Creating Circumstance-- and Not creating circumstances

Investigating the circumstances you create- and the circumstances you don't

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By relying on the principle of ‘turning to the next’, you should, by all means, thoroughly investigate both your creating circumstances and your not creating circumstances. And by relying on the principle of ‘turning to the next’, you should thoroughly investigate both what you are concocting and what you are not concocting.
Shobogenzo, Juki, Hubert Nearman

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Peace,

Ted

True Nature - The Reality of the Self and the World

True Nature - The Reality of the Self and the Universe

Continued from the previous post: The Self - As Experienced, and As Experiencer

Before proceeding we need to clarify something that should go without saying but often doesn’t: in Buddhism, both “self” and “true self” are (tacitly) inclusive of and in each other, as well as the whole of existence and time.
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At this point we have seen that Dogen distinguishes between a self that experiences and a self that is experienced, and discussed some of the terms he uses to do so. Now we will look at how these two aspects interact according to Shobogenzo.
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For the sake of clarity, the “self as experienced” and the “self that experiences” will be referred to hereafter as “the self” and “the true self,” respectively.
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As previously discussed, Shobogenzo portrays the self (and all particular dharmas) as the experiential or perceptible form, shape, or image of the true self. The true self of human beings is portrayed as the sole experiencer of each individual; the master, so to speak, of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking (the traditional “five senses” of western thought plus the cognitive faculties). By identifying “thinking” as one of the “senses,” Buddhism decreased the propensity to identify the “self” (mind) with the “brain.” As a sense, “thinking” is only one of six faculties of a single being (our true self). Thus, for Dogen, beings with more or fewer senses than humans are of equal status in regard to the true self. This is supported by Buddhist doctrines that ascribe additional senses to certain advanced beings of (e.g. to see past lives, others’ minds, remote events, etc.) and affirm the inherent Buddha nature of beings with fewer senses (e.g. earthworms) and even beings without sense (i.e. the non-sentient).
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What this means in the context of Dogen’s teachings is that our senses (including the cognitive faculties of the brain) do not sense—the true self senses. Our eyes, ears, and brain do not see, hear, and think; the true self sees, hears, and thinks. Each of our sense organs (including the brain) is simply one of the myriad dharmas that facilitate the true self in “fashioning a universe,” and “fashioning a self.” Our experience (of universe and self) is not actualized by our senses, but by our true self; more precisely, our experience is the actualization of the true self. Please note that this “actualization” is all-inclusive; every factor of our experience is the actualization of the true self. The lungs do not breathe, the heart does beat, nor does the brain breathe or beat the heart—the true self breathes and beats the heart. Insofar as the brain is involved with the lungs, heart, or anything else, it is only as the facilitator of the true self. Nor is this limited to so-called “involuntary” functions; the legs do not walk us to the mailbox, the true self uses the legs to go to the mailbox. The hand does not raise a flower, the true self raises a flower; the face does not crack a smile, the true self cracks a smile.
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Thus, as the self is a shape, form, or image in Dogen’s works, the true self is a shaper, former, or imager. To be a self is to be experienced by the true self, that is, to be shaped, formed, or imaged by the true self. Insofar as this concerns the realm of human beings, to be experienced as a self that we call “myself” is to be shaped, formed, imaged, or in Dogen’s terms, to be “pictured” or “fashioned” by the true self of another being (or our own true self). This is something that those inclined to speculation can use to build grand linguistic schemes with almost infinite potential to convolute and obscure. If the true self is the “one true self,” how can the true self of one person “fashion” the self of another person? If the “self” that is fashioned by the true self of one person is not the same as the “self” fashioned by the true self of another, how can it be the same “true self?” And on, and on it goes…

For those that are not interested in delving into the exacting but unrewarding realm of “sawing bb’s,” there is an easier way: personal verification through experiential realization. This can be accomplished by first, as Dogen puts it, “ferreting out the meaning” of the words (rather than delving into linguistic “facts”), and then verifying whether or not it is true in actual practice (the real practical world). To clarify exactly what “meaning” needs to be “ferreted out,” let’s look again at Dogen’s words from Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa:
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When speaking of consciousness of self and other, there is a self and an other in what is known; there is a self and an other in what is seen.
Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Hubert Nearman
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This should be fairly clear to those familiar with Shobogenzo (as well as those that have been following this blog for awhile). Dogen is pointing out that anything that can possibly be regarded as “experience” must include at least two components, something that is experienced and something that experiences. Without an experiencer there can be no experience, without an experience there can be no experiencer. In other words, “consciousness,” by definition is two-fold (i.e. there must be something to be conscious of and something that is conscious of it). Thus, “consciousness” (or experience) means “a self and an other.” Likewise, without a self there could be no true self at all. This is the first point.
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Next, let’s consider the interaction of self and true self in light of Dogen’s view on the nature and dynamics of the one mind and the myriad dharmas. First, recall Dogen’s explanation of the mutual interpenetration and non-obstruction of each dharma and all dharmas; each particular thing contains and is contained by every other particular thing (as well as all other particular things). Second, consider the reasoning Dogen used to describe how the true nature of the “one mind” consisted of nothing other than the myriad dharmas, as they are; the “one mind” is not something that permeates or underlies all things—it is all things, as they are. Similarly, the true self is not something that permeates or underlies the individual self of all the many beings—it is the individual self of all the many beings. That is the second point.
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Finally, there is Dogen’s assertion that the nature of something and the form in which it appears are not two different things. The very form of a thing, that is, the way it appears (the way it is perceived or experienced) is one with its true nature; if the form of any particular thing was somehow eradicated, its true nature would also be eradicated. In the same way, the very form of a self, that is, the way it actually appears (is perceived or experienced) is one with its true nature (i.e. the true self). That is the third and final point.

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In light of these three points, it should be a fairly straightforward task to “ferret out” the meaning of Dogen’s expressions about how the mutual interaction of the self and the true self “fashion the whole universe,” and “fashion a self.” Now we are ready to consider the profound implication of this.
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We are now at a point from which we may be able to glimpse Dogen’s view about what reality is and how reality and human beings interact. As we just recalled, according to Dogen there is no “true” or “essential” nature apart from particular things. This is clearly illustrated in his frequent critique of “naturalism” in which he refutes all forms of essentialism (which posit a true [or essential] nature apart from the forms or appearance of particular things). Therefore, when Dogen says that we “fashion a universe,” and “fashion a self,” he means that the reality “fashioned” by sentient beings is the only reality. In other words, there is no reality apart from the individual shapes, forms, and images “fashioned” by our own true self and experienced as the universe and the self we call “myself.”
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While this is actually pretty simple and straightforward, it goes against just about everything we are conditioned to believe and can seem complicated, so let’s break it down and restate it once more. First: sentient beings (like humans) are by definition, “sentient” (conscious [of something]). Second: consciousness (awareness, experience) is by definition, “two-fold” (consciousness/conscious of something). Third: the “one mind” and the “myriad things” are nondual (coessential and coextensive). Fourth: the form, shape, or image that we experience as the world and as “our” self is formed, shaped, or imaged (pictured) by our “true” self (which also serves as our capacity to experience). Fifth: the form, shape, or image of things is one with their true nature, thus the form, shape, or image that we experience as the world and as our “self” is our “true” self. Sixth: no “essential nature” exists apart from the forms of particular things, and particular things only exist insofar as they are experienced by sentient beings (in two-fold consciousness).

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Conclusion: The reality of the world and the self consists only of the “arrangements” we (as individuals) “fashion” from the “bits and pieces” (instances of existence-time) of our experience; no “other” reality can possibly exist outside of this.
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(Some of you may have concluded [accurately] that this implies a different reality for each and every individual sentient being—exactly! This aspect will be taken up in the next post.)
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To be continued…
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Peace,
Ted

The Self - As Experienced, and As Experiencer

If anything possessed ‘being a sentient being’, then ultimately such a thing would not be Buddha Nature. This is why Hyakujō said, “To assert that a sentient being possesses Buddha Nature slanders Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And to assert that a sentient being lacks Buddha Nature slanders Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.” Accordingly, to say that one possesses a Buddha Nature and to say that one lacks Buddha Nature both become slander. Even though they become slander, it does not mean that one cannot say anything about It.
Shobogenzo, Bussho, Hubert Nearman
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Generally speaking, the saintly all devise some method of training whereby they sever the roots of whatever vines are entangling them. But they might not explore how to cut off entangling vines by using the very vines themselves, for they may not have used these embracing vines as the means to understand their being entangled. So how could they possibly understand the inheriting of vines and the succession of vines by means of these embracing vines? It is rare for any to recognize that the inheritance of the Dharma is synonymous with embracing vines, and, since none of them have heard about it, none have yet expressed it this way. Surely, there could not possibly be many who have experienced it!

My former Master, an Old Buddha, once said, “The vines of the bottle gourd embrace the bottle gourd itself.” This teaching that he gave to his assembly is something that had never been encountered or heard of anywhere in the past or present. The vines of the bottle gourd intertwining with the vines of the bottle gourd is the Buddhas and Ancestors thoroughly exploring what Buddhas and Ancestors are. It is the Buddhas and Ancestors realizing that there is no difference between the awakening of a Buddha and the awakening of an Ancestor. It has been referred to as the direct Transmission of the Dharma from Mind to Mind.
Shobogenzo, Katto, Hubert Nearman
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“She is an artist.”
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When we don’t know “she” is “Rachelle,” we can understand these words, but we can’t understand the meaning of these words, therefore we can’t verify them in practice and be enlightened to the reality these words convey. When we know “she” is “Rachelle,” we understand the words and their meaning, thus we can verify them in practice and be enlightened to the reality these words convey, in this case that “Rachelle is an artist.”
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Similarly, when we don’t know “the one mind” is “the myriad dharmas,” we can’t understand the meaning of words about mind or dharmas, thus we can’t verify them in practice and be enlightened to the reality the words convey. When we know “the one mind” is “the myriad dharmas,” we can understand words about mind and dharmas, verify them in practice and be enlightened to the reality they convey.
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One thing that all the classic Zen masters seem to emphasize, in one way or another, is that there is a crucial difference between understanding words and understanding the meaning of words. Dogen frequently makes assertions about the importance of digging into expressions to ferret out their true significance. In doing so, he often stresses the point by “qualifying” the Buddhist terms and Zen expressions he uses by saying, “this does not mean what people ordinarily think it means,” or similar statements. For instance, more than once in his writings Dogen declares that although many people have heard the Zen sayings and teachings about the “ordinary mind” (normal, or everyday mind), but few understand what it really means.
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The state like this is called “the normal mind,” but [people] are prone to misunderstand it to be a class of common miscellany.
Shobogenzo 28, Butsu-kojo-no-ji, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross
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Since everyone should be able to understand the words “the normal mind,” the misunderstanding Dogen is referring to is in regard to the meaning of the words. The bad news is that if we fail to understand what the words truly mean, we can’t possibly verify them, thus they will remain utterly insignificant in our lives here and now. The good news is that if we do understand what the words truly mean we can verify them and actually assimilate their wisdom. In other words, when we understand its true meaning, we can read or hear the word, “dharma” and associate it with the experiential reality of “dharma/mind,” rather than with its literal meaning, or our preconceived notion of its meaning. For Dogen, it is because of the true nature of dharmas and mind (i.e. the unity of the appearance and the meaning of dharmas), that allows language (a dharma) to convey truth about reality. When he says “dharmas,” he does not mean, “in contrast to mind,” he means, “in context with mind.”
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In an earlier post it was observed that in Dogen’s worldview human beings (along with all forms, i.e. dharmas) are real insofar as they are experienced. That is, the reality of human beings is actualized by being experienced (by oneself or others) as a form (the body-mind; shinjin). Yes, this means that, according to Dogen, the falling tree makes no sound if no one experiences it, and a human being (or any dharma) is not real if no one (itself or another) experiences it. The most obvious implication here is that whatever (or whoever) does experience human beings (or other dharmas) must also be real. This aspect of reality is one of the central topics of Shobogenzo.
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When speaking of consciousness of self and other, there is a self and an other in what is known; there is a self and an other in what is seen.
Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Hubert Nearman
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If in Dogen’s view, a human being as experienced (by self or other) is a form or dharma (body-mind), what is a human being as an experiencer of forms (dharmas)? By reason of common sense we know that experience and experiencer are nondual, and also that each is (like all dharmas) one with the whole universe. But Dogen certainly does not let matters rest there; he constantly exhorts us to look deeply and come to understand how these two aspects differ, relate, and interact with each other and the rest of the world. Shobogenzo itself is one demonstrations of how Dogen himself accomplished doing just that.
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In Shobogenzo, the experienced and experiencing self is illumined from a variety of perspectives. The “self as experienced,” is viewed as a body-mind (shinjin) and is most often treated in terms of human beings (un-awakened beings), forms, images, thoughts, things, and pictures (or paintings). The “experiencing self” is viewed as all inclusive existence (i.e. uji; existence-time) and is usually dealt with in terms of Buddhas (awakened beings), Buddha-nature, true nature, the one mind, the whole universe (or world), and the true self.

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To be continued...

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Peace,

Ted

Dogen's Cosmology - Dogen's Perspective

Dogen's Cosmology - The Gateway to Dogen's Perspective
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He who knows but a single mote of dust knows the whole world: he who fully comprehends one thing comprehends all the myriad things that comprise the universe. He who fails to comprehend all the myriad things will not comprehend even one of them. When someone has fully trained himself in this principle of comprehending and has reached full comprehension, he will not only see the myriad things that comprise the universe but will also see each one of them. This is why the person who studies one mote of dust will undoubtedly be studying the whole universe.
Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Hubert Nearman
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Dogen’s cosmology (as well as all the Zen masters) is one of unceasing creation in which nothing remains fixed. It is one in which the self, the world, and all the myriad things and beings participate in mutual interdependent actualization. In Dogen’s universe, the one is the one and does not interfere with the many or the particular; a dust mote is as significant as a Buddha. All things are participants in a dance of simultaneous interpenetration and non-obstruction, in which each thing at once creates the whole and creates itself. Advancing with an infinite variety of possibilities, at every instance the whole universe is totally refreshed, sparklingly new, only to be immediately cast off as the next instance of the whole universe is exerted in its place, to be cast off too in the next instance.
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In such a cosmology seeing the world “as it is” can only be done on the fly, can only be done by being the world as it is. In Buddhism (thus Dogen), those that awaken to the truth of being the world as it is, are called Buddhas, and Buddhas are the only ones that can truly see the world as it is. Until we ourselves are Buddhas, Dogen advises us to learn what the Buddhas say about their experience of the world as it is. To give what they say the benefit of the doubt, to put it into practice, and to verify it for ourselves. Constructing a conceptual image of the “world as it is” can never lead to seeing the world as it is, even if that image is built from words of Buddhas. Again, if we want to see the world as it is, Dogen advises learning what those who know the world as it is (Buddhas) say it is, putting what they say it is into practice, and verifying what they say it is in personal experience.

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So, just what do the Buddhas say about their experience of the world as it is? What does the universe consist of? How is it fashioned? Are there actual things or beings that inhabit it, if so what are they and how do they relate to each other? What is it that we human beings experience as a “self” which we sense as being “myself?”

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According to Dogen, they say that the universe is fashioned by human beings who arrange it with bits and pieces of their experience. This universe is inhabited by a welter of things and beings which are instances of existence-time that do not obstruct or hinder each other’s existence. The “self” experienced by human beings as “myself” is fashioned in the exact same way the universe is fashioned, and this “self” is also an instance of existence-time. To be more precise, here is how Dogen puts it:

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Since we human beings are continually arranging the bits and pieces of what we experience in order to fashion ‘a whole universe’, we must take care to look upon this welter of living beings and physical objects as ‘sometime’ things. Things do not go about hindering each other’s existence any more than moments of time get in each other’s way. As a consequence, the intention to train arises at the same time in different beings, and this same intention may also arise at different times. And the same applies to training and practice, as well as to realizing the Way. In a similar manner, we are continually arranging bits and pieces of what we experience in order to fashion them into what we call ‘a self ’, which we treat as ‘myself ’: this is the same as the principle of ‘we ourselves are just for a time’.
Shobogenzo, Uji, Rev. Hubert Nearman

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As someone that viewed the world from a perspective wherein each of us is the fashioner of a universe and a self, we can understand Dogen’s vigilant insistence on the ultimate significance of each individual’s activity. From the position that momentary instances of existence-time form the fabric of the universe and the self, we can see the reason of his constant urgency for sincerity, effort, thoroughness, and precision. From Dogen’s point of view, time is literally of the essence, and each thought, word, and act, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has an ultimate effect on our reality here (existence) and now (time).
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Therefore, I would like to propose this suggestion: getting a grasp on the structure of Dogen’s cosmology is the most effective way to improve our ability to understand his symbolism, thus accessing his vast storehouse of wisdom on the nature of life and death, delusion and enlightenment, mind, Buddha nature, existence, time, and fulfilling our obligation to save all the many beings.

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How to do this?

Active, sincere, wholehearted practice, study and verification. Try supplamenting your current practice routine with a careful, intensive daily study of Shobogenzo. Make a commitment to listen closely to everything Dogen has to say, before reaching a conclusion as to the merit of his instruction. This may take a half dozen or more close readings, but what better do you have to do?

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A Final Note: Despite the evident popularity of trying to decipher Shobogenzo word by word, Dogen did not write in a secret code--he wanted people to be able to understand it. It is far easier (and much more effective) to get the "big picture" by letting him finish what he has to say before jumping to your own conclusions. Besides, carefully reading the whole Shobogenzo half dozen times, or even ten dozen times will not require near as much effort as trying to twist it into our own conceptual images.

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Peace,
Ted

Appearance and True Nature - Not Two

Dogen on the non-difference of the appearance of a thing and its true nature

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You should understand that, in Buddhism, we have always spoken not only of body and mind as being inseparable, but also of the nature of something and the form it takes as not being two different things.

~Shobogenzo, Bendowa, Hubert Nearman

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Peace,

Ted

Smelly Skinbag to Smelly Skinbag - Transmitting the Inaccurate to the Inaccurate

Dogen Lamenting the Decline of the Buddha Dharma in the 13th Century --- And describing causes and conditions all too familiar to the 21st Century...

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But first, two short quotes on some excellent basic instruction:

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

~Dogen, Record of Things Heard, Col. Trans. of Thomas Cleary, Vol. 4, p.796

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

~Dogen, Record of Things Heard, Col. Trans. of Thomas Cleary, Vol.4 p.825

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To thank Dogen for so freely giving me this treasure I offer this vow (anyone that would like to join me, please feel welcome):

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I vow: to carefully read and study the sutras and shastras; and when I look at the sayings of Zen masters I will exert my power to the utmost and examine them very very closely.

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I dedicate this vow to fields and streets, oceans and forests, homes and schools, and to all our many guides along the ancient Way: All Buddhas throughout space and time, all Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas, the Great Prajna Paramita!

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Now, onto the main selection. (If you like, as you read see if Dogen's language seems difficult to understand, esoteric, or anything besides straightforward---If the meaning is clear (as I think), and you believe Dogen is sincere in his attempt to provide wise counsel (as I do), why does there seem to be so little on the importance of studying scriptures, treatises, and koans from contemporary teachers and writers? Seriously?)

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Just because you cannot be expert in all the Buddhist Scriptures, do not be rash and say that the Buddhist Scriptures are not the Buddha Dharma. Even though you may hear others call themselves the very bones and marrow of the Buddhas and Ancestors, when we look with straightforward eyes at those who speak this way, we see that they are simply present-day trainees who are stuck on words. While some of them may be as good as those who accept and keep to a single phrase or a single verse, there may also be those who do not measure up to them. Do not insult the Buddha’s True Teaching by relying on this superficial understanding of theirs. Nothing in the world of sound and form is more spiritually meritorious than the Buddhist Scriptures. Sounds and forms may delude you if you are still greedily chasing after them. However, the Buddhist Scriptures will never delude you, so do not mistrust or slander Them.

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Even so, over the last couple of centuries or so in Great Sung China, certain mistaken, smelly skin bags have said, “There’s no need for you to keep the sayings of the Ancestral Masters in mind, much less is there any need for long study of Scriptural Teachings or for your trying to make use of Them. Simply, make your body and mind like a dead tree or cold ashes, like a broken wooden ladle or a bottomless tub.” Folks like these have become a type of non-Buddhist or celestial demon, and to no good purpose. They seek to make use of things that are useless, and accordingly, they twist the Teachings of the Buddhas and Ancestors into wild and perverted teaching. What a pity! How terribly sad! Even ‘broken ladles’ and ‘bottomless tubs’ have been ancient Scriptures for some Ancestors of the Buddha. Rare has been the Ancestor of the Buddha who has completely tallied the number of texts of these Scriptures. Those who say that the Buddhist Scriptures are not the Buddha Dharma have not studied the occasions when Ancestors of the Buddha have made use of Scriptures, nor have they explored through their training the occasions when Ancestors of the Buddha have revealed their True Nature through their reliance on Scriptures, nor do they know how to gauge the level of intimacy between the Buddha’s Ancestors and the Buddhist Scriptures. Careless folks like these are as common as rice and flax seeds, bamboo canes and reeds. They ascend the Lion Throne and establish monasteries everywhere, passing themselves off as teachers of gods and humans. Because the inaccurate have studied with the inaccurate, their principles are likewise inaccurate, and because they are ignorant, they fail to seek what is reliable, but simply pass from darkness into darkness. How pitiful!

~Dogen, Shobogenzo, Bukkyo, Hubert Nearman

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More from Dogen (& 6 others) On Zen and Words & Letters

From Our Sister Site: Flatbed Sutra Zen Blog

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Peace Friends...

Ted Biringer

The Ultimate Reality of Expedient Means - Dogen

The Ultimate Reality of Expedients Means

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Sakyamuni Buddha says, “Buddhas alone, together with buddhas, are directly able to perfectly realize that all dharmas are real form…

all dharmas are the real nature...
all dharmas are real body...
all dharmas are real energy...
all dharmas are real action...
all dharmas are real causes...
all dharmas are real conditions...
all dharmas are real effects...
all dharmas are real results...
all dharmas are the real ultimate state of equality of substance and detail...

Sakyamuni Buddha says, “The anuttarasamyaksambodhi of all bodhisattvas totally belongs to this sutra. This sutra opens the gate of expedient methods and reveals true real form…”

The gate of expedient methods is not a temporary artifice; it is the learning in practice of the whole universe in ten directions, and it is learning in practice that exploits the real form of all dharmas.
Shobogenzo, Shoho-jisso, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross

(Alternative translation of the last line: "The Gate of Skillful Means does not refer to some momentary skill. Trainees take up the Real Form of all thoughts and things, and explore It thoroughly through their training with a Master." ~Hubert Nearman)

Here we see the reason for Dogen’s repeated assertions on the “real existence of all dharmas,” and “nothing is concealed in the whole universe.” According to Dogen: “…expedient methods is not a temporary artifice…” !!!

This is quite an astonishing statement. If it was anyone other than Dogen, the assertion that “expedient means” are ultimately real might be immediately denied by a number of Zen students and teachers I know. But since Dogen had to go and write it down, some concession will have to be made—usually a “creative interpretation” explaining what Dogen really “meant,” perhaps, “just sitting is itself full enlightenment,“ or something similar. I will stick with his words for now.

In the context of Dogen's writings, one implication of this is that the form (or, appearance) of a thing (dharma) and the content (or, meaning) of the thing are nondual. In short, a thing is and means precisely as it appears. Thus, every particular thing is an expression of Buddha nature, and each expression means what it says. This is why Dogen stresses, “nothing is concealed in the whole universe.”

This also explains Dogen’s scorn for “scholars that count words and letters,” and abstract notions inferred, or deduced from generalized systems of classification. If the significance (meaning, reason, content) of real things is not apart from the form of their appearance, then accurate understanding depends on clear perception. In order to “classify” things according to their “inherent qualities” (e.g. “right” speech, “expedient” means, “pure” sitting, etc.), those things must first be attributed with qualities—in other words, “qualities” would have to be considered independently of the things they were supposed to qualify (Buddhism 101 informs us that “independent” entities are untenable).

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It is impossible even to imagine qualities, like “right,” “provisional,” “false,” etc., as existing apart from real things. Qualities apart from things are as illusory as “general perceptions.” To accept Dogen’s position of the nonduality of “things” and “our experience of them” is to accept the unity the self and the world; to classify things according to separate qualities divides the self and the world. This is “counting words and letters,” this is being attached to theoretical conceptualization—inferences and deductions about things, are substituted for things as they are.

Now, as all things are real to Dogen, this includes concepts, theories, abstraction, etc. And it is for this very reason that Dogen warns of real danger in misusing them. There is no problem with concepts, abstract ideas, etc. in themselves; according to Dogen, they are both real and necessary (expedient means) to authentic practice-enlightenment. It is careless or unskillful use that Dogen disparages.

For Dogen, there are mountains, mountains, and mountains—"experienced mountains” directly perceived, "word mountains” used to intelligently communicate, and "concept “mountains” used to think intelligently. These three types of real mountains, experiential, verbal, and conceptual respectively are certainly interconnected, but they are not equivalent or interchangeable. Nor are they qualitatively superior or inferior—each is a real dharma and a real expression of Buddha nature. Zen practitioners are not to dispense with words and concepts, but to use them skillfully (expediently). Expedient usage begins with study to achieve an accurate understanding of the distinctions between experience, word, and concept. Once understood, practitioners use them expediently by keeping in mind, or “remembering” these distinctions. As Dogen says:

Remember, mountains are not “mountains,” mountains are mountains.

In sum, Dogen’s view about the unity of a thing and its content, or reason, implies that the more precisely we discern a thing, the more accurately we understand it.

Dogen never tires of disparaging views that divide reality into “mind” (envisioned as a kind of eternal “divine essence”) and “matter” (envisioned as the dead, passive material “stuff” of the world). Such views commonly posits a division between “things” and our “experience” of them.

The division of subject and object also occurs in doctrines that take an opposite approach. Rather than dividing reality up, some doctrines simply merge the myriad things into a kind of pernicious oneness.

Unlike the Buddhist doctrine of nonduality, wherein the creative dynamic tension of differences are maintained, the effect of either dividing or merging is equalization and neutralization, logically concluding by reducing all dharmas to identical and interchangeable nothings.

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Can you hear Dogen spitting venom? Me too!

Peace,

Ted

Dogen and the Nonduality of Nonduality

One of the first things to get clear about Dogen’s cosmology is that all things exist only within our mind, or more specifically, our “body-mind” (shinjin; for Dogen “body” and “mind” are a unity). Some astonishing implications of this can be highlighted by using a different expression to say the same thing; all things are our mind.

Understanding this aspect of the nature of (Dogen’s) reality helps clarify the reasoning (dori) that informs a number of Dogen’s characteristic doctrines, including, “untainted practice-enlightenment,” “nothing concealed in the universe,” “existence-time,” “self-fulfilling samadhi,” “body-mind cast off,” “nonthinking,” and others. For now let’s examine just what it is that Dogen means by “things” and “mind.”

First, “things” (dharmas), for Dogen, mean real things—things that actually exist. Second, for Dogen “things” mean each and every particular thing that has ever been perceived, conceived, experienced, known, or imagined, and everything that could be perceived, conceived, experienced, known, or imagined.

Dogen stresses the authenticity of this view with frequent references and allusions to the Lotus sutra’s teaching on the “ultimate reality of all thoughts and things.” His insistence that “all things” means all things is made clear with frequent elucidations on the ultimate reality of dreams, optical illusions, words and letters, and other things traditionally regarded as illusory, provisional, non-existent, or unreal. For example Dogen expounds on the virtues of “putting a ‘second head’ on top of our head,” and Shobogenzo, Kuge is an extensive treatise on the ultimate reality and efficacy of “sky flowers” (a term for “imaginary spots in the air” caused by diseased eyes). In traditional Buddhism both “sky-flowers” and a “second head” were used as references for deluded, unreal, or illusory views.

So then, all things exist within our mind, and all things are real things. What then, is mind? Mind is all things—all real things. But if all things are mind, and mind is all things, what is the point of using different terms? From one perspective, it is perfectly accurate to say that there is no difference between mind and things; from other perspectives, however, it misses the mark by millions of miles. This is the hard part. Hard but, fortunately, not complicated, and nowhere near impossible. Investigating Dogen’s teachings on nonduality can clarify how things and mind can be “not two” and “not one.” For now, a traditional Buddhist analogy should be enough to follow the issue at hand. The analogy asks us to investigate the sameness and the difference of waves and water; it is accurate to say, “Waves are water,” but it is not a very thorough description. Sometimes it is accurate to say, “Water is waves,” and sometimes it is not.

There are three points about Dogen’s view of reality to keep in mind here; first: “The whole of existence-and-time is our real body-mind, our ‘true self;’” second: “Every particular thing, in all space and time, that could—in any way, shape, or form—be known (experienced in any way) is, and by Dogen’s definition, must be, a real thing,” and third: “The only real things are mind (or, mental) things.”

Thus, according to Dogen’s logic, “Since all real things are mind, all mind things are real.” One major implication of this view is that the universe and the self are coexistent, coextensive, and coeternal. To utilize one of Dogen’s favorite modes of expression, “Sentient beings fashion the universe, the universe fashions sentient beings, the universe fashion the universe, the universe universes the universe.”

Now, Dogen refers to these “mind” things with a variety of semi-synonymous terms, depending on the context and the implications he wants to stress. Some of the more common terms he uses are, “thoughts,” “things,”“forms,” “images,” and “bits and pieces.” Probably, Dogen’s most creative and illuminating terms are those he uses to illuminate the “mind nature” of things; namely, “pictures” (or paintings). Sprinkled throughout Shobogenzo are passages in which Dogen refers to various things of the world as pictures, and describes our “being aware” of these things as picturing. According to this view, seeing a flower (an image, or picture, in our mind/world), for example, is fashioning (painting, or picturing) a flower. The same basic truth holds for the other sense-gates (hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, and thinking), for example, tasting tea is picturing tea-taste, and imagining (or remembering) a poem is picturing a poem. Dogen devotes the entire fascicle, Shobogenzo, Gabyo, to this evocative mode of expression. As a perfect example of Dogen’s affinity for illustrating ultimate reality using traditionally “provisional” terms, he cites a Zen saying traditionally understood to assert the futility of language, “A painting of a rice-cake cannot satisfy hunger.” We hope to have the opportunity to return to this fascicle sometime soon, suffice it to say that by the end of the Gabyo fascicle Dogen manages to convincingly demonstrate that a “painting of a rice-cake” is the only thing in the universe that can satisfy hunger.

We are now in a position to understand why Dogen was extremely critical of vague, hazy, or obscure expressions, as well as systematic formulations, classification, and all forms of generalization. Dogen’s era (early 13th century) was a heyday for Buddhist classification. In both China and Japan, individuals and institutions were engaged in massive efforts to classify and categorize Buddhist doctrines, practices, and literature into various schemes. There were many reasons for this, some good, some not; the point here concerns one of the results of this, not the causes.

One thing that is consistent throughout Shobogenzo is that all “things” (dharmas) always have the attributes we mentioned above; they are real, they are mind (or mental), they are us (our true self). Most Buddhist schools make distinctions between perceptions and thoughts. Usually, perceptions are regarded in relation to knowledge (awareness) of “outside” objects; thoughts, in relation to knowledge of “inside” objects. From there, thoughts and perceptions are subjected to further distinctions and classifications. For example, perceptions might be distinguished as “direct,” “biased,” “distorted,” “pure,” etc. Thoughts might be classified as “illusory,” “right,” “evil,” “kind,” etc. This process often leads to confusion and unnecessary complications that Dogen sometimes calls, “old nests.” The fact that real thoughts and perceptions are always specific gets lost in the process. A real perception, for example, is always a perception of some specific thing; a “general perception” does not exist.

Thus for Dogen, systematic classifications are generalizations, and generalizations mean ambiguity. The deceptive potential of such schemes is even further increased if they are designed from dualistic viewpoints. Dogen’s radical adherence to the Buddhist principles of emptiness, nonduality, and interdependence is obvious in his outspoken contempt for anything with the slightest scent of dualism; not just systems either, any expression that hints at a division between the self and the ordinary world is fair game to Dogen, not even Buddhas and ancestors are exempt.

Due to distorted notions of the Buddhist doctrine of nonduality, Dogen’s teachings are sometimes misrepresented as denying the value of duality. Distorted notions about nonduality are commonly due to confusing “duality” with “dualism.” Buddhist literature is permeated with warnings about the hindrances and misleading effects of dualism, and rightly so. In fact, dualism is at the heart of the views disputed by Dogen that we have been discussing. Dualism (or dualistic views) presupposes real divisions between subject and object, self and other, inside and outside, etc. “Duality,” on the other hand, is one of the two aspects, or foci of the nonduality of “nonduality” (i.e. nonduality and duality). Duality and nonduality are interdependent; each defines and depends on the other.

Peace,

Ted

Products of Our Mind Alone - Dogen on Zen Study

Two components of Zen study and the products of our mind alone

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According to Dogen there are two components to Zen study:
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There are provisionally two ways to learn what the Buddha’s Way is: namely, to learn by means of our mind and to learn by means of our body.
Shobogenzo, Shinjin Gakudo, Hubert Nearman
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For Dogen, enacting the component of learning by means of “the body” is done with zazen (seated meditation). In spite of the continuing tendency to stereo type Dogen as an unflinching champion of zazen, his writings on this aspect of Zen study are sparse relative to those on learning with “the mind.” The handful of writings that Dogen did compile, however, are precise, lucid, and easy to understand.
I find myself in basic agreement with Hee-Jin Kim on the reason for Dogen’s relative silence concerning zazen. Kim writes:

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Dogen’s instructions on seated meditation were brief and minimalist. He did not elaborate on meditation techniques or meditative experience in any detail, nor did he attempt to guide his disciples through graduated stages of meditative and spiritual progression, as we often see in some religious traditions within and without Buddhism. I do not attribute his peculiar instructional style to any insensitivity toward his disciples’ soteric welfare. Rather, his approach emerged from his foremost desire to provide them with fundamental principles—spelled out in terms of language, thinking and reason—with which each could grapple with his/her individual soteric project, thereby realizing his/her own Zen. Dogen demonstrated this himself by writing the fascicles of Shobogenzo.
Hee-Jin Kim, Dogen On Meditation and Thinking, p.122

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I would only add that the actual “physical” (body) performance of zazen is pretty simple and there is little to say about it beyond describing how to do it.

However, the component of Zen study by “means of the mind” is profound in its range and scope. In Buddhism, nature and dynamics of “mind” are numerous and complex. And according to Dogen, the aspect of Zen study with “mind” includes all of the various “sorts of minds”:
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To learn by means of the mind is to learn by all sorts of minds. Those minds include the discriminative mind, the mind of feelings and emotions, and the mind that sees the oneness of all things, among others.
Shobogenzo, Shinjin Gakudo, Hubert Nearman

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Besides all the “ordinary” sorts of mind, Dogen also proclaims that we “have given rise” to bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment; bodhi: enlightenment; citta: mind) we also study the “daily functioning” of that mind too:

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Also, after we have established a spiritual rapport with a Master and have given rise to the mind that would realize full enlightenment, we take refuge in the Great Way of the Buddhas and Ancestors and explore the daily functioning of the mind that seeks full enlightenment.
Shobogenzo, Shinjin Gakudo, Hubert Nearman
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Even before we have awakened bodhicitta, he expects us to study and become familiar with the “methods of the Buddhas and Ancestors of the past” and to “imitate” them, evidently to arouse bodhicitta.

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Even if we have not yet given rise to the mind that truly aspires to realize full enlightenment, we should imitate the methods of the Buddhas and Ancestors of the past who gave rise to the mind that seeks enlightenment.
Shobogenzo, Shinjin Gakudo, Hubert Nearman
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To encourage us in our efforts, he reminds us of the fundamental tenet of Mahayana Buddhism: all the myriad dharmas throughout space and time are products of our mind:
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This mind is the mind that has resolved to realize enlightenment; it is the manifestation of a sincere heart moment by moment, the mind of previous Buddhas, our everyday mind, and the three worlds of desire, form, and beyond form. All of these are the products of our mind alone.
Shobogenzo, Shinjin Gakudo, Hubert Nearman

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Peace,
Ted

Open letter to Eido Shimano Roshi, from Robert Aitken Roshi

For all interested in the current and future state of the Maha Sangha.
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Robert Aitken Roshi has raised an important issue in a recent post on his blog. Please check it out at:
Robert Aitken Roshi’s open letter to Eido Tai Shimano Roshi
Thank you!

Beings are numberless, I vow to save them.
Greed, hatred, and ignorance arise endlessly, I vow to abandon them.
Dharma-gates are countless, I vow to enter them.
Buddha’s Way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it fully.

Gassho,
Ted

Dogen, Joshu, and Huineng revealing How Joyful It Is

How Joyful it is!

Zen Master Joshu was once asked by a monk what the difference was between himself, not yet having awakened, and Joshu who had awakened. Joshu described the differnce by saying, "I use time; you are used by time." A very similar point is illustrated in the story about Huineng (the sixth Zen ancestor in China) and "The monk who recites the Lotus Sutra," which culminates with Huineng's teaching about the difference between "Reciting a sutra, and being recited by a sutra."

Dogen, in Shobogenzo, Hokke-ten-Hokke, takes up the issue at the heart of these teachings and reveals a number of marvelous implications--exclaiming "how joyful" this truth is near the end of his writing:

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How joyful it is! From kalpa to kalpa is the Flower of Dharma, and from noon to night is the Flower of Dharma. Because the Flower of Dharma is from kalpa to kalpa, and because the Flower of Dharma is from noon to night, even though our own body and mind growsstrong and grows weak, it is just the Flower of Dharma itself. The reality that exists “as it is” is “a treasure,” is “brightness,” is “a seat of truth,” is “wide, great, profound, and eternal,” is “profound, great, and everlasting,” is “mind in delusion, the Flower of Dharma turning,” and is “mind in realization, turning the Flower of Dharma,” which is really just the Flower of Dharma turning the Flower of Dharma.

When the mind is in the state of delusion, the Flower of Dharma turns.When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.If perfect realization can be like this,The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.

~Shobogenzo, Hokke-ten-hokke, Gudo Nishijima and Mike Cross

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Thank you Dogen, I agree!

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Peace,

Ted

The Supreme State of Enlightenment--and Beyond

Dogen on the Supreme State of Enlightenment--and Beyond...

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While some contemporary Buddhist teachers tend to downplay the significance of enlightenment and even minimize or ridicule the use of the various terms for enlightenment (bodhi, satori, sho, awakening, etc.), the Buddhist scriptures and classic records of the master speak of little else, and insist that enlightenment is the foremost task of all Buddhists. Dogen's works are no exception. But what is enlightenment? Following are some expamles in which Dogen offers clues about "the supreme state of bodhi."
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In the supreme state of bodhi, Buddhist patriarchs who transmitted the truth and received the behavior have been many, and examples of past ancestors who reduced their bones to powder cannot be denied. Learn from the ancestral Patriarch who cut off his arm, and do not differ by a hair’s breadth [from the bodhisattva who] covered the mud. When we each get rid of our husk, we are not restricted by former views and understanding, and things which have for vast kalpas been unclear suddenly appear before us. In the here and now of such a moment, the self does not recognize it, no-one else is conscious of it, you do not expect it, and even the eyes of Buddha do not glimpse it. How could the human intellect fathom it?
Shobogenzo, Keisei-Sanshiki, Nishijima & Cross
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The term ‘the Ultimate’ refers to the Wisdom that is the result of Buddhahood. Were we to compare the state of supreme, fully perfected enlightenment with the state of giving rise to the enlightened Mind for the first time, it is like comparing the universal, all-consuming conflagration of the final age with the light of a firefly. Even so, when you give rise to the heart that helps others reach the Other Shore, even though you yourself have not yet reached that Place, there is no difference between the two.
Shobogenzo, Hotsu Bodai Shin, Hubert Nearman
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He who knows but a single mote of dust knows the whole world: he who fully comprehends one thing comprehends all the myriad things that comprise the universe. He who fails to comprehend all the myriad things will not comprehend even one of them. When someone has fully trained himself in this principle of comprehending and has reached full comprehension, he will not only see the myriad things that comprise the universe but will also see each one of them. This is why the person who studies one mote of dust will undoubtedly be studying the whole universe. To think that a three-year-old child cannot give voice to the Buddha Dharma or to think that a three-year-old is ‘cute’ is the height of foolishness. This is because clarifying what birth is and clarifying what death is constitutes the most important matter for a Buddhist monk.
Shobogenzo, Shoaku Makusa, Hubert Nearman
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But, according to Dogen, awakening is only the beginning. What about after this mind has already been manifested?
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There are those who say that after bodhisattvas become Buddhas, they discontinue practice because there is nothing left for them to do. Such people are mundane persons who have no direct knowledge of the Way of the Buddhas and Ancestors.
Shobogenzo, Shoho Jisso, Hubert Nearman
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Unsurpassed bodhi is not for the sake of self, not for the sake of others, not for the sake of fame, and not for the sake of profit. And yet, single-mindedly seeking unsurpassed bodhi, diligently proceeding without retreat, is called arousing the bodhi mind. After this mind has already been manifested, not seeking after bodhi, even for the sake of bodhi, is the genuine bodhi mind. If you do not have this mind, how could it be the study of the way? Brothers at this temple, single-mindedly seek bodhi mind, and never quit out of laziness.
Eihei Koroku, Dogen’s Extensive Record, Leighton & Okumura, 5:377
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The arising of the intention means giving rise, right off, to the intention to help others reach the Other Shore, even though you yourself have not yet reached that Place. We call this giving rise to the enlightened Mind for the first time. Once you have given rise to this Mind, you will then encounter Buddhas to whom you should make alms offerings, and you should hearken to Their Teaching.
Shobogenzo, Hotsu Bodai Shin, Hubert Nearman
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Once you attain this state of suchness and attain the harmoni­ous unity of activity and understanding possessed by the Buddha-patriarchs, you examine exhaustively all the thoughts and views of this attainment.
Shobogenzo, Sammai-O-Zammai, Waddell & Abe, p.101
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The Dharma was Transmitted for the sake of each and every Buddha, and the Dharma was inherited for the sake of each and every Buddha. This is why birth-and-death and coming-and-going exist. It is why the intention to train, training and practice, the attaining of Wisdom, and nirvana exist. By making use of the intention to train, training and practice, the attaining of Wisdom, and nirvana, we thoroughly explore that the human body really is birth-and-death and coming-and-going, and, in protecting what we have received, we now hold firm and we now let go.
Shobogenzo, Shoho Jisso (Hubert Nearman)
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Therefore, once having understood, you should read the Sage's Teachings many times. And having heard the words of the teacher, still you should listen to them again. The mind should grow deeper and deeper. As for things which would be hindrances to the study of the Way, do not go near them anymore. Even if it is painful and lonely, associate with worthy companions to practice the Way.
Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, 5:15 (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)

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Well, back to the cushions and the sutras! Enjoy!

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Peace,

Ted

Dogen 1.See Buddha 2.Live Buddha 3.Utilize Buddha

Dogen's Three Steps of Buddha Dharma

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The ultimate way by which the Eye sees Buddha refers to the Eye by which we encounter Buddha. When we see Buddha Nature in other places and when we see our own Buddha Nature as being apart from Buddhas, then, even though everything seems to be all tangled up like overgrown vines, we first explore through our training what ‘meeting Buddha’ means. Then we work on dropping off ‘meeting Buddha’ until we realize the vital, living state of ‘meeting Buddha’. Finally, we make use of our ‘having met Buddha’.

~Shobogenzo, Kembutsu, Translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman

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Peace,

Ted

Dogen On Teachers and Scriptures

While it is an axiom of Zen that "The Treasure Is Never Found Outside Ourself," it can be easy to forget. Here Dogen offers us a stark reminder about the foremost principle of Zen:

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At the same time, whether people are following a good spiritual teacher or following the Scriptures, all such persons are following their True Self. The Scriptural texts are, naturally, the Scriptural texts of Self, and good spiritual teachers are, naturally, good spiritual teachers of Self. Thus, you should investigate through your training that thorough training means thoroughly training oneself, that studying the hundreds of things which sprout up like grass means studying oneself, that studying the myriad things that take root and branch out like trees means studying oneself, and that this self is, of necessity, synonymous with making such an effort. By exploring like this through your training, you drop off self and you promise enlightenment to yourself.
Shobogenzo, Jisho Zammai, Hubert Nearman

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Peace,

Ted

Dogen and Shobogenzo Zen Links

Dogen and Shobogenzo related links to online Zen resources

Soto Zen Text Project (Excellent Online Translations from Dogen’s Works)

The Zensite (Massive collection of Dogen related material, including translations)

Mining Ashvaghosha’s Gold [A Dogen/Shobogenzo Related Blog by Mike Cross, translator (with Gudo Nishijima) of "Master Dogen's Shobogenzo"]

98 Dogen/Shobogenzo Related Posts from The Flatbed Sutra Zen Blog

Poet Seers (Some English translations of Dogen’s poems)

Poetry Chaikhana (Some more poems by Dogen)

Online Shobogenzo – 95 Chapter Version, translated by Gudo Nishijima & Mike (Chodo) Cross

Online Shobogenzo – 96 Chapter Version, translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman

Shobogenzo Comparison Table of the 95, 96, and 75 Chapter Versions [A table comparison of the included fascicles (chapters), their numerical order, and the English translations of the 96 chapter version (by Hubert Nearman), the 95 chapter version (by Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross) and the "standard" 75 chapter version of Shobogenzo. Includes links to various online translations (more links coming soon).]
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Please share your favorite Dogen links in the comment section.
Enjoy!
Peace,
Ted

Dogen - Enlightened Mind "After" This Intention Arises

If the intention to realize enlightenment has not yet arisen, strive on, strive on! As Dogen says:

This Mind is not ours, or someone else’s, or something that comes to us, yet after this intention arises, whenever we raise aloft the Great Earth, everything turns into gold, and whenever we sprinkle the waters of the Great Ocean, they immediately turn into the sweet dew. After that, whenever we lay hold of soil or rocks, sand or pebbles, we make use of this enlightened Mind, and whenever we explore the gushing forth of water and the blazing up of fire, we are personally shouldering the enlightened Mind.
Shobogenzo, Hotsu Bodai Shin, Hubert Nearman

Peace,

Ted

10 Distorted Notions about Zen and Dogen

The study of Dogen’s writings are often hindered by a number of widespread erroneous views, misunderstandings, and simplistic notions about Zen generally and Dogen’s teachings specifically. Moreover, such distortions have marginalized Zen to the level of irrelevancy for many; thus barring potential practitioners from the liberation of Zen enlightenment. Ten of the top such distortions include:

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That Zen advocates a distrust of written or verbal teachings.
That Zen denigrates intellectual or conceptual endeavors.
That Zen advocates detachment.
That zazen only and always should be understood by its literal meaning (“sitting meditation”).
That Dogen advocated sitting meditation to the exclusion of other practices.
That Dogen did not teach (or was opposed to) koan introspection.
That Zen is something ineffable, mysterious, esoteric, complicated, or difficult to understand.
That koans are puzzles, paradoxes, riddles, or devices used to frustrate the intellect.
That koans are irrational, or are anything other than legitimate literary idioms.
That Zen meditation is trance-like, or otherwise isolates one from their surroundings.

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The widespread acceptance of such simplistic and/or aberrant views has not only hindered effective study and practice, it has contributed to many of the high profile scandals of western “Zen” communities, and thus caused many thinking people to dismiss modern Zen as nothing more than another whacked out cult.

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Peace,

Ted

Zen, The Four Holy Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path

Zen, The Four Holy Truths, and the Eightfold Path

(Inspired by Will Simpson's comment)

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I have mentioned before that I love the Avatamsaka sutra’s expression. In one section of the sutra, Manjushri Bodhisattva expounds upon The Four Holy Truths:

The Holy Truth of Suffering
The Holy Truth of the Accumulation of Suffering
The Holy Truth of the Extinction of Suffering
The Holy Truth of the Way Leading to the Extinction of Suffering

Manjushri explains:

"The Four Holy Truths can be called by countless other names in other worlds throughout the ten directions."

The sutra goes on to evoke an almost dreamlike state in the reader by presenting dozens of ‘other names’ for the Four Holy Truths.

Sometimes it may seem as if the Zen records give these basic Buddhist doctrines less attention than they deserve. However, upon closer consideration one might notice that the Four Holy Truths are all the Zen records do deal with. For example:
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The Holy Truth of Suffering
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Tendo Nyojo (Dogen's teacher) said:

The matter of life and death is a great one; impermanence is swift… Tonight, tomorrow, one may meet any kind of death; one may suffer any kind of illness… it is foolish not to carry out the Way of Buddha, instead of passing the time in vain by lying down and sleeping.

(Quoted by Dogen) Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, 3:3 ( Thomas Cleary)
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Dogen seems to agree with his teacher:

If you would maintain this mind, first you must contemplate impermanence. A lifetime is like a dream; time passes swiftly by. Dewlike life rapidly vanishes. Since time has never waited for anyone, as long as you are alive for the time being, you should think of being good to others, even in respect to the slightest matters, in accordance with the will of the Buddhas.
Dogen (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)
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Also in the Soto tradition there is Tozan’s dialogue with a monk:

A monk asked of Tozan: A snake is swallowing a frog. Which is right, to save it or not?
Tozan replied: If you save it, you do not see with both eyes. If you do not save it, your body has no shadow.
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Similar to this dialogue (as many koan students will recall) is the classic koan cited in case 46 of the Blue Cliff Record:

Kyosei asked a monk, “What is that sound outside?”
The monk said, “That is the sound of raindrops.”
Kyosei said, “People live in a topsy-turvy world. They lose themselves in delusion about themselves and only pursue [outside] objects.”
The monk said,“What about you, Master?”
Kyosei said, “I was on the brink of losing myself in such delusions about myself.”
The monk said, “What do you mean, ‘on the brink of losing myself in such delusions about myself’?”
Kyosei said, “To break through [into the world of Essence] may be easy. But to express fully the bare substance is difficult.”
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The Holy Truth of the Accumulation of Suffering
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Huang-Po explains the details of this Truth in one instance thus:

The term unity refers to a homogeneous spiritual brilliance which separates into six harmoniously blended ‘elements’. The homogeneously blended ‘elements’ are the six sense organs. These six sense organs become severally united whit objects that defile them—the eyes with form, the ear with sound, the nose with smell, the tongue with taste, the body with touch, and the thinking mind with entities. Between these organs and their objects arise the six sensory perceptions, making eighteen sense-realms in all. If you understand that these eighteen realms have no objective existence, you will bind the six harmoniously blended ‘elements’ into a single spiritual brilliance—a single spiritual which is the One Mind. All students of the Way know this, but cannot avoid forming concepts of ‘a single spiritual brilliance’ and ‘the six harmoniously blended elements’. Accordingly they are chained to entities and fail to achieve a tacit understanding of original Mind.

The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, John Blofeld
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Huang-Po is even more concise in Case 11 of the Blue Cliff Record:

Huang-Po, instructing the assembly, said, “You are all drinkers of brewer’s lees (dregs). If you continue to go on your Way like this, when will you meet today? Don’t you know that in the whole Tang empire there is no Zen master?”
A monk came forward and said, ”What about the fact that in various places there are people who teach students and direct assemblies?”
Huang-Po said, “I did not say that there is no Zen; only that there is no Zen master.”
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Yuanwu offers some profound, and sometimes very subtle commentary on the koans in the Blue Cliff Record concerning the second Holy Truth (including this one of Huang-Po). Also, as Thomas Cleary has so compassionately shared, Yuanwu’s letters can sometimes be even more straightforward on of this Truth:

People are unable to experience this true essence simply because they are hemmed in by emotional consciousness and separated from it by hearing and seeing, and because they falsely accept the perceived reflections of objects for mind itself and the gross physical elements as the real body.

Zen Letters, Thomas Cleary
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This seems to harmonize beautifully with one of the very earliest records of Zen on this Truth:

Dharma Master Chih saw Dharma Master Yuan on the street of butchers and asked: “Do you see the butchers slaughtering the sheep?”
Dharma Master Yuan said: “My eyes are not blind. How could I not see them?”
Dharma Master Chih said: “Master Yuan, you are saying you see it!”
Master Yuan said: “You are seeing it on top of seeing it!”
The Bodhidharma Anthology, Jeffrey L. Broughton
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Wow! Yes…
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The Holy Truth of the Extinction of Suffering
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The revered Sixth Ancestor or Zen in China, having realized this Holy Truth upon hearing the Diamond Sutra recited, shared the good news about it for the rest of his life. For example:

Learned Audience, the wisdom of enlightenment [bodhiprajna] is inherent in every one of us. It is because of the delusion under which out mind works that we fail to realize it ourselves, and that we have to seek the advice and the guidance of enlightened ones before we can know our own essence of mind. You should know that so far as buddha-nature is concerned, there is no difference between an enlightened man and an ignorant one. What makes the difference is that one realizes it, while the other is ignorant of it.
The Platform Sutra of Huineng (Price and Wong)
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This Truth, according to the Japanese Zen master, Bassui, is what is meant by religious practice:

This mind is nothing other than Buddha nature. To see this nature is what is meant by religious practice. When you realize your Buddha nature, wrong relationships will instantly disappear, words will be of no concern, the dust of the dharma will not stain you. This is what is called Zen.
Mud and Water, Arthur Braverman
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Case 10 of the Mumonkan relates how Seizei was shown the Truth about Extinction of Suffering:

Seizei said to Sozan, “Seizei is utterly destitude. Will you give him support?”
Sozan called out, “Seizei!”
Seizei responded, “Yes, sir!”
Sozan said, “You have finished three cups of the finest wine in China, and still you say you have not yet moistened your lips!”
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In one of my favorite cases, a monk that was traveling to meet Nansen, met the master cutting weeds with a sickle along the road. He asked about the way to Nansen, and was shown the WAY:

Not knowing it was Nansen, the monk asked, “What is the way to Nansen?”
Nansen raised the sickle, saying, “I bought this sickle for thirty cents.”
The monk said, “I did not ask about the sickle, I asked the way to Nansen.”
Nansen answered, “I use it to full enjoyment.”
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Haha! Even if he had never laid his hands on the cat, Nansen would still have been recognized as a master cutter.
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Whenever we speak of Nansen it is hard not to bring up Joshu. Once, he asked Nansen about the WAY and he too go cut clear through:

Joshu asked Nansen, “What is the Way?”
Nansen said, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”
Joshu asked, “Should I direct myself toward it?”
Nansen said, “If you direct yourself toward it, you separate yourself from it.”
Joshu asked, “How can I know it if I do not direct myself toward it?”
Nansen said, “The Way has nothing to do with knowing or not knowing. Knowing is delusion; not knowing is blankness. When you truly reach the Way beyond doubt, it is as vast and boundless as space. How can it be talked about as knowing or not knowing?”
With these words, Joshu came to great realization.
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Like Dogen, when Joshu “completed the task of a lifetime,” dropping mind and body and awakening to great realization, he understood that was only the beginning of authentic Zen practice-realization. Studying with Nansen for 20 years more, then sought out wise masters for another 20 years, deepening and refining his practice before settling down to teach at age 80!
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The Holy Truth of the Way Leading to the Extinction of Suffering
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The fourth holy truth is actualized by means of the Noble (or Holy) Eightfold Path. The “Eight” of the “Eightfold Path” are:

1. Right View 2. Right Intention 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration
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In the classic literature, these eight are sometimes grouped into three sub-groups: Wisdom, Ethical Conduct, and Mental Development.
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Wisdom
1. Right View 2. Right Intention
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Joshu illustrates Wisdom in case 2 of the Blue Cliff Record by means of a classic Zen text (attributed to the third ancestor of Zen in China, Sosan): The first line reads, “The supreme Way is not difficult; it simply avoids picking and choosing. When both love and hate are absent, all is complete clarity.”
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Joshu, instructing the assembly, said, “The supreme Way is not difficult; simply avoid picking and choosing. If a word is spoken, that is ‘picking and choosing’ and this is ‘clarity.’ This old monk [Joshu] does not dwell in clarity. Can you monks go along with this or not?”
At that time a monk asked, “You say you do not dwell in clarity. If so, where do you dwell?” Joshu said, “I don’t know, either.”
The monk said, “If you don’t know, how can you say that you don’t dwell in clarity?”
Joshu said, “Asking the question is enough, make your bows and withdraw.”
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Ethical Conduct
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3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood
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Again, the Blue Cliff Record offers a wonderful demonstration. This time from case 79:
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A monk asked Tosu, “It is said, ‘All sounds are the voice of the Buddha.’ Is it true or not?”
Tosu said, “It is true.”
The monk said, “What about farts and the sounds of pissing?”
Thereupon, Tosu hit him.
He asked again, “It is said, ‘Rough words and gentle phrases return to the first principle.’ Is this true or not?”
Tosu said, “It is true.”
The monk said, “Then, may I call you a donkey?”
Thereupon, Tosu hit him.
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Mental Development
6. Right Effort 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration
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Zen has many wonderful examples of this. The Mumonkan, case 12, is one of the greatest:

Zuigan called to himself every day, “Master!” and answered, “Yes, sir!”
Then he would say, “Be wide awake!” and answer, “Yes, sir!”
“Henceforward, never be deceived by others!” “No, I won’t!”
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It is interesting to consider what Dogen might think about the present state of Zen Buddhism. On the one hand, it seems to me that the chaotic world of Dogen’s Japan had much in common with modern times, and therefore his instructions might not differ greatly if they had been expressed now rather than in the 13 century. On the other hand, if Dogen (and all the other Buddhas and ancestors) is right—and so far I have him to be completely reliable—then he is, at this very instance, giving expression to his thoughts about the present state of Zen Buddhism.
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What is he saying? Listen, listen! Be wide awake! Yes! Don’t be deceived by others! No!
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Peace,
Ted Biringer

When Dogen comes, Dogen appears - Genjokoan

Greetings!
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Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Genjokoan begins with:
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When all things are seen as the buddha-dharma, then there is delusion and enlightenment, there is practice, there is life and there is death, there are buddhas and there are ordinary beings.
When all things are seen as empty of self, there is no delusion and no enlightenment, no buddhas and no ordinary beings, no life and no death.
(trans. Ted Biringer)
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One of my teacher’s recently directed my attention to the significance of Dogen’s meaning of “when” here. Yes! Very instructive. Living and dying, what a ride! So exquisite some-times, so bloody painful some-times. One ticket, please! To say it in the form of an old koan (“One Katsu, Two Katsu, then What?”), we might say:
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Q: "What is the Buddha Dharma?"
A: "When!"
Q: "That's a 'when' on me."
A: "When!"
Q: "One 'when,' two 'whens', then what?"
A: "Uji" (Existence-Time)
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When we arrive in the field of the ineffable, there is just one [concrete] thing and one [concrete] phenomenon, here and now, [beyond] understanding of phenomena and non-understanding of phenomena, and [beyond] understanding of things and non-understanding of things. Because [real existence] is only this exact moment, all moments of existence-time are the whole of time, and all existent things and all existent phenomena are time. The whole of existence, the whole universe, exists in individual moments of time. Let us pause to reflect whether or not any of the whole of existence or any of the whole universe has leaked away from the present moment of time.
Shobogenzo, Uji, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross
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When Kayashata, the eighteenth ancestor in India, so Dogen says (in Shobogenzo, Kokyo), was born, he was already equipped with an ancient mirror. Some-time later, when Kayashata studied in China under the great cat-slayer (this time going by the name of Joshu), he realized that this "Ordinary" mirror was like a precious jewel; when foreigners came foreigners appeared, when Han came, Han appeared. Some-time later, when Joshu went to China and cast off the mind and body of Dogen, he expressed what had not yet been expressed, saying:

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When foreigners come, foreigners appear in It, be they eight thousand or a hundred thousand; when Han come, Han appear in It, be it for a single moment or for all of time. When things of the past come, things of the past appear in It; when things of the present come, things of the present appear in It. When a Buddha comes, a Buddha appears in It; when an Ancestor comes, an Ancestor appears in It.
Shobogenzo, Kokyo, Hubert Nearman
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Then at some existence-time, a monk, apparently worried about the possibility of incurring seven years of bad luck, asked a certain Zen master a question about "broken mirrors." As luck would have it, he also mentioned some business about "fallen flowers" that may shed some light on the phrase Dogen used in Genjokoan to confuse us with:
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Great Master Hochi of Kegonji in Keicho (succeeded Tozan; his monk’s name was Kyujo) on one occasion is asked by a monk: “What is it like at the time when a person in the state of great realization returns to delusion?”
The master says, “A broken mirror does not again reflect. Fallen blossoms cannot climb back onto the trees.”
Shobogenzo, Daigo, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross
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An interesting thing to consider--and one of those things that, once seriously considered, is hard to get out from under the saddle! In hopes that you all get a good look at it, here is where two versions of Shobogenzo can be found online--Free! (something which, in itself, justifies the internet). Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross Translation - Hubert Nearman Translation Here are a few tidbits of what Dogen has to say by way of complicating things further:

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“A person in the state of great realization” is not intrinsically in great realization and is not hoarding a great realization realized externally. It is not that, in old age, [the person] meets with a great realization [already] present in the public world. [People of great realization] do not forcibly drag it out of themselves, but they unfailingly realize great realization. We do not see “not being deluded” as great realization. Neither should we aim, in order to plant the seed of great realization, to become at the outset a deluded being. People of great realization still realize great realization, and people of great delusion still realize great realization. If there is a person in great realization, accordingly there is Buddha in great realization, there are earth, water, fire, wind, and air in great realization, and there are outdoor pillars and stone lanterns in great realization. Now we have inquired into a person in the state of great realization. The question “What is it like at the time when a person in the state of great realization returns to delusion?” truly asks a question that deserves to be asked...
The master says, “A broken mirror does not again reflect. Fallen blossoms cannot climb back onto the trees.” This preaching for the multitude expresses the very moment of a mirror being broken. That being so, to concern the mind with the time before the mirror is broken and thereupon to study the words “broken mirror” is not right. [Some] might understand that the point of the words now spoken by Kegon, “A broken mirror does not again reflect, fallen blossoms cannot climb back onto the trees,” is to say that a person in the state of great realization “does not again reflect,” and to say that a person in the state of great realization “cannot climb back onto the trees”—to assert that a person in the state of great realization will never again return to delusion. But [Kegon’s point] is beyond such study...
When fallen blossoms are just fallen blossoms, even if they are rising to the top of a hundred-foot pole, they are still fallen blossoms. Because a broken mirror is a broken mirror just here and now, however many vivid situations it realizes, each similarly is a reflection that “does not again reflect.” Picking up the point that is expressed as “a mirror being broken” and is expressed as “blossoms being fallen,” we should grasp in experience the moment that is “the time when a person in the state of great realization returns to delusion.” In this [moment], great realization is akin to having become buddha, and returning to delusion is akin to [the state of] ordinary beings. We should not study [Kegon’s words] as if they discussed such things as “turning back into an ordinary being” or “traces depending on an origin.”
Shobogenzo, Daigo, Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross
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That Dogen! Talk about a mouth like a blood bowl! Genjo koan indeed! Falling flowers, spreading weeds, aversion, attachment--sheeesh! Warning friends, Dogen uses these poisonous implements elswhere too:
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[Fundamentally] all people are fully satisfied, each and every one with wholeness fulfilled. Why are the weeds seven feet deep throughout the Dharma hall? Do you want to understand this situation?
After a pause Dogen said: Flowers fall in our attachments, weeds grow following our aversions.

Eihei Koroku, 1:51, Taigen Dan Leighton & Shohaku Okumura
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And, while we have the Eihei Koroku handy, watch out for this little cluster bomb also:

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Everybody should just engage wholeheartedly in this genjokoan, "Full manifestation of ultimate reality." What is this genjokoan? It is just all Buddhas in the ten directions and all ancestors, ancient and present, and it is fully manifesting right now. Do you all see it? It is just our present rolling up the curtain and rolling down the curtain [at the entrance to the practice hall], and getting up and getting down from the sitting platform. Why don't you all join with and practice this excellent genjokoan? Today this mountain monk [Dogen], without begrudging my life or my eyebrows, for the sake of all of you expounds this again and repeatedly.
Dogen pounded the floor with his staff and immediately got down from his seat.
Eihei Koroku, 1:60, Taigen Dan Leighton & Shohaku Okumura
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I remember Joseph Campbell saying something like, "Life is a wonderful, wonderful opera--only it hurts."
One ticket, please.
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Thanks again! (still?)

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Peace,Ted

Dogen's Straight Talk: The Universe, The Self

Dogen's Straight Talk: The Universe, The Self

The whole universe in all ten directions is one’s true Self, and one’s true Self is the whole universe in all ten directions—there is no place to escape to. Were there some way to escape this, it could only be by getting outside of our own physical body. Our present-day seven feet of skull and bones is precisely the form and image of the whole universe in all ten directions. Indeed, the whole universe in all ten directions which trains and enlightens us in the Buddha’s Way is our skull and bones, our physical body with its skin, flesh, bones, and marrow.
Shobogenzo, Komyo, Hubert Nearman