Remembering Richard Hunn - 14th Anniversary (1.10.2020)

[Shi Da Dao]

Fourteen long years have passed since Richard Hunn left his body. Fourteen years after his passing was the date set for transmitting the Cao Dong (Lay) Dharma to whomever was a) qualified, and b) pure enough of spirit. Although there is no difference between the monastic and the lay-practitioner in essence (as both emerge equally from the empty mind-ground), those who think there is a 'difference' - and habitually align themselves with what they think is the 'superior' position - are not qualified for this transmission. We must be like Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253) and sit like an 'Iron Mountain'! This is the best way to honour the memory of Richard Hunn!

Although Dogen had attained ‘enlightenment in Japan within the Rinzai (Linji) School of Zen – when he arrived in China and encountered the ‘Cao Dong’ (Soto) School of Ch’an - he was informed that his enlightenment was not ‘real’ and therefore not ‘recognised’ within the ‘Cao Dong’. It was partly this incident (as well as rivalry between the different Ch’an lineages) that led to all kinds of stories being formulated accusing the ‘Cao Dong’ of ‘dying-out’ and teaching various ‘heresies’. None of this was true.

The ‘Cao Dong’ - whilst its founding masters used the Yijing (Book of Change) to development the Five Ranks of Prince and Minister – never advocated ‘silent sitting’ in China, just as the ‘Linji’ never advocated the forceful ‘sitting with gongans’ (koans). This can be observed simply by reading the various written histories of the Five Schools and Seven Branches of the Ch’an School preserved within the Chinese language.

Dogen was able to ‘see through’ and fully ‘understand’ the Five Ranks teaching, and understood that each of the five roundels (or ‘positions of attainment’) contained the essence of the other four roundels implicit within its meaning. This idea springs from the Yijing whereby each distinct hexagram contains within its forever-changing structure – the essence of the other sixty-three hexagrams! This is why Dogen understood the action of seated meditation to be both the ‘method’ to achieving enlightenment – and the act of ‘being enlightened’ simultaneously.