“Explanation-style teaching is not enough,” says Zen Master Seung Sahn, ”some kind of demonstration is necessary.” - Seung Sahn
As Buddhists in general and Zen practitioners in particular, we try to spread the Dharma wherever possible. Sometimes we do it through words, sometimes through silence, and optimally through our actions. We try to leave greed, hatred, and delusion out, and bring generosity, love, and wisdom in, without proselytizing or preaching. Although it’s not always obvious or straightforward how we do that.
Not every situation is the same. Likewise, no relationships are identical, and may change constantly. That being the case, can a single response realistically always be considered the correct one? It would be easy to say that generosity is always welcome, always helpful, always appropriate. But if a child were starving, would giving them a rubber ball for breakfast be generous? Would giving a basketball player a sandwich and expecting to see a fast break really be practicing the perfection of generosity? If someone’s wife just died, is pointing out the Buddhist teaching of no birth/no death be correct function? Would offering candy to a child who’s a stranger? None of these examples are necessarily bad actions, but they all reflect a certain tone-deafness regarding the situation and relationship.
We face challenges about what correct response—correct function—should be many times every day. If we aren’t paying attention—being mindful—and sensing the nuances in a given situation, we can very easily just do a shallow “Buddhist” response. Even the Buddha wasn’t all hugs all the time:
“….Ananda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie."
"Don't say that, Ananda. Don't say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life….” (Upaddha Sutta)
In the Sutra in 42 sections, the Buddha said, “Giving food to a hundred bad people is not as good as giving food to a single good person,” meaning that not all dana is appropriate dana, or correct function. Through our pride, we might think to ourselves, “I’m so great, I just donated all this food to all these people,” but that isn’t as meritorious or wholesome as supporting even one person who helps all beings find their True Nature. Even within the realm of “saving all beings,” there are priorities. Sustaining one who will do the work of the Bodhisattva is more beneficial to all beings in the long run than randomly performing self-congratulatory acts that only help people who only spread greed, hatred, and delusion. Even this, however, is subject to paying attention to situation, relationship, and function. There are the King Ashokas, who start out evil and become good, and conversely Devadatta, who does the opposite. On the surface, generosity to Devadatta would seem more appropriate, but that may turn out to be a grave error. Even the Zen stick, a punch, or a twist of the nose may have skillful function…depending on situation and relationship.
The first of the Perfections (Paramitas) is generosity, or dāna-pāramitā); followed by morality (śīla-pāramitā); perseverance (kṣānti-pāramitā); vigor (vīrya-pāramitā), meditative concentration (dhyāna-pāramitā); and wisdom (prajñā-pāramitā). They are known as the Practice of Perfections, that’s to say that they are ongoing like our Zen practice. (Think of the phrase “Practice makes perfect,” but without ever achieving total perfection). They Practice of the perfections is how we perform correct function, skillfully adapting to situations and relationships from moment to moment, and always returning to the same simple point: “How may I help you?”
Haengdal Citta gave the Dharma talk June 26, 2024
