Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘”Think the unthinkable.” Think unthinkable. You know, think unthinkable, means think, you know, think not about something, you know. Usually when you think, you think about something. But thinking mind—if your thinking mind directed opposite way, that is to think unthinkable. Your mind is still clear, but there is no object.

The sun is not, you know, shining, only the earth, you know. The earth—if the earth is happen to be here, the sun will [laughs] shine on—on our earth. Think unthinkable in—is—your mind is—must be like the sun. It is shining, but it is not shining some particular thing. It is more than think about it —something. In this way, your mind, your function of mind, kicked in your practice. So he said, “Think unthinkable. How do you think the unthinkable?” How do you think the unthinkable? And this is very interesting word. How do you think the unthinkable? The sun is not shining some particular thing. So the sun is just the sun. It is not trying to shine anything. It is right there. Just there. But someone happens to appear near the sun, it will shine some object. That is, you know, how the sun shines everything.

So how—how do you think the unthinkable [laughs]? There is no way. How? How is the way. Because we don’t know how [laughs]. You know: how? So there you can put anything, you know: how? This way is how. That way is how. The all the way is how. This is how. This is how [laughs]. This is like a what. Cat is what. Dog is what. What is there, you — you ask people. That is what, you know. What may be a mouse, a cat, a bat. So how or what means— what it means is very deep. How do you think the unthinkable? This is not just, you know, a question. It is a strong statement. How do you think the unthinkable. This is not interrogative. It is strong affirmative sentence. How do you think the unthinkable. Unthinkable thinking is how.

In what way you think, that is how. That is the unthinkable. But you have no notion of thinking about anything. That is our practice. “How do you think the unthinkable? Think beyond thinking and unthinking.” Think beyond thinking and unthinking. Your thinking should be beyond “I think” or “I don’t think.” It must be right there always.’ (from the Suzuki Roshi Archive)

The Monday group wrestled with this talk this week – centering on the gnomic phrase from the Fukanzazengi. I think the sun image is the most helpful here.