Disporting with the Buddhas: Transformation through Play
December 19, 1987 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Roshi
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Katagiri Roshi: Good morning. Probably I told you before, but once again I would like to talk about this point today: the point is my recent experience of the modern age, in which there is something missing. One thing is the lack of big-heartedness. The second is the lack of real enjoyment. Recently I really feel deeply those two things are missing in our modern age.
In Buddhism we always [say to] be compassionate, be kind to oneself and others. But actually we are not compassionate, we are not kind to oneself and others – particularly [with] personal emotional problems which we are usually confronted with. If you have good a emotional aspect, I think no problem. But if you have a bad aspect of emotional experience called hatred, anger, we don’t know how to take care of it. It’s pretty hard for us to be generous and magnanimous or compassionate or kind to hatred or anger, pain, et cetera. But basically, we should have the foundation of how to deal with oneself and others, and trees, birds, and hatred, anger, love – whatever – with generosity and compassion and kindness and magnaminity.
But magnaminity and compassion or generosity is not to “take it easy” in our lives. Sometimes we have to take it easy, but sometimes we have to work hard. Sometimes we must be serious and strict. You have to be conversant with strictness and easiness, kindness and not-kindness.
So I think generosity or magnaminity is kind of big heart. This is your foundation in which you can build up your life. If you don’t have this fundamental attitude toward human life, it’s pretty hard to take care of many things which occur in one’s life. Because you cannot have always the good aspect of human life. You cannot have always the bad aspect of human life. Always there are two aspects of human life you have to be confronted with day to day. So I think through experience, through study, through meditation on those two things, you have to make free use of them in your life. I don’t know how to, but this is a practice for us.
That’s why Dogen Zenji says to listen to dharma. Dharma means the truth or ultimate principle of existence, and phenomena, and teaching. Those three work together. This is the meaning of dharma.
Dharma is not only the principle of existence, but it is simultaneously phenomena, because without phenomena, without human life, the truth or principle of existence doesn’t make sense. So the truth is very close; interacting very closely with phenomena, human life. And also the truth is something you can convey or transmit to others. That is a teaching. That’s why dharma has three meanings: the truth or principle of existence, and phenomena [or] human life, and also teaching. Those are combined and work together.
So if you use the term dharma, the meaning is very vague, but it’s very generous. When you listen to human life or when you listen to the human world using the term dharma, you can accept the big scale of the world – not only phenomena separate from truth, or truth separate from human life. So you have to be completely magnanimous and generous towards human life. That is dharma.
So Dōgen Zenji said, to listen to dharma is to cause your consciousness to disport itself. “Disport” is play; play freely.
In Japanese – please forgive me for using [the explanation of the Japanese word], because the Japanese has a little deep meaning, something more than the English, so I have to tell you. “To disport oneself” is called in Japanese yu-ge. Yu is “to play.” Ge means “to transform.” So yu-ge means you can transform yourself in the process of playing freely.
“Transform” means not change, not change without changing your body and mind, capability, ability, whatever you say. Your habits, your heredity, karma, whatever you say, without changing your body and mind – anyway something transformed in the process of playing freely. So this playing doesn’t have any purpose, [there is no] why we have to play. That play is [an] end itself. No purpose. At that time you can really have full commitment to play.
Just like [people] go to Lake Tahoe and gamble, if you like. In San Francisco I met one gentleman who likes very much to gamble every week! [There is some laughter.] I asked him if he is always earning the money by it; the student said no, he doesn’t, but he loves it. So every week he goes there and gambles. So why? No reason. [Laughter.] Because he enjoys it very much.
So if you play, real play doesn’t have its own purpose. So just play.
So you get to play. If you just play with wholeheartedness, then there is some power to transform your life. Transform means to produce creative new life.
Just like the art of the diving into the ocean from the top of the cliff in Acapulco. It’s really true; if you see the TV, you can see how beautiful diving into the ocean from the top of a cliff is. So that is he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know how much he produces creative life in the process of diving. He doesn’t know. But he is right in the middle of producing his creative art, in the process of diving – in the process of playing with the diving, exactly. At that time, this is called the art of playing, diving.
So to listen to the dharma is to cause your consciousness to disport itself. But consciousness is very tricky, it’s very difficult; consciousness is kind of something which causes your life to stop going freely. That’s why we have to listen to the dharma, which means listening to the truth [or] the principle of universe, and the phenomenal world, human life, and also the teaching from people. And then you can really get into the depths of human existence.
So naturally you can play freely with the practice. When you do zazen, you can really play freely with the zazen, and produce new creative life in the process of doing zazen.
But real creative life simply cannot be perceived by your consciousness; it’s not your business. But if people see it, people feel how beautiful it is; just like the diving.
So how long does it take people to create that new creative life? Day by day, divers always practice the same things. How long? I don’t know. In his whole life he has to do it. Regardless of whether he is a beginner or he is advanced or he is adept – it doesn’t matter; from the beginning to end he has to continually practice like this. And then, he can really produce creative new life.
This is what Dōgen Zenji says. So, in order to cause your consciousness to disport itself, your mind must be big hearted, and your body and heart must produce a new creative life day to day. And also, this creative life must be transmittable. You cannot hold it by yourself. Naturally it can be conveyed to somebody else; otherwise your creative life is not culture. It must be culture.
Culture means manifestation of your heart, which you have learned through your everyday living, based on the sublimity of life and death, and then this is a culture. For instance, the diver: his life must be culture, because he creates beautiful art of diving. This is a culture.
If so, everyone has this culture. But individual culture must be transmittable. That means you have to transmit it to somebody else, in the next generation. Otherwise, culture doesn’t stay in your life.
I was told very often that some Americans say that we don’t have a culture. But don’t say that! [Laughter.] Well, what do you mean? If you believe that, I think you should consider again what you mean by culture.
You should consider carefully the meaning of culture, and how you learn the culture. You can learn the culture from the past, but not only learning the culture from the past, also you have to digest the culture which you have learned from the people in the past in the day to day. You have to digest it and manifest and produce your culture, new culture, day to day in the present life. And then next, you have to transmit it to the next generation. Otherwise, culture doesn’t remain in American society.
You know, if you look at the people around you, I think some of the people have great culture created by the individual. But people often say, “I don’t care, because it is his business.” And then nobody tries to take over [that culture], nobody tries to learn from that person who is living day to day. Not only the technical things, but also you have to learn the personality, based on the sublimity of human life, life and death.
For instance, I think in this group you know Beverly White. Beverly White’s mother is 96 or so; she is still alive, and lately she cannot make a beautiful card, but for many years she has produced a beautiful card by her hands, using wild flowers. She was almost blind, but day to day she has produced this beautiful card and showed it in an art show in Minneapolis. Who takes care of this, who takes over this? It is kind of a small culture created by an individual, but if you believe it is a beautiful American culture, I think somebody should take it over and transmit it. Not only the technique how to make this card; I think you should learn the person behind the technique, behind producing this beautiful card every day. You have to learn the person who is alive day to day. Otherwise, a card is just a card, separate from human feeling, human emotions, and warm heart, warm blood circulation.
It’s easy for us to learn the technique, but it’s not so easy to learn the person. In order to learn the person, I think it really takes time.
That is why Dōgen Zenji says to listen to the dharma is to cause your consciousness to disport itself. Through the person you can get something which causes your consciousness to play freely. In other words, produce something creative. That is most important for us.
And then, if someone takes over this beautiful culture and transmits it, I think it is called culture.
Anytime, anywhere – everyone can do this.
But America is pro-individualism, too much. So you say, “Don’t tell me what I should do.” [Laughter.] It seems to be a freedom, but I don’t think it’s freedom. It’s very isolated, very isolated. Nothing to feel warm [communication] between. How can you express your appreciation to your human life? Nothing. Apparently you have lots of natural resources, and beautiful food, and nice houses, clothes, and many things – but no big heartedness. That is why there is always a lack of big heartedness.
We have to produce this big heartedness. Big heartedness means you have to practice day to day, learning the technique or studying systematically, but also you have to learn something from the person who lives day to day. It takes time.
The technical things and systematical study can be possible [in] a shorter period of time. If you go to school for four years, you can learn. But in order to digest your technique and the studies which you have had in your life, it really takes time. For this, you have to have warm communication with a person constantly, and then learn the personality with which that person always works together with the trees, birds, winters, and all sentient beings.
For instance, if you go to California, most people say, “I don’t like cold.” But that is really egoistic and pretty emotional, you know? [Laughter.] I was also one of them! [Louder laughter.] Because I lived in California and I moved to Minneapolis, but I didn’t have any idea how to live in this cold weather. But I always feel good, because still there are old senior citizens exist in such a cold weather! How old am I? I am pretty young. Even though you say 60, still I am young, because people in their 80s and senior citizens are always walking on the street in the cold weather. It’s possible! [Laughter.]
And then, please ask them how to live in this cold weather. Probably they will tell you a technique how to live. [He laughs.] How to walk on the icy road, and what kind of boots you should have; they will teach you. But you cannot learn that person who lives in cold weather day to day. Emotion is very complicated. Can you say, “I love cold weather”? No. Can you say, “I hate cold weather”? You should talk with those senior citizens. Can you ask them, “Do you like cold weather?” Maybe they say, “No.” Or maybe they say, “I like cold weather.” But I don’t think they can exist in the cold weather attaching to only one side, so-called “I love cold weather.” No; if you live day to day in the cold weather, always there are two things that come up: “I like it… but I don’t like it.” [Some noises of agreement.] Do you think so?
That’s why when you cause your consciousness to disport, I think you should be conversant with “you like” or “you don’t like.” This is a very stark reality. Don’t you think so?
Then you can live day to day. How to learn? How to learn the person? How to learn the technique they use? They are very conversant with like or dislike. How do you learn? No way. But they live.
So I think that’s why if you learn these kind of things from the person, very naturally you really express your appreciation to living, day to day. And then if you feel a deep appreciation to human life, naturally you want to transmit it to the next generation. That is a teaching. This is a culture.
Everyone has this capability to produce culture and to transmit to the next generation. So American people have freedom, total freedom, eternal possibility to produce American culture day to day. Okay?
Do you have a question?
I think this is my last talk this year. Maybe next year. I’m sorry, I am going to Japan December 25th. So please have a nice Christmas and New Year. I hope everyone will be happy in 1988. I will be back July 15th. I hope. [He laughs.] No guarantee; but I hope. So I am looking forward seeing you again July 15th next year.
Thank you very much.