Dogen on Sectarianism

Dogen on Sectarianism

 

Do not concede that the Buddha-Dharma might even exist among people who claim to be ‘the Zen sect.’ Who has invented the name ‘Zen sect’? None of the buddhas and ancestral masters has ever used the name ‘Zen sect.’

Shobogenzo, Butsudo[i]

 

The identification of Dogen’s doctrine and methodology with the Soto sect was not established by Dogen or his single successor, Koun Ejo (1198-1280). Dogen was only identified as the ‘founder of the Soto sect’ well after his death. Moreover, it is irrefutable that Dogen not only did not intend to found a sect, but that he explicitly and forcefully disparaged the very notion of it.

 

The view that Buddhism could be divided into separate entities is fundamentally contrary to the central principles of Dogen’s teachings. There was only one authentic Buddhism (or Buddha-Dharma); any ‘Buddhism’ that was not authentic Buddhism was not Buddhism at all. The notion that ‘Zen’ itself consisted of a separate distinct sect of Buddhism is adamantly refuted in Dogen’s own writings. In Shobogenzo, Butsudo, his most comprehensive elucidation of what does, and does not constitute authentic Buddhism, Dogen articulates his view of the notion that the Buddha-Dharma could be divided into sects in no uncertain terms:

 

Remember, the name ‘Zen sect’ has been devised by demons and devils. People who have called themselves a name used by demons and devils may themselves be a band of demons; they are not the children and grandchildren of the Buddhist patriarchs.

Shobogenzo, Butsudo[ii]

 

Dogen did, of course, recognize the fact that, regardless of its accuracy or rationality, Buddhism was and is commonly identified and discussed in ‘sectarian’ terms by reliable sources as well as unreliable ones. However, in his acknowledgement and explanation as to the causes for the term ‘Zen sect’ having fallen into common usage, he makes no apologies or justifications for the fact, as is common today, but plainly describes it as ‘a degeneration.’ 

 

We should be absolutely certain that [the Buddha’s truth] has never been called ‘the Zen sect.’ Nevertheless, the common folk of recent ages, in their stupidity, do not know the old customs, and people who have not received the transmission of past buddhas wrongly say, ‘Within the Buddha-Dharma there are the lineages and customs of the five sects.’ This is a degeneration that has been left to follow its natural course.

Shobogenzo, Butsudo[iii]

 

Moreover, Dogen’s repudiation was clearly directed to be inclusive of any and all notions of separate schools or sects within the Buddha-Dharma, many of which he named and described in detail – including the very ‘sect’ that his own primary lineage within the Buddha-Dharma had come to be identified with. Indeed, he treated the identification of authentic Buddhism with the ‘Soto sect’ to the fullness of his not small capacity for expressing scornful contempt:

 

The great master has never shown to the assembly any fist or wink of an eye that advocated the use of the name ‘Sōtō sect.’ Furthermore, there was no flotsam mixed in among his disciples, and so there was no disciple who used the name ‘Tōzan sect.’ How much less could they speak of a ‘Sōtō sect’? The name ‘Sōtō sect’ may be the result of including the name Sōzan. In such a case, Ungo and Dōan would have to be included too. Ungo is a guiding master in the human world and in the heavens above, and he is more venerable than Sōzan. We can conclude, in regard to this name ‘Sōtō,’ that some stinking skinbag belonging to a side lineage, seeing himself as equal [to Tōzan], has devised the name ‘Sōtō sect.’

Shobogenzo, Butsudo[iv]

 

As Dogen’s words leave no doubt concerning his own views on the matter I need not dwell on the point, except to stress that it harmonizes perfectly with a central principle of his whole vision; the unity of all authentic Buddhist expressions (i.e. form/essence transmissions of truth). The summum bonum of the Buddha-Dharma, the ‘supreme truth’ of enlightenment, according to Dogen, is at once various and differentiated (i.e. a manifest appearance in and as duality) and unified and undifferentiated (i.e. a manifest appearance in and of nonduality) – each and all the myriad expressions of Buddhas are the one thing ‘which every buddha and every patriarch transmits and authentically receives.’

 

That which every buddha and every patriarch transmits and authentically receives is the right-Dharma-eye treasury and the supreme truth of bodhi. The Dharma that the Buddhist Patriarch possessed has been transmitted in its entirety by buddhas, and there are no innovations to be added to the Dharma at all. This principle is the bones of the Dharma and the marrow of the truth.

Shobogenzo, Butsudo[v]

 

Clearly, Dogen’s view of the unity of the Buddha-Dharma is not confined to a ‘select collection’, ‘authorized version’, or ‘special transmission.’ Not only did Dogen refute all notions of sectarian exclusivity, he explicitly asserted the unity of all the traditional Buddhist expressions (i.e. both the Mahayana and Theravada [Hinayana] scriptures and treatises) and all the expressions of genuine Zen ancestors (i.e. verbal and written doctrines, treatises, records, koan collections, etc.). In Dogen’s view, to understand the expression of Zen as a ‘separate transmission outside the teachings’ literally rather than poetically, was not only to be deluded about the nature of Zen/Buddhism, but to be in the dark even about the basic nature of language, thinking, and reason. All notions about written or verbal teachings as somehow non-essential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment were denigrated by Dogen as delusional and heretical, even imbecilic and vulgar. To Dogen all the expressions of Buddhas and Buddha ancestors, written or otherwise, are part and parcel with Buddhism itself, intrinsic elements of the ‘rightly transmitted Buddha-Dharma.’ All expressions of Buddhas are expressions of truth, and all expressions of truth are expressions of Buddha.

---

[i] Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

[ii] Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

[iii] Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

[iv] Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

[v] Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

Emptiness and the Sentient Nature of Reality

Emptiness and the Sentient Nature of Reality

 

Among the vast number of characteristics Dogen’s Shobogenzo attributes to emptiness, are these six, decidedly positive, characteristics:

 

Emptiness is present in/as existence-time

Emptiness is differentiated

Emptiness is active

Emptiness is sentient

Emptiness is intelligible

Emptiness is communicable

 

Even after a short foray into Dogen’s treatment of emptiness in the first fascicle written for Shobogenzo –Maka-hannya-haramitsu – it is clear that his vision of emptiness cannot be understood as negative or apophatic. This point merits emphasis; the meticulous attention to, and refutations of negativistic views of emptiness in Shobogenzo testifies to the pervasiveness of such distortions in Dogen’s era. The distorting power of negativistic views of emptiness can and does obstruct practitioners from clearly seeing any aspect of Zen, not to mention actualizing its wisdom.

 

The Sentient Nature of Reality

 

I meet with a human being, a human being meets with a human being, I meet with myself, and manifestation meets with manifestation.

Shobogenzo, Uji, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

What has been described like this is that life is the self, and the self is life.

Shobogenzo, Zenki, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

 

Dogen’s treatment of emptiness, in his (altered) citation of the Heart Sutra followed by the series of affirmative expressions on the nature of the self, the world, and the myriad dharmas presents (makes present) a glimpse into the grand vision of Shobogenzo. Right there, in the very first fascicle of Shobogenzo, the common thread that binds together and runs throughout the whole of Dogen’s masterpiece is prominently evident. That thread is the reason (dori) of the nonduality of duality, and the duality of nonduality.

 

 

In short, experience, existence, and liberation (epistemology, ontology, and soteriology) are nondual; the experience of clear seeing, the existence of prajna, and the actualization of liberation are three, but are not three different things. The nature and dynamics of the actualization of the universe (genjokoan) advanced by the nonduality of experience, existence, and liberation is creatively brought into relief in numerous ways and from a great variety of perspectives throughout Shobogenzo. To clearly see (i.e. know, experience, encounter) is to be (i.e. appear, exist, manifest), thus to clearly see liberation (Buddhahood, enlightenment, deliverance) is to be liberation. More precisely, the continuous activity of seeing Buddha (kenbutsu) is the continuous activity of becoming Buddha (gyobutsu). Your life (sentient existence) is what you clearly see (sentient experience), what you clearly see is your life.

 

So life is what I am making it, and I am what life is making me.

Shobogenzo, Zenki, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

 

The Transmission of Wisdom 1

The Transmission of Wisdom 1

The truth is the truth, the sages of all times and places express it in accord with circumstances. Thus it is not surprising to find that what Northrop Frye recognized in William Blake, Hee-Jin Kim found also in Eihei Dogen:

The abstract reasoner attempts to give independent reality to the qualities of the things he sees, and in the same way he tries to abstract the quality of his perception. It is to him that we owe the association of the mind and brain. The intellect to him is a special department concerned with reasoning, and other departments should not meddle with it. Emotion is another department, formally ascribed to the heart… Thought, being largely reflection, it is an “inward” activity: those who specialize in “outward” activity are not thinkers, but the practical people who do things. Scientists should be trained to see the sun as a fact; artists to see it emotionally as beautiful.

…

All this pigeonholing of activity is nonsense to Blake. Thought is act, he says… The more a man puts all he has into everything he does the more alive he is.

Northrop Frye, Fearful Symmetry, pp.20-21

 

The fundamental concept of understanding was activity in Dogen’s thought. Understanding was indispensably associated with our whole being—we understood as we acted and acted as we understood. The activity of the body-mind served not only as the vehicle of understanding, but also as the embodiment of truth. Often in conventional thought, knowledge and truth are ascribed solely to the functions of sensation and reason, while the functions of feeling and intuition are considered merely subjective. Such an artificial compartmentalization of human activity has created some distorted views of the subject. For Dogen, however, the problem of understanding invariably involved the whole being which he called the “body-mind” (shinjin). “Body-mind” was one of Dogen’s favorite phrases, and he often used the phrase “mustering the body-mind” (shinjin o koshite) to show the human attempt to understand the self and the world.

Hee-Jin Kim, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist, p.100

 

To be continued…

Enlightenment and Dogen’s True Mission: the Rightly Transmitted Buddha-Dharma

Enlightenment and Dogen’s True Mission: the Rightly Transmitted Buddha-Dharma

 

Among the world’s spiritual traditions the ultimate goal is variously called salvation, deliverance, liberation, paradise, nirvana, and other similar names. ‘Enlightenment’ is the name most commonly used in Zen. Thus ‘enlightenment,’ or more specifically, ‘full and perfect enlightenment’ (annuttara-samyak-sambodhi) is the root of every name, expression, or allusion to the end or goal of Zen.

Enlightenment in Zen, means personally verifying (seeing and understanding) the true nature of reality. According to Zen, seeing true nature or ‘realizing enlightenment’ means liberating all beings from suffering. Leaving aside the question as to how this is said to occur, the expressions of Dogen (or any genuine Zen teacher) spring from a sincere conviction that what they communicate truly possesses the power to actualize universal liberation. Only by remaining mindful of the true import Dogen attached to his expressions – whether or not we agree with him – can we possibly encounter the truth of what he communicated.

Notwithstanding the uncertainty of Dogen’s intentions as to the final form of Shobogenzo, it is clear that he did intend Shobogenzo to form a unified vision with a specific purpose. In my view, Dogen’s Shobogenzo was intended as – and successfully achieved – a complete exposition of the essential doctrine and methodology of authentic Buddhism inclusive of everything necessary for sincere students to directly and personally realize full and perfect enlightenment. By that, I mean that Dogen fulfilled the ‘mission’ he set down in Bendowa, one of the first writings he undertook upon his return from China. After describing how his journey to China led him to, ‘accomplishing the task of a lifetime,’ Dogen described his experience upon returning to his native land and how he came to decide ‘to spread the Dharma and save living beings’:

 

‘…I came home determined to spread the Dharma and to save living beings it was as if a heavy burden had been placed on my shoulders. Nevertheless, in order to wait for an upsurge during which I might discharge my sense of mission, I thought I would spend some time wandering like a cloud, calling here and there like a water weed, in the style of the ancient sages. Yet if there were any true practitioners who put the will to the truth first, being naturally unconcerned with fame and profit, they might be fruitlessly misled by false teachers and might needlessly throw a veil over right understanding. They might idly become drunk with self-deception, and sink forever into the state of delusion. How would they be able to promote the right seeds of prajna, or have the opportunity to attain the truth? If I were now absorbed in drifting like a cloud or a water weed, which mountains and rivers ought they to visit? Feeling that this would be a pitiful situation, I decided to compile a record of the customs and standards that I experienced first-hand in the Zen monasteries of the great Kingdom of Sung, together with a record of profound instruction from a [good] counselor which I have received and maintained. I will leave this record to people who learn in practice and are easy in the truth, so that they can know the right Dharma of the Buddha’s lineage. This may be a true mission.’

Shobogenzo, Bendowa (Italics mine), Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

Here I would point out that the method Dogen chose for providing ‘true practitioners’ with a vehicle to ‘know the right Dharma’ is a method disparaged by many contemporary Zen representatives as unreliable, ineffective, or even misleading. Many within the Soto Zen sect (which claims Dogen as its founder) claim the only way practitioners can ‘know the right Dharma’ is through transmission from a living representative (i.e. a formally certified ‘Dharma-heir’). Such claims commonly suggest that such a ‘transmission’ is not only required, but solely sufficient, that is, no ‘records,’ whether of ‘customs and standards’ or ‘profound instruction,’ are necessary.

 

For those claiming to be ‘heirs’ of Dogen, this is convenient; the record Dogen left so people could ‘know the right Dharma of the Buddha’s lineage’ was all but lost to the world for about 700 years. It should be noted that such ostentatious claims are usually not intentionally malicious or insincere, but simply the results of the usual competition and power struggles common to sectarian institutions.

 

 

Dori: Reason and Rationality in Zen Part 3

Dori: Reason and Rationality in Zen Part 3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Clarity of perception and thought evidently requires that we be generally aware of how our experience is shaped by the insight (clear or confused) provided by the theories that are implicit or explicit in our general ways of thinking. To this end, it is useful to emphasize that experience and knowledge are one process, rather than to think that our knowledge is about some sort of separate experience. We can refer to this one process as experience-knowledge (the hyphen indicating that these are two inseparable aspects of one whole movement).

Physicist David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, (1980, p.6)

From the perspective of Shobogenzo (hence Zen), accurately expressing truth has less to do with seeing the limitations of language and more to do with seeing through false presuppositions about language.

The common view that Zen is antithetical to language is, from Shobogenzo’s perspective, a distorted view based on a false assumption; the dualistic assumption that the reality of verbal expressions (written or spoken) exists independently of the reality the expressions concern. Of the many fallacies about Zen based on dualism, the delusion that the reality of Zen exists independently of the expressions of Zen is the most pernicious. To this distortion we owe the vulgar claims about Zen’s ‘ineffable’ reality, condition, or experience that is transcendent to, thus independent of, normal human capacities for communication. Notice that, since claims asserting that the truth of Zen cannot be communicated through language, are constituted of language, such claims refute their own validity!

In spite of the irrationality of such a view, this distorted notion has plagued Zen throughout the greater course of its history. Fortunately, this false view was widespread in Dogen’s own day; undoubtedly a chief reason for his comprehensive refutation of it in his writings. One of his clearest repudiations of this delusional view appears in the Sansuikyo fascicle of Shobogenzo:

 

In the nation of Great Sung China today, there is a certain type of unreliable person that has now grown to be quite a crowd. They have gotten to the point where they cannot be bested by the few true people. This bunch says such things as the following:

Just like the comments about Eno’s walking on water or the one about Nansen’s buying a scythe, what is being said is beyond anything that reason can grasp. In other words, any remark that involves the use of intellect is not the Zen talk of an Ancestor of the Buddha, whereas a remark that goes beyond anything that reason can handle is what comprises a ‘remark’ by an Ancestor of the Buddha. As a consequence, we would say that Meditation Master Obaku’s applying a stick to his disciples or Meditation Master Rinzai’s giving forth with a loud yell go far beyond rational understanding and do not involve the use of intellect. We consider this to be what is meant by the great awakening to That which precedes the arising of any discrimination. The reason why the ancient virtuous Masters so often made skillful use of verbal phrases to cut through the spiritual entanglements of their disciples was precisely because these phrases were beyond rational understanding.

 

Fellows who talk like this have never met a genuine teacher, nor do they have an eye for learning through training. They are foolish puppies who are not even worth discussing. For the past two or three centuries in the land of Sung China, such devilish imps and ‘little shavers’ like the Gang of Six have been many. Alas, the Great Way of the Buddha’s Ancestors has become diseased! This explanation of those people cannot compare even with that of the shravakas who follow the Lesser Course; it is even more confused than that of non-Buddhists. These fellows are not laity nor are they monks; they are not gods or humans. And when it comes to exploring the Buddha’s Way, they are more befuddled than beasts. The stories which the ‘little shavers’ refer to as going beyond anything that reason can grasp only go beyond anything their reason can grasp: it was not that way for any Ancestor of the Buddha. Just because they said that such stories are not subject to rational understanding, you should not fail to learn through your training what the intellectually comprehendible pathways of the Ancestors of the Buddha are. Even if these stories were ultimately beyond rational understanding, the understanding that this bunch has cannot hit the mark. Such people are in great number everywhere in Sung China, as I have personally witnessed. Sad to say, they did not recognize that the phrase ‘the use of intellect’ is itself a use of words, nor realize that a use of words may liberate us from the use of our intellect. When I was in Sung China, even though I laughed at them for their foolish views, they had nothing to say for themselves; they were simply speechless. Their present negation of rational understanding is nothing but an erroneous view. Who taught them this? Even though you may say that they have not had someone to teach them of the true nature of things, nevertheless, the fact remains that, for all intents and purposes, they still end up being offspring of the non-Buddhist notion that things arise spontaneously, independent of any form of causality.

Shobogenzo, Sansuikyo, Hubert Nearman

In his effort to rectify the issue Dogen succeeded in presenting a vision of the nature and dynamics of language unsurpassed by the world’s literary achievements. Indeed, Dogen’s treatment of language not only advanced the accumulated achievements of Buddhist thought in his day, it provided unique insight with great potential for resolving crucial challenges presently confronting the civilized world.

 

End Part 3

 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

This Side is This Side, That Side is That Side

The notion that our ‘self’ is something that looks around and encounters ‘a world’ that exists before, after, or otherwise independent of its being encountered is a false notion, a delusion. ‘Things’ or ‘a world’ being encountered is ‘ourself.’ To recognize sights, sounds, tastes, smells, tactile sensations, and thoughts here-now as our ‘self’ is enlightenment.

Driving ourselves to practice and experience the myriad dharmas is delusion. When the myriad dharmas actively practice and experience ourselves, that is the state of realization.

Shobogenzo, Genjokoan, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

As sentient beings are the realization of dharmas here-now, dharmas here-now are the realization of sentient beings. When you see a mountain, a mountain is seen by you. A mountain makes you what you are, you make a mountain what it is – ‘you’ is mountain-made, ‘a mountain’ is you-made.

Dogen often speaks of ‘pictures’ or ‘paintings’ as well as ‘fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles’ to emphasize that Buddha exists nowhere else but in the very ‘human-made’ (experientially realized) dharmas constituting the here-now of every moment of our existence.

 

But while it is true that the myriad dharmas ‘are realized as sentient beings’ it is also true that sentient beings are ‘realized as the myriad dharmas’ – thus we need to be wary of egocentricity. Mountains, paintings, fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles depend on us, but we also depend on them – from ‘this side’ (our perspective) the myriad dharmas are objects, from ‘that side’ (the perspective of dharmas) we are objects. We need to learn from them in order to interact normally with them, to ably respond (responsibility). To learn from them is to recognize them as the very words and deeds of Buddha.

 

If we want to inquire into this mind, it is present in visible fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles; and if we want to experience this mind, it is present in the realization of fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles. Now, though these fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles are produced by human beings, at the same time they are words and deeds of Dharma. Who could hold sway over them? When we see them like this, it is evident that “fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles” are beyond substance before our eyes, and that substance before our eyes is not “fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles.” In sum, fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles on this side are illuminating us as yonder objects; and we on this side are being illuminated by fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles as yonder objects.

Himitsu-shobogenzo, Butsu-kojo-no-ji, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

One Mind As All Dharmas, All Dharmas As One Mind

‘The mind that has been authentically transmitted’ means one mind as all dharmas, and all dharmas as one mind.

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

 

‘Buddha’ and ‘one mind’ are not different things – ‘this mind is Buddha,’ and ‘Buddha’ (or ‘this mind’) is ‘all dharmas.’ ‘All dharmas’ is ‘one mind’ (or ‘Buddha’). Further, each and every ‘particular dharma’ is an essential element of ‘all dharmas’ which is ‘Buddha’ (or ‘mind’), and ‘Buddha’ (or ‘mind’) is ‘all dharmas,’ hence ‘Buddha’ (or ‘mind’) is each and every ‘particular dharma.’

Dogen's Shobogenzo, Zazen-Shin (A Needle for Zazen) Part 3

Zazen-Shin (A Needle for Zazen)

Part 3 of 3 – Link to Part 1 – Link to Part 2

A Commentary on Dogen's Shobogenzo, Zazenshin

Translation (In Bold) by Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross - Commentary by Ted Biringer.

(Adapted from the Sept. 2014 issue of the Zen newsletter, Flatbed Sutra Zen News)

 

 

 

 

The Zazenshin in question is as follows:

 

Zazenshin

 

Written by Shogaku, who was posthumously titled, by imperial decree, Zen Master Wanshi

 

Pivotal essence of every buddha,

Essential pivot of every patriarch.

Not touching things, yet sensing,

Not opposing circumstances, yet being illuminated.

 

Not touching things, yet sensing:

The sensing is naturally subtle.

Not opposing circumstances, yet being illuminated:

The illumination is naturally fine.

 

The sensing is naturally subtle:

There has been no discriminating thought.

The illumination is naturally fine:

There has been not the slightest dawning.

 

There has been no discriminating thought:

The sensing, without any duality, is singular.

There has been not the slightest dawning:

The illumination, without any grasping, is complete.

 

The water is clean right to the bottom,

Fishes are swimming, slowly, slowly.

The sky is wide beyond limit,

And birds are flying, far, far away.

 

The point of this needle for zazen is that "the Great Function is already manifest before us," is "the dignified behavior that is ascendant to sound and form," is a glimpse of "the time before our parents were born," is that "not to insult the Buddhist patriarchs is good," is "never to have avoided losing body and life," and is "the head being three feet long and the neck being two inches."

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

Dogen begins by reminding us that this expression is a Buddha's discourse - an expression of wisdom on the great matter of life and death. It is the truth that "the Great Function is already manifest before us" - existence-time here-now is Buddha. It is "the dignified behavior that is ascendant to sound and form" - actualizing universal liberation and fulfillment. It is "a glimpse of 'the time before our parents were born'" - discerning our true nature with certainty. It is that "not to insult the Buddhist patriarchs is good" - activating our skillful capacity, our ability to respond (responsibility). It is "never to have avoided losing body and life" - freedom from fear and self-centeredness. And is "the head being three feet long and the neck being two inches" - it is at that time when Buddha is Buddha.

 

"Pivotal essence of every buddha." "Every buddha" without exception sees "buddha at every moment" as "the pivotal essence." That "pivotal essence" has been realized: it is zazen.

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

The pivotal essence is what every buddha sees at/as every place-time, and the pivotal essence is how every buddha sees at/as every place-time. Thus the making real (realization) of the pivotal essence ceaselessly advances in/as self-and-other (subjectivity/objectivity): This is zazen.

 

"Essential pivot of every patriarch." "The late master did without such words"-this principle itself is "every patriarch." The transmission of Dharma and the transmission of the robe exist. In general, every instance of "turning the head and changing the features" is the pivotal essence of every buddha. And every individual case of changing the features and turning the head is the essential pivot of every patriarch.

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

"Outside words and letters" - these words and letters are themselves "outside." Here Shakyamuni twirls a flower, Now Mahakayshyapa smiles. The pivotal essence is the universal sacred life of all things, beings, and events. The essential pivot is the particular place-time of each thing, being, and event.

 

"Not touching things, yet sensing." "Sensing" is not sense perception; sense perception is small-scale. Neither is it intellectual recognition; intellectual recognition is intentional doing. Therefore, "sensing" is "beyond touching things," and that which is "beyond touching things" is "sensing." We should not consider speculatively that it is universal awareness, and we should not think narrowly that it is self-awareness. This "not touching things" means "When a clear head comes, a clear head does. When a dull head comes, a dull head does"; it means "to break by sitting the skin that our mothers bore."

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

Touching is only and always realized (made real) by a toucher and a touched, a toucher is realized by a touched and a touching, a touched is realized by a toucher and a touching. Not touching is only realized by touching (thus all of touching's intrinsic elements) - therefore touching is beyond (includes and transcends) touching, and not touching is beyond not touching. The same truth applies to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and thinking. This is the true form of sensing. When I sense a horse, a horse is sensed by me; when an ox is sensed by me, I do not sense a horse. This is the true essence of sensing. When both the form and essence of sensing are expressed it is, "Nothing in the whole universe is concealed" and it is "When I don't see, you don't see my not seeing."

 

"Not opposing circumstances, yet being illuminated." This "being illuminated" is not the illumination of enlightened understanding and is not spiritual illumination. "Not to oppose circumstances" is described as "being illuminated." Illumination does not merge into circumstances-because circumstances are just illumination. The meaning of "non-opposition" is "the whole universe never having been hidden," is "a broken world not showing its head," is "the subtle," is "the fine," and is "[the state beyond] complicated and uncomplicated."

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

All the real 'circumstances' in the whole universe are instances of illumination itself - particular dharmas encountered by particular sentient beings at particular place-times. "Not to oppose circumstances" means the myriad dharmas advance and illumine the self.

 

A monk asked Dongshan, "How can one escape from heat and cold?"

Dongshan said, "Why not go where there is no heat and cold?"

The monk asked, "Where is there not heat and cold?"

Dongshan said, "When it is hot the heat kills you, when it is cold the cold kills you."

 

"The sensing is naturally subtle: There has been no discriminating thought." The state in which "thought" is "sensing" is not always reliant on external assistance. "The sensing" is concrete form, and concrete form is mountains and rivers. These mountains and rivers are "subtlety." This "subtlety" is "the fine." When we use [this state] it is totally vigorous. When we become a dragon, whether we are inside or outside the Dragon Gate is irrelevant. To use even one mere instant of the present "sensing" is to garner the mountains and rivers of the whole universe and, exerting total effort, to "sense" them. Unless our own "sensing" is in the state of direct familiarity with mountains and rivers, there cannot be a single instance of sensing or half an instance of understanding. We should not grieve about "discriminating thought" being late in arriving. "Every buddha," in the state of already having discrimination, has already been realized. The "nonexistence of what has occurred" is "already" having occurred, and "already having occurred" is realization. In sum, "there having been no discrimination" is [the state of] "not meeting a single person."

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

We know a mountain exists when (at that time) 'we see a mountain' and 'a mountain is seen' - when we see a mountain and a mountain is seen a mountain exists in our knowing. Besides mountains that exist in our knowing, no mountains are known to exist. 'A mountain' exists as an object of consciousness, 'a mountain knower' exists as a subject of consciousness. We know a unicorn exists when 'we dream a unicorn' and 'a unicorn is dreamed' - thus a unicorn exists in our knowing. Besides such existent unicorns, no unicorns exist in our knowing; how could we believe in the fallacy that "Unicorns do not exist"?

 

"The illumination is naturally fine: There has been not the slightest dawning." "The slightest" means the whole universe. Still, [the illumination] is naturally the fine itself and is naturally illumination itself, and for this reason it seems never to have fetched anything to itself. Do not doubt the eyes, but do not necessarily trust the ears. The state of "You must directly clarify the fundamental outside of principles; do not grasp for standards in words" is illumination. For this reason "there is no duality" and for this reason "there is no grasping." While having dwelled in and retained this state as "singularity" and having maintained and relied upon it as "completeness," [those descriptions] I still doubt.

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

When the slightest is the slightest, what is the slightest. Experience here-now is existence here-now; what you see is what you get. Assertions and proclamations are assertions and proclamations - all are real dharmas, some really express truth, some really express falseness. When there is 'no duality' there can be no 'nonduality' - in such 'a state' there is no grasping, and no not grasping. While such may be called a 'singularity' and be relied upon as 'completeness', Dogen has his doubts. As for me, I have no doubt that such a state is an inevitable milestone along the ancient way. I also have no doubt it has proven to be a pernicious, inescapable shit-hole for many that lingered there too long. It is also known as Dante's unmentioned level of Hell - those abiding here are subjected to dew-drops dripping on lotus leaves for eternity and beyond. Notice in Dogen's 'version' below, the inky cave of 'no duality' is politely not mentioned.

 

"The water is clean right to the bottom. Fishes are swimming, slowly, slowly." As to the meaning of "the water is clean," water suspended in space is not thoroughly "clean water." Still less is water that becomes deep and clear in the vessel world, the water of "the water is clean." [Water] that is not bounded by any bank or shore: this is "water that is clean right to the bottom." When fish move through this water, "swimming" is not nonexistent. "Swimming," for however many tens of thousands of distances it progresses, is unfathomable and is unlimited. There is no bank from which to survey it, there is no air to which it might surface, and there is no bottom to which it might sink. Therefore, there is no one who can fathom it. If we want to discuss its measurements, [we say] only that "the water is clean right to the bottom." The virtue of sitting in zazen is like this swimming of fishes: who can estimate it on a scale of thousands or tens of thousands? The course of action that penetrates to the bottom is the whole body not follow ing the way of the birds.

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

Zazen is not bound to any fixed form, water that is clean "is not bounded by any bank or shore." When (at that time) fish move through this water there is only 'fish move through this water' in the whole universe, then there are no-tiles, there are no-mirrors. To say 'there are no-tiles' and 'there are no-mirrors' does not mean 'tiles are nonexistent' and 'mirrors are nonexistent,' rather tiles are 'fish move through this water,' mirrors are 'fish move through this water.' When 'fish move through this water' is illumined, tiles are eclipsed and swimming is eclipsed, hence "not nonexistent." How can the not nonexistent be fully fathomed? What is the not nonexistent. What is also the existent.

 

"The sky is wide beyond limit. And birds are flying, far, far away." "The sky is wide" does not describe what is suspended in the firmament. The sky suspended in the firmament is not "the wide sky." Still less is that which pervades that place and this place universally "the wide sky." [The sky] not hidden or revealed by any outside or inside: this is "the wide sky." When birds fly through this sky, flying in the sky is the undivided Dharma. Their action of flying in the sky cannot be measured. Flying in the sky is the whole universe-because the whole universe is flying in the sky. We do not know the extent of this "flying," but in expressing it with words which are beyond the realm of estimation, we describe it as "far, far away." "Straightaway, there should be no strings under the feet."When the sky is flying away, the birds also are flying away; and when the birds are flying away, the sky also is flying away. Words that express mastery of flying away are "It only exists at this concrete place." This is a needle for the still-still state. Tens of thousands of distances traveled vie to tell us, "It only exists at this concrete place."

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

When (at that time) the sky is 'flying away,' the birds are also 'flying away,' tiles are 'flying away,' and mirrors are 'flying away.' It only exists at/as this particular experience here-now.

 

Such is the Zazenshin of Zen Master Wanshi. Among [the maxims of] veteran patriarchs through the ages, there has never been a Zazenshin like this one. If stinking skinbags in all directions wished to express the like of this Zazenshin, even if they exhausted the effort of a lifetime or of two life times, they would not be able to express it. Through all directions today, we do not find [any other]: there is this maxim alone. When my late master held formal preaching in the Dharma hall, he would constantly say, "The eternal buddha Wanshi!" He never spoke like this of other men at all. When we have the eyes to know a person, we can also know the sound of a Buddhist patriarch. Truly we have seen that in [the lineage of] Tozan, a Buddhist patriarch exists. Now it is eighty years or so since [the death of] Zen Master Wanshi. Admiring his Zazenshin, I have written the following Zazenshin. Now it is the eighteenth day in the third lunar month in the third year of Ninji.When I count [the years] between this year and the eighth day of the tenth lunar month in the twenty-seventh year of Shoko, it is only eighty-five years. The Zazenshin that I have written now is as follows:

 

Zazenshin

 

Pivotal essence of every buddha,

Essential pivot of every patriarch.

Beyond thinking, realizing,

Beyond complication, realization.

 

Beyond thinking, realizing:

The realizing is naturally immediate.

Beyond complication, realization:

The realization is naturally a state of experience.

 

The realizing is naturally immediate:

There has been no taintedness.

The realization is naturally a state of experience:

There has been no rightness or divergence.

 

There has been no tainting of the immediacy:

That immediacy is without reliance yet it gets free.

There has been no rightness or divergence in the experience:

That state of experience is without design yet it makes effort.

 

The water is clean, right down to the ground,

Fishes are swimming like fishes.

The sky is wide, clear through to the heavens,

And birds are flying like birds.

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

"Pivotal essence of every buddha" - Buddha-nature; the myriad dharmas in/of existence-time. "Essential pivot of every patriarch" - Kozei constantly sits in zazen, Nangaku polishes a tile, Gutei raised one finger, and each of these is what?

 

"Beyond thinking, realizing" - Realizing what? "Beyond complication, realization" - The fundamental point.

 

"Beyond thinking, realizing: The realizing is naturally immediate." When I beat an ox, an ox is beaten by me.

 

"Beyond complication, realization: The realization is naturally a state of experience." What existence (existence-time) is experienced is what experience exists, what experience exists is what existence is experienced.

 

"The realizing is naturally immediate: There has been no taintedness." 'Not-two,' not 'one' - because right is right, wrong is wrong, because true is true, false is false; right and wrong are ever and always distinct, true is true, not false, false is false, not true - right and wrong are not-two, true and false are not one.

 

"The realization is naturally a state of experience: There has been no rightness or divergence." When here-now (particular experience/existence) is here-now rightness is here-now, divergence is here-now.

 

"There has been no tainting of the immediacy: That immediacy is without reliance yet it gets free." Firewood is not-ash, ash is not-firewood; firewood abides in its dharma-position (its particular existence-time of total existence-time) as firewood, ash abides in its dharma-position as ash. Thus firewood has a before and an after (and a little before, a long before, a long, long before, a long after, a million years after, an ever-after, etc.) and is simultaneously cut off from before and after (is ever and always the here-now of firewood). Ash has a before and an after and is simultaneously cut off from before and after.

 

"There has been no rightness or divergence in the experience: That state of experience is without design yet it makes effort." The experience/existence of true nature (practice-enlightenment, Buddha, actualizing the koan, etc.) is 'What' (ever-advancing into novelty; reality without design, without fixed form). 'What,' or 'making Buddha,' which is an experience without design, is characterized by (possesses the features of) making effort. 'Making effort,' 'aiming,' 'striving' to 'become Buddha' is 'What' realized as that "state of experience without design."

 

"The water is clean, right down to the ground, Fishes are swimming like fishes." 'Clean right down to the ground' is 'the water.' 'What' swimming like fishes is fishes.

 

"The sky is wide, clear through to the heavens, And birds are flying like birds." Lift a rock and you will find it there, split a piece of wood and you will find it there. What looks like a duck and quacks like a duck - it must be a duck.

 

The Zazenshin of Zen Master Wanshi is never imperfect in expression, but I would like to express it further like this. In sum, children and grand children of the Buddhist patriarchs should unfailingly learn in practice that sitting in zazen is the one great matter. This is the authentic seal that is received and transmitted one-to-one.

Shobogenzo Zazenshin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

Such is the Zazenshin of Zen Master Dogen. Among the treatises on zazen by Buddha ancestors in total existence-time, there is none like this one. When my former teacher expressed the Dharma in the dokusan room, he would constantly say, "The eternal Buddha Dogen!" He only spoke like this of genuine eternal Buddhas. In grateful thanks for Dogen's Zazenshin, I have written the following Zazenshin:

 

Zazenshin

 

Pivotal essence; buddhas alone

Essential pivot; together with buddhas

Thinking not-thinking, nonthinking

Simple/complex, actualization.

 

Thinking not-thinking, nonthinking:

The non's thinking is the normal mind.

Simple/complex, actualization:

Actualization is the fundamental point.

 

The non's thinking is the normal mind:

What is the Tao.

Actualization is the fundamental point:

Every day is a good day.

 

What is the Tao:

The ceaseless-advance into novelty.

Every day is a good day:

What is a good day.

 

Water is water.

Fishes are fishes.

The sky is the sky.

Birds are birds.

 

The Zazenshin of Zen Master Dogen is ever novel as Zen Master Dogen's Zazenshin. Here-now the Zazenshin of Zen student Ted Biringer is expressed like this. In sum, children, grand children, and great, great grandchildren of the Buddha ancestors freely make effort and sincerely strive to learn, practice, verify, and actualize zazen as zazen. This is the authentic Buddha-Dharma that is transmitted (sent/received) by Buddhas alone together with buddhas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to Part 1 – Link to Part 2