By Victor M Fontane
Suzuki Rossi, a monk and Sōtō Zen teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, was asked by "Robert" in a monastery class:
“Don't you agree, Suzuki Roshi, that brown rice is the perfect Zen food? Isn't that the perfect balance between yin and yang? "
The brown rice diet was all the rage in those heady days of the counterculture, and we serve it every day in the Tassajara meditation hall. Suzuki Roshi was unusually accepting of the counterculture ideas of others and rarely criticized. In those days, brown rice was rarely consumed in Japan. White rice was the norm and Suzuki Roshi was eating brown rice for the first time in Tassajara.
"Don't you think brown rice helps us achieve enlightenment?"
Suzuki Roshi listened for some time without saying anything. Finally, Suzuki Roshi said in a low voice, "Food is very important."
Food is very important. That comment seemed to baffle "Robert." He stopped talking and just stood there, a mocking expression on his face. Without saying anything else, Suzuki Roshi turned and walked away.
This approach has three aspects: common ground, respect, and changing levels.
Suzuki's response was a classic demonstration of a Buddhist approach to disagreement, which has many applications in today's world. This approach has three aspects: common ground, respect, and changing levels.
Common ground. Suzuki Roshi did not respond to Robert with compensatory facts. He didn't say, "We don't actually eat brown rice in Japanese Zen monasteries," although that was true. Instead, he simply said something they could both agree on, although he didn't make it explicit. He didn't say "Well, I think we would both agree that food is very important." That would have made an assumption about what Robert agreed to, and would have put Suzuki Roshi in the top position of knowing. Instead, Suzuki established common ground without saying it was common ground, in a way that he created an open space between them.
Respect. Although Robert's gastronomic ideas were not well informed, Suzuki's response showed respect. He treated Robert as someone who had a voice and, in that sense, as an equal. Yes, they both believed that food was very important and despite a significant difference in age and knowledge (Suzuki was in his sixties and had spent his entire life as a Buddhist monk), it gave Robert an equal footing. .
Level change. When Suzuki Roshi said, "Food is very important," what he really meant was that food is a fundamental spiritual value and teaching in Buddhism through which we can experience interconnectedness with all beings, as well as gratitude. . Our meals in the meditation room were formal rituals, and before each meal we sang our thanks for the food.
One part of the song read: “Seventy-two laborers brought us this rice. We should know how it reaches us. "Eating was an opportunity to directly experience the Buddhist teaching of interconnectedness. It didn't matter what kind of food it was. Ancient Buddhist monks were mendicants and were expected to accept and consume whatever was put in their bowl. When Suzuki said "food is very important" without making it explicit, he took the conversation to a deeper level.
Common ground, respect, and shifting levels: These three elements can be applied to a variety of disagreements, such as arguments in a relationship, communication with teens, and politics.
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