Doubt -- A Ch'an Perspective

Master Dongshan (807-62), one of the cofounders of the Caodong (Jap., Soto) lineage, had a natural doubt induced by his master when he bade farewell to him. Dongshan asked his master, "After you have passed away, how can I answer those who want me to describe you?" "Just this!" his master retorted. Dongshan was dumbfounded and became silent. His master said, "You must be very careful. and take care of this." Puzzled by this whole incident, Dongshan left his master in that state of wonderment, traveling alone in the mountains. One day he saw his own reflection in a river and suddenly his doubt was shattered. If Dongshan had not been deeply absorbed by doubt about his master's words, he might not have realized enlightenment.

A similar case is the story of Japanese Zen master Dogen (1200-1253), who in his youth could not understand why Buddhism teaches the intrinsic enlightened nature of all sentient beings and yet buddhas and bodhisattvas still need to arouse the desire for enlightenment. This question perplexed Dogen greatly for years and drove him from his seclusion on Mount Hiei across the sea to China. Dogen's doubt became the fundamental question of his own being. Years later, practicing under the Chinese master Rujing (1163-1228), Dogen heard the master scold another monk who was dozing off in meditation, "In Zen, body and mind are cast off; why are you sleeping?" When Dogen heard these words, his original doubt was shattered and he experienced enlightenment.

From these stories we can see that Chan doubt is not something contrived but is something that drives us forward in practice; it must be connected to our own lives. In Chan this is called the fundamental question, which is very similar to what modern people refer to as the sense of questioning but not knowing who we are, as in the sense of "What am I doing here?" Ultimately, it does not matter what method we use or what kind of Buddhism we practice; the fundamental question must be there. Shakyamuni's fundamental question before he became a buddha was how to end human suffering, and that question was suddenly and completely resolved after six years of austere practice when he saw the morning star after six days and nights of meditating under the Bodhi Tree.

---Guogu (Jimmy Yu)---