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Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei

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BANKEI ZEN : Translations from the Record of Bankei by Peter Haskel. Edited by Yoshito Hakeda. 196 pp. New York : Grove Press, 1984.

If Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is Zen's supersonic jet, Bankei (1622-1693) is its horse-and-buggy. But when it's simply a matter of getting from point A to point A, since what we are looking for is no further than the end of our nose, either type of conveyance will suffice.

Dogen transports us to the stratospheric heights of Zen. His thought is totally brilliant and hyper-sophisticated, and once you get a taste of him you may find yourself completely captivated. Those who may be interested might care to take a look at Kazuaki Tanahashi's fine anthology, 'Moon in a Dewdrop : Writings of Zen Master Dogen.'

Bankei, in contrast, is a very different kettle of fish. For him the sutras, the koans, and the works of the great Chinese Masters were so much waste paper we needn't be bothering our heads about. Very much a man of the people, and immensely popular in his day, his following, as Haskel tells us, "embraced nearly every segment of Japanese society : samurai with their families and retainers, merchants, artisans, farmers, servants, even gamblers and gangsters, as well as monks and nuns of all the Buddhist sects" (page xvii). All of them, in crowds that could number over a thousand, would flock from all parts of Japan to listen to his unusual teaching.

What was the teaching that held such a powerful appeal for so many different kinds of people? Basically Bankei's Zen of the Unborn is simplicity itself, and can, as Haskel points out, be reduced to just three points: "What we have from our parents innately is the Unborn Buddha Mind and nothing else"; "The Buddha Mind is Unborn and marvelously illuminating, and with the Unborn everything is perfectly managed"; "Abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind!" (page xxxii).

Enlightenment, for Bankei, in other words, is not the prerogative of some sort of spiritual elite but is everyone's birthright. We don't need to undergo some sort of extensive training or arduous discipline to realize it because it's always been there. What gets in the way of the free and unobstructed flow of the Buddha Mind which we all possess is our selfishness, our habit of judging things as good or bad. All we need to do to return to our original nature is to LET GO NOW!

For the rest I'll have to refer you to Peter Haskel's fine Introduction to Bankei's life and thought, and to his selections from Bankei's sermons, instructions, poems, and letters. Haskel spent ten years working on this book, and he has succeeded brilliantly in bringing maverick straight-talking Bankei, and his times and the people who flocked to hear him, vividly before us. One can hear the authentic tones of a loving and concerned and no-nonsense Bankei as he urges his flock to set aside all preconceptions and just let the marvelously illuminating Unborn Mind manage all things perfectly for them:

"Everyone, do exactly as I'm telling you, and, following my instructions, start by trying to abide in the Unborn for thirty days. Learn to abide in the Unborn for thirty days, and from there on, even if you don't want to - whether you like it or not - you'll just naturally HAVE to abide in the Unborn. You'll be a success at abiding in the Unborn! Since that which is Unborn is the Buddha Mind, you'll be functioning with the Buddha Mind at all times. That way you'll be living buddhas here today, won't you? So listen to my teaching just as if today you were all born anew and starting afresh. . . ." (page 19, my caps for italics in original).

For the famous Zen scholar, D. T. Suzuki - who himself compiled an early edition of Bankei - Dogen, Hakuin, and Bankei were Japan's three greatest Zen Masters. If you have never read Bankei, I can assure you that you're in for a treat. But read him in Haskel's translation as it's never been bettered.

As of this date, there are only two comprehensive English translations of this essential teaching on the nature of Zen: Norman Waddell's The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei and Peter Haskel's Bankei Zen.

Much of what I offered in my posted review of Waddell's translation would equally apply to the Haskel text reviewed here. Subjectively, I feel that the Waddel version is a slightly more fluid read. Bankei Zen, however, offers the additional benefits of selected letters and poems including Bankei's famous "Song of the Original Mind." Photographs of his calligraphy, paintings, and intricately carved statues further enhance the text.

Both volumes were originally published in 1984, and there is inevitable overlap between the two texts. Nevertheless, they are complementary and each has its own merit. I have personally benefited from reading both.

A great gem of a book for any seeker. Master Bankei's teachings revolved around the principal that we are all a part of the Unborn-here and now and that once we abide in that no other knowledge or practice is really necessary. His teachings mainly point this out from many angles based on peoples questions and issues at the time. After many years of his own struggle as a seeker he came to the realization that since everything arises from the Unborn we are all Buddhas once we really abide in the Unborn, which is possible NOW without any other knowledge. He felt that seekers distanced themselves from this very direct teaching by doing too many things like working on koans or spending a lot of time reading religious Buddhist texts, all the while missing the Unborn Buddha Mind right now that is always present. It seems hard to believe but Master Bankei very profoundly and intelligently makes a great case for this teaching in this wonderful book. I strongly recommend it. It is along the lines of the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and more recently Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now & Stillness Speaks).

There are two books in English based on translations of Zen Master Bankei teachings, both pusblished in 1984. "Bankei Zen" is the title of the book written by Peter Haskel who behaved both as translator and editor under the supervision of his teacher Yoshito Hakeda. Haskel assisted the reader organizing the text and adding headings here and there to paragraphs, dialogues, anecdotes, poems. Also he added technical notes highlighting biographical and historical circumstances. These headings focus the attention of readers in their efforts to find their way throughout Bankei teachings. "The unborn" is the title of the book written by Norman Waddell, just a translator. His book becomes the forest of words. One Dharma Talk after the other and, here and there, also some highly interesting biographical and historical notes. However, Waddell produced a revised version in 2000 and included only minor changes to translations to very specific paragraphs. However no mention is made to Haskel's book on the same subject and author, similar texts. Under section III, other works in the bibliography section this reference to Hakei's book is conspicuously absent. Within the community of scholars the standard is mentioning books written by other authors on the same subject and basic source. This is not the case of Prof. Waddell at Otani University in Kyoto. His approach is below standards; competitors in the field must be mentioned after what is acceptable and recommened within the scientific and academic community. His silence is highly suspicious in the updated version of 2000 because experts in a field cannot ignore the state of the art on the subject and should not cold-shoulder the work of other experts in the same subject. Haskel's translation has been tailored to readers making their best to find out their way around a genial and easygoing Japanese Zen Master of the 17th century. Bankei is the antidote for those suffering an overdose of Dogen and Hakuin teachings and comments.

Bankei Yotaku was an interesting character in our Zen heritage, at a very young age he had left home and took to the hillside. He had always been fascinated by Confucian texts, but eventually turned to Zen. He practiced for 14 hard years under various lineages, settling with the lineage of the Rinzai. He would address large audiences attending his sermons with great ease and simplicity. Usually Zen at that time had been an aristocratic practice, yet Bankei would teach absolutely anyone; a trait which has helped his teachings remain a pillar of wisdom. His style recalls the brilliance and straightforwardness of the Great Chinese masters like Joju; in fact Bankei had trained under a Chinese master for several of those 14 years, and that style was more reflected in his teaching style than that of the Rinzai of Japan in many respects.

This book explores the sayings of this enigmatic figure within a skilled and delicate approach. Expounding his now famous Unborn Buddha Mind speeches in great simplicity and conciseness. This book can illuminate our understanding in some very powerful ways, taking us back to a time that is still as relevant as yesteryear. Great Book, enjoy! If you are interested in further reading on Bankei, purchase "The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei" by Norman Waddell. The Unborn is really like realizing that our mother is Kannon bodhisattva.

Not a lot to add to what's already been said in previous reviews - besides the fact that Bankei is (or has been) grossly under-rated. He is refreshing - after the institutional Zen claptrap and posturing, which leaves us stranded in the same old gunk we hoped to extricate ourselves from. Still, I would qualify a few things. Bankei did not claim to have originated anything startlingly 'new' - with his notion of the 'Unborn Mind.'It is there in the teachings of the early Chinese masters.

Again, some worry that Bankei didn't recommend 'striving' - or didn't 'strive' himself - but, his biography makes his questing mind clear. Hakuin - for example, didn't altogether approve of Bankei. Yet Bankei might be said to have had a 'natural' koan, insofar as his deep questioning sprang from the failure of Confucian teachers (and whoever else he could find) to explain what "brightening the bright virtue" (mei-toku) actually meant.

The point is, we ought not to adopt arbitrary views about the place of a questing 'doubt' - in Zen practice.Bankei asks why we should saddle ourselves with an arbitrary 'doubt.' But that's it, the 'doubt' should not be artificial. Bankei had his own doubt, and without it - he wouldn't have been driven to dis-cover the 'Unborn Mind.' We must allow ourselves that privilege.

Bankei-Zenji was a maverick, a figure unique in the history of Japanese Zen. Unable to find an Enlightened teacher, he set himself a regimen of asceticism and meditation that nearly killed him. But once he attained realisation he turned his back on all that and began to teach, becoming more popular than any Zen Master before or since: thousands flocked to hear him, so many that he was forced to teach outdoors. Zen associated itself with the military and scholarly elite, but Bankei-Zenji taught anybody and everybody: peasants, beggars, aristocrats, merchants, criminals, men and women, monks and laypeople.

What he taught was this: the ordinary mind we use everyday is itself the Unborn, Unoriginated Buddha-Mind. Becoming Enlightened is neither necessary nor possible: we are Enlightened now. All we need do is avoid exchanging this innate mind of Enlightenment for a contrived mind of greed, fear, anger, pride or delusion. He rejected koan-study and regarded meditation and devotional practices as optional.

This book is an exemplary account of his life and teaching: if I take off one star this is no criticism of editor or translator. But I'm sure that Bankei-Zenji had a presence, a charisma, that taught more effectively than any words. (His Bodhisattva calm became legendary: a sword is swished in his face, he bats it away without even blinking.) In the absence of this it's easy to miss the point. Significantly his teachings, so popular in his lifetime, did not survive him.

By contrast Hakuin-Zenji, who loathed this talk of the Unborn and established rigorous discipline and struggle with koans as the basis of Zen training, created what remains today the framework of the Rinzai School of Zen.

Going against the wishes of the Almighty, Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - and Man has been in a state of confusion ever since. But what came before knowledge and thinking and talking? The Unborn Buddha Mind which we all possess, but which is drowned out by thought. This book is a series of simple lectures in simple language by the Zen master Bankei talking to monks and common people about their problems. An easy to understand book with real answers for Man who is mired at the level of Hungry Ghosts and Fighting Demons.

Essential for the library of all Zen students. And a fascinating read for anyone interested in Zen, eastern religion, traditional wisdom, or just fresh perspectives on the nature of life, death, reality and the human condition.

If you are looking for some straight talk on Zen, Bankei dishes it up raw.

Pure blood and guts Zen from page one right through to the index! Peter Haskel has done us all a great service by providing this lovely translation of the Zen teachings of this popular, no holds barred Zen master. Thank you Mr. Haskel!

Bankei (1622-1693) is considered the third of the great Zen philosophers, along with Dogen, founder of Soto, and Hakuin, the spiritual renewer of Rinzai.

Unlike the gifted Hakuin, his approximate contemporary, and the peerless Dogen, who was the author of many unmatched numinous speculations on the human condition, Bankei founded no Zen sects and left no lineage. And unlike both Dogen and Hakuin, who wrote for a literate and sophisticated audience of aristocrats, priests, monks, and samurai, Bankei was a populist, who brought Zen into the lives of everyday people. His audiences consisted of farmers and tradesmen as well as the intelligentsia of early Tokugawa Japan.

The key to understanding Bankei is his idea of enlightenment through living in the "Unborn Mind." The Unborn Mind, according to Bankei, is the natural state of human consciousness prior to the imposition of those layered striations of family and social and other conventions that make up the personality. Letting go of those encrustations, Bankei taught, was the key to returning to the Unborn Mind.

Bankei, whose teaching style was highly idiosyncratic and fluidly geared toward individual audiences, reads at times like a 17th century Albert Ellis; at other times Bankei sounds like a feudal Dr. Phil as he provides commonsensical advice on a plethora of mundane subjects like the raising of children and getting along with neighbors; still other writings evidence a keenness of intellect to match Dogen and Hakuin, but with a humanity that those more esoteric philosophers simply lack. Then too, Bankei's Zen has a curiously 21st century feel with its admonition to recognize the personality as a construct. By careful selection among Bankei's writings, Peter Haskel has brought Bankei to life with a fine appreciation for the depth of the man's mind and the expansiveness of his spirit.

Like the Baal Shem Tov, who brought speculative Judaism down to the level of the toiling classes in Judaic Eastern Europe, Bankei brought Zen practice and the concept of the enlightened mind to Japan's country-dwellers. Hence, the Buddha Mind became the province of anyone who sought to find it, not just the privleged few.

One third psychologist, one third village elder, and one third Zen master, Bankei was an ultimate democrat of the human spirit.