SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

26 Sōtō Zenand made it a rule not to spend more than one night in any oneplace. Accordingly, it was not possible for these first threeAncestors to exert much influence on society in general.However, the Fourth Ancestor, Tao-hsin (J. D‡shin), andthe Fifth Ancestor, Hung-jen (J. K‡nin), settled on Mt. Shuangfeng(J. S‡h‡) in Huang-mei District (J. Obai) in Chi-chou(J. Kish‰, present-day Hupei Province) for a period of sixtyyears and surrounded themselves with more than five hundreddisciples. It was under such conditions that Zen was transformedinto a Chinese religion. When many people live together,it is not possible for them to devote themselves entirelyto formal meditation and other religious matters. In order to livethey must pay due regard to daily chores such as sweeping,cooking, farming, etc. In order for such work to assume thesame degree of importance as is attached to the formal meditation,it becomes necessary to grasp thoroughly the meaning ofBuddha Nature and Buddha Heart. Thus Zen was graduallydeepened spiritually and made to meet the needs of ordinaryliving. Zen henceforth was not to be relegated to the meditationhall of a temple, but would come forth to play an active part inall aspects of society.The Zen School teaches that we should not be dominatedby the Scriptures, but rather we should use them for our ownneeds, that we should not adhere to a literal interpretation ofScriptures, but apply their teachings to our daily living. This