynasty there seems to have been more rotation of internal administrators of Zen establishments through the reservoir of adepts who served in the various monasteries.

Eventually the Chinese government took official control over the appointments to the higher echelons of administrative and leadership duties. Of course, it was customary for the emperor, governor, military route commander, local grandee,
or whoever was legally in charge of approving appointments to monastic office to consult the communities and adepts, but there was still ample room for imposture.

Objective criticism particularly self-criticism is an ancient tradition in Buddhism. It would not be too much to say that critical insight was one of the mainstays of the original schools of Buddhism. One of the strengths of the authentic projection of Zen Buddhism was its impersonal pursuit of the liberating effects of this practice. Applied to social, political, psychological, and deep contemplative experiences over the centuries, this method endowed Buddhism with a profound understanding of human nature.
Zen
Lessons
explores the social, political, and psychological dimensions of this understanding.

Much of the most famous Zen literature of the Song dynasty, which in fact became the classical literature of Zen, derives from the public lectures of the masters,
and therefore is highly veiled due to the inherently secret nature of Zen experience. These
Zen
Lessons,
in contrast, are largely derived from private teachings, and therefore are mostly explicit.

1.
Enlightened
Virtue

Mingjiao said:

Nothing is more honorable than enlightenment, nothing is more beautiful than virtue.
Those who have enlightened virtue have it even though they be ordinary people,
while those who lack enlightened virtue lack it even though they be kings.

There were some people who starved to death in ancient times but have been admired ever since for their virtue; there were others who were kings but have been despised ever since for their lack of virtue.

So learners worry about not being imbued with virtue, they do not worry about not being in positions of power and authority.

—Tanqin
Annals

2.
Study and Learning

Mingjiao said:

The study of saints and sages is certainly not fulfilled in one day. When there is not enough time during the day, continue into the night; accumulate it over the months and years, and it will naturally develop. Therefore it is said,
"Accumulate learning by study, understand what you learn by questioning."

This means that study cannot bring discovery without discernment and questioning.
Nowadays where students go there is hardly anyone who asks a question to discern people. I do not know what they will use to help their spiritual stage and achieve the benefit of daily renewal.

—Jiufeng
Annals

3.
Great and Small Evil

Mingjiao said:

Of the evil that people do, there is that which has form and that which has no form. Formless evil injures people, evil with form kills people. The evil that harms people is relatively small, the evil that kills people is great.

That is why "there is poison in a party, there is spear and shield in talk and laughter, there are a tiger and a panther inside the chamber, there are savages in the next alley."

Unless you are yourself a sage and nip these in the bud, guarding against them with standards of propriety, the injury they do will be considerable.

—West
Lake Annals

4.
Honesty

Mingjiao related the following story:

When
Chan Master Dajiao was abbot of Ashoka monastery, it happened that two monks were arguing endlessly over alms. The director of monastery affairs could not stop them, so Dajiao called them to him and upbraided them in these terms:

"Once when Bao Gong was judge in Kaifeng, one of the people reported on his own initiative that someone who had entrusted a hundred ounces of white gold to him had died, and when he tried to return the money to the man's family, the son would not accept it. So he asked the judge to summon the son and return the money.

"Bao
Gong thought this admirably extraordinary, and called the son to talk to him.
The son declined the money, saying, 'When my late father was alive, he had no white gold to entrust privately to another house.'

"Since both men, the trustee and the son, continued to firmly refuse, Bao had no choice but to give it to a monastery in the city, for unseen blessings to propitiate the deceased.

"I
saw this with my own eyes. Even people in the mundane world are still able to be so aloof of wealth and look for what is right, as this story illustrates.
You are Buddhist disciples, yet you are so shameless."

Finally
Dajiao cast them out, according to the rule of Chan communities.

—West
Lake Annals

5.
A
Vessel of Enlightenment

When
Master Dajiao first went to Mount Lu, Chan Master Yuantong Na, seeing him once,
treated him as a great vessel of enlightenment. Someone asked Yuantong how he recognized Dajiao.

Yuantong said, "This man is true to the middle way, not biased or dependent.
Whether active or at rest, he is noble and dignified. Furthermore, in his study of the Way his actions are correct, and his words are simple yet logically complete. Whenever people have endowments like this, seldom do they fail to become vessels of enlightenment."

—Jiufeng
Annals

Table of Contents

	Translator's Introduction	xiii
	Notes on Sources	xxi
1.	Enlightened Virtue	1
2.	Study and Learning	1
3.	Great and Small Evil	2
4.	Honesty	2
5.	A Vessel of Enlightenment	3
6.	Modesty	4
7.	Rules	4
8.	Worry and Trouble	5
9.	A Swift Bird	6
10.	Work and the Way	6
11.	Hot and Cold	7
12.	Safety and Danger	7
13.	Three Essentials of Leadership	8
14.	Incompatibility	9
15.	Leadership and the Community	10
16.	Vermilion Outhouses	11
17.	Mastering Mind	11
18.	Mistrust	12
19.	The House of Homeleavers	12
20.	Chan Adepts	13
21.	Chan Communities	14
22.	Knowing People	14
23.	Virtue and Benevolence	15
24.	Mastery in Both Worlds	16
25.	An Inscrutable Buddha	17
26.	Great Light	17
27.	Essentials of Leadership	18
28.	Worry	18
29.	The Self-Pointer	19
30.	Defeatism	20
31.	Speech and Action	20
32.	Seeing Through	21
33.	Study without Turning Away from People	22
34.	Acting Too Early	23
35.	Continuing Education	23
36.	Decisions	24
37.	Personnel Problems	25
38.	Graduate Studies	25
39.	Sages and Ordinary People	26
40.	Being in the World without Misery	26
41.	Communication of Hearts	27
42.	Make the Way Wide	29
43.	No Deception	29
44.	The Chief Elder	30
45.	Passing the Test	30
46.	Farther and Farther	31
47.	Will	31
48.	Adding Dirt to a Mountain	31
49.	Loss of Integrity	32
50.	Mind and Traces	32
51.	Don't Rush	33
52.	The Call of Duty	33
53.	Hypocrisy	34
54.	Genuine Care	35
55.	The Use of Finery	35
56.	Advice to a King	36
57.	The Just	36
58.	Adaptation	37
59.	Selecting Associates	37
60.	Knowing People	38
61.	Insects	38
62.	Loftiness of Spirit	39
63.	Sincere Liking for Learning	39
64.	Timing	40
65.	Too Late	40
66.	Back to Basics	41
67.	Gradual Development	41
68.	Narrowmindedness and Indulgence	42
69.	Gain and Loss	42
70.	Overreaching Oneself	43
71.	Be Careful	44
72.	Good Leadership	45
73.	Two Winds	46
74.	The Obvious and the Unknown	47
75.	Beyond the Range of Arrows	48
76.	Commitment	49
77.	An Inimitable Teacher	49
78.	Self-Examination	50
79.	Storage and Development	51
80.	Sincerity and Truthfulness	51
81.	Correcting Faults	52
82.	The Phoenix and the Wolf	53
83.	Winning People	53
84.	The Community Mind	54
85.	Leadership and Pride	54
86.	Beginning and End	55
87.	Precedents	55
88.	Election	56
89.	The Best People	57
90.	Mind and Environment	57
91.	Frugality	58
92.	Deep and Shallow	58
93.	Lasting Peace	59
94.	Conduct	60
95.	The Air of the Ancients	60
96.	Considered Action	61
97.	Culture	61
98.	Rules	62
99.	Slogans	63
100.	See Yourself	63
101.	Recognizing a Teacher	64
102.	Balance	64
103.	Habit	65
104.	The Bequest of Extravagance	65
105.	The State of the Community	65
106.	What Are You Doing?	66
107.	The Influence of Conduct	67
108.	Retirement Home	68
109.	Education	68
110.	Great Teaching	69
111.	Expectations	70
112.	Nothing to Be Ashamed Of	70
113.	Beyond the Reach of Monks	71
114.	Signs of Good Government	72
115.	Insidious Destruction	72
116.	Iron Face Bing	73
117.	Inner Mastery, Outer Rectitude	73
118.	Someone of Perception	74
119.	Reflection	74
120.	A Wearer of the Patchwork Robe	75
121.	Energy and Will	76
122.	Persecution	76
123.	Human Figures	77
124.	A Life of Freedom	77
125.	Rich and Noble	78
126.	Learners and Dilettantes	79
127.	Self and Others	79
128.	Not in the Forefront	80
129.	The Quickest Shortcut	80
130.	Sincerity and Trustworthiness	81
131.	Materialism and the Way	81
132.	Impartiality	82
133.	Nature	82
134.	Feelings	83
135.	Discerning Feelings	83
136.	Natural Selection	84
137.	Controlling Bias	85
138.	Objectivity	86
139.	Heart-to-Heart Communication	86
140.	Government	87
141.	The Mean	88
142.	Peace amid Violence	88
143.	Whom to Elect	89
144.	Impartiality	89
145.	Examples	90
146.	Nominees	91
147.	Common Sense	91
148.	Misrepresentation	92
149.	A Memorial	92
150.	The Quality of Candidates	93
151.	Division of Responsibilities	94
152.	Exile of a Master	94
153.	Criticism	96
154.	Safety in the Community	96
155.	Making a Community Flourish	97
156.	Troubles	98
157.	Charades	98
158.	Grandees and Chan Teachers	99
159.	Authoritarianism	100
160.	Chan History	100
161.	Some Bad Habits	102
162.	A False Teaching	102
163.	Gifts of Teaching	103
164.	A Chan Master	104
165.	Buddhahood in This Life	104
166.	Casual Attire	105
167.	Showboats	106
168.	Personal Responsibility	106
169.	Uniforms	106
170.	The Discipline of Awareness	107
171.	Four Limbs of Leadership	107
172.	Thinking of Trouble	108
173.	A Direct Shortcut	109
174.	Nipping in the Bud	110
175.	A Thousand Days of Effort	110
176.	Trading Off	111
177.	Moving People	111
178.	A Retirement	112
179.	The Derelict Age	113
180.	Watering Melons at Midday	115
181.	A Testimonial	116
182.	A Demonstration	116
183.	A Diagnosis	117
184.	The Blue Cliff Record	118
185.	No Fixed Classes	119
186.	Leadership Training	119
187.	Penetrating Obstruction by Reason	120
188.	Teaching Government Officials	121
189.	The Peril of Leadership	121
190.	Killed but Not Shamed	122
191.	Choosing Assistants	122
192.	Superficiality and Depth	122
193.	The Mind of Saints and Sages	123
194.	History Review	123
195.	The Revival of the Linji School of Chan	124
196.	Custom	125
197.	The Good and the Corrupt	126
198.	Three Don'ts	126
199.	Wolves in Sheep's Clothing	127
200.	The Revealing Mirror of Truth	127
201.	Making Choices	128
202.	Loss of Order	128
203.	Making Distinctions	129
204.	Selecting Buddhas	130
205.	Recognition	130
206.	Fulfillment of Conditions	131
207.	An Impromptu Talk	131
208.	Governing Wild Foxes	132
209.	Balancing	133
210.	Talent and Capacity	133
211.	A Moment in History	133
212.	Sharing	134
213.	Growth	135
214.	A Successor to the Ancients	136
215.	The Ordinary Condition of Human Beings	137
216.	A Chan Master	138

Editorial Reviews

"Yuanwu's teaching, happily available to modern audiences in a vast body or literature, has a universality that transcends dogma and the narrow parameters of established religions."— The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness

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