Dogen, The Shobogenzo, Nonduality of delusion and enlightenment

No matter how one "interprets" Dogen's writings, I doubt there are many serious students of Dogen that have not lain awake some nights with one of his phrases turning over in their mind like a multifaceted jewel illumining undreamed of dimensions within what Dogen calls "the homeland of the self." Anyone that has will probably find it easy to agree with Hee-Jin Kim’s observation that "the single most original and seminal aspect of Dogen’s Zen is his treatment of the role of language in Zen soteriology." (Hee-Jin Kim, Dogen on Meditation and Thinking: His View On Zen, p.59) Saying Dogen believed that language played a vital role in an authentic approach to the practice and realization of Zen would be a gross understatement.

This does not mean, in my opinion, that Dogen was unaware, or unconcerned with the limitations, dangers, and difficulties inherent to the misuse or misunderstanding of verbal teachings, formulas, and doctrines of all kinds. In fact, it seems to me that just the opposite was true; Dogen’s appreciation for the power of language seems to have engendered him with an almost hypersensitivity to anything that he percieved as a misuse of words and phrases. Other than Shakyamuni Buddha, and Dogen’s own revered teacher, Tendo Nyojo, nobody was excused from a fierce scolding when Dogen discovered them using an awkward or ambiguous term, especially if it smacked of dualism. Joshu, who Dogen sometimes refers to as "the ancient Buddha," the great Master Baso, and even the revered Sixth Ancestor of Zen are all the subjects Dogen’s lash for what he perceived as a misuse of language.

However, it was only the misuse of language that Dogen disparaged, it seems to me, not the use of language in itself. The misuse of language, as far as Dogen is concerned, includes more than simply using an improper term or dualistic phrase. His records are filled with just as many instances in which he upbraids the "ancient worthies" for what they failed to say as it is for what they said badly. In one tirade, Rinzai, who Dogen frequently acknowledges as a "rightful heir of the Dharma," is dismissed as an ignoramus for not expressing something when he should have. Poor old Deshan is pummeled, kicked around, and chopped to pieces for several pages in Dogen’s treatment of his failure to express anything in his classic conversation with the tea-selling woman.

One of the corollaries of Dogen’s views concerning the inseparability of ones understanding, and their expressions is the ability to accurately evaluate someone’s understanding simply by examining their expressions. Before Dogen went to China he realized that the authentic teachings of written texts were much more valuable than any inauthentic teachings of certified "Dharma heirs." In the Zuimonki Dogen explains how he came to realize this fact when he compared the teachings of his own "distinguished" title holding teachers to those of the "eminent Buddhists" of the past:

"…I came to realize that they differed from what my teachers taught. What is more, I realized that thoughts such as mine, according to their treatises and biographies, were loathed by these people. Having contemplated the nature of the matter at last, I thought to myself I should have felt rather humbled by ancient sages and future good men and women instead of elated by the praise of despicable contemporaries… In view of such a realization, the holders of the title of Great Teacher (daishi) in this country seemed to me worthless, like earthen tiles, and my whole life was changed completely."
Zuimonki, V:8 (Quoted from Mystical Realist, p.25)

Dogen’s insistence to "study this" "get inside these words" "penetrate this saying" "take up these words again and again" and similar exhortations is so constant throughout his works it is easy to become desensitized to their presence. Dogen’s direct instruction to take up and study specific phrases, words, koans, sutras, and so on probably outnumber his instructions to dedicate ourselves to Zazen by at least 20 to 1. I hasten to add that contrary to some "officials," when Dogen urges us to "investigate these words," he means we should take them up in sitting meditation, as well as our other activities (at least that is what Dogen's records say).

Just to get a feel for his constant demand on "investigating these words" here are a few random examples of Dogen’s constant demands concerning words:

"At the same time we should investigate whether the Great Master’s words ‘I call this thing bamboo and wood,’ and Shin-o’s words ‘I also call it bamboo and wood,’ are the same or not the same, and whether they are adequate or not adequate. The Great Master says, ‘If we search the whole Earth for a person who understands the Buddha-Dharma, it is impossible to find one.’ We should also closely scrutinize and decide about this expression."
Shobogenzo, Sangai-Yuishin, Nishijima & Cross

"Good gentelman, when you meet a teacher, first ask for one case of [koan] story, and just keep it in mind and study it diligently. If you climb to the top of the mountain and dry up the oceans, you will not fail to complete [this study].
Dogen's Extensive Record, The Eihei Koroku, Vol.8:14, Leighton & Okumura

"Even a work produced latterly, if its words are true, should be approved."
Shobogenzo, Butsudo, Nishijima & Cross

"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, Mujo-Seppo, Nishijima & Cross

"We should quietly investigate the principle of, and learn in practice the realization of words like this."
Shobogenzo, Ganzei, Nishijima & Cross

"Thus the words ‘being without the Buddha-nature’ can be heard coming form the distant room of the fourth patriarch. They are seen and heard in Obai, they are spread throughout Joshu district, and they are exalted on Dai-i [mountain]. We must unfailingly apply ourselves to the words ‘being without the Buddha-nature.’ Do not be hesitant."
Shobogenzo, Bussho, Nishijima & Cross

"Learning these words in practice, we should meet with the ancestral patriarchs of Buddhism and we should see and hear the teachings of Buddhism."
Shobogenzo, Bukkyo, Nishijima & Cross

"We must investigate these words quietly; we should replace our heart with them and replace our brain with them."
Shobogenzo, Daigo, Nishijima & Cross

It seems that the only time Dogen’s rhetoric becomes more passionate than when insisting that we take words, koans, and sutras seriously is in his attacks on those that dismiss or minimize the role of verbal and rational activity in the practice of Zen. The coarsest language in Dogen’s records has been reserved for those that fail to take up and discern the koans, which he treats as the basic texts of Zen Buddhism. For example, in Shobogenzo, Sansuigyo, Dogen says:

"They say that present talk of the East Mountain moving on water, and stories (koans) such as Nansen’s sickle, are stories (koans) beyond rational understanding… It is pitiful that the great truth of the Buddhist Patriarch is going to ruin. The understanding of these [shavelings] is inferior even to that of sravakas of the small vehicle; they are more stupid than non-Buddhists. They are not lay people, they are not monks, they are not human beings, and they are not gods; they are more stupid than animals learning the Buddha’s truth. What these shavelings call ‘stories (koans) beyond rational understanding’ are beyond rational understanding only to them; the Buddhist patriarchs are not like that. Even though [rational ways] are not understood by those [shavelings], we should not fail to learn in practice the Buddhist patriarchs’ ways of rational understanding… [The shavelings] do not know that images and thoughts are words and phrases, and they do not know words and phrases transcend images and thoughts. When I was in China I laughed at them, but they had nothing to say for themselves and were just wordless (sic)... They have the non-Buddhist view of naturalism."
Shobogenzo, Sansuigyo, Nishijima & Cross

His charge at the end of this passage concerning "the non-Buddhist view of naturalism" is also a topic that earns Dogen’s unrelenting scorn. His definition of what he means by such a "view" is remarkably similar to a style of "Zen" which is sometime advocated in modern times. Briefly, this view promotes a notion that "just sitting" calmly in "pure awareness" and allowing things to "be as they are" is the authentic practice of Zen. Some even use the common terms of naturalism like, "natural state," "natural man," etc. In modern variations, this "non-Buddhist view" is sometimes combined with the fostering of cultic belief in the supernatural influence of specific practices or rituals, usually a subversion of "Zazen." In such cases, the term "Zazen" is usually reduced to its most literal meaning of "sitting meditation," then equated with Buddhahood. Thus, the whole of the Buddha-Dharma is degraded to a mere superstition: "to sit like Buddha" is "to be Buddha." But I digress.

Turning back to Dogen’s constant refrain concerning words and language, we should examine one of his favorite phrases; "learning in practice." Dogen uses this term so often that it is important to understand exactly what he means. One of his own explanations about what "learning in practice" means is found in, Shobogenzo, Mitsugo:

"’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 at once."
Shobogenzo, Mitsugo, Nishijima & Cross

Reading this, and the multitude of similar exhortations on the rigorous nature of Zen practice, we can understand why some might prefer a "Zen" of "just sitting" or of simply "labeling" our thoughts and feelings. I don't think Dogen would have a problem with that as long as it was not asserted as his teaching on Zen Buddhism.

Dogen’s repetitious insistence on "striving painstakingly hundreds of times, or thousands of times, as if working to cut a hard object" certainly may not sound as attractive as "just sitting" and "letting go" and "having no goal." But if we are going to use Dogen's records as any authority on his teachings, we need to consider what those records actually say.

He does not always focus on the neccesity of "striving painstakingly" of course, Dogen also highlights those rare and wondrous, blissful moments of Zen where mind and body drop away and "Buddha is not aware of being Buddha." This is the inexpressible, inconceivable "state of Buddha" that can only be realized through direct experience.

And, even while acknowledging the impossibility of expressing this experience in words, Dogen goes to great lengths to express what can be expressed about it. In some of his more poetic moments he describes the indescribable in incredibly elegant (and eloquent) terms. The Shobogenzo, Bendowa, for instance, presents one his most memorable descriptions of the "experience" of the "state of Buddha."

"At this time, everything in the Universe in ten directions - soil, earth, grass, and trees; fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles - performs the Buddha’s work. The people that receive the benefit thus produced by wind and water are all mystically helped by the fine and unthinkable influence of the Buddha, and they exhibit the immediate state of realization. All beings who receive and utilize this water and fire spread the influence of the Buddha in the original state of experience, so that those who live and talk with them also, are all reciprocally endowed with the limitless Buddha-virtue. Expanding and promoting their activity far and wide, they permeate the inside and the outside of the entire Universe with the limitless, unceasing, unthinkable, and incalculable Buddha-Dharma. [The state] is not dimmed by the views of these individuals themselves, however, because the state in the quietness, without intentional activity, is direct experience."
Shobogenzo, Bendowa, Nishijima & Cross

Dogen’s exuberance here nearly makes the inexpressible palpable--as when the sound of a child’s laughter causes us to laugh, so Dogen’s exuberance resonates and arouses a sympathetic response in our own body-and-mind. This sense of great joy and zeal for the Buddha-Dharma has a powerful encouraging effect on those that seriously engage in actively reading and implementing his work. In the (relatively few) passages when Dogen sings out on the marvelous wonders of enlightenment, they bring a refreshing moment of release similar to the sound of the dinner bell after a day of hard labor. Of course, in the overall context of Dogen’s Zen teaching, such exhilarating praises on the blissful wonders of Buddhahood are rare. Nevertheless, like the sound of the dinner bell at the end of the day, they are most welcome.

Much more often, Dogen’s expressions sound more like those of an exacting taskmaster. Sometimes, the compassion of an old grandmother manifests as a thump on the head. For every expression about the "blissful" state transcending enlightenment and delusion, there must be fifty expressions urging us to "grind our bones to powder" in our efforts to "get inside these words."

I don't think Dogen is trying to make things difficult for us anymore than the kindly old grandmother administers her thumps simply to cause pain. Dogen has realized something marvelous and he wants to share it with us—no, he has to share it with us. For as we observed earlier, understanding, activity, and expression always occur together. Dogen’s expressions are the activity of his continuous and ongoing understanding.

Dogen on what practice is "most urgent"

People who arouse a true and genuine aspiration and engross themselves in study to the full extent of their capacity, do not fail to attain. As for the description of the essential point to be mindful of, what thing must be concentrated upon, what practice is to be considered most urgent, that is as follows.

First is only that the aspiration of joyful longing be earnest. …while travelling, abiding, sitting and reclining, in the midst of affairs as the pass, though various different events come up, he goes along seeking an opening, his mind occupied [with his quest]. With his mind so forcefully earnest, there can be no failure of attainment.

In this way, when the aspiration to seek the Way has become sincere, either during the period of sole concentration on sitting, or when dealing with illustrative example of the people of olden times, or when meeting the teacher, when one acts with true aspiration…

Unless you arouse a mind comparable to this, how will you accomplish the great task of the Buddha-Way, which cuts of the turning round of birth and death in a single instant of thought?

If someone has such a mind … he will definitely attain enlightenment.
~Eihei Dogen, Record of Things Heard (zuimonki), II:15, Thomas Cleary

Ryokan - Reading the Record of Eihei Dogen

READING THE RECORD OF EIHEI DOGEN
By Ryokan

On a somber spring evening around midnight,
rain mixed with snow sprinkled on the bamboos in the garden.
I wanted to ease my lonliness but it was quite impossible.
My hand reached behind me for the Record of Eihei Dogen.
Beneath the open window at my desk,
I offered incense, lit a lamp, and quietly read.
Body and mind dropping away is simply the upright truth.
In one thousand postures, ten thousand appearances, a dragon toys with the jewel.
His understanding beyond conditioned patterns cleans up the current corruptions;
the ancient great master's style reflects the image of India.

I remember the old days when I lived at Entsu Monastery
and my late teacher lectured on the True Dharma-eye.
At that time there was an occasion to turn myself around,
so I requested to read it and studied it intimately.
I keenly felt that until then I had depended merely on my own ability.
After that I left my teacher and wandered all over.
Between Dogen and myself what relationship is there?
Everywhere I went I devotedly practiced the true dharma-eye.
Arriving at the depths and arriving at the vehicle--how many times?

Inside this teaching, there's never any shortcoming.
Thus I thoroughly studied the master of all things.
Now when I take the Record of Eihei Dogen and examine it,
the tone does not harmonize well with usual beliefs.
Nobody has asked whether it is a jewel or a pebble.
For five hundred years its been covered with dust
just because no one has had an eye for recognizing dharma.
For whom was all his eloquence expounded?
Longing for ancient times and grieving for the present, my heart is exhausted.

One evening sitting by the lamp my tears wouldn't stop,
and soaked into the records of the ancient buddha Eihei.
In the morning the old man next door came to my thatched hut.
He asked me why the book was damp.
I wanted to speak but didn't as I was deeply embarrassed;
my mind distressed, it was impossible to give an explanation.
I dropped my head for a while, then found some words.
"Last night's rain leaked in and drenched my bookcase."

~Ryokan (Translated by Nelson Foster, The Roaring Stream, p.348-349)

Yes! Yes! How wonderful! How terrible! No! No! What more can be said?
There was silence......... Some thought the sutra ended there....
But that was only the end of Chapter Three.... So Manjushri continued....
And continues still..... Can you hear him?
What is "he" saying?
What are "you" saying?

Dogen on Words and Letters, Nonduality of Delusion and Enlightenment

Before continuing along the lines of my last post I though I would offer another translation of the last thing I quoted in the last post. This is "main" part of that quotation as Hee-Jin Kim translates it in his "Dogen On Meditation and Thinking":

The "emptiness" in question is not the "emptiness" of "form and emptiness." [The true meaning of] "form is emptiness" is not that you forcibly make "form" into "emptiness" or that you split "emptiness" so as to fabricate "form"; it is the "emptiness" of "emptiness is emptiness." This "emptiness" of "emptiness is emptiness" is a single piece of rock in emptiness.
Hee-Jin Kim, DOMT p.71

This elucidation on how the realization of emptiness illumines the true significance of all particular things (dharmas), also serves as an illustration of Dogen’s guidance to us students/practitioners on how to apply ourselves in study and practice in order to achieve what he often refers to as "right understanding." The Shobogenzo is packed with examples of this kind of systematic breakdown on methodology. (It makes me wonder if it was the method he himself used to come to his own understanding.) Anyone that has applied him or herself to koan-introspection will quickly notice the similarity of Dogen’s language with the kind of stream of consciousness "nonthinking" that often occurs during intense koan-introspection.

One point I think is clear is that Dogen wrote his record with one eye to posterity. For Dogen, the Shobogenzo was much more than some kind of personal journal or simple textbook on Zen. I think the Shobogenzo was intended to be a complete, self-contained soteriological device.

Before continuing, allow me to briefly digress. This last paragraph would no doubt be denounced as, in the least, an outrageous distortion by most "authorities" within the Soto orthodoxy. They have good reasons to denounce it; if such were the case, it could threaten their very livelihood as the "spiritual authorities" of powerful institutions. If students/practitioners could realize liberation through their own independent practice and study, what need would there be for professional priests?

Of course, the difficulties of the relations between institutional power and spiritual authority have existed in all times, and in all the great religions. For instance, in the chaotic early Kamakura period of Dogen’s own time (when armed monastics were common), a position in the right "spiritual" institution was often the fastest way to personal and familial advancement.
As for interference by "authorities" of institutions regarding the case of Dogen’s Shobogenzo, scholarship has shown that the Shobogenzo itself was largely neglected, and nearly forgotten for centuries by the Soto orthodoxy. As it began to resurface and fall under the public eye, it was discovered that much of its teaching seemed to directly contradict institutional Soto dogma. The first reaction by the Soto institution was to try to keep it away from the public. When it was clear that would fail, they tried to claim that many of its teachings were "fraudulently" attributed to Dogen. When more copies were discovered, some in Dogen’s own hand, some followed the only option left to discredit the Shobogenzo; interpretation, by which of course I mean, "misinterpretation." (For details of these incidents see the works of James W. Heisig, Steven Heine, Dale Wright, John McRae, and others)

The saddest part is that it did not need to turn out that way. When it became clear that the Shobogenzo was under the public eye, and that its Zen teaching was different than what the Soto School had been claiming for centuries, they faced a choice, and unfortunately took the easy way out. They could either have chosen to raise themselves up to Dogen’s true teaching, or reduced Dogen’s true teaching to their own view. Sadly, they opted for the latter.

Some will denounce my assertion for reasons other than self-protection; many of which will, no doubt, be well intended. Nevertheless, I make my claims, not on my own authority or the authority of any teacher or institution, spiritual or otherwise. I make my claim based on a 21 year dialogue with the writer of the Shobogenzo itself; Eihei Dogen. Of which the following is simply a sample out of hundreds within his own records…

"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."
~Eihei Dogen, Shobogenzo, Bendowa, Nishijima & Cross

This statement by Dogen about his intentions for writing his record is not ambiguous, "I will leave this record … so that they can know the right Dharma of the Buddha’s lineage." He does not say, "I will transmit my Dharma to a disciple or two so they can pass it on to students will be able to know the right Dharma." Of course it needs to be taken in the overall context of his work, but it does not need to be "interpreted" for its meaning to be discerned—unless, that is, we are trying to reduce it to fit into our own preconceived notions as to what Dogen taught.

Regardless of our own personal disdain for intellectual and/or verbal activity, of which everyone has a right to cling, we should not drag Dogen down to our own level. Forcing convoluted interpretations upon Dogen’s masterpiece in order to make it agree with our own view is not only vulgar; it is pointless. Not only does such treatment cut us (and maybe others) off from his message, his record will always come to its own defense. For example, no matter how much one insists that Dogen believed that words and letters were insignificant to the authentic practice and enlightenment of the Buddha-Dharma, his own record will not "sit down and shut up."

For example, we can say, "Dogen did not believe that people could come to understand ichimizen (non discriminatory Zen) based simply on words and letters." But we can’t eradicate it from his record:

The monastics of future generations will be able to understand one-taste Zen (ichimizen) based on words and letters, if they devote their efforts to spiritual practice by seeing the universe through words and letters, and words and letters through the universe.
~Eihei Dogen, Tenzo Kyokun

We could try to say things like, "Dogen meant the words and letters of a true master with a certificate from a Soto institution." And sure, there will always be students who prefer the "authorities" to tell them what to believe, rather than check it out for themselves. Nevertheless, there will always be some free thinker who will have to find his or her own certitude. Dogen himself was unable to merely swallow the teachings of the highest certified teachers in his own time. He undertook a dangerous journey to China to get to the bottom of it himself. If he had not found Tendo Nyojo, I would not have been surprised if went to India!

Of course, many modern institutions would chide him if he tried to pull that off today. The audacity of using his own thinking mind! Yes, his THINKING mind. For it is only that mind, that discriminatory, analyzing, judging, mind that can establish the bodhi-mind (Enlightened Mind). As Dogen points out in that darn record of his:

In general there are three kinds of mind. The first, citta, is here called thinking mind. The second, hridaya, is here called the mind of grass and trees. The third, vriddha, is here called experienced and concentrated mind. Among these, the bodhi-mind is inevitably established relying upon thinking mind. Bodhi is the sound of an Indian word; here it is called "the truth." Citta is the sound of an Indian word; here it is called "thinking mind." Without this thinking mind it is impossible to establish the bodhi-mind. That is not to say that this thinking mind is the bodhi mind itself, but we establish the bodhi-mind with this thinking mind.
~Eihei Dogen, Shobogenzo, Hotsu-Bodaishin, Nishijima & Cross

We may personally choose not to exercise our own "thinking mind" and simply believe, act, or submit to whatever spiritual authorities we like, but we should avoid slandering Dogen’s work by making claims that we have not personally experienced. If, after years of careful study and practice, we happen to gain some insight into his life’s work, and that insight seems to be corroborated by Dogen’s own record, that is one thing. If, however, we presume to expound on what Dogen taught or believed based only on what we have heard second hand, that is something else entirely.

When I stated that I believed the Shobogenzo was intended as a complete, self-contained soteriological device, I meant it literally (pun intended). Besides the predictable denunciation by the Soto orthodoxy discussed above, this claim is bound to raise the eyebrows of even those more liberal, and open minded within the Zen community. Such a statement does seem to contradict some of the most traditional views of language in Mahayana Buddhism, especially Zen.

I would not deny that the bulk of Zen literature concerning language is directed toward emphasizing its limitations and provisional status, and often portrays it as a hindrance to the authentic truth of Zen. For the most part, the Zen records only grudgingly recognize language as a useful function in the practical aspects of everyday life, and generally deny its value in any meaningful way concerning the ultimate truth of Buddhism. According to this view, when it comes to the highest realizations of Zen, language is at best a provisional tool that can be disregarded when one finally realizes the "authentic" truth.

Nevertheless, his own record clearly shows that Dogen did not conform to this view any more than the most prominent Rinzai master of Japanese Zen history did. Hakuin Ekaku wrote in his autobiography that he took a text "as my master" (Wild Ivy, Waddell, p.24) and declared near the end of his life that, "This book has meant more to me than anything else—even my teachers." (Wild Ivy, Waddell, p.132)

In fact, both of these great Zen Masters regarded the notion that the authentic practice of Zen could dispense with verbal teachings and written words as grossly negligent.

Listen as these two Dragons lament with one voice this pernicious misunderstanding about Zen being "a special transmission outside words and letters, and direct-pointing":

"How sad is the aridity of contemporary Zen schools! They laud unintelligent ignorance as transcendental direct-pointing Zen. Considering unsurpassed spiritual treasures like Focusing the Precious Mirror and the Five Ranks to be worn-out utensils of an antiquated house, they pay no attention to them. They are like blind people throwing away their canes, saying they are useless, then getting themselves stuck in the mud of the view of elementary realization, never able to get out all their lives."
~Hakuin, Kensho, Thomas Cleary, p.68-69

"How sad; how sad! Evil demons and spirits, wild beasts, and domesticated animals now call themselves the Zen School… we should know that within Buddha Dharma there are the Lotus and Huayan and other [teachings]; and it is not that within each of the Lotus and Huayan and so on there are various different buddha dharmas. Therefore, the eighty-four thousand Dharma treasures within the Lotus, Huayan, and so on are all without exception what is simply transmitted by buddha ancestors. It is not that outside of the Lotus and Huayan there is the way of ancestral teachers."
~Dogen, Eihei Koroku, Volume 7, Dharma Hall Discourse 491, Leighton & Okumura

While Dogen recognized and preached the necessity of authentic intellectual and verbal (and by extension, literary) activity in the practice of Zen, he also warned of the dangers of inauthentic intellectual and verbal activity. For Dogen, authentic intellectual and verbal activity consists of illumining and discerning the practice and enlightenment of the Buddha-Dharma, which is illumining and discerning the practice and enlightenment of the self. Inauthentic intellectual and verbal activity consists of blind allegiance to authority, imitation, passivity, detachment, and rigid adherence to particular forms of practice and proscribed systems of thought.

Authentic intellectual activity functions as a creative and transformative process which manifests as an intense curiosity, playfully and energetically engaged in discerning and investigating life, the world, and the Buddha-Dharma. It is marked by the continuous polishing and deepening of realization and wisdom, and the refinement of personal conduct within the Buddha-Dharma. People choosing this mode describe Zen with terms like, "challenging, fascinating, rich, and unpredictable." This is the enactment of the life of prajna (wisdom) and karuna (compassion), the life of the Bodhisattva of the Mahayana.

Inauthentic intellectual activity is the willing acquiescence to formal doctrine, an adoption of static, submissive passivity that is manifested as a sterile, resignation to a "things are as they are" type of naturalism. It is marked by the cultivation of detachment and disengagement from the world of thought, ideas, and emotion. People choosing this mode often describe Zen as "boring, nothing special, ordinary, and everyday." This is the life of arya-marga (no-more-learning) and the extinguishment of klesha (passions), the life of the Arhat of the Hinayana.

Okay, good enough for tonight. Please share your own ideas, insights and comments. Thank you!

Ted
www.flatbedsutra.com

Copyright Ted Biringer 2008

How have you approached the Shobogenzo

I have noticed a few coincidences lately between some of the discussions I have had and some of the things I have been reading. Now, I am not actually a very superstitious person, but I have learned to pay attention to coincidences…

The thing that seems to keep coming up is the relation between "study" and "practice" in Zen—especially regarding what Dogen’s Shobogenzo has to teach us about it, and how we can access that teaching.

One thing that has happened—which I have found to be somewhat surprising—is that several people that offered their views (not their opinions, mind you, but their "knowledge"- as in what they "know") on the teachings of the Shobogenzo, when asked, admitted that they had not even read the whole thing—much less the Eihei roku, or zuimonki.

Two of these people have been "practicing" Zen (Soto) for more than ten years and claim to be living their lives according to the teachings of Dogen—but how could they know that? I was able to inquire a little deeper with one of them. She admitted that she really had not made much of an effort to study Dogen’s work, but took her teacher’s word for what Dogen did or did not teach.

Lately I have been spending a little time each day trying to catch up on books written by contemporary Zen teachers. In the course of my reading I have come across several passages by different teachers that begin with something along the lines of, "Dogen believed that…" and "According to Dogen…" and then finish their sentences by saying something that did not seem to fit anything I had ever read or heard about in Dogen’s work. I looked, but the authors did not reference which record that they found the teaching in, much less the source. It made me wonder if they too, were simply repeating what a teacher had told them.

So, after mulling things over a little I thought that maybe we could share our own experiences, ideas, and insights on the study and practice of Zen. Here are some questions to help get the juices flowing:

How have you approached the Shobogenzo (or other Zen texts)?

How far is too far to go when offering our "knowledge" about Dogen’s (or anyone’s) teaching if we have not actually studied it ourselves?

Should we "qualify" our views with things like, "My teachers says that Dogen…" and "According to my teacher, Dogen taught…" Or do you think it is perfectly acceptable to say, "Dogen taught…" without qualifying our source?

If and when you do offer your experience and/or knowledge on Dogen, or anything to do with Buddhism or Zen, what do you base the validity of your understanding on?

Since I am the one that is trying to drag you into this, I will start…

When I offer my understanding of Dogen’s Shobogenzo I usually try to do so in a way that acknowledges that I could be wrong. Many times I have been forced to let go of some notion or another that did not stand up in the face of fresh knowledge or experience.

So let me qualify what I am about to share now and thereby avoid the cumbersome task of qualifying each point as I make them. Everything I think I "understand" about the Shobogenzo (or anything else really) is subject to change in the light of new knowledge or experience. Having said that, I believe that I can qualify everything I am about to say with at least two examples from Dogen’s own records. Okay, here goes…

My understanding of the Shobogenzo is based on 21 years of practice and study, employing a wide range of approaches and methods in a concerted effort to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the Shobogenzo. I think that this effort has, for the most part, proven successful —I hasten to add that by "comprehensive understanding" I mean extensive, not exhaustive, thoroughgoing, not all-inclusive.

Early on, I came to the conclusion that an accurate grasp of the message of Dogen’s unique, multidimensional work would require much more than an extensive familiarity with the entirety of its text and the tradition from which it evolved. It would also require years of intensive and extensive practical application, exploration, and experimentation. I reasoned that the work of such a uniquely gifted thinker and writer embedded within a specific literary tradition, an accurate understanding of the Shobogenzo demanded a thorough grasp of the philosophical, historical, literary, and religious systems through which it is conveyed. Moreover, as a soteriological expression by a Zen Buddhist master, a true appreciation of it would require the experience that only the actual implementation of its vision could provide. In short, it was clear from the beginning that any hope of discerning the authentic message of Dogen’s masterpiece demanded a combined approach allowing full and equal attention to experience as well as to knowledge, to practice as well as to study. I still believe this.

During the last 21 years I have sat with a wide variety of practitioners from various lineages. In the early years I worked with four different Zen masters (2 Soto, 1 sanbokyodan, and 1 in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh). I eventually settled on the teacher that I have now been with for almost 15 years. I spent my first 13 years with this teacher engaged in koan-introspection, shikantaza, and studying the works of Dogen. I also continued my own independent study during this time. I studied Japanese for two years but did not have much talent for it, and am deeply grateful for the many gifted translators that are supplying us with quality texts. I experimented with a variety of meditation techniques outlined in the classic Zen texts—especially the ones that seemed to me to be similar to Dogen’s teachings on "nonthinking."

My initial resistance to undertaking what at first seemed a daunting, if not futile task (coming to terms with the Shobogenzo) was gradually relieved as the validity of my approach was continuously confirmed by the very medium of the subject of my inquiry; the Shobogenzo itself. I eventually discovered, that this method of approaching the Shobogenzo is not simply a requirement for comprehending and expressing Dogen’s teaching, it is an inherent aspect of it. That is to say, I came to the realization of something Hee-Jin Kim had realized and expressed a decade before I had ever even heard of Zen Buddhism. His expression is much better than I could paraphrase hence I quote:

"[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, pp.105-106)

In discussing the validity of this observation with others over the years, I have often been met with a great deal of skepticism and resistance, especially by those within the Zen community. Nevertheless, I believe that Kim’s is an accurate assessment of a theme that runs through the entire corpus of Dogen’s work and is especially prominent in the Shobogenzo. For Dogen, activity, expression, and understanding—while maintaining their particular differences—always go together. Hence, any authentic understanding of the Shobogenzo inevitably includes "activity" and "expression."

While some inside the Zen community have been willing to (at least temporarily) entertain this notion, most have vehemently denied it all together once the mere outline of its corollary becomes apparent; namely, that the authentic practice of Zen consists largely of verbal, and by extension, literary activity. This sounds astonishing in the ears of those that have been inundated with the rhetoric surrounding Zen’s self-designation as "a separate transmission, outside words and letters, and not dependant on writings." While Dogen’s own writings may present the clearest evidence of how widely misunderstood this "self-designation" of Zen is, a simple appeal to common sense, I think, provides sufficient reason to dispel the most glaring misunderstandings in regard to this notion.

The misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the meaning behind "a separate transmission, outside words and letters, and not dependant on writings" is grounded on a faulty supposition. The faulty supposition in question is that "a separate transmission, outside words etc." is necessarily exclusive of words and letters (or any manner of verbal and literary activity). In other words, asserting the position that Zen is "outside words etc." and asserting that the authentic practice of Zen consists largely of verbal and literary activity need not be read as contradictory statements. The rationality of this point may become clearer if I try illustrating it within a different context. For instance, we would not find any difficulty in the statement that human life "exists outside words and letters, is not dependent on writings, and its occupation consists largely of verbal and literary activity. Indeed, one is hardly able to imagine human life apart from its ability and practice of verbal activity.

I firmly believe (and will present my evidence in the coming weeks, if requested) that the Shobogenzo insists that a failure to endeavor in intellectual and verbal activity will effectively bar one from the authentic practice of Zen.

Please do not misunderstand me. I do not construe this to mean, in any way that Dogen did not acknowledge the ineffable aspect of reality or the limitations of language and intellect. What I am saying is that based on my experience and understanding, Dogen’s teachings did not deny the limitations of the human condition, but evaluated and illumined them within the context of the highest realizations of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, namely, emptiness and dependent origination. When seen through the experience of emptiness, or what Dogen often calls "nonthinking," each and every particular thing has absolute significance. Not only words and letters, but as Dogen never tires of saying, "walls, tiles, pebbles and mountains, the whole earth and the great sky." In the Shobogenzo Dogen even illumines the absolute significance of such things as dreams, illusions, pictures, doubt, and surprise.

Try to keep an open mind, and apply what I have discussed above to what Dogen points out in Shobogenzo, Bussho:

"We must unfailingly apply ourselves to the words "being without the Buddha-nature." ("being without" is a translation of "mu") Do not be hesitant. Though we should trace an outline of being without (mu) the Buddha-nature, it has the standard which is What, the real time which is You, the devotion to the moment which is This, and the name, common to all, which is Shu: it is direct pursuit itself.

The fifth patriarch says, "The Buddha-nature is emptiness, ("emptiness" is a translation of "ku") so we call it being without." (mu) This clearly expresses that emptiness (ku) is not non-existence. (mu) To express that the Buddha-nature is emptiness, (ku) we do not say it is half a pound and we do not say it is eight ounces, but we use the words "being without." (mu) We do not call it "emptiness" (ku) because it is void, (ku) and we do not call it "being without" (mu) because it does not exist; (mu) because the Buddha-nature is emptiness, (ku) we call it "being without." (mu) So real instances of being without (mu) are the standard for expressing "emptiness," (ku) and emptiness (ku) has the power to express "being without." (mu) This emptiness (ku) is beyond the emptiness (ku) of "matter is just emptiness." ("Shiki Soku Ze Ku" from the heart sutra) [At the same time,] "matter (U)is just emptiness" (ku) describes neither matter being forcibly made into emptiness (ku) nor emptiness (ku) being divided up to produce matter. (U) It may describe emptiness (ku) in which emptiness (ku) is just emptiness. (ku) "Emptiness(ku) in which emptiness(ku) is just emptiness(ku)" describes one stone in space. (ku)"
Shobogenzo, Bussho, Nishijima & Cross

You see? Try this kind of reading with some of your favorite chapters of the Shobogenzo and see what you see. It never hurts to try.
All comments are welcome. Thank you.
Ted

Copyright Ted Biringer 2008

Visit Jordan's latest post for a timely koan...

Visit Jordan's latest post for a timely koan...

Jordan' latest post

Dogen's instructions on what to do while sitting zazen

I have read some things by "Zen teachers" lately implying that Dogen taught people a kind of "objectless" meditation, urging students to "let go" of thoughts. Some even suggest that Dogen's teaching exalted some kind of detached state of "pure awareness" and that Dogen exhorted students not to employ their intellect during sitting meditation.

I would like to ask Dogen himself about it.

Master Dogen, what should we do during the very time of our sitting?

"At the very time of your sitting, you should examine exhaustively whether the total world is vertical or horizontal. At that very time, what is the sitting itself? Is it wheeling about in perfect freedom? Is it like the spontaneous vigor of a leaping fish? Is it thinking? Or not thinking? Is it doing? Is it non-doing? Is it sitting within sitting? Is it sitting within body and mind? Or is it sitting that has cast off sitting within sitting, sitting within body and mind, and the like?"
Dogen, Shobogenzo, Sammai-O-Zammai, Waddell & Abe, p.100

Okay, thank you for clearing that up.

To read this passage in the context of the whole essay, please follow this link to the translation by Carl Bielefeldt:

Sammai-O-Zammai

Dogen's Buddha Nature of Enlightenment in Nonduality

Now where were we… Ah yes, the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment in Dogen’s Zen…

Dogen’s teaching on the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment is in sync with his teachings about nonduality in just about every aspect of the Buddha-Dharma. His writings testify to the profound depths that his exploration of nonduality went. It seems to me that this exploration of the reason (dori) of nonduality goes all the way back to his earliest quest (if what his biographers say is true) concerning the nature of practice and enlightenment.

According to those who are supposed to know such things, for Dogen, the apparent contradiction between ‘original’ enlightenment and ‘acquired’ enlightenment became the barrier to and eventually the catalyst of his own great awakening. Resolving this conflict became the central focus of his spiritual quest. If so, then it would seem that it was through his personal resolution of the seeming contradiction between the doctrine of original enlightenment and the need for spiritual practice that allowed him to—in his own words from Shobogenzo, Bendowa—"complete the task of a lifetime."

What happened in Dogen’s case (according to the experts) was something like this: A monk fell asleep in the meditation hall. Tendo Nyojo, Dogen’s teacher, shouted at the sleeping monk, ‘True Zazen demands that we cast off body and mind. Why are you sleeping!’ These were the turning words that opened Dogen’s heart. He went to Tendo Nyojo’s room, burned incense and made bows. Tendo Nyojo asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Dogen said, ‘My body and mind are cast off!’ Tendo Nyojo replied, ‘Body and mind are cast off, cast off are Body and mind.’ This is how Tendo Nyojo is supposed to have testified to Dogen’s great enlightenment.

After such a powerful experience, it is only natural that nonduality holds such a central, urgent theme in Dogen’s teaching.

(It is important to remember of course that Dogen always explicates nonduality within the context emptiness. That is, when he talks of anything being ‘non-dual’ he (like all Mahayanists) means, empty of duality, which does not mean that delusion and enlightenment are one (undifferentiated), as is propagated by some scholars. Delusion and enlightenment in Dogen’s Zen are always two aspects of one reality. It is important to understand that though they always go together, they each maintain their distinctive aspects.)

In order to understand Dogen’s meaning regarding nonduality, it seems rational to look a little deeper into his view on the nonduality of practice and enlightenment (in the context of emptiness). For, if our assumptions are true, then it was when he hit upon this insight that he finally resolved the problem that sent him all the way to China; original (or sudden) enlightenment and its relation to spiritual practice.

The very first lines of his very first teaching (which he continuously revised and refined throughout his life), Fukanzazengi, is constructed of a number of variations of this fundamental question. To rule out the notion of a "mistranslation" I will post two different translations:

The Way is originally perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? The Dharma-vehicle is utterly free and untrammeled. What need is there for our concerted effort? Indeed the whole body is far beyond the world’s dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from you right where you are. What use is there going off here and there to practice?
Norman Waddell and Masao Abe

Now, when we research it, the truth originally is all around: why should we rely upon practice and experience? The real vehicle exists naturally: why should we put forth great effort? Furthermore, the whole body far transcends dust and dirt: who could believe in the means of sweeping and polishing? In general, we do not stray from the right state: of what use, then, are the tip-toes of training?
Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross

If we are at all familiar with Dogen’s work we know right away that this is not simply a series of rhetorical statements, but an expression of spiritual realization, urging us to deep contemplation. In the context of our earlier discussion we can see that Dogen is not simply saying, "the truth is all around: What need is there for our concerted effort?." Rather, he is saying, "the truth is all around: What need is there for our concerted effort?"

As Hee-Jin Kim (and others) have noted Dogen’s radical and enlightening use of interrogatives. Dogen often uses "what," "how," "why," and so on in a manner that is referential to that "great matter" the "inconceivable" or "the ultimate mystery" of life and death. Hence his statements it seems, are neither rhetorical, nor are they conventional questions wanting answers. It seems clear to me that what Dogen is indicating is at once, the revelation of a spiritual truth and an indication of the appropriate attitude for Zen practitioners to employ in their efforts.

Recall that Dogen did not view himself as teaching something outside the authentic Buddha-Dharma. Though his expressions may have exceeded many of his predecessors, he taught what all the true Buddhas and Zen ancestors taught; enlightenment is the essence of authentic practice, practice is the function of authentic enlightenment. Again, it is important to point out that the duality of practice and enlightenment is transcended, not annihilated or eradicated.

In a close reading of the Shobogenzo, it seems clear that Dogen often uses the term ‘Zazen’ as a reference to the nonduality of practice and enlightenment, not simply as sitting meditation, as some (especially in the Soto orthodoxy) claim. Dogen uses many Buddhist terms in a variety of contexts and meanings, it would be an anomaly to find that one of his favorite terms (Zazen) was excluded from this insightful treatment.

In Shobogenzo, Genjokoan,, Dogen outlines the fundamental teaching of the nonduality practice and enlightenment with a wonderful koan:

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.
Nishijima and Cross

It is interesting to note that this is one of the few instances where Dogen chooses not to elaborate on, turn inside out, or otherwise draw unseen meanings and hidden implications from a koan in one of his essays. He lets the koan stand as it is, with all its traditional implications intact.
His words indicate that this koan is just the right fit for his meaning. He says, "The real experience of the Buddha Dharma, the vigorous road of the authentic transmission, is like this."

It may also be worth noting that in this essay (Genjokoan), which is often heralded as the very essence of Dogen's teaching, the word "Zazen" does not appear even once. Moreover, the two Zen persons (the master and the monk) that Dogen chooses for illustrating "The real experience of the Buddha Dharma, the vigorous road of the authentic transmission" are not engaged in any kind of "solitary" practice, but in a dialogue about Buddha nature.

See you all soon. All comments are most welcome!

Ted Biringer - email > tedbiringer@flatbedsutra.com <

website > www.flatbedsutra.com <

Copyright Ted Biringer 2008

Dogen on the Nonduality of Delusion and Enlightenment

Every western student of Dogen’s Zen is familiar with Hee-Jin Kim’s landmark book, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist, published over thirty years ago. Most of us would be quick to agree that, outside the translations of Dogen’s writings, Mystical Realist is the most important book on Dogen’s Zen available in English. In it, Dr. Kim illumined the heart of Dogen’s work in a way that forced all of us in the Zen community to reevaluate some of the most basic assumptions about Dogen’s teaching. In fact, Kim’s book went further, challenging us to question many of the fundamental assumptions concerning Zen itself—at least as it was represented in the West.

In his most recent book, Dogen on Meditation and Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen, Hee-Jin Kim again raises and illumines issues that most Zen teachers and scholars have ignored, avoided, or simply missed. These issues merit our utmost attention, for (to quote the ‘grand master’ himself) "an unexamined Zen is not worth living."

I would like to take up some of the topics Kim presents in his books and make an effort to give them some of the attention they deserve. In doing so, I will confine my comments as they relate to this project here at the Dogen Shobogenzo Blog. I will attempt to keep my focus primarily on Dogen’s teachings as presented in his writings, primarily in his Shobogenzo. My posts on other topics will continue to be posted at the Flatbed Sutra Zen Blog www.flatbedsutra.com as well as the other Blogs I participate in (see my blogroll).

Although Hee-Jin Kim offers many fascinating topics to choose from, I would like to begin with the one he takes up first in his latest book; the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment.
Of course, the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment has always been a fundamental teaching of Zen (and other Mahayana schools), but as Kim points out, enlightenment has "overshadowed delusion despite Zen’s insistence on their nonduality. This lopsided view has unwittingly led to the aggrandizement and indulgence in enlightenment one way or another." (Kim, Dogen on Meditation and Thinking, p.10)

Before delving into Dogen’s teachings on the subject, let us briefly review the basics of Zen’s teaching on the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment. In Zen, the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment is as basic as the nonduality of light and dark, inside and outside, up and down, and emptiness and form. Just as "up" depends on "down," so "enlightenment" depends on "delusion."

In the classic records of Zen, we often read things like; "nirvana is samsara," or "there is light right in the darkness," and "the defilements are themselves bodhi." As shocking as such statements might seem, they are often quickly forgotten or simply dismissed. Yet, the very fact that such statements sound shocking indicates the importance of examining them very closely and keeping them in mind in our overall understanding of the Buddha-dharma.

The true nature of reality is often surprising, and as Zen is concerned with reality, the expressions of Zen too are often surprising. True Zen masters do not make up "surprising" things to say, they simply express the truth which is often surprising. The fact that enlightenment is only possible because of delusion is obvious enough, but the fact that enlightenment cannot displace, or eradicate delusion might sound surprising. Yet the teaching of nonduality is clear; all such opposites (or as Kim calls them, "foci") equally depend upon and define one another. Light is neither greater, nor lesser than dark, up is exactly proportionate to down, form is exactly emptiness, and according to the fundamental teachings of Zen delusion is equal to enlightenment.

The classic Zen masters, while acknowledging this, have seldom elaborated on it. Dogen, on the other hand, not only elaborated on it, he deeply examined its implications and made regular use of it throughout his Zen teachings. Dogen was a master of expression and his teachings on the nonduality of delusion and enlightenment are often powerful catalysts to sudden insights. From his equation of "great enlightenment" with "great delusion," his teachings on "the nevertheless deluded" and the "ever deluded" to his famous, "one is further deluded beyond delusion," Dogen transformed unseen implications into profound explications of the Buddha-Dharma.

I will return to this topic soon-- I am looking forward to seeing where this might lead. Comments are most welcome!
See you soon, take care
Ted

Mumonkan Case 9 - Not Attaining Buddhahood

Mumonkan Case 9 - Not Attaining Buddhahood


A monk asked Koyo Seijo, "Daitsu Chisho Buddha sat in zazen on the bodhimanda for ten kalpas, but Buddhadharma did not manifest and he could not attain Buddhahood. How could this be?

Seijo said, "Your question expresses it perfectly."

The monk said, "But he sat in zazen on the bodhimanda, how could he not attain Buddhahood?"

Seijo said, "Because he could not attain Buddhahood."


The expression "Because he could not attain Buddhahood" is Buddhahood manifesting the Buddhadharma of Not-Attaining, and it is Not-Attaining manifesting the Buddhadharma of Buddhahood. When we meet this expression, we meet Daitsu Chisho Buddha, we meet a monk, we meet Seijo, we meet Not-Attaining, and we meet Buddhahood. This expression is a Dharma-Gate to all expressions of Buddhadharma and is a Dharma-Gate to all non-expressions of Buddhadharma. When one side is illumined, the other side is dark.

"Daitsu Chisho Buddha" is a human being. A human being is Buddha. "Buddha" is Real Existence. When one side of Daitsu Chisho Buddha is illumined there is sitting in zazen on the bodhimanda for ten kalpas, there is Buddhahood, there is Attaining Buddhahood, there is Not-Attaining Buddhahood. When the other side of Daitsu Chisho Buddha is illumined, there is no-Daitsu Chisho Buddha, there is no-sitting in zazen on the bodhimanda for ten kalpas, there is no-Buddhahood, there is no-Attaining Buddhahood, there is no-Not-Attaining Buddhahood. Because Buddhadharma transcends the illumined and the dark, there is Daitsu Chisho Buddha, sitting in zazen on the bodhimanda for ten kalpas, Buddhahood, Attaining Buddhahood, Not-Attaining Buddhahood, no-Daitsu Chisho Buddha, no-sitting in zazen on the bodhimanda for ten kalpas, no-Buddhahood, no-Attaining Buddhahood, no-Not-Attaining Buddhahood. Although Real Existence of Buddha is like this, it is simply "Three Pounds of Flax," "Rice Cake," and "A Dry Piece of Shit." In addition, there is Attaining Buddhahood as "What is Buddha?" And there is Not-Attaining Buddhahood as "You are Echo."

Some people comment about "not attaining Buddhahood," saying, "Buddha is Buddha from the beginning, so he cannot become Buddha," and they leave it there, as if that were the whole point. Actually, that is only a different way of saying, "He could not attain Buddhahood." In fact, the comment is based on a paraphrase of, "He could not attain Buddhahood" used by Rinzai. As a paraphrase, it is fine. However, it has nothing to do with the point of this expression. If that were the point, then the Buddhadharma would be nothing more than basic philosophy and the Wisdom of Buddhadharma could be arrived at through the reasoning intellect. The Buddhadharma is never like that. When wrong views are illumined, Buddhadharma is dark. Nevertheless, when Buddhadharma is illumined, wrong views are dark. Buddhadharma is Omnipresent, wrong views are Omnipresent.

Suigan once asked a question about the Real Existence of his eyebrows. Hofuku illumined one side of Suigan’s eyebrows, saying, "The robber has a fearful heart." Chokei illumined the other side of Suigan’s eyebrows, saying, "They’ve grown!" Yunmen transcended the illumined and the dark, saying, "Barrier!" We should take up these words and examine them closely regarding Daitsu Chisho Buddha’s not attaining Buddhahood. When they examined Suigan’s eyebrows, did the three worthies leave anything unexpressed? Like the monk’s question about Daitsu Chisho Buddha’s not attaining Buddhahood, Suigan’s question about the Real Existence of his eyebrows expresses it perfectly. "Look, do I still have my eyebrows?" This is how Suigan manifests the Buddhadharma of the Real Existence of eyebrows without falling into views of Attaining or Not-Attaining. It is even deadlier than the saying about the turtle-nosed snake on South Mountain.

Attaining Buddhahood does not mean, "attaining Buddhahood," it means attaining Buddhahood. Bodhidharma came to China to help people attain Buddhahood. At One Being-Time, a monk asked Joshu about Bodhidharma’s meaning, Joshu said, "Oak tree in the garden." The monk saw only that the Oak Tree In The Garden was an Outside Object. He did not see the Oak Tree In The Garden that was Never An Outside Object. The Oak Tree In The Garden that Joshu sees is not the same as the Oak Tree In The Garden that the monk sees. Nevertheless, when the Oak Tree In The Garden that the monk sees is illumined, the Oak Tree In The Garden that Joshu sees is dark.

Buddhahood and non-Buddhahood are Buddha, but Buddha is not Buddhahood or non-Buddhahood. When Buddhahood is illumined, non-Buddhahood is dark; when non-Buddhahood is illumined, Buddhahood is dark. The entire Universe is inside a single Atom, a single Atom is inside the entire Universe. When the entire Universe is illumined, a single Atom is dark, when a single Atom is illumined, the entire Universe is dark. When the Oak Tree In The Garden is illumined, the non-Oak Tree In The Garden is dark. Illumined does not mean present, dark does not mean absent; Illumined or dark, the Oak Tree In The Garden is Omnipresent, the non-Oak Tree In The Garden is Omnipresent, Buddhahood is Omnipresent, Attaining is Omnipresent, and Not-Attaining is Omnipresent. This is why Seijo said; "Your question expresses it perfectly."

As for sitting in zazen on the bodhimanda for ten kalpas and not attaining Buddhahood, what a truly wonderful expression! Unfortunately, there are quacksalvers, masquerading as Zen masters who go around saying, "Sitting in zazen is attaining Buddhahood, attaining Buddhahood is being enlightened, and not attaining Buddhahood is being deluded." This is because they cannot discern True Words and have never experienced True Zazen. Some of them may know that Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form. However, none of them have realized that Form is Form and Emptiness is Emptiness. If they did, they would know that sitting in zazen is Not-Attaining Buddhahood, attaining Buddhahood is being deluded, and Not-Attaining Buddhahood is being enlightened.

Sitting In Zazen On The Bodhimanda For Ten Kalpas is, Not-Attaining Buddhahood. Daitsu Chisho Buddha is, Not-Attaining Buddhahood. Thus, Not-Attaining Buddhahood is, Sitting In Zazen On The Bodhimanda For Ten Kalpas, and is, Daitsu Chisho Buddha.

The bodhimanda is not the place where Shakyamuni attained Buddhahood, not the place where Daitsu Chisho Buddha could not attain Buddhahood, it is Omnipresent. The bodhimanda is the entire Universe, the bodhimanda is inside a single Atom. The bodhimanda is Not-Attaining Buddhahood.

Ten kalpas are not, ten kalpas of the past, not ten kalpas of the present, not ten kalpas of the future; they are Omnipresence itself. The past, present, and future of the past, present, and future are nine kalpas and their nature of Omnipresence is a single kalpa, making ten kalpas altogether. Each of the ten kalpas is Not-Attaining Buddhahood.

The quacksalvers say sitting in zazen is attaining Buddhahood because they have given up hope of attaining Buddhahood themselves. Because they have never experienced the mind of an Old Grandmother, they call anguish "Buddhahood" and they call the Buddhadharma "Nothing Special." They have never realized that Buddhahood is joy, and the Buddhadharma is a priceless treasure. Leaving aside their ridiculous costumes, their words would be laughable if their effects were not so disastrous. Having scrounged a few charred relics from drugged or sleeping dragons, they show them around calling them the Black Dragon’s Pearl, beguiling students and driving them into barren climes. It is truly regrettable.

Fortunately, Seijo and this monk reveal a clear path for resolving doubts and discovering the Black Dragon’s true Pearl. By asking this question, the monk demonstrates his ability to discern sticking points. He was only able to ask this question because he had Genuine Aspiration. He does not waste time counting another’s treasure. He immediately rejects anything short of perfect lucidity.

Seijo’s reply comes directly from his Grandmotherly mind, "Your question expresses it perfectly." Only Seijo could say this. His words confirm the priceless quality of the Buddhadharma manifesting as Genuine Aspiration.

"Daitsu Chisho Buddha" is you. "Sat in zazen" is continually receiving, transmitting, deepening, and living in accord with Wisdom. "On the bodhimanda" is the spatial aspect of Omnipresence. "For ten kalpas" is the temporal aspect of Omnipresence. "But Buddhadharma did not manifest" is the Buddhadharma of no-Buddhadharma. "And he could not attain Buddhahood" illumines the truth of no-attainment. "How could this be?" is how to apply our dynamic cognitive powers in developing and deepening our Wisdom. "Your question expresses it perfectly" is great encouragement for refining Wisdom. "But he sat in zazen on the bodhimanda, how could he not attain Buddhahood?" is the perseverance of Genuine Aspiration. "Because he could not attain Buddhahood" is affirmation that the perseverance of Genuine Aspiration arrives at lucid clarity.

Dharma Transmission as Myth and Metaphor Part 2

Dharma Transmission as Myth and Metaphor Part 2

(Note: Some of these comments are similar to those I posted at "Dogen Sangha" blog some time back. I have since been denied permission to post there.)

Exceptions to such fanatical insistence on literal facts by contemporary Zen teachers are rare. One exception is the elder statesman of Zen in the west, Robert Aitken Roshi (I would also include a few others, Thich Nhat Hanh for instance). In Aitken’s commentary on the Dharma-transmission from Shakyamuni to Mahakasyapa, in which transmission occurred when Shakyamuni twirled a flower, he wrote:

"The story of the Buddha twirling a flower before his assembly, like the story of the baby Buddha taking seven steps in each of the cardinal directions , need not be taken literally. The first account of his transmitting the Dharma to Mahakasyapa is set forth in a sutra of Chinese origin that is dated A.D. 1036, fourteen hundred years after the Buddha’s time. This was the Sung period—a peak in the development of Chinese culture when great anthologies, encyclopedias, and directories were being produced. Myth, oral tradition, and sectarian justification all played a role in this codification. The fable of the Buddha twirling a flower filled a great need for connection with the founder, and it was picked up immediately and repeated like gospel. The "Four Principles" attributed to Bodhidharma were also formulated during the Sung period, some six hundred years after Bodhidharma’s time, using some of the same language attributed to the Buddha: "A special transmission outside tradition—not established on words or letters." The Sung teachers were making important points with their myths.

"During World War II, I asked a Catholic priest who was interned with us, "What if it could be proved that Jesus never lived?" He replied, "It would destroy my faith." That priest was very young at the time. I wonder what became of him, and what he might be saying on the subject now. Something a little different, I would suppose. I too was young at the time, but I felt there was something wrong with his answer. I still think so. I don’t believe it is very important whether Jesus and Buddha and Moses were historical figures. True religious practice is grounded in the nonhistorical fact of essential nature. "The World-Honored One Twirls a Flower," "Pai-chang's Fox," and all the other fabulous cases of Zen literature are your stories and mine, intimate accounts of our own personal nature and experience."
(Robert Aitken Roshi, The Gateless Barrier, p.47)

One legitimate reason (besides giving assurance to the Zen beginner) for continuing the orthodox tradition of formal Dharma-transmission is this: it can be used as guidance for the intermediate student that has verified an individual teacher and therefore trusts the "sanctioning" of that particular teacher. That is to say, a Zen student may be unable to work with a particular teacher that they have come to trust, however, another teacher that has been given the trusted teacher’s sanction, through Dharma-transmission, may provide some assurance to the student. It is not much different than getting a reference from a trusted professional like a doctor, lawyer, or a mechanic about someone else that may be able to help.

Of course, Dharma-transmission in itself, even if in a "trusted lineage," is no guarantee of a legitimate teacher. Just a cursory overview of some of the expose’ books on American "Zen communities" is enough to arouse a healthy sense of caution. Unfortunately, many of the most popular Zen "masters" in America have proven themselves unable to handle the authority and responsibility of teaching. However, when we do find an authentic teacher, we can usually trust their ability to recognize and sanction others who have genuine realization as well as the skills and character needed to teach others. We will still need to check it out for ourselves, but it may prove to be a good starting point.

The esoteric or deeper significance of Dharma-transmission has nothing to do with lineage charts or certificates. Authentic transmission is, and has always been, transmission of wisdom (prajna) by wisdom, to wisdom. In reading Zen texts, including Dogen Zenji’s work, it is important to understand the fundamental role that Dharma-transmission plays in practice and enlightenment on the path of Zen. This theme is crucial to grasping Dogen Zenji’s more profound teachings, as well as the deeper, subtler aspects of Zen teaching in general.

In one essay, Dogen Zenji explains how transmission occurs in the context of the traditional story of Huineng, the legendary sixth ancestor of Zen, second in importance only to Bodhidharma. After reminding his listeners/readers that Huineng, though never exposed to the "eternal teachings" was "suddenly illuminated" upon hearing someone reciting a Buddhist scripture, the Diamond Sutra, he goes on to say:

"This is just the truth of Those who have wisdom, if they hear [the Dharma], Are able to believe and understand at once. This wisdom is neither learned from other people nor established by oneself: wisdom is able to transmit wisdom, and wisdom directly searches out wisdom ... It is beyond coming and beyond entering: it is like the spirit of spring meeting springtime, for example. Wisdom is beyond intention and wisdom is beyond no intention. Wisdom is beyond consciousness and wisdom is beyond unconsciousness. How much less could it be related to the great and the small? How much less could it be discussed in terms of delusion and realization? The point is that although [the Sixth Patriarch] does not even know what the Buddha Dharma is, never having heard it before and so neither longing for it nor aspiring to it, when he hears the Dharma, he makes light of his debt of gratitude and forgets his own body and; such things happen because the body-and-mind of those who have wisdom is already not their own. This is the state called able to believe and understand at once. No-one knows how many rounds of life-and-death [people] spend, even while possessing this wisdom, in futile dusty toil. They are like a stone enveloping a jewel, the jewel not knowing that it is enveloped by a stone, and the stone not knowing that it is enveloping a jewel. [When] a human being recognizes this [jewel], a human being seizes it. This is neither something that the jewel is expecting nor something that the stone is awaiting: it does not require knowledge from the stone and it is beyond thinking by the jewel. In other words, a human being and wisdom do not know each other, but it seems that the truth is unfailingly discerned by wisdom."
(Dogen, Shobogenzo, Inmo, Nishijima & Cross)

Dogen Zenji’s expression here, "wisdom is able to transmit wisdom, and wisdom directly searches out wisdom", is the very definition of Dharma-transmission. In its highest sense, wisdom is Buddha-Dharma (Buddhist truth). Wisdom transmits wisdom and is received by wisdom. When Huineng heard the wisdom transmitted by wisdom (from the Diamond Sutra), his innate wisdom was "able to believe and understand at once." That is Zen practice and enlightenment. When the Zen practitioner is exposed to the wisdom transmitted by the wisdom (of Buddhas and Zen masters, texts, koans, birdsong, raindrops, walls, stones, etc.), the practitioners own innate wisdom is activated.

Dogen Zenji likens this to a jewel inside a rock. The jewel (wisdom) has been in the rock (human being) all along, and as soon as the "rock" realizes this, the "jewel" is already embodied, "[When] a human being recognizes this [jewel], a human being seizes it." That is to say, "Dharma-transmission" is really the activation of (already innate) wisdom by wisdom. The path of Zen is the wisdom within us seeking the activation of wisdom through practice and enlightenment. When we "grasp" the point in a sutra, or Zen sermon, wisdom is realized, that is, Dharma-transmission occurs. When we discern the point of a koan, the wisdom of the koan activates our own wisdom. As Dogen Zenji says, "a human being and wisdom do not know each other, but it seems that the truth is unfailingly discerned by wisdom."

With this understanding, we can decipher the significance of Dogen Zenji’s teaching on "Buddhas alone, together with Buddhas." Throughout his works, Dogen Zenji repeatedly reminds us that "only Buddhas realize Buddha-Dharma." For example:

"The Buddha-Dharma cannot be known by people. For this reason, since ancient times, no common man has realized the Buddha-Dharma and no-one in the two vehicles has mastered the Buddha-Dharma. Because it is realized only by buddhas, we say that buddhas alone, together with buddhas, are directly able perfectly to realize it."
(Dogen, Shobogenzo, Yui-Butsu-Yo-Butsu, Nishijima & Cross)

This is the essence of Dharma-transmission. The Buddha-Dharma (wisdom) is transmitted by Buddha (wisdom) and can only be realized by inherent Buddha-nature (wisdom). The "common man" in this passage can be likened to the "rock" in Dogen Zenji’s earlier analogy. As soon as the jewel is revealed, the "rock" is already a "jewel." As soon as the Buddha-Dharma is realized, the "common man" is already "Buddha."

When we study Dogen Zenji with this understanding, many complications are resolved. For instance, when Dogen says things like, "a lay person has never realized enlightenment," we discover two levels of meaning here. There is the "orthodox" understanding, which can encourage the novice monk that has literally "left home"; and there is the deeper, more significant meaning that neither lay people nor monastics have realized enlightenment, for "it is realized only by Buddhas." The same lower/higher truths can be found in many of his teachings: reading, precepts, meditation, koans, activity, expression, etc.

Dharma Transmission as Myth and Metaphor Part 1

Dharma Transmission as Myth and Metaphor

The Zen tradition of "mind to mind transmission," or "Dharma-transmission," is one of the least understood, and most abused doctrines in modern Zen teaching in both the east and the west. The misunderstanding, while partially due to the profound, subtle meaning within the doctrine, is mainly due to deliberate obfuscation aimed at validating spiritual superiority, thereby insuring authority.

According to the orthodox teaching of the official Soto Zen school in modern day Japan, Dharma-transmission is received by a student from a master that has received Dharma-transmission himself (not herself, as all have been males) from a master in the Soto lineage.

According to one "certified" master (Ryofu Pussel):

The term "Lineage" refers to an unbroken chain of "masters" having received "Dharma-transmission", going all the way back to the historic Shakyamuni Buddha. This authentic lineage is said to insure that the Buddha’s original teaching (Dharma) is preserved and transmitted in its original.
(Dharma-Transmission In Dogen’s Zen-Buddhism, Ryofu Pussel, p.31)

This definition roughly outlines the understanding of the term for most sects and lineages within Zen Buddhism. As an "orthodox" teaching for the spiritually naïve, this tradition allows the beginning student to lay aside doubts about their particular teacher’s authority and simply accept and follow the master’s instruction.

As with most orthodox or "exoteric" doctrines, the Zen tradition of Dharma-transmission contains a powerful esoteric meaning and significance. The true significance of Dharma-transmission is the transmission of wisdom (prajna). When the "awakened" mind is exposed to the "Dharma" of Buddhas and Zen ancestors, wisdom is transmitted. We will come back to this later.

Of course, exoteric or orthodox teachings are usually beneficial, and in some cases necessary to the spiritually immature. However, when this kind of teaching becomes insisted on as historical fact rather than as metaphor, or temporary expediency, it becomes idolatry. The transparency of the doctrine becomes opaque; concealing the very reality that it was intended to reveal.

Modern scholarship incontrovertibly reveals that any claim that posits as fact the myth of "an unbroken chain of masters" going all the way back to the historic Shakyamuni Buddha is untenable. (See for example, Seeing Through Zen, John R. McRae; The Zen Canon, Steven Heine & Dale S. Wright; The Bodhidharma Anthology, Jeffrey L. Broughton; Zen Dawn, J.C. Cleary.) In addition, genuine Zen masters have always understood the insignificance of historic or literal truth, compared to the reality of which the teachings transmit.

Yuanwu, the compiler of the classic Zen text, The Blue Cliff Record, gives us a good example of how authentic masters handle discrepancies between "fact" and "truth" in mythology. In the very first case of the Blue Cliff Record, Yuanwu notices just such a discrepancy:

"According to tradition, Master Chih died in the year 514, while Bodhidharma came to Liang in 520; since there is a seven year discrepancy, why is it said that the two met? This must be a mistake in the tradition. As to what is recorded in tradition, I will not discuss the matter now. All that’s important is to understand the gist of the matter."
(Yuanwu, Blue Cliff Record Case 1, Cleary & Cleary)

Yuanwu lived 1063-1135. One hundred years later, Dogen made a similar conclusion regarding the doctrine of Dharma-transmission. While in China, Dogen noticed that there were discrepancies in the lineage charts and asked about this:

"The veteran monk Shugetsu, while he was assigned to the post of head monk on Tendo, showed to Dogen a certificate of succession of Unmon’s lineage… Mahakasyapa, Ananda, and so on, were aligned as if [they belonged to] separate lineages. At that time, Dogen asked Head Monk Shugetsu, "Master, nowadays there are slight differences among the five sects in their alignment [of names]. What is the reason? If the succession from the Western Heavens has passed from rightful successor to rightful successor, how could there be differences?" Shugetsu said, "Even if the difference were great, we should just study that the buddhas of Unmon-zan mountain are like this. Why is Old Master Sakyamuni honored by others? He is an honored one because he realized the truth. Why is Great Master Unmon honored by others? He is an honored one because he realized the truth." Dogen, hearing these words, had a little [clearer] understanding."
(Dogen, Shobogenzo, Shisho, Nishijima & Cross)

Shugetsu made a very good point that was reiterated by Dogen’s own master, thus allowing Dogen to accept "for the first time, the existence of Buddhist patriarchs’ succession of the Dharma":

"My late Master, the eternal Buddha, the great Master and Abbot of Tendo, preached the following: "The buddhas, without exception, have experienced the succession of the Dharma. That is to say, Sakyamuni Buddha received the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha, Kasyapa Buddha received theDharma from Kanakamuni Buddha, and Kanakamuni Buddha received the Dharma from Krakucchanda Buddha. We should believe that the succession has passed like this from buddha to buddha until the present. This is the way of learning Buddhism." Then Dogen said, "It was after Kasyapa Buddha had entered nirvana that Sakyamuni Buddha first appeared in the world and realized the truth. Furthermore, how could the buddhas of the Kalpa of Wisdom receive the Dharma from the buddhas of the Kalpa of Resplendence? What [do you think] of this principle?" My late Master said, "What you have just expressed is understanding [based on] listening to theories. It is the way of [bodhisattvas at] the ten sacred stages or the three clever stages. It is not the way [transmitted by] the Buddhist patriarchs from rightful successor to rightful successor. Our way, transmitted from buddha to buddha, is not like that. We have learned that Sakyamuni Buddha definitely received the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha. We learn in practice that Kasyapa Buddha entered nirvana after Sakyamuni Buddha succeeded to the Dharma. If Sakyamuni Buddha did not receive the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha, he might be the same as a naturalistic non-Buddhist. Who then could believe in Sakyamuni Buddha? Because the succession has passed like this from buddha to buddha, and has arrived at the present, the individual buddhas are all authentic successors, and they are neither arranged in a line nor gathered in a group. We just learn that the succession passes from buddha to buddha like this. It need not be related to the measurements of kalpas and the measurements of lifetimes mentioned in the teaching of the Agamas. If we say that [the succession] was established solely by Sakyamuni Buddha, it has existed for little over two thousand years, [so] it is not old; and the successions [number] little more than forty, [so] they might be called recent. This Buddhist succession is not to be studied like that. We learn that Sakyamuni Buddha succeeded to the Dharma of Kasyapa Buddha, and we learn that Kasyapa Buddha succeeded to the Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha. When we learn it like this, it is truly the succession of the Dharma of the buddhas and the patriarchs." Then Dogen not only accepted, for the first time, the existence of Buddhist patriarchs’ succession of the Dharma, but also got rid of an old nest."
(Dogen, Shobogenzo, Shisho, Nishijima & Cross)

Many contemporary teachers have failed to get "rid of an old nest" and continue to apply much significance to the external fact of Dharma-transmission while failing to grasp the more important mythological truth of the doctrine. Despite efforts by Dogen and his teacher to show that transmission has nothing to do with being "arranged in a line nor gathered in a group," many attach a kind of superstitious significance to the physical "certificate" rather than the spiritual implication of transmission.

(End Part 1)

Dogen Zenji in the style of William Blake

Using William Blake's "Marriage of Heaven and Hell" as a model...

Lore of Priestcraft

Priestcraft operates by exploiting Mans deepest fears and highest aspirations. The primary medium of this sorcery is Lore. Ever aware of its main objective, subjugating the lay society to the Priesthood, Priestly Lore’s foremost concern is instituting and maintaining a rigid caste system. Such Lore posits:

1. There are two kinds of Men: Buddhas and ordinary mortals.
2. Delusion is the state of ordinary mortals; Enlightenment is the state of Buddhas.
3. Delusion merges Man with old age, sickness, and death; Enlightenment separates Man from old age, sickness, and death.
4. Enlightenment is extremely difficult, complex, and mysterious.
5. Ordinary mortals are incapable of realizing Enlightenment without the intercession of the Priesthood.
6. True aspiration for Enlightenment is demonstrated by passive acceptance of authority, total submission, and unquestioning obedience.

Such views are inculcated in efforts to conceal these truths:

1. There is no distinction between Buddhas and ordinary mortals.
2. Ordinary mortals are Enlightenment and Buddhas are Delusion.
3. Delusion separates Man from old age, sickness, and death; Enlightenment merges Man with old age, sickness, and death.
4. Enlightenment is facile, simple, and completely lucid.
5. Ordinary mortals are only capable of realizing Enlightenment on their own.
6. True aspiration for Enlightenment is demonstrated by unflinching readiness to challenge and disregard all forms of authority, unyielding perseverance, and obstinate autonomy.

A Man that blindly submits his own unique existence to authority transforms the Blessing of Life into a Curse of Death; true Life demands Independent Activity and Creative Expression.
When sacrificed by stages and gates, Independent Activity and Creative Expression stagnate like still pools where larvae flourish; and the limitless potential of Life becomes an abundance of misery.

Dogen Zenji’s writings testify to this principle, where submission and obedience are called sect, or school, and the enemy of Buddha-Dharma. The usurper and enemy illumine the Carved Dragon, thereby concealing the True Dragon in darkness.

The illegitimate children of Dogen call the Carved Dragon the True Dragon, and call sitting meditation Enlightenment, and call suffering Buddhahood, and say that the Wisdom of Sages is Nothing Special.

Nevertheless, the True Dragon howls with laughter in the Withered Tree, for the worshippers of the Carved Dragon cannot discern True Words.

Although it appears that the True Dragon has been extinguished, the few have kept the sacred flame for the resurrection of Shobogenzo and the revelation of Ichchantika.

Samsara is Nirvana!

As revealed in the Vimalakirti Sutra when Buddha released the supernatural power that he had exercised with his toe and the world returned to its impure appearance so that Emptiness would have a field in which to play. Nirvana is Samsara. The Buddha is no other than he who rejoices in old age, sickness, and death.

Hyakujo may have lived 500 lives as a wild fox, but before he was born as a fox, and after the cremation ceremony he was Kasyapa Buddha.

The Supreme Path is Without Difficulty

Blue Cliff Record Case 2

Joshu said, "‘The Supreme Path is without difficulty, it simply excludes discrimination.’ As soon as words are spoken, ‘This is discrimination,’ ‘This is clarity.’ This old monk does not remain in clarity; do you monks cherish anything?"
A monk asked, "Since you do not remain in clarity, what do you cherish?"
Joshu said, "I do not know either."
The monk said, "If you do not know, why do you say you do not remain in clarity?"
Joshu said, "You have asked the question; now you can go."

"The Supreme Path" is not the Buddhadharma; it is what the Buddhadharma is intended to bring awareness of. Saying that the Supreme Path is "without difficulty" immediately causes difficulty. Even in calling it "The Supreme Path" Joshu cannot avoid chasing students up the one-hundred-foot pole.

Having pushed them to the top of the pole, he knocks it out from under them, saying, "As soon as words are spoken, ‘This is discrimination,’ ‘This is clarity.’" What words is he talking about? "The Supreme Path." What is not The Supreme Path?

One time, a man was inside a butcher shop. He overheard a customer ask the butcher, "Which is the choicest cut of meat here?" The butcher retorted, "Which is not the choicest cut of meat?" Upon hearing this exchange, the man was greatly enlightened.

"This old monk does not remain in clarity; do you monks cherish anything?" The Supreme Path is not even obstructed by clarity; can you monks demonstrate this? Joshu points out that the hand shadow he is making is not really a wolf: just a trick he learned from Sencan. He invites the monks to try their own hands in front of the lamp.

One monk tries to take him up on the game, "Since you do not remain in clarity, what do you cherish?" Not a bad try at all, but it is hard to tell if he is making a wolf or a fox.
Joshu gives him the benefit of the doubt and extinguishes the lamp. "I do not know either." Discrimination, difficulty, clarity, and The Supreme Path are all wadded up together and thrown into the compost pile.

The monk gives himself away; it was a fox after all. "If you do not know, why do you say you do not remain in clarity?" How embarrassing it must have been later, remembering how he plodded around sifting through the stinking compost.

Joshu cannot help allowing his Grandmotherly impulses to come forth, "You have asked the question; now you can go." He is not just being kind-hearted; he also clarifies one step of The Supreme Path.

A Comment on the Heart Sutra

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep Prajna Paramita

“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva” is an Old Grandmother that has become intensely aware of how newborn babies convulse when their limbs are hacked off with machetes.

“Practicing deep Prajna Paramita” is personally resolving to make certain that not one single being will ever again be forced to watch his children raped and murdered.

clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming anguish and distress.

“Clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty” means seeing that each of the five skandhas (form, sensation, perception, mental reaction, and consciousness) is Real Existence.

“Transforming anguish and distress” means that anguish and distress are transformed from temporal abstract ideas into Real Existence.

Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form;

“Shariputra” is the person that this teaching is addressed to, i.e. Old Grandmothers who are personally resolved to abolishing cluster bombs.

“Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form” points out the fact that cancer is no other than Real Existence, Real Existence no other than multiple sclerosis.

form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form;

“Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form” says that a bayonet through the lung is exactly Real Existence, Real Existence is exactly a baby in a garbage can.

sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness are also like this.

“Sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness are also like this” explains that the other four, of the five skandhas, are also like form. That is, the sensation of being skinned alive is exactly Real Existence. The perception of a head crushed in a vice is exactly Real Existence. The mental reaction of terror while undergoing water torture is exactly Real Existence. The consciousness that the mutilated body parts on the ground are your family is exactly Real Existence.

Shariputra, all things are essentially empty—

“Shariputra, all things are essentially empty” means that not only the five skandhas are Real Existence, but all things. The essence of murder is Real Existence, the essence of rape, brutality, ignorance, starvation, AIDS, SIDS, PTSD, torture, war, asphyxiation, dismemberment, birth defects, hatred, child abuse, patricide, thumbscrews, gangrene, and cannibalism are all Real Existence.

not born, not destroyed;

“Not born, not destroyed” describes the nature, or essence of Real Existence; Ebola is without beginning or end.

not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain.

“Not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain” means the hands that tear flesh are not stained. The water given to the thirsty is not pure. The tyrant rules without loss. The honest laborer works without gain.

Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness;

“Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness” indicates the truth that because serial killers are Real Existence, there is no separate entity to call “serial killers.”

no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,

“No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind” shows there is no truth, love, wisdom, justice, happiness, freedom.

no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;

“No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought” illustrates the fact that there is no beauty, music, fragrant flower, sweet peach, gentle caress, knowledge.

no seeing and so on to no thinking;

“No seeing and so on to no thinking” says there are no sunsets and so on to no wonderful ideas.

no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,

“No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance” indicates the truth that there is no enlightenment and also no beginning of enlightenment.

and so on to no old age and death,

“And so on to no old age and death” means there is no youth and life.

and also no ending of old age and death;

“And also no ending of old age and death” is no beginning of youth and life.

no anguish, cause of anguish, cessation, path;

“No anguish, cause of anguish, cessation, path” says there is no serenity, cause of serenity, arising of serenity, path to serenity.

no wisdom and no attainment.

“No wisdom and no attainment” indicates that there is no cure for anguish and no liberation to attain.

Since there is nothing to attain, the Bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita,

“Since there is nothing to attain, the Bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita” teaches that because there is no liberation to attain, the Bodhisattva lives by personally resolving to attain no liberation.

with no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance and therefore no fear;

“With no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance and therefore no fear,” the Old Grandmother, having become intensely aware that the sound of burning children is Real Existence, is no longer hindered by presumption. No longer hindered by presumption she is free of fear.

far beyond delusive thinking, right here is Nirvana.

“Far beyond delusive thinking, right here is Nirvana,” means that right in the midst of delusive thinking, Samsara is transcended.

All Buddhas of past, present, and future live by Prajna Paramita

“All Buddhas of past, present, and future live by Prajna Paramita” says that all Buddhas at One Being Time, are personally resolved to making certain that genocide will never again be attempted.

attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.

“Attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi” is providing food, clothing, shelter, and love to every single person on earth.

Therefore know that Prajna Paramitais the great sacred mantra, the great vivid mantra,the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra,

“Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is the great sacred mantra, the great vivid mantra,the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra” says that personally resolving to abolish childhood leukemia is the great sacred resolution, the great vivid activity, the unsurpassed vow, the supreme function of life.

which completely removes all anguish.

“Which completely removes all anguish” says that such a personal resolution removes all the parasites from the bellies of newborn babies.

This is truth not mere formality. “This is truth not mere formality” means that this is not just a hypothetical teaching, it is the literal truth.

Therefore set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,

“Therefore set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,” says that since this activity can liberate everyone being tortured in secret prisons, we should carry it out.

set forth this mantra and proclaim:Gate gate paragate parasamgate Bodhi svaha!

“Set forth this mantra and proclaim: Gate gate paragate parasamgate Bodhi svaha!” Means personally resolve to put an end to all ignorance: Abolished, abolished, totally abolished, totally transformed, Enlightenment hallelujah!