The Original Shu Ha Ri 守破離

Shu Ha Ri is essential for people who devote their lives to practice. It offers great advantage if we can penetrate its original significance.

From the book True Karate Dō:

The three stages of training called “Shu Ha Ri”, 守破離, first appeared in Japan in the 12th century. It was used in Zen aesthetic traditions, beginning with the art of tea, and was adopted by Noh theater, kendo, and modern martial arts.

The terms “Shu Ha Ri” can be interpreted as ‘keeping the form,’ ‘breaking out of the form,’ and ‘departing from the form.’ Long-term training which remains vital and alive, works this way. The meaning of the first two stages – 1. learning and preserving the form through diligent practice, and 2. embodying the form in flow – is clear. The last stage “ri”, or hanareru, “to leave behind” or “to become distant,” does not describe a particular way of practice or a result of training. It hints. 

Budo expert Trevor Leggett observed that this stage is often omitted in modern Japan, where rote repetition is as far as most people go. But it is not only in Japan or in modern times that this is so…

Now, relying on an ancient source, we can see that “Ri” may refer to a higher ideal than people realized, and is more specific. This new insight presents us with an ideal way to live, to train with purpose, to refine our lives each day, and to reach our full potential. 

The “Simile of the Raft” and “Shu Ha Ri”

Build the raft – learn the theory and practice well

Use the raft – apply what you have learned, practice it – don’t just carry the raft around. 

Then, once you have used it for its purpose,

Let it go – Once you have crossed over the river you are no longer dependent on the raft, so don’t carry it around, leave it behind when you reach the other shore

This last piece of advice is a heads up to practitioners. It is not directed to those who have reached the other shore. They will know what to do. But all practitioners should know that while we do need the “right grasp” of the teachings and practice methods, they should not become objects of attachment or reification. 

This is true for the methods we use in karate training. 

The simile of the raft appears in the earliest Buddhist literature, which preserved the words of the historical Buddha orally and then in writing. The simile of the raft was widely known and used as a model of practice in China, Tibet, Japan, South Asia and India, and it continues to be used today.

This raft image is central to the Mahayana Prajnaparamita literature, influential in Zen and in other traditions. “Prajnaparamita” is often translated as “wisdom of the other shore”. The person who leaves the shore of worldly life and whose practice yields a glimpse of the truth is called a “stream enterer.” 

The raft simile informed the way people followed the path of training. It helped them to avoid a trap that all practitioners, including martial artists, encounter. 

As presented in the excerpt below the simile is easy to understand. 

The formal connection between the early Buddhist presentation of the simile of the raft and the Zen-influenced “Shu Ha Ri” may have been overlooked over the last thousand years because people interested in one have not studied the other. 

People interested in Japanese budo have relied on the Mahayana literature and practice traditions, especially Zen and the Prajnaparamita. Each of the Mahayana schools in the Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions has its own literature. Most do not study the early Buddhist canon. But the echoes remained. The later traditions built upon the early ones; stories and ideas were carried forward, even if the sources were not always cited.

It is also possible that the same perspective was discovered independently. If you practice something for a long time the literature – the texts used as guidance in practice and theory – at first are hard to understand, but after a while seem quite obvious. You go back and reread books you first read long ago and find you have gone from “What can this mean?” to “Yep, that’s how it works.”

Here is Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation of the relevant section of the simile of the raft, from Majjhima Nikaya 22:

The Simile of the Raft

“Bhikkhus, I shall show you how the Dhamma is similar to a raft, being for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of grasping. Listen and attend closely to what I shall say.”—“Yes, venerable sir,” the bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:

“Bhikkhus, suppose a man in the course of a journey saw a great expanse of water, whose near shore was dangerous and fearful and whose further shore was safe and free from fear, but there was no ferryboat or bridge for going to the far shore. Then he thought: “…Suppose I collect grass, twigs, branches, and leaves and bind them together into a raft, and supported by the raft and making an effort with my hands and feet, I got safely across to the far shore.”

…Then, when he had got across and had arrived at the far shore, he might think thus: ‘This raft has been very helpful to me, since supported by it and making an effort with my hands and feet, I got safely across to the far shore. Suppose I were to hoist it on my head or load it on my shoulder, and then go wherever I want.’ Now, bhikkhus, what do you think? By doing so, would that man be doing what should be done with that raft?”

“No, venerable sir.”

“By doing what would that man be doing what should be done with that raft? Here, bhikkhus, when that man got across and had arrived at the far shore, he might think thus: ‘This raft has been very helpful to me, since supported by it and making an effort with my hands and feet, I got safely across to the far shore. Suppose I were to haul it onto the dry land or set it adrift in the water, and then go wherever I want.’ Now, bhikkhus, it is by so doing that that man would be doing what should be done with that raft. So I have shown you how the Dhamma is similar to a raft, being for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of grasping...

That is a good explanation of Shu Ha Ri. 

The simile of the raft comes at the end of a talk, as a caveat. The main part of the talk is about grasping the practice instructions properly. It is a warning that the wrong grasp, misunderstanding the methods and purposes of practice, is dangerous. 

We may have seen examples of people misusing their training, living a fantasy life, or harming themselves and others.  

At the end of Majjhima Nikaya 22, having emphasized the importance of the right grasp of the teaching, the practitioner is reminded that at the end of the journey, when the practice has fulfilled its goal, when we have crossed over to the other shore, we let go of the raft. 

This understanding, in light of Legget’s observation, supports the idea that the martial arts and aesthetic pursuits, however refined and exalted, may overpromise their transformative efficacy. That promise, unquestioned by many, has left the genuine transformative opportunity unrecognized, and missed. 

Now that we can understand this, we can follow through. 

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Post and photo Copyright © 2024, Jeffrey Brooks

Excerpt from True Karate Dō by Jeffrey Brooks, published by Pinnacle Mountain Press, 2024

Excerpt from Majjhima Nikaya, translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, published by Wisdom Publications

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read True Karate Dō

“One of the best books I’ve read in years, inviting and compelling. Jeff Brooks moves effortlessly from martial arts to Buddhism to consciousness studies, self-transformation, and related fields in this wide-ranging and Illuminating study that has much to offer both novice explorers and veteran practitioners. A splendid achievement.” 

— Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series