All schools of Buddhism recognize what
Shingon’s founder, Kobo Daishi Kukai referred to as the “Three Items of
Mastery” (Hakeda 1972, p. 172). These are sila, samadhi and
prajna. Sila is generally rendered as discipline, samadhi as
meditation and prajna alternatively as knowledge, insight and/or
wisdom. Of these three it is easy to understand the purpose and
experience the benefits of meditation practice. Similarly we can
readily appreciate the deep knowledge, penetrating insight and
practical wisdom of an articulate and experienced Dharma teacher.
But discipline is a little different. Initially at least it might
not be so easy to appreciate.
Discipline can be a challenge.
Discipline sets limits, discipline draws clear lines. Without
regret or hesitation, discipline defines what we should not do and
compels the pursuit of what we should do. The Dhammapada’s
chapter entitled, “The Bhikku” is a vivid example. It begins:
It is good to restrain the eye.
It is good to restrain the ear.
It is good to restrain the nose.
It is good to restrain the tongue.
It is good to restrain the body.
It is good to restrain the mind.
It is good to restrain thought.
Restraint in all things is good.
The bhikku with restraint in all things
Will be free from suffering.
(Maitreya 1995, p. 97)
This is a very interesting and
challenging teaching. Perhaps even more surprising, the
Dhammapada further states:
Neither learning nor embracing solemn
vows,
Nor achieving a great state of
concentration,
Nor living alone will assure nirvana.
Nirvana is only achieved by right
action.
(Maitreya 1995, p. 73)
As modern practitioners this type of
teaching might be something very different from our current ideas and
interests in spirituality. Many of us have grown up in a world
were individual choice and personal freedom have created many widely
recognized advances both socially and individually. In addition,
we are not constrained by many of the beliefs and cultural norms common
in more traditional societies. So, for us, discipline might be
quite foreign. Discipline might seem as if it is a limitation, a
hinderance. Discipline might bring to mind an arbitrary, external
constraint on our personal freedom, creativity and expression. As
a modern practitioner of an ancient path, we might need to take some
time and put some effort into properly understanding what discipline
really is. We might have to put some work into discovering how to
incorporate discipline into our personal practice to ensure it is done
in a balanced manner.
That being said, all schools of Buddhism
call for discipline. From its very founding Buddhism employed
systems of conduct, prohibitions and specific activities to be
cultivated as an essential element within its training. The
Buddha developed the vinaya, the monastic code of conduct for his
ordained monks and nuns. The vinaya is a complex system of
prohibitions and practices that cover hundreds of individual
restrictions. Regarding this discipline he taught and required of
his students, in the Cakkavatti-Sihanada Sutta, the Buddha gives the
following, most interesting comment:
“And what is beauty for a monk? Here,
a monk practices right conduct, is restrained according to the
discipline, is perfect in behavior and habits, sees danger in the
slightest fault, and trains in the rules of training he has
undertaken. That is beauty for a monk.”
(Walshe 1987, p. 405)
The Buddha also taught a simple five-fold
discipline for lay people which includes;
No killing or harming
No stealing
No lying
No adultery
No imbibing in intoxicants
Dr. Walpola Rahula echos the discipline
described above in his description of sila found in his seminal work,
“What the Buddha Taught”. Dr. Rahula indicates that discipline is
composed of the third, fourth and fifth aspects of the Eightfold Path -
specifically Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
Further Dr. Rahula describes the purpose of discipline is “promoting a
happy and harmonious life both for the individual and society.“
Most importantly Dr. Rahula credits discipline as being “the
indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual attainments” (Rahula
1959, p. 47).
Mahayana Buddhism also recognizes
discipline as a critical component of spiritual training by its
inclusion, along with generosity, patience, energy, meditation and
prajna within the Six Paramitas. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche,
longtime Abbot of the Karma Kagyu Monastery in Woodstock, New York
defines the paramita of discipline simply and succinctly as follows:
“Discipline has three aspects.
The first is not harming others or ourselves, the second is doing what
is wholesome and virtuous for ourselves, and the third is helping
others.”
(Karthar 1992, p. 150)
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a more
radical representative of Tibetan Mahayana lectured and taught
extensively on the Bodhisattva path. In his early work, “The Myth
of Freedom” he made the following characterization of the bodhisattva’s
discipline:
“The purity of the bodhisattva
referred to by the shila paramita is based upon making friends with
oneself, loving oneself. You are not a nuisance to yourself
anymore; you are good company, an inspiration to yourself. You do
not have to control yourself so as to avoid temptations or follow rules
or laws. You find temptations less relevant and guidelines less
necessary, because you naturally follow appropriate patterns...
Unskillful action becomes irrelevant.”
(Trungpa 1976, p.111)
In our basic Shingon recitation practices
we encounter the "Juzenkai" or ten precepts. They are:
From this day forward to the end
of the future,
I will not kill
I will not steal
I will not commit adultery
I will not lie
I will not exaggerate
I will not slander
I will not turn one person against
another by equivocation
I will not be greedy
I will not be hateful
I will not persist in wrong views
Note that the first three are related to
body, the middle four are related to speech and the final three are
related to mind. This marks the Juzenkai as classically esoteric
in nature and design as its disciplines include the whole range of the
practitioner’s activities of body, speech and mind. It also
harkens back to the historical Buddha’s disciplines in style while
excluding some specific items and broadening the overall scope of
commitment by adding others.
In addition to Shingon’s basic form of
discipline, the Mahavairocana Sutra describes the "shiju kinkai", or
fourfold prohibitions which describes a very different dimension, and
perhaps deeper level of Buddhist discipline. In his work
”Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism” Professor Yamasaki renders the
shiju kinkai as follows:
Never abandon the Dharma
Never give up the aspiration to
enlightenment
Never be stingy with the teachings
Never engage in any action that does
not benefit sentient beings
These are also referred to as the samaya
precepts, or samaya-kai. Professor Yamasaki defines “samaya” as
“equality, vow, removal of obstructions, awakening” (Yamasaki
1988, p. 57).
Finally, Kobo Daishi makes the following,
enigmatic comment on discipline in a poem sent to a nobleman in Kyoto
about his desire to remain at his mountain retreat, Koya-san:
“Discipline in the woods alone lets us
soon enter the eternal Realm.”
(Hakeda 1972, p. 52)
As modern practitioners, undoubtedly we
need to take a good look at traditional disciplines. We would do
well to develop a unbiased understanding and appreciation of the role
these disciplines have played in the traditions we study. Further
we need to embrace how they might play a role in our own personal
practice and path. Without suppressing or straying into any
extreme, we need to carefully consider embracing the simple idea of
avoiding actions or dwelling in mental states that cause negative
results. Carefully making our own choices we should explore how
discipline can be a tangible support for our life of meditation.
The example of our own teacher, Ajari Tanaka shows that discipline,
consistently practiced in a thoughtful, balanced manner can create real
simplicity in our lives. And that simplicity can be liberating.
Bibliography
Yoshito S. Hakeda, Kukai: Major Works,
copyright 1972, Columbia Press
Balangoda Ananda Maitreya, The
Dhammapada The Path of Truth, copyright 1995, Paralax Press
Maurice Walshe, Thus Have I Heard The
Long Discourses of the Buddha, copyright 1987, Wisdom Publications
Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught,
copyright 1959, Grove Press
Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Dharma
Paths, copyright 1992, Snow Lion Publications
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, The Myth of
Freedom, copyright 1976, Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Taiko Yamasaki, Shingon: Japanese
Esoteric Buddhism, copyright 1988, Shambhala Publications, Inc. |