Mastering Life
Unsui（雲水） is a monk in training; he goes around one temple to the other, in search of his master, or he stays in Sodo, a temple space dedicated to their training. After a certain period, they become supermen. This is a little sneaky peek into how through my lens.
One day, Oshosama held a monthly Confucian Analects study class for children. This time we used the Lecture Hall at the Daitokuji temple. A zazen practice, followed by a lecture, happened as usual. We put things back where they were, cleaned up the space, and locked the door.
I was about to leave when Oshosama called me to follow him to the main temple. I had walked around many times within the complex but had never been inside the actual building.
Oshosama drew a large sliding door, and called for someone. A step into the entrance, I could tell that my Tokyo apartment would easily fit into this entrance space. Oshosama pointed to my left: a tall wall, on top of which dark-coloured wooden beams rested. At the bottom of the wall, there were five large openings lined up. The colour darkened around each openings. I bent down to look into one of the holes and as I looked up, there was a sphere-shaped, sooth-covered metal hanging over my head.
“This is where unsui cook,” Oshosama said.
What I was seeing was the bottom of a pot. I was looking it up from the opening of the hearth where they made fire with chopped wood. If all five pots were put on fire for cooking, a few hundred could easily be served. Later it turned out that the sliding door, which in my eyes was the main entrance to the temple, was merely a back door to the kitchen.
This simply exemplified the scale of temple life; cooking for dozens, cleaning vast space with basic tools like chopped wood, towels and bamboo brooms…
Oshosama cooks the gentlest and most nourishing vegetable soup; sweeps fallen leaves swiftly and tirelessly; and picks the serene flower in the garden to throw in a vase. This act of “holding” a space, encompassing every aspect of life, is the crucial part of training, as I came to comprehend it.
A quote from D.T. Suzuki seems to fit perfectly here.
“The truth of Zen, just a little bit of it, is what turns one’s humdrum life, a ife of monotonous, unispiring, common-placeness, into one of art, full of genuine inner creativity.” ( “Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis”)
Because if it’s just about getting it done then that is not enough. It has to be benevolent, quick, serene, sincere, clean… all these complex concepts all communicated through a single Japanese word “kirei.” Oshosama told me many times to “keep the space kirei,” and I was left wondering what exactly he was envisioning. The quality of kirei penetrates many aspects of life. And in our attempt to achieve that, in our mundane, everyday practice, we tap into our inner creativity.
So, unsui clean gardens, work in a field, cook and also study Chinese poetry to read Zen anecdotes, memorise sutra, practise Tea, flowers and calligraphy. Through the everyday practice, they become supermen to my eye.
A lady came out, Oshosama told her we were done, and thanked her for letting us use the Lecture Hall.
I never went back to the kitchen space after, and grateful that I got to do so on that day.
Read More of What Oshosama Says
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