Dainin Katagiri:
"Under all circumstances, we must be rooted in the source of existence. Right in the middle of the dynamic unfolding of our daily life, we must remain calm, quiet, and unperturbed. Whatever praise or criticism you receive—either from yourself or from others—there is no need to get bogged down in it. Just be straightforward.
"To accept life in a straightforward manner is to have a flexible mind, not clinging to ideas of good or bad, right or wrong. We need to learn how solemn, dignified, and sublime human life really is. No matter who we are, we should respect others and not judge them. Nor should we judge ourselves. For example, usually we try to do something about our reputation. We hang on to it when we should instead be learning how to free ourselves from it. If you hang on to thoughts of your reputation, your mind will not be calm, because you are stirring up the water of reputation.
"If someone slanders you, what should you do? Just make the waters calm. In other words, just forget it. This is not an easy practice. But if you hang on to the slander, you will become angry. You will fight. This just perpetuates the problem. This problem is not confined to slander or blame; it applies to praise and admiration as well. If you are admired, don’t hang on to admiration. Just get on with what needs to be done.
"If we are carried away by pros and cons, successes and failures, gains and losses, flattery and disgrace, we will not take care of our daily life. In order not to be carried away by these kinds of things, we must first touch the source of existence.
In context (You Have to Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight) he ties this to human relations. Manifesting here means something like showing. We model Buddha as Buddha modeled Buddha for us. This, Katagiri implies, is how we fulfill the four vows.
While the Precepts seem to be mostly about manifesting Dharma socially, the Diamond Sutra approach seems much more left-hand-must-not-see-what-right-hand-doing. "Manifesting" also when only the wilderness witnesses is consistency in practice.
I used to do a good deal of backpacking, and sometimes came upon heaps of litter at campsites. I learned to carry a trash bag along with me to gather up the stuff, but grumbled in righteous indignation as I did so.
It occurred to me to ask a Zen teacher (this would be about 1971) about my unwitnessed behavior on these occasions. "I find litter in the wilderness and it throws me off my game -- I get really upset with whomever was ahead of me to that site. Am I better off picking up the litter in that state, or just leaving it alone, thus remaining more tranquil?"
"It's good to pick up litter, yes? But maybe not so good to speculate on how it got there. I'd say put it down first before picking it up."
-- shonin
While the Precepts seem to be mostly about manifesting Dharma socially, the Diamond Sutra approach seems much more left-hand-must-not-see-what-right-hand-doing. "Manifesting" also when only the wilderness witnesses is consistency in practice.
I used to do a good deal of backpacking, and sometimes came upon heaps of litter at campsites. I learned to carry a trash bag along with me to gather up the stuff, but grumbled in righteous indignation as I did so.
It occurred to me to ask a Zen teacher (this would be about 1971) about my unwitnessed behavior on these occasions. "I find litter in the wilderness and it throws me off my game -- I get really upset with whomever was ahead of me to that site. Am I better off picking up the litter in that state, or just leaving it alone, thus remaining more tranquil?"
"It's good to pick up litter, yes? But maybe not so good to speculate on how it got there. I'd say put it down first before picking it up."
-- shonin