My Dialogue with a Zen-inspired “Sit & Do Nothing” Adept

Note: this is an exchange from a private forum on silent tantra, aka Divine Androgyny, invented by John Mann, owner of Big Indian retreat center where we used to hold summer retreats back in the late 90s. The practice is a two person practice, done silently, sitting facing another person, eyes open. A kind of soul gazing; there is no other mental or energetic technique or manipulation. – Michael

Subj: Doing Nothing Thougths

To all practitioners of Divine Androgyny’s “Sit and Do Nothing” practice:

Recently I was perusing the Recorded Sayings of Master Rinzai. It evoked a response and thought process about Divine Androgyny and “doing nothing.” I am not sure I can line up the connections… but here’ goes…

In this particular collection Master Rinzai uses the term “buji” more than twenty times. Thus it would seem, that this is a main theme of his teaching. Eido Roshi has said that there is no English word that reflects exactly what buji expresses. It has been variously translated as, “nothing to do,” “to be free from contrivances,” “to be all done.”

“Bu” means “no,” or negation. “Ji” is event, matter, action, phenomena,affair or thing. So…Literally buji means to negate all ji. What does that mean?

Life is ji. Getting old is ji. Sickness is ji. Passing away is ji. In fact in our whole lives we are in the midst of ji.

We have a tendency to think that by “doing” various practices (ji), will reach enlightenment, nirvana…the place where delusions disappear and there is nothing else to seek.

Question #1. How can reality be altered by practice?

Yet, if buji implies doing nothing, then why do we have to practice/sit? Isn’t “doing nothing” in the passsive sense of the phrase enough? And isn’t our very being the source of all our problems and sufferings?

Question #2. Can we negate or transcend our own limited being?

Thus I have heard… When we completely realize the true nature of the universe, what seems to be ji is, in fact, none other than buji. There is nothing to do, no matter how hard we try. From a different view, buji is translated as “now”, or “as it is.”

Question #3. Right now can we improve now-ness, or as it is ness? Can you or your circumstances be otheriwise?

It seems that when the present moment is understood as “all there is,” there is no choice but to come to radical acceptance, and it is this radical acceptance that which is none other than true peace and composure.

“Buji.” To be one with suchness, the unconditional nature of “let it be,” with nothing wanting, nothing superfluous.

At this moment what more need we seek?

As the Truth eternally reveals itself…
This very place is the Lotus Land of Purity….

Very Truly Yours

Joel

PS. How is today’s breakfast and what else is happening?
—————————————————
FROM: Michael Winn

Subject: Re: Doing Nothing Thoughts

Thanks Joel, I enjoyed yours questions. Taoists explore similar ideas, such as “wuji” (wu = not, ji = the known), and wu wei (=spontaneous action that is not forced/willed). I think historically these Taoist notions shaped Chan Buddhism, which eventually made its way thru Korea, and morphed into Zen in Japan.

I am particularly interested in your question #3:

——-your text:

Question #3. Right now can we improve now-ness, or as it is ness? Can you or your circumstances be otheriwise?

It seems that when the present moment is understood as “all there is,” there is no choice but to come to radical acceptance, and it is this radical acceptance that which is none other than true peace and composure.

“Buji.” To be one with suchness, the unconditional nature of “let it be,” with nothing wanting, nothing superfluous.
———-

My response to this question:

If one embraces the “nowness” or “all there is” as including BOTH the “ji” that is Known as well as all that is Potential, i.e wuji, Not Yet Known, then the question answers itself.

The radical acceptance is not only of what has materialized in the present moment, i.e. the conditions in our life, but includes radical acceptance of the possibility of its changing.

The Potential that is present, but not yet manifested, is what spontaneously “improves” what is manifested.

Potential Now is what changes the Known Now.

But I interpret your answer to #3 as being more focused on the perspective of the “nowness” being the Known side, and possibly implying a bias, that “acceptance” is a passive state, ie we just need to witness the change that is materializing before our eyes in our life and accept it. Hence, sit and do nothing.

Please correct me if my understanding is not accurate. I may be superimposing passive-only interpretations from other Buddhists on to my understanding of your language.
—————–

I personally agree that this unconditional acceptance of what has materialized is essential.

But embracing the Potential Now gives rise to what I feel is a modification of question #3:
what is the role human free will plays in mediating between the manifest aspect of Now and the potential of Now to change itself?

The “answer’ that intuitively arises for me is that human free will is the Creative wild card in the present moment. Passive acceptance of “what is”, i.e. including suffering and limitation, simultaneously ignites Action to manifest the hidden potential within the manifest condition, to heal or love itself or simply change itself as an experiment.

Each human is a potential catalyst within the larger field of Potential Now and Known Now. Acceptance of the very possibility of that responsibility, of being a personal catalyst, exerts a subtle pressure on humans to create, to take action, to love, whether it be internal or external.

I classify the “sit and do nothing” process as a free will choice, primarily an internal action, taken to encourage and accelerate the stream of potential now to unfold itself within the stream of manifest now.

Michael