Saidō Kennaway, Rev. Master

 

Introduction:

Words said at the time of death can be significant and as precious jewels. Fortunately, just days before his passing, when he knew his days were short, we were able to record some of Reverend Master Saidō’s extemporaneous voicings of the Dharma. They held a poignant significance, as well as important Dharma truths conveyed with Reverend Master Saidō’s characteristic simplicity, light touch, and frequent humorous expressiveness!

Even though Reverend Master Saidō was gravely ill, and passed away within days, his brightness of heart and twinkle of eye were evident as he gave voice to the Dharma with obvious delight, and yet with earnest, serious intent.

The topic was close to his heart and reflected much of his later life’s heart wish and work: that of encouraging harmony and understanding – not only in his own training, but in whichever sphere he was involved.

In the following edited version of his words Reverend Master Saidō paraphrased, in the vernacular, the essential part of the story of the Buddha’s visit to Kosambi, where a quarrel amongst the monks had reached a point of division and violently hurled words! The Buddha attempted to awaken the monks by various means including recounting the tale of Prince Dighavu, who had witnessed the death of his parents at the hand of rival king Brahmadatta.  (Mv 10.2.3-20) Prince Dighavu’s father’s last desperate words to his son were: “Vengeance is not settled through vengeance. Vengeance is settled through non-vengeance.”

In brief, as time passed, Prince Dighavu became close to King Brahmadatta, and even became his attendant. This was possible because his identity as the son of the murdered king and queen had not been detected.

― Rev. Master Mokugen Kublicki

 

Reverend Master Saidō’s Dharma talk:

This big King (Brahmadatta) so to speak, knows that the Prince is a threat because he is still around, and his parents have been killed, and he still has some title to the lands. Time passes. The young Prince gets himself into the court of the King, and because he’s, you know, hot stuff, good at all kinds of things, he gets promoted to eventually being the King’s assistant. He’s slowly positioned himself so that he is now with the King: he’s trusted around him, he is his personal assistant, and he bides his time.  However, the cycle of the harbouring of grievances, resentment and revenge had been around for a long time…

Then one day the King and his retinue are out in the forest – a hunting party or something like that – and everyone else goes off belting through the undergrowth. The Prince is left alone with the King who is snoozing and he thinks: “Now is the time! I can take my revenge!” He gets out his knife and just as he is about to strike, the King wakes up.   Prince Dighavu suddenly remembers his dying father’s last words: “Hatred is never solved by hatred, it’s by non-hatred.”  In a change of heart, he says to the King: “You must spare my life if I spare yours.” In other words (Rev. Master Saidō elaborates): “You must no longer see me as someone who is a threat to be destroyed and I will no longer see you as someone I have to kill.”

So they must give up something very deep in order for the matter to be put to rest – so that it does not continue. If not, the killing and revenge continues…this is how all such conflicts carry on…

And so, there is this great insight!  Both sides must take things much deeper. This is interesting. Usually we think: “I am right and they are wrong”. Whereas both sides must give up the thing which drives them – fear of a threat, and revenge or resentment for something that is a deep hurt. Each must look to their own heart.

(Rev. Master Saidō continues): Of course, he marries the King’s daughter, and they all live happily ever after. It is a story, but it conveys an important idea. When I first realized what it was on about, I realised it was quite radical! You know, we tend to think very much in terms of, you’re right and I’m right, and my right is righter than your right. Whereas we could see that we both might be right, and we both have something else that we must get beyond or open up to. Not being willing to do so, is so often the basis of conflict.

One of the ways that people work on conflict reconciliation is that they have someone say something good about the other person or say something good about what another country does. You know, such as: What is a good quality of the Israelis? What is a good quality of the Palestinians? Can you acknowledge something, can you just admit something good? …  It slowly breaks apart the idea that the other party is completely off the wall. It makes a bit of an opening.

(Rev. Master Saidō now goes on to explain that the monks’ argument at Kosambi started from something seemingly insignificant that then grew…)

The Buddha comes and attempts to wisely soften the quarrelling Kosambi monks. I won’t tell the whole story, because basically, what happened was – I mean, it’s the equivalent of not changing the toilet roll after it has run out! (smiles) This is probably heretical in certain circumstances to reduce the Buddha’s teaching to this kind of thing, but issues so often do start at this sort of level! The monks had water which they used to wash themselves in the latrine, which was to be replaced after use, or something like that. So, one person had gone into the latrine and had made use of whatever it was, emptied it, and hadn’t filled it back up. In other words, he’d used the last bit of toilet paper and hadn’t changed the roll! And he comes out – and he’s the absent-minded professor-type person who knows all about the Scriptures (mimics his face and voice playfully). And the person who is following him in is, of course, the one who is dead hot on all the rules and regulations, the Precepts, all the Vinaya etc. And he says, “Did you know you just made an error? You! Did you know!?” (Playfully then mimics absent-minded monk mumbling) … “I just went to the toilet.” According to the rules it was along the lines of:  if you were not aware it was a rule, or a breakage of a rule, then it wasn’t one. If you did know it was, and wilfully did it, then it is! So, there then followed a whole thing about it: did he know he was breaking the rule or did he not? (Rev. Master Saidō sighs, with a gentle smile.)

The situation developed. The absent-minded monk did not admit one way or the other. So, the monk hot on the Vinaya excludes him from the Sangha. I mean! Over the top! Completely bonkers! So, then factions develop who are saying, “Well, did he know, or didn’t he know?” And there’s an argument, and the monks start hitting each other eventually and “came to blows.” Kosambi was apparently a place with people whose temperament was prone to get hot under the collar. Sometimes there are people like that. That’s probably incorrect to say and un-pc, but never mind. There was a certain element of that in them because it may not have happened exactly like that in other places. But it did in Kosambi!

And the point is, that this argument dragged on! The Buddha heard about the argument and came to try to sort it out. The Kosambi monks said, “No, this is our quarrel. Go away, nice Buddha, and we’ll sort it out.” But, of course, they didn’t.

Another story, often linked, tells how the Buddha went to visit another group of monks – he would travel about and teach and not be in just one place – and those monks were living in harmony. If the water needed filling up, they would fill it up. They would share the alms food. They were practising together in a very harmonious way, helping each other. There was none of this kind of quarrelling going on. The Buddha could say: “This is how it should be done.”

The argument dragged on so much at Kosambi that the local population got fed up, having probably heard about it at length! They said, “We’re not feeding you guys anymore, we’re not going to make offerings anymore, forget it.” It took something like that for those quarrelling folks to pay attention! And that’s another quite interesting thing! It often takes not being fed by your group or something dramatic happening, for you to get to the point that you’re going to have to change or do something or get help. Sometimes it takes something quite extreme for us to look more deeply. It can take quite a bit to get to that point!

So, (Rev. Master Saidō continues) the monks of Kosambi all clump off to the Buddha for help.  Ananda is there to prepare for their visit.  The next day they are all refreshed and the situation calmer.  They’ve sat down and the Buddha turns to the elder guy – the one who is a bit absentminded and had forgotten what he should have done – and says: “Look! You’ve been in the Sangha long enough to know what we do. Can you admit that you are at fault?” (Because he hadn’t really admitted it.) And he said to the other guy who is a stickler for the rules, “If he admits his fault, will you let him back in?” He replies (Rev. Master Saidō playfully mimics reluctant face and muttering – it is like Mr. Bean – mimics again): “Yes!”  The Buddha continues to the absentminded monk: “Right! Good! You really should know these things; you’ve been around long enough.” Then turning to the other monk he says, “Now you’re an expert in the Vinaya and all the rules and regulations. Please don’t exclude someone for something like this! It is over the top. Can you agree to re-admit him and sort of back off a bit?” And the monk, after mumbling a little, ends with a whispered: “Yes, my Lord.” And so, the issue gets resolved. They both have to give a bit, and then both go on their way happy. And…. (Rev. Master Saidō playfully pauses and smiles with wry dramatic effect): the Buddha never again went to Kosambi!

I think that’s true, but gosh, if someone, if anyone reads, hears this, they better take some of these things with a pinch of salt, because it’s my extemporaneous version of it, which I quite like to tell the prisoners I visit. It is a great story, because they’re always having this kind of thing, because they live in a pressure cooker, with lots of conflict about tiny details. And it’s also very apt for monastics – and larger monastic communities, or any groups, or anybody… (Smiles)