Monday, September 28, 2009

Dogen, Learning in Practice, Secret Talk, and Zazen

Shobogenzo, Mitsugo
Read the full fascicle here: Online Shobogenzo (Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross)

[3] When the great truth, “that which buddhas guard and desire,” is realized as the real universe, the state [expressed] “You are like this, I am like this,” and “each must guard it well,” is experienced exactly in the present.

[4] Great Master Kokaku of Ungozan, the story goes, is served offerings by a government official, who asks, “The World-honored One has secret talk; for Mahakasyapa nothing is concealed. What is the World-honored One’s secret talk?”

The great master calls out, “Minister!”

The man responds.

The great master says, “Do you understand or not?”

The official says, “I do not understand.”

The great master says, “If you do not understand, it is the World-honored One’s secret talk. If you understand, it is Mahakasyapa’s state of nothing being concealed.”

The great master, manifesting himself as the legitimate descendant, after five generations, of Seigen, is a master of gods and human beings and a great good counselor through the whole universe in the ten directions. He transforms the sentient and transforms the insentient. As the forty-sixth buddha in the legitimate succession of buddhas, he preaches the Dharma for Buddhist patriarchs. At his hermitage on Sanpo Mountain, he was sent offerings from the kitchens of gods. But after receiving the transmission of the Dharma and attaining the truth, he transcended the state which is sent [heavenly] offerings. The expression quoted now that “The World-honored One has secret talk; for Mahakasyapa nothing is concealed,” is the legacy of forty-six buddhas. At the same time, as the original features of the forty-six buddhas, “it is not got from others,” “it does not come from outside,” “it is not inherent,” and “it has never been something new.” With regard to the realization of this matter of secret talk, not only the World-honored Sakyamuni has secret talk: all the Buddhist patriarchs have secret talk. A World-honored One always has secret talk. And one who has secret talk inevitably has Mahakasyapa’s state of nothing being concealed. We should learn in practice and should not forget the truth that if there are a hundred thousand World-honored Ones there are a hundred thousand Mahakasyapas. “Learning in practice” means not intending to understand at once but striving painstakingly hundreds of times, or thousands of times, as if working to cut a hard object. We should not think that when a person has something to relate we will be able to understand at once. It may be that now, having already become the World-honored One, [the master of] Ungozan is equipped with secret talk and possesses the state of Mahakasyapa in which nothing is concealed. Do not learn that calling “Minister!” and the official’s response, are secret talk itself.
(Shobogenzo, Mitsugo, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross)

[COMMENT]

Following Jordan’s suggestion, I will break this down into a series of smaller posts. This is the first part (about 1/5th) of the Shobogenzo fascicle, “Mitsugo” (Secret Talk).

Dogen, as usual, jumps right in:

When the great truth, “that which buddhas guard and desire,” is realized as the real universe, the state [expressed] “You are like this, I am like this,” and “each must guard it well,” is experienced exactly in the present.

Notice how the various phrases combine to define each other. For example:

“The great truth” is: “the real universe”, “desired by buddhas”, “a state that can be experienced”, etc.

And, “The real universe” is: “something that can be realized”, “can be experienced exactly in the present”, “the same state that is expressed as ‘each must guard it well’”, etc.

And, “You are like this, I am like this” is: “an expression of the great truth”, “the same as, ‘each must guard it well’”, “that which buddhas realize”, etc.

Next, Dogen cites a koan:

Great Master Kokaku of Ungozan, the story goes, is served offerings by a government official, who asks, “The World-honored One has secret talk; for Mahakasyapa nothing is concealed. What is the World-honored One’s secret talk?”

The great master calls out, “Minister!”

The man responds.

The great master says, “Do you understand or not?”

The official says, “I do not understand.”

The great master says, “If you do not understand, it is the World-honored One’s secret talk. If you understand, it is Mahakasyapa’s state of nothing being concealed.”

Before looking at Dogen’s comment I will just point out the similarity of the structure of this case and case 22 in the Mumonkan:

Ananda asked Mahakasyapa, “When the World Honored One transmitted the robe to you, did he transmit anything else?

Mahakasyapa calls out, “Ananda!”

Ananda responded, “Yes!”

Mahakasyapa said, “Knock down the flagpole!”

Okay, back to the Dogen:

The great master, manifesting himself as the legitimate descendant, after five generations, of Seigen, is a master of gods and human beings and a great good counselor through the whole universe in the ten directions. He transforms the sentient and transforms the insentient. As the forty-sixth buddha in the legitimate succession of buddhas, he preaches the Dharma for Buddhist patriarchs. At his hermitage on Sanpo Mountain, he was sent offerings from the kitchens of gods. But after receiving the transmission of the Dharma and attaining the truth, he transcended the state which is sent [heavenly] offerings.

While Dogen’s format here seems pretty typical of Zen masters introducing the ‘persons’ in a case (giving a brief bio/Dharma career overview), he does not waste the opportunity to offer some turning words. Couching some fantastic claims inside an ‘ordinary’ introduction precludes the listener’s distraction (or reader’s skimming) and forces us to look closely in an effort to get at the meaning. Not just a master revered throughout the whole world, “a master of gods and human beings and a great good counselor through the whole universe in the ten directions.” He does not simply transform all beings, “He transforms the sentient and transforms the insentient.” Etc. Furthermore, what is the state which is sent heavenly offerings?

Dogen continues:

The expression quoted now that “The World-honored One has secret talk; for Mahakasyapa nothing is concealed,” is the legacy of forty-six buddhas. At the same time, as the original features of the forty-six buddhas, “it is not got from others,” “it does not come from outside,” “it is not inherent,” and “it has never been something new.”

Here, Dogen reminds us of some of the facts of Being-Time (Uji), essential for getting to the heart of all the Shobogenzo fascicles, as well as resolving koans. This ‘expression’ is the legacy of ancestors (something passed on, or handed down), and, at the same time, it is the ‘original’ features of the ancestors (integral, particular, characteristics they had before they were born). This is beyond existence, beyond non-existence. He names four such features that each of these buddhas ‘originally’ have. The translators note says they could not trace the quotes, but I would be surprised if they did not come from Yuanwu’s commentary on case 22 of the Hekiganroku, where he relates Seppo’s enlightenment experience on Tortoise Mountain.

Dogen goes on:

With regard to the realization of this matter of secret talk, not only the World-honored Sakyamuni has secret talk: all the Buddhist patriarchs have secret talk. A World-honored One always has secret talk. And one who has secret talk inevitably has Mahakasyapa’s state of nothing being concealed. We should learn in practice and should not forget the truth that if there are a hundred thousand World-honored Ones there are a hundred thousand Mahakasyapas.

If all buddhas and ancestors have secret talk, AND, someone who has secret talk ‘inevitably’ has Mahakasyapas state of nothing being concealed, what does that tell us? Even if we follow this, we “should learn it in practice” – really and truly get to the bottom of it, more let it get to the bottom of us. It is possible. Just sit with it, examine it, let it sit, pick it up, get to know it intimately. Is there a gap between Mahakasyapa’s state and our state? Where could it possibly be ‘concealed’? Also, we should ‘not forget’ the truth spoken by secret talk.

Dogen says:

“Learning in practice” means not intending to understand at once but striving painstakingly hundreds of times, or thousands of times, as if working to cut a hard object. We should not think that when a person has something to relate we will be able to understand at once. It may be that now, having already become the World-honored One, [the master of] Ungozan is equipped with secret talk and possesses the state of Mahakasyapa in which nothing is concealed. Do not learn that calling “Minister!” and the official’s response, are secret talk itself.

Here, Dogen offers a particularly colorful description of how one is supposed to “learn in practice”, which is one of his standard demands. I have heard a number of ‘Soto Zen’ adherents insist that Dogen was opposed to koan-introspection during zazen.

Try this: imagine you are a monk in Dogen’s assembly. You left your home, your family, and gave up everything in hopes of resolving the great matter of life and death. You perform zazen daily, because you’re at Dogen’s monastery, you perform a LOT of zazen. Your teacher holds the keys to your greatest aspiration.

There he is, on the high-seat exhorting you to get to the bottom of this story about ‘Mahakasyapa’s state’, saying that you must “strive painstakingly hundreds, or thousands of times, as if trying to cut something hard.” Dogen finishes his teisho and the head monk rings the bell – time for three hours of zazen. What do you think is going to happen when you sit on the cushion?

I have never seen anything to indicate that Dogen opposed koan-introspection (just the opposite), but for arguments sake, let’s just say that the head monk, or even Dogen himself gives everyone a reminder as they enter the meditation hall, “Remember! Don’t contemplate that koan!”

If you make it for more than five minutes without wondering what the hell Dogen meant by saying, “Do not learn that calling ‘Minister!’ official’s response, are secret talk itself”, then you are either a fully enlightened Buddha, or a corpse…

Okay, more on this next time...

Remember, read the full fascicle here: Shobogenzo

Peace,
Ted

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Dogen's Fundamental Point

For Dogen, the Dharmadhatu (realm of reality) is an infinite source of creative energy (brightness) permeating Being-Time (Uji); continuously and impartially manifesting itself according to causes and conditions. Its permeation precludes entry, or attainment and prohibits evasion; thus, Dogen’s creative mis-reading of the Mahaparinirvana-sutra’s, “All sentient beings have Buddha nature”, as “All beings the Buddha-nature of existence.”

Being impartial, Dharmadhatu neither encourages nor inhibits the manifestation of any particular ‘form.’ That is, while the Dharmadhatu is the essence, or ‘equality’ of each and every dharma (thing), the appearance, or ‘particularity’ of each and every dharma is determined by its causes and conditions. This rationale is asserted in Shobogenzo with phrases like, “Right and wrong are Time, but Time is not right or wrong.”

The point to grasp here is the fact that the Dharmadhatu (where we live) is as equally capable of sustaining bondage as it is of actualizing liberation. This quality of Dharmadhatu is expressed in Shobogenzo as, “there is turning the sutra, there is being turned by the sutra” (and, there is using the twelve hours, or being used by the twelve hours, etc.). To be turned by the sutra is to be controlled, restrained, wholly compelled to follow its dictates. Turning the sutra is to command, guide, and skillfully direct its course. Zen literature often indicates these two aspects with allusions to the puppet and puppeteer, or the positions of guest and Host.Ignorance of Dharmadhatu and its characteristics of permeation, impartiality, and infinitely creative potential inevitably confine us to the ‘position of guest’, to being turned by it. Enlightened to the nature and characteristics of Dharmadhatu activates our capacity to turn the sutra; no longer ‘puppets’ confined to being used by the twelve hours, we freely use the twelve hours to ‘actualize the fundamental point’ (genjokoan).

Peace,
Ted

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The “Unity” of Shobogenzo (Part Two)

In part one of this series of posts on the unity of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo (The “Unity” of Shobogenzo - Part One) we explored the significance of approaching Shobogenzo as a 'unity.'
To summarize briefly, we suggested that Master Dogen intended his masterpiece, Shobogenzo, to be a singular canon (rather than a collection of miscellaneous writings). We also discussed how the meaning of any 'part' of a singular literary work is dependent on the whole of the text (just as the meaning of the whole must take into account all of its parts). In short, the meaning of any fascicle included in Shobogenzo depends on its context in the whole Shobogenzo.
Today (part two of this series), we explore what 'reading in context’ implies, and how to do it.
Reading and listening to a speaker (and even thinking to a great extent) is first concerned with following a sequence of words. It makes no difference if it is a four verse gatha or the voluminous Avatamsaka sutra, we will not be able to accurately evaluate the meaning until we reach the end of the sequence. For instance, look at the third "Maxim of Master Han Shan":
3. Neither are they correct who dedicate themselves to exposing the fraud of every sensory object they encounter. True, perceptions of material objects give rise to wild desire in the heart. True, once it is understood how essentially worthless such apparent objects are, wild desires are reduced to timid thoughts. But we may not limit our spiritual practice to the discipline of dispelling illusion. There is more to the Dharma than understanding the nature of reality.
~Han Shan
Can you see how the last four sentences add substance and detail which serves to clarify the meaning of the first sentence? Try it, I will wait... Now, look at how different the meaning of the last sentence might be read outside the context of the preceding sentences. The same can be seen of the other sentences, and finally even down to each word, each punctuation. "True perceptions of material objects..." means something much different than, "True, perceptions of material objects..."
Once we come to the end of the sequence of words however, we are in possession of a single 'unit' or image; each part serving to flesh out and clarify the real meaning that the speaker or writer is attempting to convey. We can, as they say, "see the whole picture."
True, the real meaning of the Maxim we used in our example would certainly become clearer if read in the context of Han Shan's whole list of Maxim's, and clearer still if read in context of all his works. While it served its purpose as a simple illustrative example, imagine what kind of meaning it might have if read out the context of Buddhism as a whole, say by a Christian that had never heard or read anything about Buddhism.
By now it should becoming clear how easily it would be to misunderstand the real meaning of any single fascicle of Shobogenzo outside its context within the whole.
While this post may seem to be dwelling on something that is ridiculously obvious, it is not doing so without reason. Dogen's works generally, and particularly Shobogenzo, are the frequent victims of "selective authority." This is done for the same reasons, and in the same way that "religious" extremists in the West have used "selective authority" to hijack the Holy Bible for rationalizing or selling their own narrow, often quite unchristian agendas.
Today there are a number of popular "Zen" books whose authors "confirm the accuracy" of their views by evoking the "authority" of Dogen by offering short quotes (often paraphrases) from his works coupled with assertions like, "Dogen said this or that...", or "Dogen taught such and such...", or even assuring us that, "Dogen believed so and so..." (which seems to imply the author's skill in mind-reading). Not only do such claims often fail to provide any context of "Dogen's words", they frequently fail to note, or even acknowledge the sources from which they were "selected" (cherry-picked)...
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As time and space seem to be running short we will postpone the discussion on "how" to go about reading Shobogenzo "in context" until next time.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it is useful in some way.
Peace,
Ted

Monday, September 14, 2009

The “Unity” of Shobogenzo

The “Unity” of Shobogenzo (Part One)

Dogen’s successor, Ejo, added the following explanation to Shobogenzo, Hachi Dainingaku:

This was our Master’s last discourse, drafted when he was already ill. Among other things, I heard him say that he wanted to rework all of the Shobogenzo that had previously been written in Japanese script and also to include some new manuscripts, so that he would be able to compile a work consisting altogether of one hundred discourses.
Shobogenzo, Hachi Dainingaku, translated by Hubert Nearman

This statement by Ejo, supported by research and widely accepted by scholars and Soto authorities, reveals a vastly important aspect of Shobogenzo that is too often ignored: Dogen intended Shobogenzo as a singular canon. Students of literature know why this is so vitally important; a written work that is intended as a ‘unity’ can only be understood if read as a ‘unity.’

One scene, or even one act in a play by Shakespeare cannot be accurately comprehended outside of its context within the whole play becuase even the last scene can and often does change the meaning of earlier scenes.

This potential is utilized in popular novels and films. The first 95% of the movie “The Sixth Sense” for instance, takes on a whole new significance in light of the final 5% of the film. Other obvious examples include the films of Quentin Tarantino, a master of applying the implications of ‘unity’ (e.g. “Pulp Fiction”, “Reservoir Dogs”).

The point is this; any particular scene, essay, chapter, book, or part of a ‘unity’ that is read apart from the ‘unity’ it belongs to cannot be accurately understood. This is true of any written unity, be it a massive sutra or a single poem. Each chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Moby Dick, or The Razor’s Edge depends on every other chapter for its true meaning.

Dogen wrote a vast number of texts that he did not include in Shobogenzo. If he had meant Shobogenzo to simply be a collection of miscellaneous texts, he could have easily included enough to reach his goal of 100. While the exclusion of a particular writing from a unity can be regarded as intentional or unintentional, inclusion can only be regarded as an assertion of approval.

In light of this, every fascicle admitted to Shobogenzo, regardless of its length, date, or subject must be read as part of a unified whole inherently consistent with Dogen’s intention.

Therefore, if any fascicles of Shobogenzo seem to be at odds with each other we need to reevaluate our own approach and understanding of Dogen’s meaning rather than simply ignoring them or dismissing them as inconsistencies in Dogen’s teaching.

NEXT: What reading ‘in context’ implies, and how it is done.