Transitions in the Nation and in My Life
Well, this past week was full of changes. Our nation of the United States held an election. It held more drama than either side expected. AP called the results just yesterday. In some states, election officials are still counting votes.
I changed jobs. Thursday was my last day at my old employer. Friday was my one day between jobs, and tomorrow I will start at a new place. The new company also allows for remote work, so that was a relief.
This past week was also my “meditation” week. That means that, in lieu of push-ups, sit-ups and squats, I meditate for ten minutes. I continue to do my ten minute writes on a daily basis, though those are not always making it to this blog.
Ten Bulls, or 10 Ox Herding Pictures
Also, sometime last week, I finished reading the Mumonkan. I’ve started a small section called 10 Bulls. According to Wikipedia, the 10 Bulls, or 10 Ox Herding Poems, are drawings accompanying poems which describe the stages of attaining enlightenment in Zen. These stages include bringing the wisdom of enlightenment back into society.
Senzaki and Reps transcribed my copy (Zen Flesh, Zen Bones). Tokuriki, a contemporary of the more modern transcribers, illustrated it. “Contemporary,” I should note, is about 1935. This is more recent, certainly, than the twelfth century original of poems and drawings (now lost). The original first appeared in China. The illustrator for mine, Tomikichiro Tokuriki, according to a site called “Japanese Woodblock Prints,” lived in Kyoto. His family produced twelve generations of woodblock artists!
I’ve read five so far. They are an easier than the Mumonkan. The Bull seems to be a stand-in for the mind, and many of the poems, so far, deal with “taming” the mind with meditation and breathing.
Discovering the Footprints
(10 Bulls, second poem)
Along the riverbank under the trees, I discover footprints!
Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints.
Deep in the remote mountains they are found.
These traces no more can be hidden than one’s nose, looking heavenward. (Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, Ten Bulls, pg. 244)
Already in the second poem’s commentary, we see the Buddhist idea about the illusory self actually introduced as multiple selves:
Then I learn that, just as many many utensils are made from one metal, so too are myriad entities made of the fabric of the self. (244)
Kakuan, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki
This idea of the myriad within the self I find to be one of Zen’s, and Buddhism’s deepest and most interesting insights.
Democracy and the Myriad Self
Sometimes I think of the myriad entities like the many people making up a democratic nation. Because we are a democracy, we have as many “influencers” as we have people, and as many “deciders” as we have voters. If the self were the United States, then each of us is part of that myriad making up its self. We are not always of one mind. Often we are conflicted, even divided against ourselves, chaotic and messy in our tactics and decisions. Yet we are one. Yes, we change directions often. When we are honest, those switches can lead us to equilibrium.
Most of the time, in our politics, there are two roughly balanced sides. Sometimes there are more than two sides. Each side is actually a collection of interest groups, and they agree to support each other. Finally those groups are made up of individuals. Individuals, like this nation, are each a self which is really a myriad, too, and internally conflicted.
In karate, we seek to strengthen both sides of our bodies, the left and the right. During kihon, each exercise alternates those sides. We practice blocking as well as various strikes. Karate seeks balance, between parts of the body, but also between the aggressive and defensive skills. Kanku, the advanced kata we are learning, is full of mirroring: what you do on the right, you repeat on the left. You travel forward, backwards and side to side during Kanku.
Balance and Meditation
Karate also teaches us to focus our fragmenting mind through meditation. Meditation, then, becomes a unifying force. I hope karate will also serve to strengthen and unify its practitioners, despite the differing politics we may each hold.
Likewise as a country, we need to acknowledge the two horns, two eyes, two nostrils, four legs but one nose and one tail of the bull. The bull can move forward, but it must coordinate its many limbs to do so. We must not forget how to walk together.
