Q1. I have read a little about the essence of Buddhism as a whole. But can you please tell me the actual essence of Zen Buddhism?
A. The essence of Zen is its freedom. Not freedom from, but freedom in the world and the law of causation.
Q2. How do you feel when people are determined to say Buddha is the god of Buddhism?
A. I say that the Buddha (literally, the Awake, the Aware, the Enlightened) was a human being. He saw, after great and long struggle, the cause of and conditions for suffering, and so how to end it. If he weren't "just" human, but some kind of deity, then there would be no hope for us "mere" humans to follow his example, and so Buddhism would make no sense.
Q3. The definition of Zen is to sit in meditation. Would you say there is more to this word? If so, what would you add to this definition?
A. It's zazen that is sitting meditation. "Za" means to sit. The controlled conditions of zazen allow you to get free of things like fear, rage and hate and more subtle things like self-versus-other and tension-versus-inattention. But to carry that freedom out into your whole life, so you have imperturbable peace of mind, alertness and awareness, come what may and whatever you're doing, is "a whole other ball game". Zazen is the Zen you can easily see. Zen itself you are aware of in a more subtle way.
Q4. What is the difference between Buddhism and Zen?
A. On the surface, there is a big difference between Buddhism and Zen: world religion/one of its sects (denominations) that welcomes and appreciates the efforts of those with no interest in Buddhism that come and join in our practice. But if you go deeper, you see that there's really no difference.
Q5. How should a novice to Zen Buddhism start their studies?
A. Read, ask, find out. But then meditate. You have to find the truth for yourself--there's no other way. The words just (sometimes) point toward it.
Q6. Can you practice Zen alone or must you be a member of a Zen monastery or center?
A. You can practice Zen alone, but strictly speaking you're never alone. The whole world is always there all around you. I recommend a mix: Practice steadily, both alone and in a group according to your inclination and circumstances.
Q7. What do you do to prepare for sitting Zen?
A. Sitting Zen itself is its own best preparation. We give people pointers to get them started, but those pointers are not intended to take the place of your own experience of it.
Q8. I tried sitting in the posture of both feet up on my thighs. I found it very difficult. Is it wrong to sit in another posture while meditating?
A. It's like cooking: The shape of the cooking vessel is not so important. The point is that what's cooking gets well cooked. Whatever posture gets you alert and at the some time relaxed is right for you.
Q9. What is walking zazen?
A. Every so often your body needs a break from sitting still in one position. That's the reason for the walking. But your mind needs no break, in fact is happier without a break. By not looking around, keeping "centered," you to a considerable extent continue zazen as far as your mind is concerned while giving your body its needed change. This is practice as in the answer to Q3, with "walking" for "whole life" and "come what may and whatever you're doung".
Q10. Why is attention to your breathing so important during a sitting?
A. Attention to your breathing is a powerful way to keep your mind from wandering off into hopes and fears about the future, nostalgia and regrets about the past, obsessing on whatever has affected your mind recently and so on. And because your breath is calming down and slowing down, attention to your breathing calms your mind along with your body.
Q11. My mind easily takes on the snowball effect of thought during silence. How do you prevent this during a sitting?
A. Count the breaths silently on the out-breath, not trying to go beyond ten. When that gets to be more a distraction than a help, follow you breath, that is so-to-speak count without the numbers. And then let go of thoughts as soon as you notice you're getting tired of them. This "snowball effect" is the mind's natural reaction to the stillness it's not used to. But nothing is wrong. Patient practice this way leads to deep peace of mind.
Q12. What are your responsibilities as a Zen master?
A. I'm not a Zen master, I'm a teacher-monk. Zen masters don't teach, they help you train yourself.
Q13. What teaching did you receive to become a Zen master? How much time did you have to spend?
A. Not teaching, training, and that training is beyond words. I was at a Zen monastery for 12 years, and then went on a 2-year pilgrimage to Buddhist Asia: India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China and Thailand. But the process is taking much longer, I'm thinking.
Q14. I have read the textbook definition of Nirvana. Can you please give me your personal definition of Nirvana?
A. Nirvana is the extinction of clinging/seeking, of attachment, of everything that gets in the way of seeing your life and this world as they are. It is not the extinction of anything else, certainly not of life itself.
Q15. If seeking Buddha-hood is karma, how can one obtain Nirvana?
A. By letting go of that "one": the delusory, fixed, separate self, cobbled together from physical and mental phenomena in this contingent world--which is the source of endless arrogance, greed and fear.
Q16. What are the things that can prevent an awakening?
A. They are, for example, the things listed in answers 3, 10 and 15.
Q17. There are many Bible verses I find precious to be remembered. Do you have any koans that you recite to yourself--and why?
A. I don't have any koans that I recite. The point of a koan is to get free of something, not to collect (valuable) information.
Q18. In the "rules of defeat" they mention that sexual intercourse, thievery, murder and lying will prevent a monk from communion. Who imposes these rules and can they be forgiven?
A. The precepts (rules) are not imposed. They are taken as vows, as a kind of framework that enables us to get going on stopping suffering. This is a Zen answer. Theravadin ("Hinayana") Buddhists (for instance) answer differently. Even among them, a monk who breaks a precept (of which they have very many) can, unless it's very serious, be forgiven.
Q19. Does Buddhism have any forbidden foods?
A. No.
Q20. Do you believe someone can follow the practices of Christianity and Zen Buddhism at the same time? Why or why not?
A. Yes. A Catholic nun, now in her 80s and still practicing Zen meditation, delightedly told me that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the Day of Buddha's Enlightenment. She's why.
Q21. Do you consider Buddhism as a religion? If not, what would you consider it and why?
A. Those whose religion is based on set doctrines, fixed beliefs, tend to take the word “religion” as referring only to such religions. Buddhism is based on an agenda: to stop suffering. Not just my suffering, but yours, everybody's. How? By ridding ourselves of things like fear, rage and hate―that get in the way of seeing how suffering happens, its causes and conditions―in order to get rid of them, and so get rid of it. And, in the process, we see the world in certain ways, which could be called "doctrines". But those "doctrines" change and grow along with our practice: they are not fixed. So Buddhism doesn't lack anything to be a religion. It is on the contrary free of something―the fixed, set frame of mind, that in minds obsessed with fear, rage and hate, has caused so much sorrow down the ages.