Dogen & Koans

 

Dogen & Koans

[Adapted from the Flatbed Sutra Zen Newsletter, Feb 2012 Dogen & Koans]

 

People who study the Buddha Dharma should first know the sayings of Buddhas and ancestors, without being confused by those outside the way.

Eihei Koroku, Leighton & Okumura

 

We should by all means have as our investigation through training and practice an exploration that broadly spans the sayings of all the Buddhas and Ancestors.

Shobogenzo, Kokyo, Hubert Nearman

 

While much progress has been made in the scholarly arena, the popular stereotype of Dogen's Zen as being "non-koan" or even "anti-koan" persists. While it is true that the surviving "Soto" Zen lineages have largely lost contact with the koan teachings and practices, this is certainly not the case with Dogen's own teachings.

As the renowned Buddhist scholar, T. Griffith Foulk points out:

If there was anything that was distinctive about the Ch'an monasteries, it was not the stress on zazen or the occasional ritual in which the entire community was required to perform manual labor together (fushin samu) - those practices were common to all the public monasteries. No, what distinguished the training in Ch'an monasteries was chiefly the teaching style of the abbots, who based their talks and debates on the koan literature that was the hallmark of the Ch'an tradition.

T. Griffith Foulk, History of the Soto Zen School

Indeed, as Foulk goes on to say, it was familiarity with this literature that distinguished a monastic as a "Zen monastic" in Sung China (where Dogen "accomplished his task"). Moreover, the mastery of this literature and the ability to demonstrate that mastery was the main distinguishing characteristic of an authentic "Zen master."

It is true that Soto teachers gained prestige from their membership in the Zen lineage, and that to become a member one had to master the tradition of commenting on koans.

T. Griffith Foulk, History of the Soto Zen School

As is clear from all of Dogen's works, Zen without study was not Zen at all - thus, for instance, he wrote:

 

You cannot realize the Buddha's Way if you do not aim to practice the Way, and It will be ever more distant from you if you do not aim to study It.

Shobogenzo, Shinjin Gakudo, Rev. Hubert Nearman

 

And:

 

When students are beginners, whether they have the mind of the Way or not, they should carefully read and study the Sagely Teachings of the sutras and shastras.

Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)

 

He also made it very clear that "koans" or "sayings" (of the Zen ancestors) were as essential to Zen study as were Buddhist scriptures, for instance:

 

Even so, over the last couple of centuries or so in Great Sung China, certain mistaken, smelly skin bags have said, "There's no need for you to keep the sayings of the Ancestral Masters in mind, much less is there any need for long study of Scriptural Teachings or for your trying to make use of Them. Simply, make your body and mind like a dead tree or cold ashes, like a broken wooden ladle or a bottomless tub." Folks like these have become a type of non-Buddhist or celestial demon, and to no good purpose. They seek to make use of things that are useless, and accordingly, they twist the Teachings of the Buddhas and Ancestors into wild and perverted teaching. What a pity! How terribly sad!

Shobogenzo, Bukkyo, Hubert Nearman

 

Following, then, are a collection of passages from Dogen's works that give some general, some specific, some subtle, and always reliable instruction on how Zen students can best approach the koans. Enjoy!

 

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When Students of the Way are looking at sayings, you must exert your power to the utmost and examine them very very closely.

Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)

 

In encountering these sayings and expressions of Theirs, do not treat them as something apart from the Buddha's assembly, for They are Buddhas turning the Wheel of the Dharma. Because this Wheel of the Dharma encompasses everything in all directions, the Great Ocean, Mount Sumeru, all lands, and all thoughts and things have fully manifested themselves.

Shobogenzo, Muchu Setsumu, Hubert Nearman

 

The reality [i.e. "koan" TB] of eternal buddhas is present; it is, namely, the teaching, practice, and experience of "the thirty-seven elements of bodhi." The entanglement of ascending and descending through their classification is just the entangled state of reality, which we call "the buddhas" and which we call "the patriarchs."

Shobogenzo, Sanjushichi-bon-bodai-bunpo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

 

Our Highest Ancestor in India, Shakyamuni Buddha, once said, "The snowcapped Himalayas are a metaphor for the great nirvana." You need to know that He is speaking metaphorically about something that can be metaphoric. 'Something that can be metaphoric' implies that the mountains and nirvana are somehow intimately connected and that they are connected in a straightforward manner. When He uses the term 'snow-capped Himalayas', He is using the actual snowcapped Himalayas as a metaphor, just as when He uses the term 'great nirvana', He is using the actual great nirvana as a metaphor.

Shobogenzo, Hotsu Mujo Shin, Hubert Nearman

 

Students of the Way, even if you attain enlightenment, do not think that this is now the ultimate and thus abandon your practice of the Way. The Way is endless. Even if you are enlightened, you should still practice the Way. Consider the ancient story of the lecturer Liang Sui calling upon Ma Yu.

Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)

Once you attain this state of suchness and attain the harmoni­ous unity of activity and understanding possessed by the Buddha-patriarchs, you examine exhaustively all the thoughts and views of this attainment.

Shobogenzo, Sammai-O-Zammai, Waddell & Abe

There are those who say that after bodhisattvas become Buddhas, they discontinue practice because there is nothing left for them to do. Such people are mundane persons who have no direct knowledge of the Way of the Buddhas and Ancestors.

Shobogenzo, Shoho Jisso, Hubert Nearman

Devote your energy to a Way that points directly to suchness. Revere the person of complete attainment beyond all human agency. Gain accord with the enlightenment of the Buddhas.

Fukanzazengi, Waddell and Abe

This Dharma is the very being and spirit of what the Buddhas and Ancestors have personally and correctly Transmitted; It is the very words and phrases used to describe That which the Buddhas and Ancestors directly experienced; It is the very Light in which the Buddhas and Ancestors clearly abide and to which They hold.

Shobogenzo, Senjo, Hubert Nearman

The Buddhas and Ancestors have been many indeed. Their deeds are instructive for teaching others the Way to supreme enlightenment. Among those deeds are not a few examples of 'bone-crushing' diligence. For instance, you can draw instruction from the Second Ancestor Eka's 'severing of his arm'. And do not miss the meaning behind the Buddha's action in a previous life when He covered the mud with His long hair.

Shobogenzo, Keisei Sanshoku, Hubert Nearman

In the house of the Buddhist patriarchs, some experience it directly and some do not experience it directly, but reading sutras and requesting the benefit [of the teaching] are the common tools of everyday life.

Shobogenzo, Kankin, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Good counselors, in every case, are thoroughly versed in the sutras...

...We should know that in the Buddha's truth there are inevitably Buddhist sutras; we should learn in practice, as the mountains and the oceans, their universal text and their profound meaning; and we should make them our standard for pursuing the truth.

Shobogenzo, Bukkyo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

In addition, 'to open a Scriptural text' means that you clarify for yourself what the Buddha taught as the principles for training and practice in both the 'sudden approach' and the 'gradual approach'.

Shobogenzo, Bendowa, Hubert Nearman

Their stories appear one after another in Records of the Torch such as Den[to-roku], Ko[to-roku], Zoku[to-roku], Futo-roku, and so on. When they were liberated from the small vehicle view which is limited thinking about philosophy and precepts and they revered the great truth authentically transmitted by the Buddhist patriarchs, they all became Buddhist patriarchs. People today also should learn from the ancestral masters of the past.

Shobogenzo, Den-E, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

The great Master says, "I call this bamboo and wood." We must completely master, both before it is voiced and after it becomes words, this unprecedented and unrepeatable snippet of an expression.

Shobogenzo, Sangai-Yuishin, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

(Asked by Ejo about the "use" of Nansen killing the cat) If it were not a turning word, we could not say, 'Mountains, rivers, and the great earth, are the marvelously pure illumined mind'; and we could not say, 'The very mind is Buddha.' So in the expression of this turning word, see that the cat is identical to the Buddha-body. Furthermore, hearing these words, a student may suddenly become enlightened.

Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)

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 it at once.

Shobogenzo, Mitsugo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Dig in the earth to search for heaven; meet with sun face and moon face buddhas. Dig a hole in the sky to plant the seed of a lotus that will blossom neither red not white [without and color]. Play with Linji's lump of red flesh, and penetrate the width of Xuefeng's ancient mirror. Furthermore, burn up Danxia's wooden Buddha, and smelt a hundred times the iron ox at Shanfu. Don't laugh when the cold ash is revived. Return for a while to a warm place [the meditation hall] and deliberate about this.

Eihei Koroku, Leighton & Okumura

Beginners and later students who wish to learn in practice the non-emotional preaching of the Dharma should get straight into diligent research of this story of the National Master.

Shobogenzo, Muju-Seppoi, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Without taking a step bow to the three government offices. The entryway that has long been locked is now wide open. Sit and cut through the billions of tangled vines to penetrate all of the ten thousand functionings and arouse the wind and thunder.

Eihei Koroku, Leighton & Okumura

Remember, we attain the truth when listening to a four-line verse, and we attain the state of truth when listening to a single phrase. Why is it that a four-line verse and a single phrase can have such a mystical effect? Because they are the Buddha-Dharma.

Shobogenzo, Den-E, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Someone with an iron tongue and spike beak can bite through the model koans from ancient or modern times.

Eihei Koroku, Leighton & Okumura

Neither of these venerable patriarchs is of humble ancestry: [Seppo] is a distant descendant of Seigen and [Sansho] is a distant descendant of Nangaku. That they have been dwelling in and retaining the eternal mirror is [evidenced] as described above. They may be a criterion for students of later ages.

Shobogenzo, Kokyo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

There again, many wrong people think, "Spoken teaching and active demeanor are insubstantial matters. The silent and unmoving state is the true reality." Expressions like this also are not the Buddha-Dharma. They are the speculations of people who have heard sutras and teachings of Brahmadeva, Isvara, and the like...

They utterly lack the light of clear discrimination.

Sanjushichi-bon-bodai-bunpo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

National Master Daisho is an excellent disciple of the eternal Buddha of Sokei. He is a great good counselor in heaven above and in the human world. We should clarify the fundamental teaching set forth by the Nation Master, and regard it as a criterion for learning in practice.

Shobogenzo, Soku-Shin-Ze-Butsu, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Don't you see that someone said, "Atop Mount Wutai, the clouds are making steamed rice; below the steps to the Buddha hall, a dog urinates up toward the heavens. At the top of a flagpole, dumplings are cooking; three monkeys a sorting coins in the night."

Brothers, if you can comprehend this saying, you will know the mind of the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teaching. Do you want to clearly understand the meaning of the ancestor [Bodhidharma] coming from the west?

After a pause Dogen said: Pierce your nostrils for yourself. Search for the fiery lotus in the water of mind. Study this.

Eihei Koroku, Leighton & Okumura

The sixth patriarch says, "people have south and north, but the Buddha-nature is without south and north." We should take this expression and make effort to get inside the words. We should reflect on the words "south and north" with naked mind.

Shobogenzo, Bussho, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

We should exhaust life after life investigating the intention of these words.

Shobogenzo, Bussho, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

When we examine just this one part of the stories, it is clear that Tando still had not endorsed Soko. Even though time and time again Tando aimed at opening Soko up, the latter ultimately kept missing that one experience, and there is no way of compensating for that, for one cannot omit that experience...

Soko did not thoroughly explore his own statement, "That is precisely what Soko is suspicious of," nor did he drop it off, or break it open, or give rise to the Great Doubt, or break through that doubting...

It is so pitiful how he failed to understand what the Ancestors of the Buddha were saying to him in their talks and writings. He did not grasp that to study and train is to awaken to one's True Self. He did not hear that to delve deeply into the writings of myriad generations is to come to realize what that Self truly is.

Without proper study, there are errors like these and there is self-deception like his.

Because this was the way 'Meditation Master' Soko was, in his assembly there was not a single disciple, or even half a one, who had a trustworthy nose ring, but there were many who were pretend monks.

Failure to intuitively grasp what the Buddha Dharma is and failure to intellectually understand what the Buddha Dharma is are both just like this. Beyond any question, novice trainees here and now should explore the Matter in detail with their Master. Do not be negligent out of pride.

Shobogenzo, Jisho Zammai, Hubert Nearman

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In Shobogenzo, Zazenshin, his most incisive teaching on zazen, Dogen refutes two fallacies about zazen prevalent in his own time - both continue into our own day. First is the wrong view that zazen is "just sitting" and "letting things be" - thoughts, sounds, smells, etc. (e.g. Just let things come and go", "there is nothing special to realize", "just sit and attain peace of mind", etc.).

In recent years, however, stupid unreliable people have said, "In the effort of Zazen, to attain peace of mind is everything. Just this is the state of tranquility." This opinion is beneath even scholars of the small vehicle. It is inferior even to the vehicles of men and gods. How can we call such people of the Buddha-Dharma? In the Great Kingdom of Buddha-Dharma today, people of such effort are many. It is lamentable that the Patriarch's truth has gone to ruin.

Shobogenzo, Zazenshin, Hubert Nearman

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In Shobogenzo, Genjokoan, Dogen describes in detail the fundamental point of Zen (one translation of Genjokoan is, Actualizing the Fundamental Point). Near the end of his exposition, Dogen uses a Zen koan to illustrate the non-dual nature of practice and enlightenment.

Zen Master Hotetsu of Mayoku-zan mountain is using a fan. A monk comes by and asks, "The nature of air is to be ever-present, and there is no place that [air] cannot reach. Why does the Master use a fan?"

The Master says, "You have only understood that the nature of air is to be ever-present, but you do not yet know the truth that there is no place [air] cannot reach."

The monk says, "What is the truth of there being no place [air] cannot reach?"

At this, the Master just [carries on] using the fan. The monk does prostrations.

Shobogenzo, Genjokoan, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Dogen goes on to say:

The real experience of the Buddha-Dharma, the vigorous road of the authentic transmission, is like this.

Shobogenzo, Genjokoan, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

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Understand that to receive this Teaching, keep to It, accurately recite It to others, and explore Its implications is precisely what 'defending and protecting Wisdom' means.

Shobogenzo, Makahannya-haramitsu, Hubert Nearman

Meditation Master Engo once said, "Birth-and-death and coming-and-going are a person's true Real Body." By exploring this expression, we will come to know ourselves and we will give our consideration to the Buddha Dharma.

Chosa once said, "The whole universe in all ten directions is a person's true Real Body. The whole universe in all ten directions lies within the radiant brightness of one's own True Self." But, in general, even veteran trainees in present-day Sung China still do not know that they need to explore a saying like this through their training.

Shobogenzo, Sangai Yuishin, Hubert Nearman

Those who have not illuminated each dharma, dharma by dharma, cannot be called clear-eyed, and they are not the attainment of the truth; how could they be called the Buddhist patriarchs of the eternal past and present? Therefore, we should be absolutely certain that the Buddhist patriarchs have, in every case, received the one-to-one transmission of zazen. To be illuminated by the presence of the Buddhist patriarchs' brightness is to exert oneself in the investigation of this sitting in zazen.

Shobogenzo, Komyo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Securing the Marrow and communicating the Dharma inevitably depend on sincere devotion and a trusting heart. Sincerity and trust do not in the least come from outside ourselves, nor is there any place within from which they emerge.

Shobogenzo, Raihai Tokuzui, Hubert Nearman

A monk asks Great Master Shinsai of Joshu, "Does even a dog have the Buddha-nature or not?"

We should clarify the meaning of this question. "A dog" is a dog. The question does not ask whether the Buddha-nature can or cannot exist in the dog; it asks whether even an iron man learns the truth. To happen upon such a poison hand may be a matter for deep regret, and at the same time the scene recalls the meeting, after thirty years, with half a sacred person.

Joshu says, "Mu." When we hear this expression, there are concrete paths by which to learn it: the "Mu" with which the Buddha-nature describes itself may be described like this; the "Mu" which describes the dog itself may be expressed like this; and "Mu," as exclaimed by an onlooker, may be described like this. There may come a day when this "Mu" becomes merely the grinding away of a stone.

Shobogenzo, Bussho, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Meditation Master Daikan Eno of Mount Sokei once gave instruction to Nangaku saying, "What has come about like this?" These words show that Nangaku's being 'such a person' is beyond doubt because he is beyond intellectual understanding. And because "What has come about like this" is the What, you should thoroughly explore through your training that all the myriad things that comprise the universe are, beyond any doubt, the What. And you should thoroughly explore through your training that each and every single thing is, beyond any doubt, the What. The What is not subject to doubt, for It is That Which Comes Like This.

Shobogenzo, Immo, Hubert Nearman

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The language of koans is the language of myth, thus it includes and transcends the ordinary language of literal description. Dogen frequently reminds us to discern the difference between the ordinary language of common speech and that of the Buddhist ancestor. In Bussho, for instance, he explains that the wisdom Zen Master Obaku's words differ from the ordinary literal meaning expressed:

We should not suppose that this expression means what it says... We should exhaust life after life investigating the intention of these words.

Shobogenzo, Bussho, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

(Consider also, Dogen instruction on koan introspection specific to - Sitting with Kyogen's koan, "The Man Up a Tree").

Even so, in thinking about it, if you make use of 'not deliberately thinking about it', as well as of 'not deliberately thinking about anything', your efforts on your meditation cushion will naturally be like those of our dear old friend Kyogen. When you sit as still as a mountain on your own cushion, as our dear friend Kyogen has already done, you too will be exploring this dialogue in detail with him, even though he has not yet opened his mouth. Not only will you be making free use of our dear Kyogen's Eye to look upon the dialogue, but you will also be using It to break through and see the meaning of Shakyamuni Buddha's Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching.

Shobogenzo, Soshi Seirai I, Hubert Nearman

(Notice that Dogen goes on to explain that our "breaking through and seeing the meaning" of koans, needs to be inclusive of being able to express it verbally - for instance, with a teacher in the dokusan room).

Until you have actually arrived at That which is above and beyond Buddhahood, you will not have directly experienced That which is above and beyond Buddhahood. Until you can put It into words, you have not directly experienced That which is above and beyond Buddhahood.

Shobogenzo, Soshi Seirai I, Hubert Nearman

Dogen consistently reiterates this throughout his works, for example:

Even if your exploration of the intent behind what Ungan said were one hundred percent, if you are still unable to put It in words, then your have not thoroughly explored the Matter.

Shobogenzo, Kannon, Hubert Nearman

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In Dogen's day the primary corpus of texts was the same for all lineages of Zen. This interrelation of Zen and the classic koan literature of the Zen masters had been popularly recognized long enough to have become victimized by widespread vulgarization. In fact, according to his own account, by Dogen's time the authentic understanding of koan literature had become overshadowed by a debased understanding of it. Similar to his testimony of widespread neglect and aberrant approaches to zazen, Dogen asserted that the "non-Buddhist" notion of Zen koans as being "irrational" was so pervasive that the "few true people" could not correct it.

To understand Dogen's utilization of the traditional Buddhist literature, especially the Zen records, consider how he distinguished the "authentic understanding" of koans by Buddha ancestors from the "non-Buddhist" notions of the many. According to Dogen, Buddha ancestors consider koans intimately; that is, not apart from their own self (i.e. the "true self"). A "non-Buddhist", according to Dogen, considers koans remotely; that is, as apart from their own self (i.e. from the perspective of the "ego-self" which is a misperceived as the "true self").

The misperception or false perspective of the ego-centric self is the first issue Buddhists are instructed about. This is the central topic of the Buddhist doctrines of "no self," which portray the "true self" as empty of any division between "self" and "other than self." Hence, there is no separation between practice and not-practice, thinking and not-thinking, etc. As is characteristic of all Zen masters, Dogen wholeheartedly affirms that from the perspective of the true self, even the "defiling passions" are Buddha nature as it is. Thus, when Buddha ancestors consider koans they do so in the wholeness of their being; excluding no aspect of their true human nature, not the least of which is the human intellect.

Contrary to distorted notions of Zen as a "separate transmission" and "beyond" language, reason, and intellect, and "apart" from words, letters, and verbal teachings, Zen is not separate, beyond, or apart from anything in the whole universe. Thus, to imagine that one could possibly comprehend Zen koans by excluding any aspect of their humanity from the process is simply to add delusion to delusion.

To clarify Dogen's view of koan introspection we can consider his critique of the fallacy that koans are "irrational," or "provisional," and that the use of the intellect is "nonessential." Here is one such account:

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

Here, and through all his writings, Dogen does not hesitate to use the harshest language to disparage the "diseased" notions about Zen as some kind of mystical cult that negates "rational understanding" or "intellectually comprehendible pathways." Dogen's harsh, often humorous ridicule of "devilish imps" and "little shavers" offering vulgar views minimizing the value of words, writings, and intellectual endeavors are characteristic of his works. In any case, it should be clear that, regardless of Dogen's position on the nature and function of koans, he regarded them as essential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

When Ancestors of the Buddha wholeheartedly do the meditation of Buddhas and Ancestors and undertake to put into practice the Truth that the Buddhas and Ancestors have expressed, Their expression of what They have realized represents the effort of three years, or eight years, or thirty or forty years, as They express what They have realized with all Their might. Within these time spans, however many decades long they may have been, there has been no disparity in how 'such a one' has expressed what he or she has realized. Thus, when you become fully awake, what you will realize through your direct encounter with It will be the Truth. Because this encounter confirms as true the direct encounters of former times, when we now express what we have realized, it is beyond doubt. Thus, our expressing what we have realized in the present is supported by That which we directly met with in former times, and we support That which we directly met with in former times by expressing our realization today. This is why we can now express what we have realized, for we have personally met with It through our own experience. The expression of our realization in the present and our direct seeing in the past are as a single iron bar whose ends are ten thousand miles apart. Our present efforts are directed by what we have realized of the Way and by what we have personally encountered.

Shobogenzo, Dotoku, Hubert Nearman

Therefore, once having understood, you should read the Sage's Teachings many times. And having heard the words of the teacher, still you should listen to them again. The mind should grow deeper and deeper.

Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)

Accordingly, when persons who have doubts about learning the Buddha's Way encounter the phrase 'a vision being expressed within a vision', they vainly imagine that it probably refers to dreaming up things that actually do not exist, or they suppose that it may be like piling delusion upon delusion. But this is not so. Even though one says that there is also delusion within delusion, by all means we need to thoroughly explore, with utmost effort, the path that penetrates through this expression to the comprehension of what is really meant by 'piling delusion upon delusion'.

Shobogenzo, Muchu Setsumu, Hubert Nearman

So, clearly, we should preserve and take care of the teaching that the thoughts and sayings of the Buddha's Ancestors are the tea and rice of everyday life. The homely fare of everyday life is the thoughts of Buddhas and the sayings of Ancestors. The Buddhas and Ancestors prepare the tea and rice, and the tea and rice help sustain and take care of the Buddhas and Ancestors. Since this is so, we, for our part, do not need to rely on anything apart from the potency of this tea and rice of Theirs. Simply, we do not squander the strength of the Buddhas and Ancestors that resides within the partaking of this tea and rice.

You would do well to explore with great diligence the remark about not looking back to previous emperors of legendary times such as Yu, T'ang, Yao, and Shun. You would also do well to explore how to let the question as to whether there is any word or phrase that you may have for the benefit of others spring forth from the crown of your head. You should experiment through your training with your Master to see if you can get it to spring forth.

Shobogenzo, Kajo, Hubert Nearman

The truth expressed now in the founding Patriarch's words "What people are able to hear the non-emotional preaching the Dharma" should be painstakingly researched through the effort of one life and many lives.

Shobogenzo, Muju-Seppoi, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

Speaking more broadly, those who assert that provisional Teachings are completely useless are greatly mistaken. They have not had the meritorious behavior of Ancestors in our tradition genuinely Transmitted to them, so they are in the dark about the sayings of Buddhas and Ancestors. Since they have not clarified what this one saying is about, who could affirm that they had thoroughly explored the sayings of other Buddhas?

Shobogenzo, Gabyo, Hubert Nearman

has never met 'such a person', and, because of this, he has arbitrarily compiled sayings without picking out just the sayings of those who are 'such a person'. It is obvious that he does not know what 'such a person' is.

Shobogenzo, Butsudo, Hubert Nearman

"The Buddha's brightness" means accepting, retaining, and hearing a single phrase, maintaining, relying on, and upholding a single dharma, and receiving the one-to-one transmission of zazen. If [people] are not able to be illuminated by the brightness, they lack this state of maintenance and reliance and they lack this belief and acceptance. This being so, even since ancient times, few people have known that zazen is zazen.

Shobogenzo, Komyo, GudoNishijima & Mike Cross

This is why the Buddhas and Ancestors, when singling out an Ancestor of the Buddha, invariably ask, "Can that person express their realization or not?"

Shobogenzo, Dotoku, Hubert Nearman

'Not speaking about something' does not mean 'not expressing something', for being able to express something is not the same as being able to put it in words.

Shobogenzo, Kaiin Zammai, Hubert Nearman

By exploring through your training what the Buddha is saying in the present instance, you will fully realize what the assembly of all Buddhas is, for what He is saying is not a metaphor. The wondrous Dharma of Buddhas is simply that of each Buddha on His own, just as it is for all the Buddhas. Therefore, all things, both in a dream state and in an awakened one, are manifestations of the Truth.

Shobogenzo, Muchu Setsumu, Hubert Nearman

You need to thoroughly investigate expressions like this so that you may learn to express the Matter yourself. By asking questions like this, you come to your own understanding of the Matter. And by investigating the experience of others, you can come to have your own experience of the Truth. -Shobogenzo, Sangai Yuishin, Hubert Nearman

To give expression to the Dharma for the sake of others and to put the Dharma into practice for oneself is to hear the Dharma, to clarify what It is, and to realize It for many lives. Even in this life, if we are sincere in giving expression to It for the sake of others, it will be easy for us to realize the Dharma...

At the same time, if you have not yet fully clarified the Matter, do not think that you cannot express It for someone's sake. Were you to wait until you had fully clarified It, you would not be equal to the task even for immeasurable eons.

Shobogenzo, Jisho Zammai, Hubert Nearman

Ever since ancient times, no one has been called 'such a person' who has not uttered at least a single word to express It.

Shobogenzo, Shin Fukatoku, Hubert Nearman

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[N]onduality did not primarily signify the transcendence of duality so much as it signified the realization of duality. When one chose and committed oneself to a special course of action, one did so in such a manner that the action was not an action among others, but the action-there was nothing but that particular action in the universe so that the whole universe was created in and through that action...

As we incorporate these observations on Dogen's view of the body-mind understanding into what I have said about activities and expressions, it is evident that activities, expressions, and understanding were one and the same for Dogen. It was not that we acted first and then attempted to understand, nor was it even that action was a special mode of understanding; all modes of understanding were necessarily activities and expressions.

~Hee-Jin Kim, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist

Porcupine asked, "Do you have any last words for us?"

Raven said, "Trust."

~Robert Aitken Roshi, Zen Master Raven

Five Common Fallacies Concerning Dogen (and Zen):

Five common fallacies concerning Dogen (and Zen):

 

1.       The notion that duality, form, or delusion are of lesser status, significance, or actuality than nonduality, emptiness, or enlightenment.

2.       The notion that the emphasis, style, or methodology of seated meditation (zazen, shikantaza) in Dogen’s Zen is its most distinctive characteristic, or is profoundly original or exceptionally unique.

3.       The notion that Dogen (or Zen generally) regarded language or textual study as detrimental, superfluous, negligible, secondary, or inessential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

4.       The notion that Zen regards intellectual pursuits or capacities as detrimental, superfluous, negligible, secondary, or inessential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

5.       The notion that in Dogen’s Zen koan training and study is considered detrimental, superfluous, negligible, secondary, or inessential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

 

In contrast to these fallacies, the views presented by Dogen’s vision of Zen are actually that:

 

1.       Nonduality and duality are coessential (i.e. each presupposes and is dependent on the other), emptiness and form are coessential, delusion and enlightenment are coessential.

2.       Dogen’s vision of “nonthinking” demonstrates the most essential, most original, and most characteristic aspect of Dogen’s methodology concerning the nature of Zen practice-enlightenment. Sitting meditation is given relatively little detailed attention in Dogen’s writings; what guidance it does offer is generally consistent in style and methodology with other sources of his era and earlier.

3.       Language and textual study are regarded as essential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

4.       Endeavors in intellectual pursuit and the cultivation of discriminative and critical capacities are regarded as essential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

5.       Extensive and intensive koan training and study are regarded as essential to authentic Zen practice-enlightenment.

 

 

 

All Buddhas and Buddhas teachings arise from this sutra. What is this sutra?

 

 

Ted

Things and Their True Nature - Two? Not Two?

Appearance & Reality - Form & True Nature

Those who greatly realize delusion are buddhas. Those who are greatly deluded about realization are ordinary beings.

~Shōbōgenzō, Genjō-kōan, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

This passage from Shobogenzo, Genjokoan, perfectly presents Zen’s response to the basic question, “What is the true essence of the things, beings and events we experience as objects appearing in and as the world.” That true essence is, “The very forms of the things, beings, and events precisely as they appear (i.e. exactly as we experience them).” A “Buddha” is a Buddha by the very fact of being aware that (awake to) the “true nature” of things, beings, and events is not other than, and nowhere else but in and as those things, beings, and events as they are (as they exist, hence, as they are experienced).

 

True, this conclusion directly contradicts the assertions of many contemporary Zen teachers that contend the “true nature” or “reality” of the world is beyond our capacity to experience, or other than the world we actually perceive. That it contradicts popular Zen notions, however, does not mean it is inaccurate, or that Dogen misspoke or was erroneously edited, etc. This message, which is only one of many wherein Dogen and contemporary Zen often diverge widely, is not only repeated throughout Dogen’s works, it is a central characteristic of it. The repeated emphasis, almost a refrain, in the works of Hee-Jin Kim on the priority of the “reconstructive” rather the “deconstructive” element of emptiness in Dogen is reason enough to insist that the fact that this aspect of Zen continues to be largely ignored in the contemporary discussion is unjustified to the point of gross negligence. Setting aside any question about right or wrong, when contemporary Zen teachers proclaim that the reality or true nature of the world is not the world we perceive, they are asserting a view that is diametrically opposed to Dogen’s Zen. In fact, according to Dogen, even the view that the real world is something other than the world as it is, is itself is a mistaken view of the real world as it is.

 

The triple world is as the triple world is seen, and a view of something other than the triple world is a mistaken view of the triple world…

Great Master Śākyamuni says, “It is best to see the triple world as the triple world."

This view is the triple world itself. This triple world is just as it is seen.

~Shōbōgenzō, Sangai-yuishin, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

In Dogen’s Zen, the true nature of any and every form is “just as it is seen” – mountains, stars, and fences, dreams, illusions, and spots in the air – are, as they are, the true nature of reality as it is. As a Buddhist master, Dogen was particularly concerned with the significance of this truth in connection to Buddhist forms, especially Buddhist expressions. Some of the most colorful language of Shobogenzo appear as repudiations of views suggesting that the reality of Buddhist expressions might exist independently of their forms. According to Dogen, the expression of a Buddha is nondual with the form of that Buddha, the very body-mind of that Buddha; thus, such suggestions are not only delusional, they are slanderous. It is no wonder, then, why Shobogenzo heaps such intense scorn on notions suggesting that Buddhist expressions are “merely provisional,” and often goes so far as to identify the advocates of such views as demons and beasts.

 

Dogen’s colorful, often humorous repudiations of “little shavers,” “bands of demons,” “wild beasts,” and the like provide not only good entertainment, they provide us with the assurance that the lifeless “Zen” of charlatanism and institutional formality so prevalent today is not a new phenomenon. Moreover, Dogen’s frequent technique of clearly articulating deluded or wrong views and approaches common to quacksalvers and deluded teachers offer a wealth of guidance on spotting them in our own day, thus avoiding being mislead by distorted views and teachings. In this connection, there are a variety of popular notions about Zen enlightenment suggesting that “true nature,” “reality,” or “Buddhahood” has to do with something immanent in the things, beings, and events of the world, something concealed within, behind, or underlying the forms ever-appearing before our eyes here-and-now – as if these very “forms” and “appearances” were mere forms and appearances, rather than the actual manifest forms and appearances of reality itself, the Tao as it is, the very face of God, the actual voice of Buddha. In Dogen’s Zen, such views are the very epitome of the unenlightened condition, the common denominator of those bound by the shackles of ego-centricity.

 

Their state is such that they deludedly imagine that after the triple world and the ten directions which we are experiencing in the present have suddenly dropped away, then the Dharma-nature will appear, and this Dharma-nature will be other than the myriad things and phenomena of the present. The true meaning of the Dharma-nature can never be like that. This universe of things and phenomena, and the Dharma-nature, have far transcended discussion of sameness and difference and have transcended talk of disjunction or union. Because they are beyond past, present, and future; beyond separation and constancy; and beyond matter, perception, thought, action, and consciousness, they are the Dharma-nature.

~Shōbōgenzō, Hōsshō, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

 

The only “dilemma” as to the difference or sameness between the true nature or Dharma nature of things, beings, and events and the forms in which things, beings, and events appear is, it turns out, only a “dilemma” for those that make it a dilemma by “adding legs to a snake,” to use the Zen phrase. In other words, a thing, being, or event is – as it is – a thing, being or event. It is only by attempting to divide a thing, being, or event into a “true nature” and an “appearance” that we come up against a dilemma.

 

To clarify, consider an actual dog, manifest before us here-and-now; this dog is the true nature of this dog, this dog is the very form appearing as this dog. Take away the true nature, and you take away this dog; take away the form, and you take away this dog – this dog’s form is nondual with this dog’s Dharma-nature, not even a laser-scalpel can cut them in two. The division of a dog’s (or anything else’s) appearance from its true nature can only be accomplished by the conceptual capacity of abstract speculation; the result of such a division gives rise to (actualizes; begets) a new, real, existent thing or dharma, this new element of reality is called a mistaken view, a deluded notion, a hindrance, or, as in the present case, a dilemma.

.

From the Zen perspective, the very appearance “of things and phenomena” and the true nature of things and phenomena are far beyond speculative “discussion of sameness and difference” and transcend conceptual hypothetical “talk of disjunction or union.” The actual things, beings, and events manifest right here, right now – as right here, right now – are “beyond past, present, and future,” thus “they are the Dharma-nature.” Because this dog is this appearance (and no other), the form of this dog and the true nature of this dog are “beyond separation and constancy” and beyond divisions of “matter” (from mind), and of “perception, thought, action, and consciousness” (from appearance, substance, agent, and phenomenon), “they are the Dharma-nature” as it is.

 

Please treasure yourself,

Ted

Provisional Teachings are Skillful Means, but Skillful Means are not Provisional

Provisional Teachings are Skillful Means, but Skillful Means are not Provisional...
...

A Buddha’s discourse is beyond the sentient and the non-sentient; it is beyond the relative and the absolute. Even so, when He became aware of bodhisattvas, of ordinary humans, of the Real Form of things, and of this discourse, He opened the Gate of Skillful Means. The Gate of Skillful Means is the unsurpassed meritorious functioning of the fruits of Buddhahood. It is the Dharma that resides in the place of Dharma and It is the form of the world as it constantly manifests. The Gate of Skillful Means does not refer to some momentary skill.

~Shobogenzo, Shohō Jissō, Hubert Nearman

 

“Skillful means” or “expedient means” (upaya) refer to the actual phenomenal form or forms of Buddhism, that is, to all of Buddhism that is actually accessible to human experience. Thus, when used in a general sense, rather than in the context of a particular teaching or technique, “expedient means” is inclusive of the whole range of Buddhist doctrine and methodology. While technically equivalent with “doctrine and methodology,” “skillful means” nevertheless puts greater emphasis on the significance of actual techniques and practical teachings than does more general terms. Also, as when we refer to the expedient means of law, or the skillful means of medicine, for example, referring to the skillful means of Buddhism focuses attention on the actual form or forms of the specific course, path, or way Buddhism is realized in the world.

 

To clarify and emphasize the significance of the specificity or uniqueness of “expedient means” or “skillful means,” consider, for example; the process of law is only realized (made real) through and as the actual engagement of the skillful means specific to law, medicine through and as the engagement of the skillful means particular to medicine. The manifestation (phenomenal appearance) of law in the world is seen and known as “practicing law,” the manifestation of medicine as “practicing medicine.”

 

Similarly, the actual manifestation of Buddhism is realized as and through “practicing Buddhism.” In other words, medicine is not realized apart from practicing medicine (exercising its means), law does not exist independent of practicing law, and Buddhism does not appear apart from practicing (engaging the means of) Buddhism. It should go without saying, but for completeness notice; drugs, scalpels, medical procedures, or therapies are not “medicine” apart from the presence of skillful application – independent of actual “practice” such are mere abstractions or, at best artifacts with as much potential to harm as to heal. Recorded codes of lawful conduct, precedents, or policies existing in the absence of means to manifest cannot be considered “law,” and Buddhist scriptures, temples, icons, rituals, practices – even teachers or students – could not be qualified as “Buddhism” in an absence of adequate means for manifestation.

 

In sum, provisional teachings may be skillful means, but skillful means should not be misunderstood as provisional teachings. Thus Dogen reminds us:

 

"The Gate of Skillful Means does not refer to some momentary skill."

 

 

Please treasure yourself,

Ted

 

This Mind Is Buddha

This Mind Is Buddha

 

 

From the very beginning Buddhism has emphasized the mental nature of reality. The first verse of the first chapter of the Dhammapada, one of the earliest and most revered expressions of Buddhism, we read:

 

We are what we think.

All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.

~Dhammapada, translated by Thomas Byrom

The title and subject of an early Shobogenzo fascicle exemplifies this Buddhist axiom in Zen terms, Soku Shin Ze Butsu (“This Mind is Buddha”; translated by Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross as, “mind here and now is buddha”).

 

What every buddha and every patriarch has maintained and relied upon, without exception, is just “mind here and now is buddha.”

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

This fundamental principle of Buddhism is emphasized by Dogen and presupposed in all his writings. The comprehensive, multifaceted Buddhist expressions and teachings on the nature and dynamics of “mind” are some of Buddhism’s most significant contributions to human wisdom; and some of the most commonly misunderstood and misrepresented. Dogen therefore, like other Buddhist masters before and after, dedicated a great deal of time and energy clarifying exactly what Buddhism means when it asserts, “We are what we think, all we are arises with our thoughts, and with our thoughts we make the world.”

 

By “this mind” in the statement, “This Mind Is Buddha,” Zen means the “one” totality of the “myriad” dharmas – in short, “this mind” is inclusive of everything constituting the “self” (what we are) and “other than self” (the world).

 

Authentically transmitted like this, it has arrived at the present day. “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
 

As one family is all the individual members, and all the individual members are one family, one mind (Buddha) is all dharmas, and all dharmas are one mind. From Dogen’s perspective, these examples are not to be regarded as analogies or similes; each (family) member is integral to the one family, each (particular) dharma is inherent to the one mind. What is Buddha? This mind is Buddha. What is this mind?

 

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 great earth, the sun, moon, and stars. Mind – Buddha – is houses and streets, animals, plants, thoughts and laughter, guns, bombs, corpses, books, cancers, and good deeds.

 

Mind does not make-up a dharma or dharmas, nor is a dharma or dharmas reducible to mind. Mind as a particular dharma is that dharma as it is, a particular dharma as mind is mind as it is. This tree is mind as it is; that pencil is mind as it is. That this tree or that pencil is mind “as it is,” means there are no hidden qualifiers or meanings – this tree is mind – so much so that even this goes too far; better to simply say “this tree.” That pencil is mind with nothing added, not even “is mind,” thus simply, “that pencil.” As Dogen says:

 

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


 

Seeing Not-Seeing

Seeing Not-Seeing

 

 

Consider the image utilized to reveal the Dharma-eye’s capacity to see nondually in Dogen’s expression, “When one side is illumined, the other side is darkened.” Seeing total existence-time as a particular form is seeing what “is illumined”; seeing a particular form as a specific instance of total existence-time is seeing (accounting for) what “is darkened.” To see (illumine) “this side” of an apple is to see “that side” of the apple darkened; seeing “this side” depends on, and therefore confirms, the presence of “that side” – thus, seeing “this side” of the apple is seeing the whole apple as it is; half-illumined half-darkened. Likewise, in seeing any/every particular form, the Dharma-eye confirms the presence of the totality of the self. One of the clearest mythopoeic expressions of this is presented in the Surangama Sutra, from which it was adapted by Zen and elaborated in a number of koan collections. The particular image in question appears, for example, as the main koan of case 94 of the Hekiganroku:

 

The Surangama Sutra says: When I don't see, why don’t you see my not-seeing? If you see my not-seeing, it could not be the nature of not-seeing. Since you don’t see my not-seeing, it is naturally not a thing (i.e. dharma). How could it not be you?

Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record), Case 94 (main case)

 

If we discern the wisdom transmitted here, we see that the extent of our enlightenment is precisely matched by the extent of our delusion. No matter how many times or how fast we spin the apple, seeing it will always depend on illumining one side and darkening the other. Similarly, no matter how expansive enlightenment is, it will always correspond exactly with delusion. Seeing one’s true nature confirms this truth; great enlightenment is our inherent ability to intelligibly discern whatever we illumine, great delusion is the inherent dependence of illumination on darkening – to illumine anything is to darken everything else.

 

 

Thus, language becomes ascesis, instead of gnosis or logos—‘seeing things as they are’ now means ‘making things as they are.’ In this light the indexical analogy of ‘the finger pointing to the moon’ is highly misleading, if not altogether wrong, because it draws on a salvifically inefficacious conception of language.

Hee-Jin Kim, Dogen on Meditation and Thinking, p.64

The Normal Mind is the Tao (ken-sho, ken-butsu)

The Normal Mind is the Tao (ken-sho, ken-butsu)

 

 

Enlightenment – discerning the true nature of the self – is an experiential activity, not a static condition or state of attainment. Enlightenment does not bestow Zen mastery (or teaching credentials), supernatural power, superior intelligence, or sainthood, much less freedom from moral obligation, causation, or delusion. The initial experience of enlightenment (ken-sho; seeing true nature) reveals, for the first time, the normal perspective. Ongoing practice-enlightenment (shusho) means to be continuously attentive to that perspective (ken-butsu; seeing Buddha) and thereby foster the actualization of normality in the here and now of existence-time.

 

An accurate view is not in itself an accurate understanding, but rather a view from which an accurate understanding becomes possible. Upon a mountaintop surrounded by clouds, one’s perspective is naturally limited by the clouds. When the clouds clear, one’s perspective naturally expands, increasing the possibility for understanding one’s true location in the world. Similarly, practice-enlightenment, being unhindered by the clouds of literalism and conceptualization (presuppositions, fixations, and biases), simply means being provided with a normal perspective, a perspective from which one can think, speak, and act in a manner appropriate to one’s actual situation.

 

One of the many things accounted for by the Zen doctrine of “Dharma transmission” is the Buddha-Dharma’s intrinsic capacity of eternal endurance and infinite elaboration. In harmony with the continuous self-generation inherent to the metaphorical nature of the self, the “Dharma” (i.e. the enlightened wisdom initially realized by Shakyamuni Buddha) is metaphorically portrayed as a “transmission” from the self to the self with traditional images of master and apprentice. As a master craftsman passes on his knowledge and skills to an apprentice, so the (universal) Buddha mind transmits the wisdom of enlightenment to the (individual) Buddha mind. Presenting this activity of “Buddhas alone together with Buddhas” in metaphorical images of “master and apprentice” reveals the nature of transmission with a clarity that is much easier to envision than that of more abstract expressions like “mind to mind,” “self and self,” etc.

 

[Note: Metaphorical expressions of “Dharma transmission” have long been distorted into objects of literalism and idolatry based on vulgar misunderstanding. While superficial (literal) interpretations of transmission have a long history, the true metaphorical significance of the Zen doctrine has never been as absent as now – contemporary discussion is almost exclusively limited to formal ceremonies, certificates, and rituals related to institutional succession, i.e. the official sanction or establishment of sectarian teachers.]

 

The Zen doctrine of transmission portrays the “self-generating” aspect of the metaphorical nature of the self as a process in which new metaphors (expressions of truth) are actualized by the ceaseless interaction of expression (self-expression) and response (self-response) among “Buddhas alone together with Buddhas.” The “response” (self-response) of the Buddha-mind to the expression of the Buddha-mind is the natural functioning of normal hearing (i.e. enlightened hearing, seeing, feeling, etc.; the experience of dharmas as they are). In this sense, then, “seeing” with the Dharma-eye (or Dharma-ear, nose, body, etc.) is “fashioning” or “making.” In other words, when dharmas (expressions of Buddha) are experienced as they are, the self that sees resonates with the self that is seen in a manner that rings out through space and time as the ceaseless actualization of the universe (genjokoan).

 

Thus, language becomes ascesis, instead of gnosis or logos—‘seeing things as they are’ now means ‘making things as they are.’ In this light the indexical analogy of ‘the finger pointing to the moon’ is highly misleading, if not altogether wrong, because it draws on a salvifically inefficacious conception of language.

~Hee-Jin Kim, Dogen on Meditation and Thinking, p.64

 

Zen practice-enlightenment is the self seeing its true nature – its all-inclusiveness and its fathomless infinity. The totality of existence-time, then, is seen as only and always a particular form here and now (this dharma here and no other). Moreover, in seeing particular forms (this cup, that flower here and now) as a specific instance of total existence-time the self recognizes its fathomless infinity as infinite delusion.

 

 

Guts and blood...

 

Ted

(Pre-"Soto") Soto Style Koan Introspection in Dogen's Zen

(Pre-"Soto") Soto Style Koan Introspection in Dogen's Zen

The final exceptional passage in the Goyuigon concerns the content of Zen enlightenment and its relationship to koan training. Gikai prefaces this conversation with Ejo by stating: “During the prior meditation period, I was aided by our former teacher’s great enlightenment situation, the shinjin datsuraku words.” …in this passage… the words “shinjin datsuraku” represent a stock phrase or device (i.e., an “old example,” kosoku or koan) for contemplation during meditation. This use of shinjin datsuraku as a formal meditation device is confirmed by the fact that Ejo then tested Gikai’s understanding by asking him to present an “appended phrase” (jakugo, i.e. a passage… summing up the meaning of a koan.) Their dialogue is as follows:

 

Gikai: I have attained an insight based on our former teacher’s saying, “shinjin datsuraku.”

 

Ejo: Good. Good. What do you understand?

 

Gikai: I understand “datsuraku shinjin.”

 

Ejo: What is the meaning?

 

Gikai: I had thought only (my) barbarian beard was red, but here is another red-bearded barbarian.”

 

Ejo: Among the many permitted [answers to] shinjin [datsuraku], there is this kind of shinjin.

 

This conversation has been quoted in full because it reveals three practices usually thought to be incongruous with the method of Zen practiced in early Soto. It implies that Gikai had been occupied with Dogen’s words during his meditation; that Ejo used koan instruction as part of the dharma succession process; and that formal quotations of stereo-typed expressions were used to test the understanding of the koan. Modern Soto scholars cannot accept the Goyuigon account at face value, because to do so would force them either to revise their usual interpretation of Dogen’s Zen as a religion of unmediated meditation or to attempt to argue that both Ejo and Gikai had failed to understand Dogen’s teachings.
William M. Bodiford, Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, pp.55-56