The Particularity of Buddha Here-Now

Clearly, ‘mind’ is mountains, rivers, and the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Shobogenzo, Soku-shin-ze-butsu, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

Buddha – this mind – is (not, ‘is like’) mountains, rivers, and the earth, the sun, moon, and stars. Mind – Buddha – is houses and streets, animals, guns, plants, thoughts, bombs, corpses, laughter, and cancers. Mind is all particular dharmas as they are; particular dharmas. All particular dharmas are this mind as it is; this mind. This tree is the mind as it is, the mind as it is, is all dharmas, hence is this tree. That this tree is mind ‘as it is,’ means mind only exists as mind by virtue of this tree existing as this tree. Because this tree is mind ‘as it is,’ it actually goes too far to say ‘is mind,’ and is more accurate to simply say ‘this tree.’ As Dogen puts it:

 

Mind as mountains, rivers, and the earth is nothing other than mountains, rivers, and the earth. There are no additional waves or surf, no wind or smoke. Mind as the sun, the moon, and the stars is nothing other than the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Shobogenzo, Soku-shin-ze-butsu, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

The point to get is that, in Zen, it is not general dharmas but particular dharmas that are recognized as the fundamental self-generating elements, or better activity, of the universe as it is. The universe spoken of by Shobogenzo as ‘this mind,’ ‘Buddha,’ ‘one mind,’ or ‘all dharmas’ is not merely the sum of all things or the totality of everything throughout space and time; it is the very things and events you are experiencing right here-now (soku), it is the very you right here-now experiencing things and events. The very things, events, and you that right here-now is ‘this mind’ are not arbitrary miscellany or various generalities; but the actual mountains, rivers, and earth you see here-now, the sun, the moon, the stars here-now.