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Dogen: Wisdom of a Three-Year-Old Child
Excerpted from Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Rev. Hubert Nearman
The poet Haku Rakuten of the T’ang dynasty was a lay disciple of Meditation Master Bukko Nyoman, who was a Dharma heir of Baso. When Rakuten was governor of Hangchow, he trained under Meditation Master Dorin of Choka.
Rakuten once asked Dorin, “Just what is the major intention of the Buddha Dharma?”
Dorin replied, “Refrain from all evil whatsoever; uphold and practice all that is good.”
Rakuten remarked, “If that’s all there is to it, even a child of three knows how to say that!”
Dorin replied, “Though a three-year-old child can say it, there are old men in their eighties who still cannot put it into practice.”
Upon hearing the matter put this way, Rakuten then bowed in gratitude.
Rakuten was actually a descendant of General Haku. Even so, he was a wizard of a poet, the likes of which is rare in any generation. People refer to him as ‘the literary genius of twenty-four generations’. Some have called him a veritable Manjushri; others, a Maitreya, the Buddha-next-to-come. There is no one who has not heard of his personality; everyone in the world of letters pays court to him. Even so, when it comes to the Buddha’s Way, he was a beginner, a youngster. Furthermore, it was as if he had never even dreamt of the meaning of “Refrain from all evil whatsoever; uphold and practice all that is good.” Rakuten thought that in saying to refrain from all evil and practice all good, Dorin was looking at the matter from the perspective of an ordinary, everyday person’s way of thinking. Rakuten had failed to grasp the principle of refraining from evil and practicing good—a principle which has existed in Buddhism from ancient-most times and has extended even to the present—nor had he ever even heard of it; consequently he did not tread where the Buddha Dharma is. Lacking the strength of the Buddha Dharma, he said what he did. Even so, when we refrain from evil or practice good as understood by ordinary, everyday people, it will still be our actualizing of ‘refraining’.
For the most part, what we first learn about Buddhism from a good spiritual friend and what we bring to fruition through our diligent practice are both one and the same. We describe this as ‘learning, from start to finish’. It is also called ‘the wondrous cause and the wondrous effect’, as well as ‘the cause of seeking Buddhahood and the effect of seeking Buddhahood’. Cause and effect in Buddhism should not be confused with such notions as ‘effects are totally unrelated to their cause’ and ‘cause and effect are exactly the same thing’, because these notions are not what is meant by ‘seeking Buddhahood’, and they will not achieve the effect of seeking Buddhahood. Because Dorin enunciated this principle, he ‘possessed’ the Buddha Dharma.
Were evil to pile upon evil and spread throughout the whole world, absorbing everything into its mass, ‘emancipation through refraining’ would still hold true. Since all that is good is already good—beginning, middle, and end—the nature, characteristics, form, and strength of upholding and practicing it will likewise be good. Rakuten had never walked in such footsteps, which is why he said, “Even a child of three knows how to say that!” He said this because he was lacking in the strength to realize the Way. Poor, pitiful Rakuten, why did you say such a thing?
Excerpted from Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Rev. Hubert Nearman
The poet Haku Rakuten of the T’ang dynasty was a lay disciple of Meditation Master Bukko Nyoman, who was a Dharma heir of Baso. When Rakuten was governor of Hangchow, he trained under Meditation Master Dorin of Choka.
Rakuten once asked Dorin, “Just what is the major intention of the Buddha Dharma?”
Dorin replied, “Refrain from all evil whatsoever; uphold and practice all that is good.”
Rakuten remarked, “If that’s all there is to it, even a child of three knows how to say that!”
Dorin replied, “Though a three-year-old child can say it, there are old men in their eighties who still cannot put it into practice.”
Upon hearing the matter put this way, Rakuten then bowed in gratitude.
Rakuten was actually a descendant of General Haku. Even so, he was a wizard of a poet, the likes of which is rare in any generation. People refer to him as ‘the literary genius of twenty-four generations’. Some have called him a veritable Manjushri; others, a Maitreya, the Buddha-next-to-come. There is no one who has not heard of his personality; everyone in the world of letters pays court to him. Even so, when it comes to the Buddha’s Way, he was a beginner, a youngster. Furthermore, it was as if he had never even dreamt of the meaning of “Refrain from all evil whatsoever; uphold and practice all that is good.” Rakuten thought that in saying to refrain from all evil and practice all good, Dorin was looking at the matter from the perspective of an ordinary, everyday person’s way of thinking. Rakuten had failed to grasp the principle of refraining from evil and practicing good—a principle which has existed in Buddhism from ancient-most times and has extended even to the present—nor had he ever even heard of it; consequently he did not tread where the Buddha Dharma is. Lacking the strength of the Buddha Dharma, he said what he did. Even so, when we refrain from evil or practice good as understood by ordinary, everyday people, it will still be our actualizing of ‘refraining’.
For the most part, what we first learn about Buddhism from a good spiritual friend and what we bring to fruition through our diligent practice are both one and the same. We describe this as ‘learning, from start to finish’. It is also called ‘the wondrous cause and the wondrous effect’, as well as ‘the cause of seeking Buddhahood and the effect of seeking Buddhahood’. Cause and effect in Buddhism should not be confused with such notions as ‘effects are totally unrelated to their cause’ and ‘cause and effect are exactly the same thing’, because these notions are not what is meant by ‘seeking Buddhahood’, and they will not achieve the effect of seeking Buddhahood. Because Dorin enunciated this principle, he ‘possessed’ the Buddha Dharma.
Were evil to pile upon evil and spread throughout the whole world, absorbing everything into its mass, ‘emancipation through refraining’ would still hold true. Since all that is good is already good—beginning, middle, and end—the nature, characteristics, form, and strength of upholding and practicing it will likewise be good. Rakuten had never walked in such footsteps, which is why he said, “Even a child of three knows how to say that!” He said this because he was lacking in the strength to realize the Way. Poor, pitiful Rakuten, why did you say such a thing?
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Since Rakuten had not yet got wind of what Buddhism is really about, it is unlikely that he was truly acquainted with any three-year-olds or with what such a child is naturally capable of. If someone can truly understand a three-year-old, he will surely know all the Buddhas of the three temporal worlds. If someone does not yet know all the Buddhas of the three temporal worlds, how will he be able to understand a three-year-old? Do not imagine that you understand such a child just because you have met one face-to-face. Do not think that you do not know such a child just because you have not met one face-to-face. He who knows but a single mote of dust knows the whole world: he who fully comprehends one thing comprehends all the myriad things that comprise the universe. He who fails to comprehend all the myriad things will not comprehend even one of them. When someone has fully trained himself in this principle of comprehending and has reached full comprehension, he will not only see the myriad things that comprise the universe but will also see each one of them. This is why the person who studies one mote of dust will undoubtedly be studying the whole universe. To think that a three-year-old child cannot give voice to the Buddha Dharma or to think that a three-year-old is ‘cute’ is the height of foolishness. This is because clarifying what birth is and clarifying what death is constitutes the most important matter for a Buddhist monk.
A virtuous elder once said, “When you were born, you were provided with the lion’s roar.” Being provided with the lion’s roar is the meritorious fruit of a Tathagata’s turning of the Wheel of the Dharma: it is the turning of the Wheel of the Dharma. And another virtuous elder said, “The coming and going of birth and death is the Real Body of man.” Thus it is that clarifying what one’s True Body is and possessing the merit from the lion’s roar will indeed be the One Great Matter, and I do not mean that the task is easy or simple. Hence, attempting to clarify what prompts the words and actions of a three-year-old is also the Great Cause for which we train, since it is the same—and yet not the same—as what prompts the words and actions of all the Buddhas in the three temporal worlds.
Befuddled Rakuten had never heard what a three-year-old child had to say, and so he had never questioned himself as to what the Great Matter was. Instead, he made the kind of remark that he did. He did not hear what Dorin was voicing, though It resounded louder than thunder. In speaking of That which cannot be put into words, Rakuten said, “Even a child of three knows how to say that!” Not only did he not hear the child’s lion roar, he also stumbled over the Master’s turning of the Wheel of the Dharma.
The Master, out of pity, could not give up on Rakuten and went on to say, “Though a three-year-old child can say it, there are old men in their eighties who still cannot put it into practice.” The heart of what he said exists in what a child of three can say, and this we must thoroughly investigate. Also, there is the practice which eighty-year-olds may not be doing, but which we must diligently engage in. What Dorin has told us is that what the child is capable of saying has been entrusted to us, though it is not a task for a child, and what the old men were notable to practice has been entrusted to us, though it was not the task for old men such as these. In a similar way do we keep the Buddha’s Dharma in mind and take It as our foundation, so that we may make It our reason for training.
Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Rev. Hubert Nearman
A virtuous elder once said, “When you were born, you were provided with the lion’s roar.” Being provided with the lion’s roar is the meritorious fruit of a Tathagata’s turning of the Wheel of the Dharma: it is the turning of the Wheel of the Dharma. And another virtuous elder said, “The coming and going of birth and death is the Real Body of man.” Thus it is that clarifying what one’s True Body is and possessing the merit from the lion’s roar will indeed be the One Great Matter, and I do not mean that the task is easy or simple. Hence, attempting to clarify what prompts the words and actions of a three-year-old is also the Great Cause for which we train, since it is the same—and yet not the same—as what prompts the words and actions of all the Buddhas in the three temporal worlds.
Befuddled Rakuten had never heard what a three-year-old child had to say, and so he had never questioned himself as to what the Great Matter was. Instead, he made the kind of remark that he did. He did not hear what Dorin was voicing, though It resounded louder than thunder. In speaking of That which cannot be put into words, Rakuten said, “Even a child of three knows how to say that!” Not only did he not hear the child’s lion roar, he also stumbled over the Master’s turning of the Wheel of the Dharma.
The Master, out of pity, could not give up on Rakuten and went on to say, “Though a three-year-old child can say it, there are old men in their eighties who still cannot put it into practice.” The heart of what he said exists in what a child of three can say, and this we must thoroughly investigate. Also, there is the practice which eighty-year-olds may not be doing, but which we must diligently engage in. What Dorin has told us is that what the child is capable of saying has been entrusted to us, though it is not a task for a child, and what the old men were notable to practice has been entrusted to us, though it was not the task for old men such as these. In a similar way do we keep the Buddha’s Dharma in mind and take It as our foundation, so that we may make It our reason for training.
Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Rev. Hubert Nearman
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Peace,
Ted
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