Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘Although they have water, the people in Hell cannot drink it because the water burns like a fire, or water which they want to drink looks like blood, so they cannot take it. While the celestial beings — for the celestial beings it is jewel and for the fish it is their home and for the human being it is water. You may think, if you think water is water (if you understand that water is water, as we do ) is right understanding the water sometimes looks like — although water sometimes looks like jewel or house or blood or fire that is not real water — you may think in this way. As you think that zazen practice is real practice and the rest of the everyday activities is the application of zazen, but this (zazen) is fundamental practice. But Dogen zenji, amazingly said, ‘Water is not water’. If you think water is water your understanding is not much different from the understanding of fish’s understanding, and hungry ghost’s understanding of water, or angel’s understanding of water. There is not much difference between our understanding and their understanding.

Then what is our zazen? Or what is water? This may be another — the next question you will have; if zazen is not zazen, what is that which we are practicing everyday? This will be the next question. Here Dogen Zenji says, ‘This is Buddha’s activity, some activity which was given to you.’ Tentatively the water is not water actually; it is something which was given to you. Our practice is not something which you can understand because it is something which is given to you. You didn’t make it; you did not invent it; you did not practice zazen through and through. But the reason why you can practice it is just because it was something which was given to you. So this practice is possible because Buddha gave this practice to us. So there is no reason why we do not know what it is, but because it was given to us we have to receive it, we have to accept it. That is just why we practice zazen.’ (from the Suzuki Roshi Archive)

I am not sure I had come across this particular talk before – given at the end of 1967, with some words about Tassajara and a new group in Mill Valley, and, as with other talks I have been looking at recently, using water as an analogy.