tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post7210769666259921027..comments2023-10-21T03:56:17.837-07:00Comments on Zen Buddhism Dogen and the Shobogenzo: Koans the hallmark of Dogen's Zen?Ted Biringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00497538623775589400noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post-26078807910284314222010-03-08T23:36:53.154-08:002010-03-08T23:36:53.154-08:00Hello William,
Thank you for your comments.
Also...Hello William,<br /><br />Thank you for your comments.<br /><br />Also thanks for the information on Gisei, Daiyo, and Keizan.<br /><br />Your closing paragraph, in my view, sums up the essential point quite nicely.<br /><br />Thanks again!<br /><br />Three Full Bows.<br /><br />Peace,<br />TedTed Biringerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00497538623775589400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post-40807395703228302752010-03-07T22:41:34.323-08:002010-03-07T22:41:34.323-08:00Ted,
Very interesting post here, and very astute....Ted,<br /> Very interesting post here, and very astute. I think that people like the idea of lineages because they offer a sort of celebrity: hey, this master was a student of this old master, amazing! But really, there can be no difference between Buddha and Dharma, so to transmit the Way is not to transmit one specialized school of the way but the whole way itself!<br /><br />Keizan, of course, had the same view as Dogen on these matters. In the Denkoroku (also translated by Rev. Master Hubert), chapter 45 on the Reverend Monk Tosu Gisei clarifies how Daiyo, without an heir before his death, entrusted his lineage to Enkan, a master from a different lineage. However, Enkan could not simply be Daiyo's heir because he had already accepted transmission from someone in the Rinzai line. Enkan waited until he found a suitable heir for Daiyo's line and then entrusted it to Gisei, someone whom Daiyo had never met. The lesson is that Enkan saw the authentic teaching in that of Daiyo, even though he was of a different lineage. This was precious enough to Enkan to preserve until he found Gisei. Keizan says: <br /><br />"Daiyo trusted Enkan, Gisei respected Enkan: neither doubted the other's words nor considered the other's Teaching something of no importance. None of these three Masteres neglected or abandoned the fundamental principles of their Ancestral predecessors: they entrusted Tozan's tradition to many generations to come. This is truly something commendable in our monastic family and is a treasuring of the Buddha's Dharma. Even now, when a suitable vessel is not to be found in one's lifetime, the Teaching can be entrusted to an accomplished master."<br /><br />If lineages and sects were of great importance, this beautiful and trusting relationship between Daiyo and Enkan would not have happened and the line of Tozan would've died out before the days of the great Masters Dogen and Keizan.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01692282912864821303noreply@blogger.com