Ten Teachings of Process Zen
inspired by the teachings of Dainin Katagiri Roshi
- The ultimate nature of existence is not beyond you, it is this life.
- Sooner or later, we will all taste the energy of life; it is the cosmos in you and you in the cosmos.
- Every moment in life is the place of enlightenment.
- Every moment is connected to every other moment.
- You are the process of living in the moment.
- There is no gap between you and the process: just walk.
- All you have to do is to be constantly present.
- The truth of living is not a destination; it is just to live.
- The best way to live is to walk in the way of compassion.
- Compassion is awakening to the inter-becoming of all moments.
Dainin Katagiri Roshi
Dainin Katagiri Roshi (1928-1990) was a prominent Zen Buddhist teacher and priest, known for his influential role in bringing Soto Zen Buddhism to the United States. Born in Osaka, Japan, he was ordained as a monk in 1941 and later studied under several distinguished Zen masters, including Daicho Hayashi and Eihei Dogen's lineage.
In 1963, Katagiri Roshi moved to the United States, initially serving at the Soto Zen mission in Los Angeles. He later became a significant figure in the development of Zen practice in America, particularly in the Midwest. He was instrumental in founding the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, where he served as the primary teacher and abbot until his death.
Katagiri Roshi was known for his gentle and compassionate teaching style, emphasizing the importance of daily practice, mindfulness, and the interconnectedness of all beings. His teachings continue to inspire and guide many Zen practitioners through his writings and the communities he helped establish.
In 1963, Katagiri Roshi moved to the United States, initially serving at the Soto Zen mission in Los Angeles. He later became a significant figure in the development of Zen practice in America, particularly in the Midwest. He was instrumental in founding the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, where he served as the primary teacher and abbot until his death.
Katagiri Roshi was known for his gentle and compassionate teaching style, emphasizing the importance of daily practice, mindfulness, and the interconnectedness of all beings. His teachings continue to inspire and guide many Zen practitioners through his writings and the communities he helped establish.
The Light That Shines Through Infinity
Zen and the Energy of Life
"The universe is alive with a dynamic energy that creates and sustains our lives. It surrounds us, flows through us, and is available to us in every moment. Spiritual practice, according to Dainin Katagiri Roshi, is about aligning ourselves with this ever-present life force—sometimes referred to as chi, qi, or ki.
This collection, edited from Roshi’s talks, focuses on cosmic energy as it relates to all aspects of Zen practice. With references to classic texts and personal stories that bring the teachings to life, The Light That Shines through Infinity is also a powerful antidote to the notion that practice is in some way about transcending the world around us. It is in fact about nothing other than relating to it compassionately and whole-heartedly."
From a Review by Raymond Lamb. Click here. Here are some quotations from Dainin Kagagiri Roshi highlighted by Lamb.
This collection, edited from Roshi’s talks, focuses on cosmic energy as it relates to all aspects of Zen practice. With references to classic texts and personal stories that bring the teachings to life, The Light That Shines through Infinity is also a powerful antidote to the notion that practice is in some way about transcending the world around us. It is in fact about nothing other than relating to it compassionately and whole-heartedly."
From a Review by Raymond Lamb. Click here. Here are some quotations from Dainin Kagagiri Roshi highlighted by Lamb.
The ultimate nature of existence is this life.
“The phenomenal world is not something separate from the ultimate nature of existence; the phenomenal world includes the ultimate nature of existence. . . . Buddha’s teaching is also called dharma. But Buddha’s dharma is not something different from human life; life itself is Buddha’s teaching. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you are living right in the middle of dharma.”
Sooner or later we will all taste the energy of life.
"Even if you don’t understand Zen teaching intellectually, still you can pay kind, compassionate attention to the things around you. Pay attention to others, not just yourself. This is the practice of egolessness. It is a practical way to live every day. Sooner or later you will taste the lively energy of life.”
Every moment in life is the place of enlightenment.
“All aspects of daily living are great opportunities through which you can experience samadhi, because every moment is a place where you can become one with an event. Instead of always using the energy of your life to create subject and object, sometimes use it to unify your body and mind in samadhi. Then your self-centered consciousness completely drops off, and you can see the immensity of your life.”
“The phenomenal world is not something separate from the ultimate nature of existence; the phenomenal world includes the ultimate nature of existence. . . . Buddha’s teaching is also called dharma. But Buddha’s dharma is not something different from human life; life itself is Buddha’s teaching. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you are living right in the middle of dharma.”
Sooner or later we will all taste the energy of life.
"Even if you don’t understand Zen teaching intellectually, still you can pay kind, compassionate attention to the things around you. Pay attention to others, not just yourself. This is the practice of egolessness. It is a practical way to live every day. Sooner or later you will taste the lively energy of life.”
Every moment in life is the place of enlightenment.
“All aspects of daily living are great opportunities through which you can experience samadhi, because every moment is a place where you can become one with an event. Instead of always using the energy of your life to create subject and object, sometimes use it to unify your body and mind in samadhi. Then your self-centered consciousness completely drops off, and you can see the immensity of your life.”
To Live is Just to Live
Essay by Dainin Katagiri in Loori, John Daido; Leighton, Taigen Dan. The Art of Just Sitting:
Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza Wisdom Publications
Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza Wisdom Publications
To Live is Just to Live is an Essay by Dainin Katagiri in Loori, John Daido; Leighton, Taigen Dan. The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza Wisdom Publications. Here are some quotations:
The Process is you.
"BASED ON SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA’S EXPERIENCE and the experience of the buddhas in the past, the main point of Dogen Zenji’s teaching is that zazen is to just become present in the process of zazen itself; this is shikantaza. It is not something you acquire after you have done zazen. It is not a concept of the process; it is to focus on the process itself. It is very difficult to understand this because even though we are always in the process, we don’t focus on it. There are even many schools in Buddhism that still handle Buddhism as a concept. But real Buddhism is to focus completely on the process itself. The process is you."
There is no gap between you and the process: just walk.
"If we are going to walk, we have to walk stably, no matter what happens. This is completely beyond being a matter of discussion. To walk in stability means to just walk. “Just walk” is to be present in the process itself. The process of walking is exactly that our body and mind are nothing but the process. There is no gap between us and the process. This is shikantaza; this is to be peace. We are peaceful, we are harmonious from the very beginning. That is why we should not expect to acquire peace. Take off all conceptual clothes, and then what is left? Finally, there is nothing to think about."
All you have to do is to be constantly present.
"Zazen is completely different from other meditations. It is not a matter of philosophical or metaphysical discussion. All we have to do is do what we are doing, right now, right here. Whatever kind of experience we have through zazen is secondary. Whatever happens, all we have to do is to be constantly present right in the middle of the process of zazen. This is the beginning and also the end. You can do it; it is open to all people, whoever they are. This is shikantaza."
The truth of living is just to live.
"If we look at our life, it is very clear. How often in our lives have we had feelings of happiness, unhappiness, pros and cons, success and failure? Countless numbers of times. But we are still alive. Regardless of whether or not we awaken to how important the essence of human life is, basically we are peaceful and harmonious. In other words, our life is just a continuation of living, that is all, “being living” constantly. That is why everyone can survive, no matter what happens. Is it our effort that makes it possible for us to survive for twenty years or forty years? No. Is it our judgment? No. Strictly speaking, it is just a continuation of becoming one with the process of living, that is all. This is the essence of living. The truth of living is just to live. This is a very simple practice."
"BASED ON SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA’S EXPERIENCE and the experience of the buddhas in the past, the main point of Dogen Zenji’s teaching is that zazen is to just become present in the process of zazen itself; this is shikantaza. It is not something you acquire after you have done zazen. It is not a concept of the process; it is to focus on the process itself. It is very difficult to understand this because even though we are always in the process, we don’t focus on it. There are even many schools in Buddhism that still handle Buddhism as a concept. But real Buddhism is to focus completely on the process itself. The process is you."
There is no gap between you and the process: just walk.
"If we are going to walk, we have to walk stably, no matter what happens. This is completely beyond being a matter of discussion. To walk in stability means to just walk. “Just walk” is to be present in the process itself. The process of walking is exactly that our body and mind are nothing but the process. There is no gap between us and the process. This is shikantaza; this is to be peace. We are peaceful, we are harmonious from the very beginning. That is why we should not expect to acquire peace. Take off all conceptual clothes, and then what is left? Finally, there is nothing to think about."
All you have to do is to be constantly present.
"Zazen is completely different from other meditations. It is not a matter of philosophical or metaphysical discussion. All we have to do is do what we are doing, right now, right here. Whatever kind of experience we have through zazen is secondary. Whatever happens, all we have to do is to be constantly present right in the middle of the process of zazen. This is the beginning and also the end. You can do it; it is open to all people, whoever they are. This is shikantaza."
The truth of living is just to live.
"If we look at our life, it is very clear. How often in our lives have we had feelings of happiness, unhappiness, pros and cons, success and failure? Countless numbers of times. But we are still alive. Regardless of whether or not we awaken to how important the essence of human life is, basically we are peaceful and harmonious. In other words, our life is just a continuation of living, that is all, “being living” constantly. That is why everyone can survive, no matter what happens. Is it our effort that makes it possible for us to survive for twenty years or forty years? No. Is it our judgment? No. Strictly speaking, it is just a continuation of becoming one with the process of living, that is all. This is the essence of living. The truth of living is just to live. This is a very simple practice."
A Process Appreciation
Some people might think that life's purpose is something we seek. Zen Buddhism in its way, and process theology in its way, suggest that it is something we already have. We have it in the very act of living, moment by moment. This purpose is not assigned by an external deity: by God or any other agent in the universe. A realization of it does not require an awakening to ultimate reality or a special mystical experience. Whatever peace we might seek is already given to us, deep within our lives, if we immerse ourself in life itself, and don't over theorize it.
Life's purpose is as simple as experiencing and embracing each moment fully, whether it brings joy or sorrow. It is in the living itself—the daily acts, the connections we make, the beauty we find in nature, the conversations we share, and even in the suffering—that we find life's true purpose.
Two things are important to keep in mind.
One is that there is no separate "you" that realizes this purpose. The process of experiencing is the "you." Life's purpose is woven into the fabric of living itself, with no distinction between the experiencer and the experience. As a process theologian would put it, the subject of experience is the act of experiencing.
The second is that no experience is an island. A daily act of living emerges out of a vast web of connections with everything else: other people, plants and animals, hills and rivers, stars and planets, cultural and historical circumstances. It is, in the language of Buddhism, dependently originating, an act of inter-becoming. One implication of this inter-becoming is that experience itself is enriched or fulfilled by empathy and compassion. Thus, even as every act of experience is part of life's purpose, this purpose is incomplete without others. The process that is "you" is also a process that includes "them," whoever and wherever they are. "They" are not merely projections of your mind; they are concrescing subjects, too, seeking life's purpose. We realize life's purpose most deeply in love.
*
Often we find it difficult to love others or even to love ourselves. We feel bandied about by tensions and hurriedness, by anxiety and suffering. What to do?
It can help to take moments in which we sit quietly, in meditation, and allow our own experience to be relieved of the attachments. To "just sit," Dainin Katagiri, puts it.
In the just sitting, we may well find domains of experience that, to our surprise, are peaceful and harmonious. In the language of process theology, we let go of our attachments and rest in the flow of experience itself. In this "just sitting," we are realizing life's purpose. It is to let life itself be our teacher.
"Just sitting" can be an activity of meditating, of sitting on a cushion, but it can also be a metaphor for finding purpose in the living of life. We can "just sit" in eating with friends, preparing a meal, being with our children, or volunteering in nursing homes. Any healthy activity can be a form of "just sitting" if done in loving, attentive, mindful ways. In the activity itself, the Light that shines through infinity shines forth.
*
What is this Light? We may also discover that, deep within us, there is a beckoning, a calling, to reach out into the world in loving ways, to help others find their own peace, to "just sit" in their ways. This calling is Amida Buddha, it is God. It is not a calling to find purpose in something other than life. It is a calling to live fully and completely, and lovingly, in what is already life's purpose: which is to live. It is, in the language of the Bible, to choose life: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).
The God of process theology, like the God of the Bible, does not impose value on the world. Rather, God lures the world to create its own value, its own beauty. And God does this from a consciousness that is filled with the world itself. God is not an island; God, too, inter-becomes. And God, too, is the process of being God, not something external to that, like a king on a throne. Or the grammatical subject of a sentence. God is the concrescence of the universe: the Process with an upper-case P.
The Process is not static. The divine reality, the concrescing Consciousness in whose life the universe unfolds, "just sits" with the world in a loving way, like a grandmother, like a beloved friend, like a cosmic Bodhisattva, embracing the whole of the universe, and each sentient being, with a tender care that nothing be lost.
- Jay McDaniel
Life's purpose is as simple as experiencing and embracing each moment fully, whether it brings joy or sorrow. It is in the living itself—the daily acts, the connections we make, the beauty we find in nature, the conversations we share, and even in the suffering—that we find life's true purpose.
Two things are important to keep in mind.
One is that there is no separate "you" that realizes this purpose. The process of experiencing is the "you." Life's purpose is woven into the fabric of living itself, with no distinction between the experiencer and the experience. As a process theologian would put it, the subject of experience is the act of experiencing.
The second is that no experience is an island. A daily act of living emerges out of a vast web of connections with everything else: other people, plants and animals, hills and rivers, stars and planets, cultural and historical circumstances. It is, in the language of Buddhism, dependently originating, an act of inter-becoming. One implication of this inter-becoming is that experience itself is enriched or fulfilled by empathy and compassion. Thus, even as every act of experience is part of life's purpose, this purpose is incomplete without others. The process that is "you" is also a process that includes "them," whoever and wherever they are. "They" are not merely projections of your mind; they are concrescing subjects, too, seeking life's purpose. We realize life's purpose most deeply in love.
*
Often we find it difficult to love others or even to love ourselves. We feel bandied about by tensions and hurriedness, by anxiety and suffering. What to do?
It can help to take moments in which we sit quietly, in meditation, and allow our own experience to be relieved of the attachments. To "just sit," Dainin Katagiri, puts it.
In the just sitting, we may well find domains of experience that, to our surprise, are peaceful and harmonious. In the language of process theology, we let go of our attachments and rest in the flow of experience itself. In this "just sitting," we are realizing life's purpose. It is to let life itself be our teacher.
"Just sitting" can be an activity of meditating, of sitting on a cushion, but it can also be a metaphor for finding purpose in the living of life. We can "just sit" in eating with friends, preparing a meal, being with our children, or volunteering in nursing homes. Any healthy activity can be a form of "just sitting" if done in loving, attentive, mindful ways. In the activity itself, the Light that shines through infinity shines forth.
*
What is this Light? We may also discover that, deep within us, there is a beckoning, a calling, to reach out into the world in loving ways, to help others find their own peace, to "just sit" in their ways. This calling is Amida Buddha, it is God. It is not a calling to find purpose in something other than life. It is a calling to live fully and completely, and lovingly, in what is already life's purpose: which is to live. It is, in the language of the Bible, to choose life: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).
The God of process theology, like the God of the Bible, does not impose value on the world. Rather, God lures the world to create its own value, its own beauty. And God does this from a consciousness that is filled with the world itself. God is not an island; God, too, inter-becomes. And God, too, is the process of being God, not something external to that, like a king on a throne. Or the grammatical subject of a sentence. God is the concrescence of the universe: the Process with an upper-case P.
The Process is not static. The divine reality, the concrescing Consciousness in whose life the universe unfolds, "just sits" with the world in a loving way, like a grandmother, like a beloved friend, like a cosmic Bodhisattva, embracing the whole of the universe, and each sentient being, with a tender care that nothing be lost.
- Jay McDaniel