An enlightened being actions are inherently ethical, because enlightenment carries within it the supreme knowledge of good and evil and the ability to do only good. According to Ives “actions springing from satori are inherently good and hence if the person has been designated as a roshi on the basis of an acknowledged satori – that is, has received inka, the certification of satori in a Zen lineage – then that action will certainly be good” (113). Because Ikkyu was a certified enlightened being his actions could not have evil intent. His enlightenment guaranteed that any action he took was moral. An enlightened person his beyond good and evil, his actions are correct. Those without the prajna of enlightenment are incapable of judging the actions of an enlightened being. Since the monks of the times questioned Ikkyu’s actions show their own lacking of enlightenment. Ikkyu’s enlightenment was his guarantee of moral action; an enlightened being can do no evil.
Now that Ikkyu’s morality has been proven one must ask the question, why Ikkyu would act in a manner so out of the ordinary for a monk. The answer is that he wanted to help those people who needed it the most. His frequent visits to the wine shops and brothels of Kyoto allowed him to come in contact with the ignored lower classes of Japan. Ikkyu saw his responsibility to aid in the enlightenment of others to apply not only to the religious elite, but to the amoral majority. Ives views this as the social obligation that Zen masters have to society. “Hisamatsu states, ‘True religious life lies not in a human being receiving compassion, but in a turning over of that view to our practicing compassion.” (Ives 76) While the majority of modern Zen monks remain hidden within their monasteries and teach only the religious elite Ikkyu set the precedent for aiding all peoples. He went to the wine shops and brothels to aid the forgotten, the refuse of mankind.
According to Hakuin the Great Doubt is the absolute road to enlightenment. Hakuin states “If those who study Zen are able to make the great doubt appear before them, a hundred out of a hundred, a thousand out of a thousand, will without fail attain awakening.” (Yampolsky 144) When one faces the great doubt, the doubt of koans, the doubt of life itself, one must keep one word within their hearts Mu. Facing the great doubt with only Mu on ones lips no thought will enter no interruption. “Suddenly it will be as though a sheet of ice were broken or a jade tower had fallen. He will experience a great joy, one that never in forty years has he seen or heard.” (Yampolsky 145) This means that enlightenment will be achieved. According to Hakuin the great doubt is the best most certain way to enlightenment.
Hakuin’s belief in the great doubt is not challenged by Ives. It does appeal to people in its certainty. While doubting everything is not easy it is a certainty. It gives lay people a goal to work for. No one ever said that the road to enlightenment is an easy one. While Ives wants enlightenment to be enjoyed by the masses he also realizes that it is not an easy path. Through the use of the great doubt a mass enlightenment could be possible. With a mass enlightenment a social utopia could become possible. The great doubt is not simple, but it is simple in concept. It douse not require years of study of contemplation. Years of zazen are not necessary, only the contemplation of the falseness of reality itself. The combination of the great doubt and the great koan Mu are the path to enlightenment for the masses.
Ikkyu was the savior of Zen. He stood apart from his peers and stated that Zen would become a social force for change. He wanted to end the classic Zen approach of distance from society. Ikkyu wanted Zen to become a force for social change. By bringing enlightenment to the people Ikkyu planned to better all of society. Ives argues for the methodology of Ikkyu. He argues that Zen should come down from their lofty perch and improve society now. Through the use of the great doubt and preaching to the masses Zen could be a force for social change. In order to bring about a social utopia the people themselves must first become enlightened. Enlightenment is the key to social utopia. If all beings were enlightened everyone would work for the good of all; war, poverty, starvation would all become things of the past. Ikkyu and the great doubt give us the tools for bringing about a social utopia. Mass enlightenment is certainly not an easy task, but the rewards are certainly worth the effort. The Zen monastic community have been given the tools, now the must decide to use them.
