Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

by Zen Master Dogen

  Although the sorcerer’s powers may look like those of the Buddha, how can his powers compare to those of the Buddha? If the sorcerer attained even one of the Buddha’s powers, he could meet the Buddha by this power.

  When we see the sorcerer, he had powers similar to the Buddha’s, and when we see the Buddha, he had powers similar to the sorcerer’s. But the sorcerer did not have the Buddha’s miraculous powers. If one of the sorcerer’s powers could not reach one of the Buddha’s powers, none of his five powers could be equal to those of the Buddha.

  So what is the use of asking the Buddha, What miraculous power am I missing? Old Man Shakyamuni meant that the sorcerer should have asked about the powers the sorcerer already had. The sorcerer had not even mastered one of those powers. In this way the Buddha’s miraculous powers and other people’s miraculous powers look alike but in fact are completely different.

  About the Buddha’s six types of miracles, Linji, Great Master Huizhao, said:

  According to an old teacher, the excellent marks of the Buddha Tathagata’s body are listed to accommodate the needs of people’s minds. To counter the common tendency toward nihilistic views, such provisional names as the thirty-two marks or the eighty appearances of the Buddha are used as expedient means. But they are imaginary concepts. Such a body is itself not awakening. Having no form is the Buddha’s true form.

  You say that the Buddha’s six types of miracles are wondrous. Devas, sorcerers, fighting spirits, and demons also have miraculous powers. Are they buddhas? Followers of the way, do not be mistaken. A fighting spirit defeated by Indra took his eighty-four thousand retainers and hid inside a hole of a lotus root. Do you call this a miracle?

  The miracles I have described [of these devas, sorcerers, fighting spirits, and demons] are the result of past actions or present situations. But the six types of miracles of a buddha are different. A buddha enters forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables, and objects of mind and is not confused by them. Thus, a buddha masters the six-sense objects, which are all marked with emptiness. A buddha is free of conditions. Even having a body of five skandhas accompanied by desire, a buddha does not depend on anything. A buddha practices miracles that are grounded on the earth.

  Followers of the way, a true buddha has no form, and the true dharma has no marks. From your mind’s illusions, marks and appearances are created. What you get is a wild fox’s spirit, which is the view of those outside the way, and not of a true buddha.

  Thus, the six types of miracles of the buddhas cannot be reached by devas, demons, or those of the Two Lesser Vehicles. The six types of miracles of the buddha way cannot be measured. They are only transmitted to disciples of the buddha way, person to person, but not to others. Those who have not inherited such miracles do not know them. Know that those who have not inherited such miracles are not persons of the buddha way.

  Baizhang, Zen Master Dazhi, said:

  The eyes, ears, nose, and tongue are not defiled by form or formlessness. This nondefilement is called receiving the four-line verse of vows and receiving the four fruits of the arhats. Leaving no trace in the six sense organs is called the six types of miracles. Not to be hindered by either form or formlessness, and not to depend on intellectual understanding, are miracles. Not abiding in these miracles is called “going beyond miracles.” A bodhisattva who goes beyond miracles does not leave traces. This is a person going beyond buddha. It is a most wondrous person, a heavenly self.

  The miracles transmitted by buddha ancestors are as Baizhang described. A miracle buddha is one who goes beyond buddha, a most wondrous person, an uncreated self, a bodhisattva of going beyond miracles. Miracles do not depend upon intellectual understanding, do not abide in themselves, and are not hindered by things. There are the six types of miracles in the buddha way, which have been maintained by buddhas ceaselessly. There has not been a single buddha who has not maintained them. Those who do not maintain them are not buddhas. These six types of miracles leave no trace in the six sense organs.

  An old teacher [Yongjia] said, “The six types of miracles are neither empty nor not empty. A circle of light is neither inside nor outside.”

  Neither inside nor outside means leaving no trace. When you practice, study, and realize no-trace, you are not disturbed by the six sense organs. Those who are disturbed should receive thirty blows.

  The six types of miracles should be studied like this. How can those who are not authentic heirs of the buddha house learn about this? They mistakenly regard running around inside and outside as the practice of returning home.

  The four fruits of the arhats are the essentials of the buddha way. But no teachers of the Tripitaka have authentically transmitted them. How can those who study letters or wander in remote lands receive these fruits? Those who are satisfied with minor achievements cannot master them. The four fruits are transmitted only by buddha and buddha. The so-called four fruits are to receive the four lines of verse, and this means that eyes, ears, nose, and tongue are undefiled by all things. Undefiled means unstained. Unstained means undivided mind—“I am always intimate with this.”

  The six types of miracles and the four fruits of the buddha way have been authentically transmitted in this manner. Know that anything different from this is not buddha dharma. Thus, the buddha dharma is always actualized through miracles. When actualized, a drop of water swallows the great ocean and a speck of dust hurls out a high mountain. Who can doubt that these are miracles?

  Presented to the assembly of the Kannondori Kosho Horin Monastery on the sixteenth day, the eleventh month, the second year of the Ninji Era [1241].

  27

  GREAT ENLIGHTENMENT

  THE GREAT WAY of the buddhas has been transmitted with intimate attention; the work of the ancestors has been unfolded evenly and broadly. Thus, great enlightenment is actualized, and beyond enlightenment is the decisive way. In this way, enlightenment is realized and played with; enlightenment disappears in the practice of letting go. This is the everyday activity of buddha ancestors. Enlightenment taken up activates the twelve hours of the day. Enlightenment hurled away is activated by the twelve hours of the day. Furthermore, leaping beyond the mechanism of time there is twiddling with a mud ball and twiddling with spirit.

  Although it should be thoroughly understood that buddha ancestors are invariably actualized from great enlightenment, it is not that the entire experience of great enlightenment should be regarded as buddha ancestors, and it is not that the entire experience of buddha ancestors should be regarded as entire great enlightenment. Buddha ancestors leap beyond the boundary of great enlightenment, and great enlightenment has a face that leaps beyond buddha ancestors.

  Now, human capacity is greatly varied. For example, there are those who already have understanding at birth. At birth they are free from birth. That means they understand with the body at the beginning, middle, and end of birth. There are those who understand through study, ultimately understanding the self through practice. That means they practice with the body—the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of study.

  Besides those who have understanding at birth or through study, there are those who have understanding as buddhas. They go beyond the boundary of self and other, having no limit in this very place, and are not concerned with the notion of self and other. There are also those who understand without teachers. Although they do not rely upon teachers, sutras, essence, or form, and they do not turn the self around nor merge with others, nevertheless all things are revealed.

  Among these types of people, don’t regard one as sharp and another as dull. Various types of people, as they are, actualize various types of accomplishments. Examine what sentient or insentient being is without understanding at birth. If one has understanding at birth, one has enlightenment at birth, realization at birth, and practice at birth. Thus, the buddha ancestors who are already excellent tamers of beings are regarded as those who have enlightenment at birth. This is so because their birth has brought forth enlightenment. Indeed,
this is enlightenment at birth that is filled with great enlightenment. This is the study of taking up enlightenment. Thus, one is greatly enlightened by taking up the three realms, by taking up one hundred grasses, by taking up the four great elements, by taking up buddha ancestors, and by taking up the fundamental point. All these are further attaining great enlightenment by taking up great enlightenment. The very moment for this is just now.

  Linji, Great Master Huizhao, said, “In the great nation of Tang China, if you look for a single person who is not enlightened, it is hard to find one.”

  This statement by Linji is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of the authentic stream, which is not mistaken. In the great nation of Tang China means within the eyeball of self, which is not limited to the entire world or the dusty world.

  If you look for a single person who is not enlightened in just this, you cannot find one. The self of yesterday’s self is not unenlightened. The self of today’s other is not unenlightened. Among the past and present of mountain-beings and water-beings, no one is unenlightened. Students of the way should study Linji’s statement in this way without wasting time.

  However, you should further study the heart of the work in the ancestral school. Now, ask Linji, “If you only know that it is hard to find an unenlightened person and do not know that it is hard to find an enlightened one, it is not yet sufficient. It is impossible to say that you have thoroughly understood the fact that it is hard to find an unenlightened one. Even if it is hard to find an unenlightened one, have you not seen half a person who is not yet enlightened but has a serene face and magnificent composure?”

  Thus, do not admit that the statement In the great nation of Tang China, if you look for a single person who is not enlightened, it is hard to find one expresses an ultimate understanding. Try to find two or three Tang Chinas within one person or half a person. Is it or is it not hard to find one? When you have the eye to see this, you can be regarded as a mature buddha ancestor.

  Jingzhao Xiujing, Great Master Baozhi, of the Huayan Monastery in Jingzhao, was a dharma heir of Dongshan. Once a monk asked him, “What happens when a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded?”

  Jingzhao said, “A broken mirror no longer reflects images. Fallen flowers hardly ever climb up the tree.”

  The monk’s question was like a mere question, but it was a dharma talk to the assembly. Outside the assembly of the Huayan Monastery this would not have been spoken. And one who was not a dharma heir of Dongshan could not have responded like this. Indeed, he was someone mature enough to sit on the seat of a buddha ancestor.

  The so-called greatly enlightened person has neither been enlightened from the beginning nor received enlightenment from somewhere else. Great enlightenment is not something one encounters when one is old, after having worked for a long time as an ordinary monk in a communal place of the monastery. It does not emerge by pulling it out from oneself; nevertheless, one is greatly enlightened.

  Don’t regard not being deluded as great enlightenment. Don’t try to become deluded to obtain the seeds for great enlightenment. A greatly enlightened person is further greatly enlightened. A greatly deluded person is further greatly enlightened. Just as there is one who is greatly enlightened, there is a greatly enlightened buddha, greatly enlightened earth, water, fire, air, and emptiness; a greatly enlightened pillar and lantern. This is the meaning of a greatly enlightened person in the monk’s question.

  What happens when a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded? This is indeed a question to be asked. Jingzhao did not avoid it. This question has been admired in Zen monasteries as a meritorious work of a buddha ancestor. Investigate it.

  Is a greatly enlightened person who becomes deluded the same as an unenlightened person? When a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded, does the person use great enlightenment to create delusion? Does the person bring delusion from somewhere else and become deluded by covering the great enlightenment with delusion? Is it that a greatly enlightened person does not destroy great enlightenment but practices delusion? Or, is it that a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded means delusion brings forth another great enlightenment? Study thoroughly in this way.

  Is it that great enlightenment is a single hand, or is it that becoming deluded is a single hand? To inquire how a greatly enlightened person can become deluded should be the ultimate point of study. Know that there is great enlightenment that makes becoming deluded intimate.

  Accordingly, it is not that recognizing the thief as one’s own child is delusion, nor is it that recognizing one’s own child as the thief is delusion. It is just that great enlightenment is to recognize the thief as the thief. Delusion is to recognize one’s own child as one’s own child. Adding a little to a lot is great enlightenment. Taking out a little from a little is delusion. Accordingly, look for a deluded person and encounter a greatly enlightened one just as you grasp the deluded one. Is the self right now delusion or not delusion? Examine this and bring it to yourself. This is called encountering a buddha ancestor.

  Jingzhao said, A broken mirror no longer reflects images. Fallen flowers hardly ever climb up the tree. This teaching speaks of the moment when the mirror is broken. It is wrong to study the moment of broken mirror and compare it to the time when the mirror is not broken. It is a mistake to interpret Jingzhao’s words to mean that a greatly enlightened person is no longer deluded, because the person neither reflects images nor climbs up the tree. This is not a study of the way as it is.

  If what ordinary people think were right, you should ask, “What is the everyday activity of a greatly enlightened person?” They might say, “Can such a person still become deluded?” That is not how we should understand the dialogue between Jingzhao and the monk.

  When the monk said, What happens when a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded? he was asking about the very moment a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded. The very moment when these words are uttered, a broken mirror no longer reflects images and fallen flowers hardly ever climb up the tree. When fallen flowers are just fallen flowers, even if they get up to the top of a one-hundred-foot pole, they are still fallen flowers. When a broken mirror is just a broken mirror, whatever activities occur, they are merely broken pieces that no longer reflect images. Take up the teaching of the words a broken mirror and fallen flowers, and study the moment when a greatly enlightened person becomes deluded.

  Do not regard great enlightenment as becoming a buddha, returning to the source, and manifesting a buddha body. Do not regard becoming deluded as returning to be a sentient being. People with mistaken views talk about breaking great enlightenment and returning to be a sentient being. But Jingzhao was implying neither that great enlightenment gets broken or lost, nor that delusion appears. Do not think like those who have mistaken views.

  Indeed, great enlightenment is limitless, delusion is limitless, and delusion does not hinder great enlightenment; take up threefold great enlightenment and turn it into a half-fold minor delusion. Thus, the Himalayas are greatly enlightened to benefit the Himalayas. Wood and stone are greatly enlightened taking the forms of wood and stone.

  Buddhas’ great enlightenment is greatly enlightened for the sake of sentient beings. Sentient beings’ great enlightenment is greatly enlightened by buddhas’ great enlightenment. This goes beyond before and after. Great enlightenment right at this moment is not self, not other. Great enlightenment does not come from somewhere else—the ditch is filled in and the stream is stopped up. Great enlightenment does not go away—stop following others. How? Follow all the way through.

  Mihu of Jingzhao sent a monk to ask Yangshan, “Do people nowadays depend upon enlightenment?”

  Yangshan said, “It’s not that they are not enlightened, but how can they avoid falling into the secondary?”

  The monk returned and reported this to Mihu, who then approved Yangshan.

  The nowadays spoken of here is the right now of each of you. Even if you think of the past, present, and future
millions of times, all time is this very moment, right now. Where you are is nothing but this very moment. Furthermore, an eyeball is this moment, a nostril is this moment.

  Quietly investigate this question: Do people nowadays depend upon enlightenment? Renew this question in your heart; renew this question in the top of your head.

  These days shaven-headed monks in Song China look in vain for enlightenment, saying that enlightenment is the true goal, though they don’t seem to be illuminated by the light of buddha ancestors. Because of laziness they miss the opportunity of studying with true teachers. They might not be able to attain liberation even if they were to encounter the emergence of authentic buddhas.

  Mihu’s question does not mean that there is no enlightenment, that there is enlightenment, or that enlightenment comes from somewhere else. This question asks whether or not people depend upon enlightenment. It is like saying, “How are people nowadays enlightened?”

  If you speak of “achieving enlightenment,” you may think that you don’t usually have enlightenment. If you say, “Enlightenment comes,” you may wonder where it comes from. If you say, “I have become enlightened,” you may suppose that enlightenment has a beginning. Mihu did not speak that way. When he spoke of enlightenment, he simply asked about depend upon enlightenment.