Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

by Zen Master Dogen

  DOGEN IN OUR TIME

  Meditation is increasingly gaining importance in contemporary society. As technology advances and the pace of life becomes faster and faster, participants of the global society feel constantly stressed and driven by anxiety in their efforts to catch up with the speed and complexity of everyday life. In this state of the world, there is a tremendous need for us to slow down, relax, and heal.

  Dogen’s way, along with meditative arts such as yoga and taichi, can be one of the practices that help us to calm down and remain peaceful while being attentive to body, mind, and outer situations.

  Although it is possible for us to meditate for years and still be self-centered, the teaching of the self beyond self—the experience of selflessness through meditation—is enormously useful. How, then, can we achieve inner freedom? How can we be free from polarizing ourselves from others? How can we be free from dualistic thinking and from language itself? Dogen seems to provide clues to these questions.

  Dogen’s descriptions of meditation point to a radical expansion of our view of the world. That is, through a meditation-based life, awareness of the interconnection of all things expands our sense of self beyond the conventional confines of a world centered on our personal egos. Thus, the distinction between us and others becomes less significant. More and more we feel the joy and pain of others. This helps us to be compassionate and leads to action that helps others and ourselves by way of loving-kindness.

  We may not understand or agree with everything Dogen says: We may not favor his criticism of other Buddhists or non-Buddhists. His teaching may be too austere, too strict, and too monastic for us. His view of history may not accord with contemporary scholarship. However, his unshakable belief in the power of meditation and the immense potential of an individual action can be inspiring.86

  For Dogen, dreams and illusions have as much reality as actual phenomena. This notion leads us to confirm the power of fantasy and vision, which is often the basis for all types of creative, scientific, and social pursuits. Although Dogen was neither a social reformer nor a peace activist, as a Buddhist he was a pacifist. At the same time, his thoughts on the power of vision can be immensely helpful for those who work for peace and the environment.

  Dogen’s discourse on karma illuminates the inseparableness of cause and effect. Where there is a cause, whether it is large or small, good or bad, there is and will be an effect. We may not agree with his point, based on Buddhist scriptures, that some of the effects will take place in our future lifetime or lifetimes after death and rebirth. In fact, we may not believe in reincarnation at all. It is possible, however, for us to imagine that our actions will affect others, future generations, and the environment, instead of ourselves alone. We can also see that we, other people, all beings, and the environment are closely interconnected. Thus, it is possible to establish an understanding that all causes have effects, and that there is no cause without effect. Such trust in and identification with causation can be a basis for actions in our time.

  Dogen’s recommendations on how to brush the teeth and how to use the toilet may no longer be valid, as our lifestyle today is different from that of his time. On the other hand, much of Dogen’s instruction on how to sit and move in the meditation hall and how to work in the kitchen still has relevance in Zen monasteries and Zen centers in the Western world. His utmost positivity and trust in the power of action are compelling for those who are discouraged by the enormity of our social problems and who tend to be cynical and inactive. Furthermore, his teaching of sitting up straight helps us to sit, stand, walk and face the world in a forthright way. His ironic statement, “We will thoroughly engage in each activity in order to cultivate fertile conditions to transform the ten directions,”87 is an excellent reminder that we need to pay full attention to every detail of our work with others in order to prepare ourselves to transform ourselves and, hence, the world.

  NOTES

  1. Dogen’s term for meditation is zazen, meaning meditation in a sitting posture. He says, “The zazen I speak of . . . is simply the dharma gate of enjoyment and ease” (Recommending Zazen to All People, appendix 1).

  2. The state of meditation is called samadhi. For Dogen, this samadhi has been passed on by a number of awakened ones from the past. He says, “Buddhas and ancestors continuously maintain ocean mudra [form] samadhi” (Ocean Mudra Samadhi, chapter 32).

  3. For Dogen, the state of meditation is all-inclusive. It is also in constant movement, which he calls “flowing.” He says, “Spring with all its numerous aspects is called flowing. When spring flows there is nothing outside of spring” (The Time Being, chapter 12). Dogen encourages meditators to experience this all-inclusive state: “When you paint spring, do not paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots—just paint spring” (Plum Blossoms, chapter 59).

  4. Dogen quotes and comments on a poem by Su Dongpo, expressing the poet’s understanding which emerged in meditation: “Valley sounds are the long, broad tongue [of the Buddha]. Mountain colors are no other than the unconditioned body [of the Buddha] . . .” (Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors, chapter 10).

  Dogen also quotes a poem by his teacher, Rujing, which expresses a state of meditation: “Old plum tree bent and gnarled all at once opens one blossom, two blossoms, three, four, five blossoms, uncountable blossoms, not proud of purity, not proud of fragrance; spreading, becoming spring, blowing over grass and trees . . .” (Plum Blossoms, chapter 59).

  5. There is no mention of “good meditation” or “bad meditation” in Dogen’s extensive writings. Nor does he discuss physical or psychological problems in meditation.

  6. “When even for a moment you sit upright in samadhi expressing the buddha mudra [form] in the three activities [body, speech, and thought], the whole world of phenomena becomes the buddha seal [expression] and the entire sky turns into enlightenment” (On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1).

  7. “Nonseparation” may be also described as “undividedness” or “nonduality.”

  8. The state of meditation Dogen explains is based on general and Zen Buddhist teachings. He says, “In buddha dharma it is always taught that body and mind are not separate, and that essence and characteristics are not two” (On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1). As he uses the words “body” and “mind” not separately from each other, “body-and-mind” can be a suitable translation. For example: “When you see forms or hear sounds, fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately” (Actualizing the Fundamental Point, chapter 3).

  9. In continuation of the above line, Dogen says, “Unlike things and their reflections in the mirror, and unlike the moon and its reflection in the water, when one side is illumined, the other side is dark” (ibid.).

  10. “To study the way of enlightenment is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away” (ibid.). Also, “To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening” (ibid.).

  11. According to Keizan’s biography of Dogen: “One day during the late-evening zazen, Rujing said to the assembly, ‘Practicing Zen is dropping away body and mind.’ Upon hearing this, Dogen suddenly had great realization. Immediately [after zazen], he went up to the abbot’s quarters and offered incense to Rujing, who said, ‘Why are you offering incense to me?’ Dogen said, ‘I have dropped away body and mind.’ Rujing said, “You have dropped away body and mind. Your body and mind have been dropped away’” (appendix 2).

  12. Dogen quotes a verse by Yaoshan, a Chinese Zen master: “For the time being, stand on top of the highest peak. For the time being, proceed along the bottom of the deepest ocean. For the time being, three heads and eight arms [of a fighting demon]. For the time being, an eight- or sixteen-foot body [of the Buddha]” (The Time Being, chapter 12).

  13. A verse by Rujing, Doge
n’s teacher: “Both the bower and the bowed-to are empty and serene by nature and the way flows freely between them. How wondrous!” (Journal of My Study in China, Enlightenment Unfolds, p. 8).

  14. “Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not crush the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon” (Actualizing the Fundamental Point, chapter 3).

  15. “Understanding these words [about the entire universe] is going beyond buddhas and ancestors by seeing that extremely large is small and extremely small is large” (Awesome Presence of Active Buddhas, chapter 24).

  16. This is a special usage of the word “nirvana.” For Dogen, each moment of practice encompasses this experience. “Between aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana, there is not a moment’s gap; continuous practice is the circle of the way” (Continuous Practice, Part One, chapter 31A).

  17. Dogen elaborates the poem by Yaoshan, quoted in note 12, by saying: “For the time being here means time itself is being, and all being is time” (The Time Being, chapter 12).

  18. “So-called today flows into tomorrow, today flows into yesterday, yesterday flows into today. And today flows into today, tomorrow flows into tomorrow” (ibid.).

  19. “Do not think that time merely flies away. Do not see flying away as the only function of time. If time merely flies away, you would be separated from time” (ibid.).

  20. “‘Before the emergence of a single mind, single thought’ [immeasurable past] is this very day. Temper your practice without missing this very day” (Old Mirror, chapter 21).

  21. “In essence, all things in the entire world are linked with one another as moments. Because all moments are the time being, they are your time being” (The Time Being, chapter 12).

  22. “To fully actualize the [buddha’s] golden body with the golden body—to arouse the way-seeking mind, practice, attain enlightenment, and enter nirvana—is nothing but being, nothing but time” (ibid.).

  23. “The real issue here, to clarify birth and to clarify death, is the great matter of causes and effects in the buddha house” (Refrain from Unwholesome Action, chapter 11).

  24. “. . . those who clarify the Tathagata’s treasury of the true dharma eye, the wondrous heart of nirvana, believe in this principle of birth and death moment by moment” (Arousing the Aspiration for Enlightenment, chapter 70).

  25. “Birth is just like riding in a boat. You raise the sails and you steer. Although you maneuver the sail and the pole, the boat gives you a ride, and without the boat you couldn’t ride. But you ride in the boat, and your riding makes the boat what it is” (Undivided Activity, chapter 42).

  26. After the line quoted in note 25, Dogen continues: “At just such a moment, there is nothing but the world of the boat. The sky, the water, and the shore are all the boat’s world, which is not the same as a world that is not the boat’s. Thus, you make birth what it is, you make birth your birth” (ibid.).

  27. “At the moment of death’s undivided activity, while it covers the entire earth and the entire sky, it hinders neither death’s undivided activity nor birth’s undivided activity” (ibid.).

  28. “Death is a phase that is an entire period of itself, with its own past and future. For this reason, death is understood as beyond death” (Birth and Death, chapter 93).

  29. “Just sitting” is the practice of zazen with no attempt to solve questions or expectation of attainment or enlightenment, and without either repressing or holding on to thoughts and feelings. Dogen emphasized this way of sitting.

  30. For the meaning of nirvana, see note 16.

  31. The essence of what is transmitted in Zen is described as “the treasury of the true dharma eye, the wondrous heart of nirvana.” Dogen, however, did not fully explain what he meant by “nirvana” here. So we need to guess from such statements as: “How can you differentiate this into body and mind, and separate birth-and-death from nirvana?” (On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1) and “In awakening there are aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana. Within the dream there are aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana. Every awakening within a dream is the genuine form, without regard to large or small, superior or inferior” (Within a Dream Expressing the Dream, chapter 39).

  32. “Because practice within realization occurs at the moment of practice, the practice of beginner’s mind is itself the entire original realization” (On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1).

  33. In the “circle of the way” (see n. 16), the way toward enlightenment is not linear, but rather is complete at each moment, encompassing practice and enlightenment.

  34. “At age thirty, after practicing continuously, he [the Buddha] attained the way simultaneously with all sentient beings on the great earth” (Continuous Practice, Part One, chapter 31A).

  35. Dogen interprets the statement from the Maha Pari-nirvana Sutra, “All sentient beings have buddha nature,” as “Living beings all are buddha nature.” He reads “all have” (shitsu u in Japanese) as “all are” (Buddha Nature, chapter 23).

  36. “Because earth, grass, trees, walls, tiles, and pebbles in the world of phenomena in the ten directions all engage in buddha activity, those who receive the benefits of the wind and water are inconceivably helped by the buddha’s transformation, splendid and unthinkable, and intimately manifest enlightenment” (On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1).

  37. The paradox of buddha nature is that although buddha nature is all beings, it is only actualized. “Buddha nature invariably arises simultaneously with attaining buddhahood” (Buddha Nature, chapter 23).

  38. “To suppose that practice and realization are not one is a view of those outside the way; in buddha dharma they are inseparable” (On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1).

  39. This concept is called “inseparableness of practice and realization”; or “practice within realization” (ibid.).

  40. “. . . those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings” (Actualizing the Fundamental Point, chapter 3). Here Dogen refers to the term “sentient beings” as those who are not awakened.

  41. Early in his teaching career Dogen collected three hundred koans and called them the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, later known as Shinji [Chinese] Shobo Genzo. He used many of the koans in the essays presented in the present book.

  42. In an informal talk Dogen said, “Even if you obtain some ideas by studying koans and words, it may cause you to go further away from the buddha ancestors’ path. Instead, dedicate your time to sitting upright, not seeking achievement, and not seeking enlightenment. This is the ancestral way.” Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Record of Things Heard. Enlightenment Unfolds, pp. 57–58.

  43. Speaking of Mind, Speaking of Essence, chapter 49.

  44. “When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly” (Actualizing the Fundamental Point, chapter 3).

  45. For Dogen’s teaching on ethics, see Refrain from Unwholesome Action, pp. 95– 103. Also on harmonious practice, “The assembly of students in the hall should blend like milk and water to support the activity of the way” (Regulations for the Auxiliary Cloud Hall at the Kannondori Kosho Gokoku Monastery, chapter 5).

  46. “When you study buddha dharma with a sutra or with a teacher, you come to realization without a teacher” (Dharma Nature, chapter 55).

  47. “I, Dogen, first bowed formally to Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha Tiantong, and received transmission face to face on the first day of the fifth month, the first year of Baoqing Era of Great Song, and was thereby allowed to enter the inner chamber” (Face-to-Face Transmission, chapter 57).

  48. “. . . I made a vow to myself: However unsuited I may be, I will become an authentic holder of the buddha dharma, receiving authentic transmission of the true dharma, and with compassion show the buddha ancestors�
�� authentically transmitted dharma robes to those in my land” (Power of the Robe, chapter 13; Transmitting the Robe, chapter 14).

  49. “We come to know the ancient sutras and texts as a result of our longing for the authentic teaching. As we long for the ancient teaching, the sutras of old come forth” (Continuous Practice, Part Two, chapter 31B).

  50. See Practice Period (chapter 79) and Guidelines for Practice of the Way (Beyond Thinking, pp. 103–117) for procedures in the monks’ hall. See Cleansing (chapter 7) for instruction on use of the toilet.

  51. See Regulations for the Auxiliary Cloud Hall at the Kannondori Kosho Gokoku Monastery, chapter 5.

  52. See Refrain from Unwholesome Action, chapter 11.

  53. The Mind Itself Is Buddha, chapter 6.

  54. For a typical example, see note 35.

  55. Mountains and Waters Sutra, chapter 15.

  56. Spring and Autumn, chapter 66.

  57. The Point of Zazen.

  58. Mountains and Waters Sutra, chapter 15.

  59. The Buddhas’ Teaching, chapter 25.

  60. Insentient Beings Speak Dharma, chapter 54.

  61. Actualizing the Fundamental Point, chapter 3.

  62. On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1.

  63. Twining Vines, chapter 47.

  64. Painting of a Rice Cake, chapter 41.

  65. Seeing the Buddha, chapter 61.

  66. Intimate Language, chapter 52.

  67. Thusness, chapter 30.

  68. Everyday Activity, chapter 64.

  69. The four biographies of Dogen mentioned here are included in Eihei Kaisan Dogen Zenji Gyojo Kenzei-ki, edited by Kodo Kawamura.

  70. Editor’s translation of a line from Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Record of Things Heard.

  71. Ibid.

  72. On the Endeavor of the Way, chapter 1.

  73. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Record of Things Heard.