Lecture 24:
The Most Basic. The Most Important.
A lecture given by Sensei Ryokyu Endo.
Kyoto, June 20th 2007.
So what is the most basic thing? What was the most basic concept of my second book is “Empathic Imagination”. This means
(1). “What this person needs” and
(2). “I will give what this person needs, and I will do any thing for that”
It is back and forth between (1) and (2), back and forth all the time. Please don’t drop into just asking yourself, “Do I try to give what this person needs?” Don’t add any thing, don’t put anything else into the meaning of “Empathic Imagination” i.e. into (1) and (2). It is the same attitude of the heart in Sangha, “I will do whatever Sangha needs”. Don’t put anything else, otherwise it is Jaki. If you don’t have this heart, and, or it is not clear, then all the time it is just round, round, round, and round. This is not what you need to think about, or reflect about, you just need to be this way with no excuses. Don’t bring up any excuses i.e. “What am I going to do if ……” This is just an excuse not to do, because it is not happening yet.
Based on (2), “I will give what this person needs, and I will do any thing for that” we do (1), i.e. we imagine “What this person needs” So location (line, tsubo), depth, time. If you are really looking for, thinking about (2), there will be no tension. Why there is tension, is because you are not 100% willing to give, you try to make your situation of giving i.e. try to bring yourself to a giving state, “I have to give”. If you are busy with yourself you can not give 100%, so there is no imagination, then you can not take the necessary location, the necessary depth. But if you are really, really in this state of “Empathic Imagination”, it is very flexible, so every moment will be changed, every tsubo will be changed. If you are busy with your self you can not really give what the person needs, and there will be some dissatisfaction in treatment or relationships
If you really always think about what really needs to be done for people, for Sangha, then no problem appears. To be deeply mindful, means don’t put your self in, don’t count yourself, just be aware, of what every one needs, what Sangha needs, and do it. In your every day life, in your 24 hours, how much percentage are you spending for this? Don’t drop into the state of how much I am thinking, or I am only thinking 10%, for even if 1% of seed of this, then it is the real part, the only real part. It is not “how much I should do”, it is only talking about how much is necessary, how much is necessary for every one, for Sangha. This is the most basic thing, and the most important thing, and there is no manual.
If it is like this, then Sangha can be very wide, very wonderful, with many possibilities and a large potential. Not only Sangha, but based on this, the World can become wonderful. If not this, then it will be the opposite. What you can do is only your experience, many experiences, some of pleasure, some of pain, some being sad, some being happy, only you can learn from this.
(The next part was not recorded but taken from notes during the class)
So please do what is necessary in the treatment. If one point is finished then really think what the person needs, you have to be really serious, this is really deep. Don’t ever forget that it is what this person needs, if this attitude is not there then you start putting yourself into the centre of the treatment. When you receive self centered shiatsu you don’t like it, so do what you want to receive. Only do what is necessary and “I will do any thing for that”
Sangha is not some thing you ride on like a horse, i.e. ride a horse and it will carry you, take you. If you do not change other people’s hearts then it will not spread. If you really, really, do what is necessary, then hearts can change.
(Sensei went on to tell a story about a teacher in Japan who walks the streets of Tokyo late at night helping runaway teenagers);….
There was a teacher who gave his finger to the Yakuza (Japaneses Mafia) to get one of his students back, that’s why so many lost teenagers changed their heart. No artist works just from 9am -5pm, they will do any thing for their creation.
This is the same talk as the sutra class. When you are responsible, God, Buddha, The One, comes to unify with you to do the work. Why unify with God, Buddha, The One, it is to express God’s, Buddha’s, The One’s work in this world, which can only be done through human beings, through you. This is the work of human beings. You may talk about unity with God, Buddha, The One, but you can’t just unify, it only happens by being responsible, without responsibility it can bring the dirt, bring the Ki down, cause Jaki.
When you play music, how much you are responsible to the sound that you make will decide the quality of the sound of that music. Of course this doesn’t only mean at the precise time that you make the sound, i.e. when the sound comes out, but also after the sound comes out, this is because sound is the vibration of air and even if you don’t hear the sound any more, the vibration is still there, still exists, and changes depending on your heart. Even after the sound has come out, depending on how much you are responsible, the meaning can change. If you have a responsibility to the sound, then that sound and God unifies, and then the music can be meaningful. Without responsibility it is just noise, so much music is just noise, just like the sound of a machine, it is the same kind of energy as a chemical taste. If there is responsibility then even with a synthesizer the meaning can change. With a synthesizer, there is some separation of the senses of touch and sound, so you can’t really be responsible 100%, but even so the sound, the music can be meaningful. Some people never think about this when playing or recording. I don’t really want to talk about myself, but when I am recording I use two synthesizers so each one I am responsible 100%. First I play one and then the other, both with 100% responsibility. The recording engineer said why don’t you just connect the synthesizers together, then if you just play one, both of them will make the same sound. But in that case it is the machine that plays, the engineer thinks that it is the same, but I disagree.
Originally music, medicine, dance etc. were all about unifying with God, and expressing the glory of God, but without responsibility this will never happen. Of course there is also the word, some people don’t take responsibility of their words, what they say, so that person’s life, their living, will not be led by the one. I know a good story, it is from a movie and it is a true story. The story is about a policeman from New York City who after eating in a restaurant asked the waitress which she would rather have, a tip or a lottery ticket. The waitress said, don’t worry about the tip, but if you win the lottery you can give me half of the winnings. The lottery ticket was a big winner and the policeman gave half of the winnings to the waitress as promised, but his wife was not happy about it at all. The wife kept saying “why are you doing this?” and he kept repeating “because I gave my word”.
Another story from ancient Japan is about a very famous artist who traveled far and wide doing his paintings. Early in his career he had helped with a large building and where ever he was, how ever far away, he would always return if he was needed for repairs to the building. He had so much responsibility, and so much responsibility makes for a very meaningful life, a noble life. Art is noble and art is life.