This is the rough transcript of a talk I gave to the Zenways Sangha in October 2022.
Since I started studying and practising Zen, I have come across many different teachings and different ways of pointing towards what we really are. One teaching that intrigued me from the beginning is the teaching of the True Person of No Rank. It caught my attention the first time I heard it, and I have often returned to it in my own practice.
This evening’s talk is inspired by my interest in this particular teaching.
As you probably know, the branch of Zen that we practise at Zenways is Rinzai Zen. It takes its name from Master Rinzai, or Linji in Chinese, and it is from him that this teaching of the True Person of No Rank comes.
One day Rinzai addressed his students and said:
“There is one true person of no rank, always coming out and going in through the gates of your face. Beginners who have not yet witnessed that, look!”
We are all very familiar with the idea of rank. We live in a world full of categories, positions, identities and distinctions. But Rinzai speaks about a person of no rank.
What is he pointing to?
I first had an idea about this teaching one morning while I was out on my bicycle. I passed a field and saw a group of cows. Looking at them, I suddenly became very aware of all the distinctions the mind immediately creates.
Of course there are differences between me and the cows. There are obvious differences in form, in the way we communicate and in what we do. Cows walk on four legs and graze on grass; humans walk on two legs and eat… other things.
And between human beings we make countless other distinctions: nationality, culture, education, opinions, social position and rank.
All of these distinctions have their uses. But I found myself wondering what there is before we begin applying all these categories.
A human.
A cow.
Italian.
English.
Educated.
Important.
Unimportant.
Before all of that, something is already happening. Seeing. Hearing. Breathing. Living.
Is this what Rinzai was pointing towards when he spoke about the True Person of No Rank?
I don’t know, but the question stayed with me.
More recently, another very ordinary experience brought this teaching back to mind.
I had been out for a cycle ride and, when I arrived home, I had an appointment in town. I didn’t have anything to eat or drink. I simply got into the car and left.
On the way home, I suddenly became very thirsty.
There was nothing intellectual about it. I didn’t have to work anything out.
The body wanted water.
That experience had nothing particularly to do with Riccardo. It didn’t depend on my past, what I had studied, whether I practised Zen or whether I was Italian, English or Spanish.
I was thirsty.
So I drank.
Was that the True Person of No Rank?
Again, I don’t know. But I find the question interesting.
When we are cold, we put on a coat. When we are hot, we take off a jumper. When we are hungry, we eat. When we are tired, we sleep. When we are thirsty, we drink.
Nothing exceptional. Nothing extraordinary.
Just very ordinary human life.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that I am never going to eat pizza or ice cream again. That would be tragic!
Nor does it mean that every impulse has to be followed or that we should somehow stop thinking. Perhaps it is simply another opportunity to notice what is happening before all our stories, preferences and ideas become involved.
There is a Zen story that often comes to mind in connection with this.
A new monk entered a monastery and asked the master:
“I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.”
The master asked:
“Have you eaten your rice porridge?”
The monk replied:
“I have eaten.”
The master said:
“Then you had better wash your bowl.”
Apparently, at that moment, the monk was enlightened.
He had eaten his porridge.
Now he could wash his bowl.
Perhaps we don’t need to add very much.
In a moment we are going to practise walking and sitting meditation together. We can use this time to explore Rinzai’s teaching for ourselves.
When walking, just walk. Feel the body, the feet touching the ground and the movement of each step.
When sitting, sit. Feel the body sitting, the posture and the breath.
Thoughts will arise. Opinions will arise. Ideas about whether our walking or sitting is good or bad will arise.
We can notice them.
And then continue walking.
Continue sitting.
Rinzai does not tell his students to construct an explanation of the True Person of No Rank.
He says:
Look!
So perhaps that is enough for now.
Let’s look.
