Book Review: “Pointers to Insight” by Soko Morinaga Roshi
It was some time in 100 AD that Mahayana Buddhism of India began to enter China through the merchants that travelled the sea through the Silk Road towards the land of India (Andreasen 5). Three mainstreams began to take form (i.e., Ch’an Buddhism, Cheng-yen Buddhism, and Pure Land Buddhism), as it emphasized how human beings had had the ability to free themselves through meditation. By 500 AD, Ch’an Buddhism reached the shores of Japan, where it was called Zen Buddhism—using the word Zen to mean meditation (Andreasen 6). Thus, Buddhism in Japan became well developed by 600 AD, when a statue of Buddha was sent to the Japanese Emperor from the Korean King, which fully established the religion from then on (Andreasen 9). It was then that the 17 Articles was established, as it became the “basic principles of a constitution” (Andreasen 9), making Buddhism in Japan the foundation of morality, and the bases of the insights that Soko Morinaga Roshi wrote.
In the autobiography of Soko Morinaga Roshi, it was revealed how he experienced his Zen training, since the time of his youth, or about twenty-five years back, when he began understanding Buddha’s Way of bringing changes out of suffering. At the first pages, Soko Morinaga insisted that the word “Satori” reveals an incident that only a person who has previously experienced it would understand (Morinaga 15). Soko Morinaga expressed that Satori is such an “extremely profound experience” (Morinaga 15), which is the reason why he thought about writing his experiences, when he was a young Zen monk undergoing religious training on how to live fulfilled, contented lives while living on earth.
At that time, there was war on the land, and Soko Morinaga found himself lucky to be alive, after going home and was again attending school. His philosophy teacher, Tasuku Hara, mentioned the words of Kant concerning what is good and what is evil. As Kant stated,
Even were we to pursue for our whole lives the question of good and evil, we would never find the answer; all we may hope to come by is a yardstick for good and evil. (Morinaga 22)
Thinking of this, Soko Morinaga thought how the Japanese defined the war as holy, while the Americans judged it as a war of aggression. It seemed that people had long lost their ethical standard, not knowing how they should bring up their children, or how to “see into one’s nature and become Buddha” (Eliot and Parlett 397). This was exactly the experience of Soko Morinaga, when he found himself utterly miserable—without his family and loved ones, without land, and without money. Not knowing what to do, he realized he was lost in oblivion because he just read books and theorized “without ever imposing any discipline upon myself” (Morinaga 24). For that, he entered the Zen temples and heard the words of Zuigan Roshi, who said Morinaga has “lost faith in everything and everybody” (Morinaga 25). Still, he would have to trust others who teaches him the basic principles of life.
The Most Important Scene
In the story of Soko Morinaga, the most important scene was during the days when he was still youth, and he was staying in the Zen temple with Zuigan Roshi, who was trying to teach him the basics and principles of life as taught in Buddhism. Zuigan Roshi was trying to build trust between Soko Morinaga and himself by giving instructions to Soko Morinaga, wherein the first instruction was to sweep the garden. Based on the words of Soko Morinaga,
In the garden with the seventy-year-old Roshi, we both together began to sweep with bamboo brooms. The gardens of Zen temples are intentionally planted with all kinds of trees to make sure leaves fall continuously throughout the year; not just the maple leaves in autumn, but those of evergreen oak and camphor laurel which flutter steadily down in spring and indeed all the year! (Morinaga 26)
Wanting to win the approval of Zuigan Roshi, Soko Morinaga swept mightily, until he was able to come up with a mountain of leaves, which he thought was enough to please Zuigan Roshi. However, Roshi told him that the leaves are not rubbish, and he would still have to bring them to the empty charcoal sacks, which would be used in kindling the bath fire. For that, Soko Morinaga realized that the leaves are not rubbish at all. Next, Roshi instructed him to pick the small stones and the pebbles that were left behind, and put them beneath the eaves, to cover the holes made in the ground because of the raindrops. Thus, Soko Morinaga realized that stones and pebbles are not rubbish at all. Next, Roshi instructed him to collect the remaining lumps of earth and the scraps of moss, and put them in the depressions found on the ground, for them to become firm. Thus, Soko Morinaga realized that the lumps of earth and scraps of moss are not rubbish at all. It was then that Roshi told Soko Morinaga that “there is no rubbish in either men or things” (Morinaga 28). It was the first teaching to Soko Morinaga, for him to experience the Awakening or the Enlightenment of the Spirit.
This scene of the first teaching of Zuigan Roshi to Soko Morinaga appears to be very important, mainly because it teaches the ethical principle of Buddhism that, everything and everyone found on earth is useful, even though they may appear to be invaluable. This gave a unique insight to Soko Morinaga, as it stresses individual discipline, which is the main essence of Zen Buddhism in Japan. It stresses on the development of virtues like courage, perseverance, and clear insight, while it reveals that the most important things would be “to understand the nature of life and death and to realize that our own hearts are the Buddha himself” (Eliot and Parlett 399). This calls for individual discipline and moral training, to gradually develop and obtain Enlightenment, which is described as “a mountain peak approached from all sides by paths and each sect maintains that its own road is the best and shortest” (Eliot and Parlett 400). By experiencing good life, one experiences Enlightenment through counsel of perfection, which is said to be not intelligible to the outsiders.
The Story in relation to Buddhism
In the autobiography of Soko Morinaga Roshi, Buddhism was said to teach only “to let go of our desires” (Morinaga 29). As written, Christianity tells people to seek and they shall find; to knock and it shall be opened to them. For the Buddhists, however, there is question on how one should seek or knock. As stated, “[U]nless you knock and ask with a heart which is in accord with God’s heart, nothing will be given you and nothing will be opened unto you” (Morinaga 29). For the Buddhists, it is not only the desire that is important but the manner of attaining what is being desired. In fact, Soko Morinaga Roshi stated,
Buddhism also assures us that by repeatedly knocking and asking, we will at long last realize deep within ourselves that even before we began to ask, it was already given; and even before we began to knock, it was always open. (Morinaga 29)
It is as if the answer to one’s plea does not remain on the act of seeking blessing to the Almighty, but that the answer to one’s seeking has already been sought out and given to him/her who asked. This is the main essence of faith and trust: that because of one’s faith and trust, what one seeks has already been granted, even before he/she begins to seek or to knock. This counsel of perfection relays the evidence that, it was not based on the act of seeking or knocking, or how desire was proven by faith or by trust; but that there is already perfection done even before the act is being sought out. This appears to be the very root of Buddhism, which Zuigan Roshi tried to insist upon Soko Morinaga during his youth.
Another lesson that is evident in the autobiography of Soto Morinaga Roshi, is that in the seeking of Enlightenment, the fulfillment of one is the fulfillment of all, and one cannot be fulfilled without accomplishing the rest of the others. For instance, Soko Morinaga gave the example that, heating the bath means lighting up the fire first; and lighting up the fire means filling the tub with water, which means scrubbing the tub clean first. Still, to light up the fire there has to be some kindling, and the old ashes had to be removed first, and then clean the chimney, so that the fire burns properly. In other words, doing one thing leads to another, and to fulfill one thing is to fulfill each of the other, so that there is perfection in all doing. To be a master, there has to be perfection in all ways and in all manners.
In the autobiography of Soko Morinaga Roshi, entitled “Pointers to Insight”, he sought to explain his experiences, which led to him to experiencing Satori, which only he would understand. In this “extremely profound experience” (Morinaga 15), he came to understand that defining good and evil lies mainly on the yardstick being used in defining and measuring it. For life to have essence, there should be faith and trust, and a conviction that all things and beings have purpose in this world, so that there is nothing that is rubbish or useless. Everything is in its perfection, and all has its essence even the stones and pebbles and the scraps of moss and earth. With this Enlightenment, not only desire is vital but the manner of attaining what is being desired. This leads one to perfection, making one and all an image of the Buddha, such as ice and water, as reflected in the metaphor of Hakuin: “Without water there can be no ice” (Eliot and Parlett 404). It is in this state of perfection that one experiences nirvana—the experience of Satori that gives a new use to the order of things, so that by meditation, one attains perfection in their wish to become Buddha.
Andreasen, Esben. Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture. New York, NY: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Eliot, Sir Charles, and Sir Harold George Parlett. Japanese Buddhism. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press Ltd., 1994. Print.
Morinaga, Soko. Pointers to Insight. Trans. Jim Stokes. London: The Zen Centre, 1985. Print.