shobogenzokandoのblog

This blog presents Kando Inoue roshi's activities, mainly his dharma talks of shobogenzo in English. Kando is the top advocate of shobogenzo by Zen Master Dogen.

カテゴリ: Shobogenzo by Kando

Zazenshin The Third

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Page 231 of the text. Please open it if you have it. It starts in the middle. I will read one paragraph down.
“You should know that the sayings of Daijaku are that Zazen is always becoming buddha, Zazen is, without fail, the figure of becoming buddha. The figure should be before becoming buddha, should be after becoming buddha, and should be at the precise moment of becoming buddha. Furthermore, let us ask, how many becoming Buddhas does this one figure entangle with? This entanglement is further entwining with entanglement.”
Well, that's what it says, and I will proceed. “You should know that the sayings of Daijaku” refers to what is said as Zusabutsu: becoming buddha. “that Zazen is always becoming buddha, Zazen is, without fail, the figure of becoming buddha.” Because it is about you, if you learn how to be when you are doing Zazen through your own body and mind, then you will understand that what is shown here is really true, without denial. It is good to say that when you sit, it is always state as you sit.
And what's more, the way you are when you're doing that Zazen, “The figure should be before becoming buddha, should be after becoming buddha, and should be at the precise moment of becoming buddha.” Well, what is it, if you put it in terms of the past, present and future, you will understand better. People think on presumption of time as past, present and future. The very precise moment is probably the current state of affairs. Before might be the past. The after may be the future. But time is only the way things are now. Time is, in fact. When you spend time in the state of the present, you can understand what happened earlier and what will happen in the future, so it becomes something like the past, present and future. In a word, it would be to say all the time.It is hardly new, it's not you become like doing Zazen when you do Zazen, always, even when you do something other than Zazen, you're never away from the state of being now at any time. Wherever you go, you've never been away from the way things are now. That's how people live their lives, isn't it? As my teacher used to say, we are always together with our environment. We don't live separately from our surroundings. That's exactly how it is.
So, we should ask for a while, “Furthermore, let us ask, how many becoming buddhas does this one figure entangle with?” It means how much of that content there is. I think it would be better to learn a little bit about the idiom ' entangle, ' too. Wisteria and ivy cling to the trees. From now on, the ivy will be beautiful in autumn when the leaves turn red, but let's put that aside. This body-mind that you and I are talking about is called the body-mind that we have received. It is as if everything and anything winds around this body-mind, and it all appears on this body. Perceptions of six organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. There are various functions of the six organs, and all of these surroundings cover around each person's body and mind like wisteria and ivy, we are living together with such things like a shot, which could be expressed what is called entangle. When you open your eyes, what you see in front of you is exactly the way of yourself, and you don't live there separately, without fail. Being visible means that it is there as an appearance on you. That's how it is. So when you open your eyes, you see all kinds of things, so there are people who are misled by what they see, and there are people who get angry because of what they see, to put it in a more extreme way. There is another taste in the expression called entanglement in such a place. It's called “to entangle.” People who are disturbed will have a problem with being entangled. Well, it is entanglement. The Shobogenzo also has a volume on entanglement, but let's leave that aside.
“This entanglement is further entwining with entanglement.” The way we all live while being together like this, there is a way of piling up, but there is also an expression like "one after the other." It's a strange function, because it's one thing after the other, but they don't overlap. The next thing you see is, if we take up the appearance of the eyes, you see what you see now, and if you move your head left and right like this, the appearance of the next place you move to is coming in. It comes into view. Although it is said that the previous and the current things come together, there is not any sign of a clinging bond. This is the interesting part.
“At this time, every item of entanglement as the utmost becoming buddha, is always being straightforward of becoming buddha, altogether the figure of each item.” At any given time, at any given place, there will only be this way of being now. That would already be definitively so. I think that the idiom 'straightforward' is also very resonant. When do you also use the word 'straightforward'? To say straightforward. You never miss the mark. You a dead shot, you've already hit the target. If I change the angle more, there's never been the slightest misalignment. Or it's out of touch. Or it's working in such a way that even if you wanted to change it, you wouldn't be able to change it, that's what they all are the way of being straightforwardly like this. “We cannot flee from a single figure.” It is said. The state of being now, you can't neglect it. The way we are now like this, to stay away from it, it is expressed ‘flee’, we cannot ignore it. However, it is easy for people to feel like they want to escape from something they don't like, because they are disturbed by it. That's why they go the wrong way. Here's how they make that mistake, “When we flee from a single figure,” it is written that you will lose your life. Here is the way we are now. It is your own way of life, but you treat it poorly by thinking it is trivial, an obstacle, or better off without it. It must be a waste if you do so. But one more thing to say, “we will lose body and life. When we lose body and life, it is the entanglement of a single figure.” Such movements must all be a way of being, one by one, at each moment. He has shown us this in such a careful way.
“Nangaku then picks up a tile and start to polish it on a stone.” When Kosei Daijaku Zenji talked about becoming buddha, when hearing the word becoming buddha, Nangaku Ejo Zenji , his teacher took a piece of tile, a piece of pottery, a brick or tile, and placed it on a stone nearby, and then rubbed it together as it is written “ to Polish.” “Daijyaku eventually askes, ‘Mater, what are you doing?’” Is it good to say "作什麼" what are you doing? It is better to say 'what are you doing. When one brings a brick, when he brings the brick and he is doing this on the stone like this, (gestures with a fan to polish it) when you come across such a situation, you say, "What are you doing?” What makes you ask the question in that way? What is it that you don't understand? What makes you wonder what is doing what? When you do it like this (the gesture of polishing a brick) it must be clear that it's exactly as you do so, but there must be this kind of matter to what is so clear. “Mater, what are you doing?”
Dogen Zenji says, “Really who could fail to see that he is polishing a tile? Who can see this polishing a tile?” If anyone comes into contact with this, it will be made to be seen in the way that what is being done is as it is. I think no one can never see it the way Nangaku Zenji does.
 “For all that,” although, “the polishing of a tile has been questioned like this, ‘What are you doing?’” Despite the fact that it's so obvious, you still ask, "What are you doing? Similarly, when you are with young children, they will say, "What's that?" It does not mean that the child does not know what it is when you say, "What is it? They can see it. That is why they ask. If they don't see it, they can't say it. Then, human beings try their best to answer the question with the knowledge they have learned. When children are constantly asking why and why and why, the knowledge and education that they have accumulated since their birth will run out, and they will not be able to answer. It is interesting. The real thing is there, but you can't answer the question. I am sure you have experienced this kind of thing as a similar phenomenon here. “For all that, the polishing of a tile has been questioned like this, ‘What are you doing?’ Being of ‘what you are doing?’ is inevitably the polishing a tile.” What are you doing with that, as it is said here. “What is that?"” What are you doing?" It's just what it is. It must be that, as you hit a tile against a stone.
“Although they are different in this world and in the other worlds, there should be purport to polishing a tile that has never ceased.” No matter where you go, in this world and in the other worlds no matter where you go, even if the place is different, even if the customs and culture are different, it is strange, no matter whether the culture is different, whether the language is different, whether the way of thinking is different, it can only be seen as it is. That is probably why it's good. “there should be purport to polishing a tile that has never ceased.” This means that it is not a matter of since when such things have been done and when they will cease to be done. I think that everyone is like that as the way of human beings.
“It is not simply a matter that one does not decide one’s view as one’s view, it is perfectly assured that there is the purport to be practiced thoroughly in the myriad kinds of work.” Well, as we've pretty much proved, one thing is that you can't be clear with the state of yourself even though it's your own thing. Why can't it be clear? The state of ourselves is properly being done on ourselves. Why is it not clear? As you can see, you can't allow yourself with the way of thinking. Because thinking is something that you think that is not or this is not. But in reality, on yourself, when you polish a tile, it is absolutely only as you are polishing the brick. Every single thing is “the myriad kinds of work” in that way. The way we live our lives, every single thing we do is exactly as what we do right now is as it is. This is what we need to see and be aware of the real aspect of ourselves. However, if a way of thinking suddenly emerges at this point and you start to see things through the way you think, this will become unclear. “You should know just as even when you see buddha you don’t know buddha and understand buddha, you don’t know water when seeing it, and you don’t know mountains when seeing them.” He has pointed out our deficiencies in such a polite way.
“The Dharma in front of your eyes, if you form a hast conclusion that there no passageway to it, that is not the study of Buddhism." It is the Dharma before your eyes. This is what is taking place right now, right in front of your eyes. There, in it, such wonderful content is firmly taking place. But you're saying that it's natural that you see things. You already have seen things before you know it, you know. We live in a world where we can see things, before we even try to look at them, so we don't deal with such things. It means that we treat them so carelessly that we don't think they are of much value, what is called “a hast conclusion.” That is why, even if we want to be aware of what the Buddha is aware of, even if we want to clarify the real state of ourselves, it is impossible to do so with such a way of life. Why do we become angry with what we see when we see things, or why do we have to be sulky when we are having a conversation and we can hear what the other person is saying? It's all the law in front of our eyes. This is what happens when you are living here now, living here every day. Just as it is said, “you don’t know water when seeing it, and you don’t know mountains when seeing them.” You are exposed to the truth about yourself, but you don't think that it is about you. We almost only see things in that way, that the person over there said that, or that the person over there is doing that. In an instant, you change it into something like that person over there, there are things over there, I can see things over there, and so on. To really see things, it means that you definitely lose all the things on your side, doesn't it? When you're really seeing things, your own appearance disappears completely. When you listen to the other person, when you really listen, you probably don't have any of your own stuff at all. Well, that is what is required of us. And even though that is actually being done, even though it is being done, if you don't know things, you treat things wrongly like on your own, and when that happens, there is no longer anything called a passage. Even if the content of the Buddha's awareness is preached, it would mean that you lose the power to understand it.
At the end of August, in a social situation where it is not very pleasing to go out and about, and I didn't have anywhere to go, I said I had some time, I was invited to go to Yamanashi Prefecture, which is next to Shizuoka Prefecture, and then to Nagano. During the five days, one man told me a story. When he woke up in the morning, he found his wife's mobile phone strap there and thought it was there. He said that he thought it was there, but when he realized, the thought he had had was nowhere to be found. That's all he said, but it changes people. He must have experienced for himself that thoughts are really only there when he thinks of them, and that they are not left anywhere, and that he is engaged in such activities. Until now, he listened to other people's stories and understood them. Understanding that it's the way it's supposed to be. However, when he touches it on his own body like this, he touches the way as it is being said, he feels that it is just as it says, that it is really true, and it clears his mind completely. So after that, even if many things come to mind, there is no need to deal with. Because he knows that there is nothing to worry about, he stays as he is, so his appearance is completely different from what he used to be. Well, there was a little talk like this, and I said that it would be good if you practice seriously.


Zazenshin The Second 冒頭は録音が5分ほど欠けています。)



The next part, you see, doesn't say much. I'll read it briefly. To say however, "Nevertheless,” there really is what I have just described. However, recently, "in recent years," there are many people who really dull-witted, he says "stupid nasty people have said. " What kind of things, then, are people saying these days? This was around the time that Dogen Zenji went to China, so not quite 1230. In such a time, this is what is generally said. “The effort of Zazen is accomplished if you attained emptiness of the mind, that is the state of being peace.” This is the completion of training. This is the end of the practice when you become this kind of way. You know what it means “emptiness of the mind.” They say that if there is nothing in it, then they can simply go about their daily lives and be happy because they are at peace, Dogen Zenji says that they are only saying that much.
“This view” is the way of seeing and understanding. “This view is inferior even to scholars of the small vehicle.” There are two kinds of Buddhism, Mahayana and Hinayana. Hinayana Buddhism is a small way of thinking, as you just need to be saved yourself. Mahayana Buddhism is the one that people have a great wish that if they are saved, if they understand the greatness of Buddhism, and they want to pass it on to all people, if they have a chance, then they are called Mahayana Buddhists. So, when it comes to that, “inferior even to scholars of the small vehicle.” Dogen Zenji says that it is still a trivial way of looking at things, a way of thinking, and a way of understanding, rather than someone who is just doing his own thing for the sake of himself. “It is inferior even to the vehicle of men and beings in heaven.” What is it in general? I guess it also includes things like the moral laws, “the vehicle of men and beings in heaven.” There are things like "if you do this, this will happen, and if you do that, that will happen," and there are things like adhering to them, but he says they are more boring than such things. “It is inferior.” “How can we call them the men of studying the Buddha Dharma?” It is hard to say that they are really learning Buddha Dharma.
“Nowadays in the Great Kingdom of Sung,” There are many people who are doing that kind of work. “it is pitiful that the way of the Buddha and Patriarchs has been desolate.” What a shame, he says, despite that such wonderful and correct teachings are still being handed down today. This is one paragraph. Also, he says there are people who are similar to the above, so he has listed them.
“And there is another party of men” What does that say about it? “Practicing Zazen is the pivot for beginners and late leaners.” Zazen is used when we ask ourselves what we should do because we are suffering or troubled at the moment, and once that is clear, I guess they say we don't need the rest. “It is not necessarily the way of conduct of buddhas and patriarchs.” That is not the way the enlightened Buddhas and patriarchs are. “Walking also is Zen and sitting also is Zen, the body is at ease in talking and silence, movement and stillness.” We read, "Going is also Zen, and sitting is also Zen." Both sitting and acting are the state of Zazen, they say. Or should we say that whatever we are doing, we are talking or being silent, moving or being quiet? To put it badly, it would be better to say that they are all mixed up. This is because people take up Zen as a way of thinking, and it becomes like this. Dogen Zenji also said, " are of this view." Because it is a view which is on the way of thinking or about what they have seen, they do not know or experience the taste of the actual thing itself. That is the problem, isn't it?
And then there are sentences like “What’s a beginner? Which is not a beginner? Where is a beginner located?” For example, as you may know, there is a ten-stage zazen ladder called the Ten Ox Chart, which shows the ten stages of training. The ninth, or the end of the ladder, is called henpon kangen, which means returning to the original state. That is what it says. I often hear people say that when they are practicing something and it doesn't go well, they say, "You say that it is good to go back to the original." When we are faced with such a situation, there comes the sound of Zen Master Dogen's words: "We say that we should return to beginners' minds, but is there any place where we can return to beginners' minds?” And where are the beginners' minds, and where are those that are not beginners' minds? When you look touching the way of things are now at random, you can really feel this kind of thing. As you all know, everyone is involved in all the activities of seeing, hearing and knowing, and touching and experiencing things they have never done before, because that is the proof that they are alive. “Where is a beginner located?” It sounds like something like this. This is what we have to keep in mind most when we practice Zen. “Which is not a beginner?” When it comes to the fact that everything is the way of beginner's mind, things like getting back to the original, or asking and reaching there, are already out of the question from the very beginning. It's out of the question. That is the way of being when you do Zazen. When you understand this well, even things such as “emptiness of the mind” and “the state of being peace” are different from what we humans are thinking about. It is really the only way of being now. That is the way things are in the midst of this whole body-mind activity. We often hear people say, "Never forget beginner’s mind," but beginner’s mind is not something that can be forgotten. Well, that's enough of that, let's move on.
“We should know that, in the thorough practice established in the way of learning, we have to practice Zazen thoroughly. The gist, in the state of being manifested, that there is acting buddha without wanting to be a buddha.”
As it is written here, “acting buddha without wanting to be a buddha” means that as Dogen Zenji said, as I have just mentioned, “What’s a beginner? Which is not a beginner? Where is a beginner located?” Such words show the proof of the “acting buddha without wanting to be a buddha.” Moreover, “Because acting buddha is not in the least becoming buddha, the absolute truth is realized.” What you are doing now, whether it is something you see or hear, “Because acting buddha is not in the least becoming buddha,” means that there is no such thing as starting over or replacing it and doing it again. That is what is happening right now in your body and mind. “The body buddha is not becoming buddha at all,” this is the state of the body. When you look at these things, there is absolutely no such thing as rebuilding or creating a Buddha from now on. “if one breaks the nets and cages,”
羅籠,(rarou),nets and cages, is a tool for catching beasts or fish. They are nets or traps. “if one breaks the nets and cages,” which means if we can break through the cages and nets that are holding us in those things. It means if we can free ourselves. If we don't get caught. “the sitting buddha does not hinder becoming buddha at all.” This must be how you are sitting now, “the Sitting buddha.” That is the true appearance of the Buddha as it is. “At the precise moment,” right in the middle of it, “duration of a thousand and ten thousand years, from the beginning, altogether, there is the power to go into the state of buddha and go into the state of demons.” This kind of life alone is made to be useful wherever you go, just as it is. You call it moving forward, retreating or moving backwards. You say advance or retreat, but either way, it must be the movement of the present. Having admitted where the face is facing, and on the form where the face is pointing forward, if you move forward towards the face, you are moving forward, and if you move backwards towards the head, you are moving backwards. That's how we see it. In any case, it is the activity of the moment, isn't it? I hope you are not fooled by the words. If you turn your head back, you will see that you are moving forward, not backwards. “Progress and regress, there is the quantity that intimately fills the gullies and valleys.” It is always full and never waxes and wanes. Well, I guess this is the impression that Dogen Zenji had when he briefly touched on the situation in China at that time. He showed us several important things in this way, so his point of focus was somewhat different from ours. Inevitably, you don't see the truth of yourself, and you try to see what you are looking for somewhere else, and you try to get it. It tends to be that kind of Zazen. Not so, but for the truth of oneself itself.
Next, the story proceeds from an exchange between Kozei Daijaku Zenji and Nangaku Daie Ejõ Zenji. This is historically what happened, but for those of us who are now practicing Zen with each other, this is our own appearance.
“Kozei Daijaku Zenji, while practicing under Nangaku Daie Ejõ Zenji, after receiving the transmission of the Dharma Seal, he always does Zazen.” Between the two of them, there is reference to receiving the transmission of the Dharma Seal, but they must be on the relationship based on intuitive understanding of each other about how Buddhism should be, how Zazen should be, and how it should be. This is a scene from the day-to-day life of the two of them. “One time, Nangaku goes to Daijaku’s place and asks, ‘Daitoku, what are you planning thus, in Zazen?’” It has been transliterated classical Chinese into Japanese. We can read “What do you aim at in Zazen?” Dogen Zenji said, “We should quietly work on this question and see thoroughly.” The word "quietly :shizukani" means without making a fuss, and in the same way, "quietly :shizukani" means to be in perfect alignment with this state of affairs without deviation.
“The reason for this is, whether there is any figure of improvement than Zazen?” There are several, but the first one is: “whether there is any figure of improvement than Zazen?” When you are sitting, is there anything still besides the sitting itself you might say? The two words for improvement may make you draw strange things when you understand, but when you are doing Zazen, is it not really all about how you are doing Zazen? “Except for Zazen, has there never yet been a way that should be drawn up?” Well, it is as I have just said. Is there a different state of being outside of Zazen, a different state of the world? Is that all there is? “Is there nothing that should be drawn?” When he says, “Is there nothing that should be drawn?” he really means that all he is doing is sitting. This is what Dogen Zenji was doing when he was quietly pursuing his own practice, and it also speaks for our current state of being, doesn't it? “At the precise moment of Zazen, what kind of figure will appear, you ask?” When you say that “At the precise moment of Zazen,” you are now asking what kind of figure you are really in when you are doing Zazen at this time. How is it really there? How is it really being? “We should work out in detail.” In order to work out in detail, you need to be intimately familiar with the truth of what you are sitting in now, otherwise you will not be able to clearly see how you are sitting in.
“Instead of loving a carved dragon, we should willingly love the true dragon.” Let's leave it replaced by saying that the facts are better than thinking. "We should learn that both the carved dragon and the true dragon have the capability of clouds and rain.” The carved dragon, and the real living dragon, both call the clouds to come and fall rain, and work in many ways. When you learn in this way what you are looking at on the basis of your thoughts and what is the truth of yourself apart from your thoughts, both have contents that are hard to discard. There is something to learn. Oh, thoughts are doing this kind of thing. Because it becomes clear this, there will also be a kind of learning from the way things really are, rather than from the way we think. If they were both similar in content, it would probably be inconceivable that people would leave their thoughts. “We should love the true dragon.” Therefore, there is a need to leave your thoughts and go to the true aspect of yourself. There is a need to be close to it.
 “Do not value the distant, do not despise the distant, but be familiar with the distant.” The way people look at things, they say 'far and near' meaning far and near, but at the root of words like 'far and near,' there is the habit of looking at things from one's own place of being. That is why distance comes up. Far and near. In reality, we can see both things that are far away and things that are near when we look at them, right? As soon as you open your eyes, you can see everything, whether you think it is far away or near. We call it a distant sound and a near sound, but when you hear a sound, it is not distant or close. It is only when you hear it that you can recognize the sound. More to the point, scientifically, unless the sound waves reach the eardrums, the thing will not appear as a sound, which is what each individual's own body and mind are like. Studies are different.

For example, lightning flashes. After that flash there is a sound. The speed of transmission of light and sound is different, so if you measure the number of seconds after the flash, you can measure how far away the lightning is. But in reality, this body-mind situation is different and more interesting than such academic activities. Around the post-war period, there was a word 'imported goods', and there was a tendency to value things from abroad. Therefore, although there are many wonderful things from ancient Japan, the things we encounter every day are not so important because they are not new. I think there was such a tendency. It is similar to that. “Do not value the distant,” This is true even for Zen practice. We know this because we live in a temple, but there are not many parishioners in our own temple who come to visit the temple. Everywhere. When we invite masters from other places, they gather. It's strange. However, he says, we should not mistreat things that are far from us. Either way, don't take too much care of it, and don't take too little care of it. That is what is important.
“but be familiar with the distant.” Once you have touched the object, you should always cherish the way you have touched it, and there is a word for this habit or "maturity." It ripens. When our eyes are distracted from the thing, we don't reach a point where we can fully realize what the thing really is. I think that kind of thing is called ripening. Even astringent persimmons, if they are kept on the tree to prevent birds from eating them, ripen and naturally fall away from the tree. The distance from the tree to the bottom is so great that unless a net is placed, the persimmon will be crushed to pieces, which is a pity, but by the time it leaves the tree, the astringent persimmon has developed an inexpressible sweetness and is delicious. When you say that, we use the word 'ripen', but the above is what you become accustomed to, or should I say habitual. If you don't know these things, you will immediately neglect what you are doing right now in your life and look for someone else, for an opinion, for a statement, and then you will see these things and you will be happy when you find these things. It's not that way.
This time, since there is distance, there is also closeness. Distant and close. “Do not value the close, do not despise the close, but be familiar with the close.” There's one specific example given there. “Do not take your eyes lightly, do not give wight to the eyes.” When giving teaching, I tend to focus on things such as the way the eyes and ears work, sound, hearing sounds and seeing things, so it tends to become a matter of focusing on just one function of the body and mind. This is one of the things that we tend to do. “Do not take your eyes lightly, do not give wight to the eyes. Let not put a high value on the ears, let not the ears be in low, and let the eyes and ears be sagacious.” This means that if you refer to your ears and eyes, and touch the way they are actively working in this way, you will find that there is content that clarifies the reality of yourself, which is what makes your ears and eyes brilliant.
In response to the first question just posed, Kozei Daijaku Zenji said “planning to become buddha.” The question earlier was “Daitoku, what are you planning thus, in Zazen?” It is about how to sit in Zazen and how to be. In response to this, there is “Zusabutsu: planning to become buddha.” It is something troublesome to read into Japanese. It would say that this is the way it is. “Zusabutsu” when we are sitting. There is nothing that you have to explain when we are sitting. Dogen Zenji, in response, said, “We should clarify and attain this saying.” This saying is, “Zusabutsu.” It is necessary to clarify the content. To say that one should reach means touching the conviction of saying, "Oh, yes, that's really true.” “What should it be to say becoming buddha?” It sounds like Dogen Zenji is saying the content of Daijaku Zenji is saying or expressing is the same degree of our understanding that doing Zazen is the same as Buddha.
“Is it saying becoming Buddha when becoming buddha is done by a Buddha?” When you sit, what you are sitting on is expressed in the content of what you are sitting on, and that is what is called becoming Buddha. Or, “Is it saying that making a buddha is becoming buddha?” One thing is that it sounds like portraying a Buddha and becoming like him, but the relationship between this Nangaku Zenji and Daijaku Zenji, who is Zen Master Baso Doitsu, said to have been established from “receiving the transmission of the Dharma Seal,” so they know well the content of the words used to refer to the Buddha. “Is it saying that making a buddha is becoming buddha?” When it is said, it's not like the general saying that you draw a Buddha and become like that. It has been asked about the appearance of not needing such a thing. The same is true of the sounds you use every day. “Is it saying that making a buddha is becoming buddha?” There is a sound. To say that you become exactly as the sound is, even though you don't do anything, you have become exactly as the sound when it sounds CALP. This is what leads to things like, “Is it saying that making a buddha is becoming buddha?”
“Is it saying becoming buddha is one appearance or two appearances of buddha?” “one appearance of buddha or two appearances” Faces are used by everyone to describe one's own face, or face, as we often say " one or two faces" or two-facedness. But there is no such thing as two different facial appearances. It is the appearance of the face at that time and that moment. Is that the way things are said to be making Buddha? Let me repeat that, everyone does what the appearance of that moment is in their daily life. No one has the same face as before when we are doing this. And there is no shortage of that alone, no extra things. That is what we are doing. In such a place, you can catch a glimpse of the Buddha's state of being.
“Is planning to become buddha falling off, or is it becoming buddha as falling off?” No matter how much the current state of the face, for instance, there is a state of the face, the next moment, it's strange, there is no cut-off. There is no break, it just slips away from the previous moment, and only the current moment unfolds like this. It's called dropping out. We've also seen mantis and others recently. Even the body that has been shed does not remain there. Even snakes leave behind their shells. It's called shedding. The shedding of those things is the same with crabs, the shell is left behind. The shedding is there, but for our real activity, we must be moving away from what we have just seen, but that appearance is not left anywhere. “or is it becoming buddha as falling off?” It never gets dirty. It's so clean that you don't have to do any cleaning at any time. “Even though becoming buddha is all sorts of matters, is it said that going on being entangled with this figure becoming buddha?” In any case, there is nothing to do outside of what is going on in each person's own body and mind at the present moment. When it comes to awareness, each of us has a real use for the state of our own body and mind at the very moment. “going on being entangled with” Can I say that many things are entwined in this one body and mind, like wigs and wisteria, in an expression called
見聞覚知(kenmonkakuti): perception through the six senses (of sight, hearing, smell, taste. touch, and consciousness). On this body-mind. On this body-mind, things unfold. Each one of them is, “is it going on becoming buddha?” Whenever things come up, in our thoughts as well, we immediately make it an obstacle or a problem. Persistent, attached, unwilling to leave, and you don't like it. It is easy to cause such things, but when you look closely at the conflicts as such thoughts, it is strange, because they appear, but there is nothing we can do about them. There is no way to handle it. On the other hand, what comes out, without any help, just falls out and there is no way to trace it. This is the truth of each individual, which is rightly Buddha-awakening. This is how each of us really lives our lives. Because we are not aware of this, we are deceived by the various phenomena that appear in our own body and mind, and we live with these phenomena as our problems. As to how the ordinary way of life works, it is not clear because we perceive the phenomena in our own body and mind, and then we deliberate and sort them out in our thinking and thoughts, and then we come to understand or not understand, easy or difficult, and various other things.
When you learn from the real thing itself, it becomes clear what is going on. That is what we are recommending,
坐禅箴Zazenshin. This is the essential point when doing Zazen. Let's leave it at that for today.

Recording


Good morning, everyone. Yesterday was the anniversary of the end of the war, and many events took place. We have decided to use the Zazeshin of Shobogenzo as a teaching material for our ZOOM Zazen meeting, and I would like to talk a little about it. If you have a copy of the Zazenshin at hand, please look at it with me and we will proceed the talk. I will read a few verses.
When Great Master Yakusan Kodo, when he is sitting, a monk asks him, “What are you thinking in the steady immovable state?”
The Mater says, “Thinking thus the state of not thinking.”
The monk says, “How can the state of not thinking be thought?”
The Master says, “It is non-thinking.”
Realizing the Great Master’s words like this, we should practice thoroughly the steady immovable state. We should rightly transmit the steady immovable state. It is the thorough mastery of the steady immovable state transmitted in the Buddha Way. Although the thoughts of the steadfast state are not only one kind, the saying of Yakusan is one model of it. The so-called “Thinking thus the state of not thinking. “There are thinking of skin, flesh, bone, and marrow, and not thinking of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow.
The monk says, “How can the state of not thinking be thought?”
Truly, although the state of not thinking is old, this is still “How can it be thought?” In the steady immovable state, how could it be impossible for thinking to exist? And why does it not lead to our advancement of the steady immovable state? If we are not the lowly fool recent time, we would have the power to ask the steady immovable state and would have the thinking.
The Master says, “It is non-thinking.”

I would like to pick up on that part of the story. If there is anyone who would like to know more about this Yakusan Zenji, there are some biographies available if you look up his name. In any case, we do not know much about the details. However, it is clear that he was one of the patriarchs in our Zen sect who followed in the footsteps established by the Buddha.
So, Dogen Zenji has taken up the exchange between Yakusan-sama and a monk, and has shown us once again how to practice. The content is not that difficult, because there are only three exchanges.
“The steady immovable state,” sitting like a rough rock, it expresses a sitting figure, “The steady immovable state.”
“What are you thinking?” Scholars have been asking various questions about how to read such a Chinese text in the Japanese reading. The question has been asked though, when you read it, it is the same question that everyone asks: what in the world are you doing when you sit in Zazen? Normally, when we say " doing Zazen," it is expressed in words such as "za o kumu: to do sitting (cross legs,)" or "Zen o kumu; to practice Zen (cross legs for Zen,)" according to what has been taught.In short, the problem is that the form has been created, and the person is sitting there, but as time goes by, what in the world is he or she doing with it? This is the same today. What is it that we do when we sit, it is called Zazen. In general, what is written is that one should not do anything, that one should not seek enlightenment, that Zazen with an objective is not good, and many other things. But, putting these things aside, what is important is how you seriously are when you are sitting in Zazen. “What are you thinking?”
In response to this, the Great Master Yakuzan Kodo indicates, "Thinking thus the state of not thinking." "Thinking thus the state of not thinking," means the state of being in which one's whole body and mind are active at the time when one is sitting like this. It is the actual thing, not the way you treat it in your way of thinking, but the very way your whole body and mind are active when you are sitting. That is not a thought. We have a habit of treating the real thing immediately as a concept, so it would be good if you paid attention to that. As its’ reality is. I think it's also expressed as "as it is" or " do nothing". I think it's fine to accept such words as not being that far out of line. If you don't know these things well, when you use words, you are already treating them according to your own viewpoint. It is rare to be in your own state of being as the reality as it is.
For those of you who have heard me do this many times, you may think I'm doing it again, because I use it so often. CLAP! Do it like this. CLAP! CLAP! When I do this, you stay just the way the sound is echoing? Or you look at it like, "Oh, when it sounds, it's really only a sound.” There is a clear difference between "Thinking thus the state of not thinking" and dealing with “the state of not thinking” by way of thinking. There, that's really how it's done, CLAP! "Thinking thus the state of not thinking." Just really doing it like that, just the way the whole body is active, it is not you touch it. To touch is to put the activity, the appearance of sounding, on the other side and watch it from here. There is a distance there. It is not that. It is not listening. It is the sound itself. Well, I really want you to know that, and I want you to do it.
In response to Yakusan-sama's answer, the monk asked, “How can the state of not thinking be thought?” because this is where he crossed over into thoughts.
When we are taught, we listen to what we are taught and understand what we are taught, and when we make mistakes, we come to live our lives based on what others have taught us. That is not the case. Even you all, when I do it like this, PANG! (Hitting the desk with a fan) you don't hear it like that because you are taught to do so. You don't become like that. PANG! This is the story that can really be conveyed.
However, the usual way of listening is to say, if I tell them, "If you do it this way, it will turn out this way," they understand, so they try to go that way based on their understanding of what they have been taught. The state of your own present, the state of not thinking, the state of not crossing to thoughts which is truly practice Zen, will disappear. So, they will only do so based on what they have heard from others. So as not to miss the point, Kodo Daishi of Yakusan said to this monk, “Non-thinking." PANG! PANG! PANG!
This way, we do not need anyone's help. Not doing anything, but PANG! This is how the whole body works like this. (Shows the fan waving from side to side continuously.) This is how our activities are supposed to work. This is where you may not be able to understand easily. For example, when you look at it like this, (waving the fan from side to side) you can figure out that there is a difference between the way it is like this and the way you understand the state as it is surely like this. Understanding that it is like this way is sure to lead to consideration. That is what it means to look at something. There is what is over there and you are over here, and when you see what is over there, then you say, "Oh, that's exactly how it is." That's already crossed to thoughts. But when I actually do it like this, (continues shaking the fan from side to side), there is the apperance here which is not over there or over here.
In a nutshell, that is the only thing that is different in our daily lives. When it comes to one's greatest weakness, shortcoming, or overlooked point, even though you are touching on what is going on right now, touching on the present means that you are out of alignment as anyone can see when you even glance the present over there and pick it up. So, you will always be looking and asking, and whether it works or not will always be an issue. There are a lot of things that come up, such as whether or not to believe, whether or not to be thorough, etc. But look at it this way. (Waving a fan) That's not what I'm talking about. That's not the dimension of what's going on right now. We are living now. Everyone is, right now, at any moment. This is what is meant by the following statement, “Realizing the Great Master’s words like this,” This is the way of practice that Yakusan-sama has handed down from the Buddha, and what should be done to make that part of the practice clear. By saying, “Realizing the Great Master’s words like this,” means.
I think that is actually the case. There are worlds that are crossing over to thought and worlds that are not crossing over to thought, and reality is what is not crossing over to thought. Having made that clear, now we will deal with it in terms of thought, and that is what I am explaining now. That is why I have explained with words. I am explaining with words because I want to take you to a place that is not an explanation, I am talking about something that is the content that is far from an explanation. The rest is about yourself, so you can practice what happens when I do this (waving the fan from side to side), and it is said that you practice “in the steady immovable state.” What you are doing when you do Zazen.
“We should rightly transmit the steady immovable state.” This means that what is really meant by Zazen is correctly conveyed in the instruction, so please practice it. In the worst ones, these things are almost completely omitted from the manuals and guides, and the first half of the manual is just about regulating the sitting posture and breathing. Zazen is. I think this was the case even in the time of Dogen Zenji. “It is the thorough mastery of the steady immovable state transmitted in the Buddha Way.” This "Zazen transmitted to the Way of the Buddha" is something that should not be overlooked. What is commonly referred to as zazen, is already that far off the mark. We should practice thoroughly this way of Zazen that has been correctly transmitted.
“Although the thoughts of the steadfast state are not only one kind, the saying of Yakusan is one model of it.” There are many people, too many to count, who have practiced, who have done Zazen, who have clarified the path, who have clarified their own truth. I think there are many different people who would express themselves differently in this context. That is because they express it with what they have on hand. It is impossible to express your content with what you don't have. In a sense of going with what one has and expressing one's truth, there will be a variety of people. Now, here, this means that the Great Teacher Kodo of Yakusan is one of those masters. If you want to learn about such a thing, you can look at the various materials of the patriarchs and see that they are not out of line with this content at all. “It is the thorough mastery of the steady immovable state transmitted in the Buddha Way.” There is the content that you are doing, or that is being conveyed to us. I believe we should not overlook that.
And there it says, " The so-called “Thinking thus the state of not thinking.” This is the important part. “Thinking thus the state of not thinking.”
There is a poem in Dogen Zenji's 傘松道詠,(sansho doei), a poem that goes like this: "As you hear it , if you are being selfless, that is you the falling raindrops from the eaves.) PLOP! PLOP! Rain drops are falling from eaves. When the sound is being made, “if you are being selfless” What it means according “as you hear it,” PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! They are falling like this. PLOP! PLOP! “if you are being selfless, that is you the falling raindrops from the eaves.” This is where non-thinking comes in. There is the appearance of non-thinking, the appearance that one is thinking the state of not thinking. There is the state of human being's non-thinking. (The name "Sansho" was taken from the mountain name "Sansho Peak" of Echizen Daibutsu Temple (later Eiheiji Temple). Sansho" means a pine tree whose branches open like an umbrella.)
The next sentence, “There are thinking of skin, flesh, bone, and marrow, and not thinking of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow.”
The “skin, flesh, bones, and marrow” are this whole body and mind. You all say "we," this thing that is called the body. So, there is the state of thought, there is the state of not-thinking, you might say. When you are thinking, you are in the state of thinking, and when you are away from thinking, you are in the state of your whole body’s activity in the state of being away from thinking.
Let's move on. “The so-called “Thinking thus the state of not thinking.” If we read it down in Japanese, will be read,「不思量底如何が思量せん」(Fushiryo -tei ikanga shiryo sen), how can you think of thus the state of not-thinking? “Truly, although the state of not thinking is old, this is still “How can it be thought?”
Is it correct to say that such words have been handed down and said for a long time? “although the state of not thinking is old,” From the old days, people would say, "Don't think about trivial things," without referring to Buddhism or Zen. It's like the popular saying, "Mickel fails that fools think.” It has been handed down from generation to generation that humans are always thinking about things they can't help but do not stop thinking about. Not thinking. “this is still “How can it be thought?” What this means is that now, let alone what happened in the past, each and every one of you, in your own body and mind, is asked how this matter really is. It is not about thinking in terms of the way of thinking. It is no use thinking about what it means to be non-thinking, or what it means thinking thus the state of not thinking when you are presented with a problem. “this is still “How can it be thought?” So, it is asked what is really meant by the phrase "not- thinking, thus the state of not-thinking.” Only then can we say that we are practicing Zazen. You are doing Zazen. It is impossible unless it becomes your own problem. It is not a matter of what others have said this or that, or what they used to say this or that.
Let's go on, “In the steady immovable state, how could it be impossible for thinking to exist?” When you are sitting like a rock like that, is there no thoughts? There is an expression that says that one's mind goes completely blank, but I wonder what that means. When you are really sitting, your whole body and mind are active as they are. We don't know why, but it's not a perception, but the appearance of activity is there as it is. It's just as it is. As I have said many times, it is not a world where you can look at yourself from the other side. “And why does it not lead to our advancement of the steady immovable state?” That is true. Because it is not a world where you look at yourself from the other side in this way, you will always be able to penetrate the truth of yourself directly and immediately. It doesn't use things like "reach," "attain" or "be thorough." There is no need to use them. “And why does it not lead to” He is saying, "It is made in such a way, so why can't you make it clear? This means that there is a problem here. It is not a matter of "getting through" or "reaching."
“If we are not the lowly fool recent time, we would have the power to ask the steady immovable state and would have the thinking.” It's called “the lowly fool recent time,” but it's such a thing of no separation from oneself. It is the closest thing to us. When we use the word "near," we tend to put things over there or over here, and then express that there is no distance between them. That is what we mean by "close," but close means that there is no such thing as the other side or this side from the very beginning. “If we are not the lowly fool recent time,” The true state of one's present state is. Isn't that true for everyone from the very beginning? I guess we really have to take this up as our own reality. Our life comes first before we can insert our thoughts into it. It is the same with things. We all look at things like this, and even the act of looking at them (looking at the ceiling), even in case of such an act, before looking at them as thinking there is something over there, there is a world that is clearly seen. Because it has been seen, we pick it up and look at it again. It is the same with sound. The sound is made first before we hear it. Because the sound was made first, you pick it up saying, "That's the sound.” There are ways, the way you cross over into thoughts and the way you are not crossing over into thoughts, so this is that was exchanged between the great master Kodo of Yakuzan and a certain monk even today. It must be unfolding throughout the time. Buddhism is such a familiar thing. It is your own truth. From the beginning. It is because we don't have the power to clarify the truth of ourselves that this is what Dogen Zenji is talking about. “If we are not the lowly fool recent time,” If you are not a fool, the truth about yourself will not go anywhere from the beginning. It never goes anywhere else, not even for a moment. It never leaves. If you know that, then you must have the power to make this point to be an issue really. This is the only place where you all can realize the truth about yourselves. To put it more plainly, when and where do you leave the things of now? What is the now? If you don't touch the present now here, if you don't touch it now, if you touch it later, you won't be touching it now. If you do that, things will not be clear. If you touch the thing now like this, everyone is made to get clarified.
So, it will be what we were talking about earlier. “The Master says, ‘It is non-thinking.’” Like this, CLAP! When I make a sound and you all hear it, CLAP! No need to go through any procedures. No need to think. CLAP! That's all there is to it. That's how you get the whole aspect of the sound. “Even though the use of what is called non-thinking is serene, in order to think the state of not thinking, we inevitably use the non-thinking.” What is it? CLAP! To really know this appearance. You don't need to use anything else. “Who is in non-thinking? Who keeps me?” “Who is in non-thinking?” CLAP! When I do this, it's not that we don't know who is listening to us. It's not that other people are listening. It must definitely be the state of yourself. It's good, isn't it? When we did this. CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! We never wonder who it belongs to. CLAP! Nothing is unclear. It is the perception through the six senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and consciousness, the eyes, ears, nose, body, and mind, all of which are working in each of us. Everyone is doing that no matter where you look. Stay close to it.
“Although, the steady immovable state is me, it is not only thinking and it is holding up the steady immovable state.” “holding up the steady immovable state” means to pick up something. That's what it means the state when you are sitting itself. The preceding " the steady immovable state is me," means, as I mentioned earlier, that sitting really does not mean that someone else is doing it at all. “Even though the steady immovable state is the steady immovable state, how can the steady immovable state think of the steady immovable state?" The thing must be the thing itself, but who is going to act that the thing is the thing itself? It really is the thing must be the thing, but who is going to take up that the thing is the thing itself?
“If so, that is to say, the steady immovable state is not the quantity of the Buddha, not the quantity of the Dharma, not the quantity of realization, not the quantity of understanding itself.” So, it is said that there is a way of being that cannot be measured by conventional human beings saying this or that. Because it is “the quantity of the Buddha,” some people think that when you become enlightened, you'll know that kind of thing, but it's not an amount that you can know when you become enlightened. Although we can understand that the truth of the Buddha Dharma, which is called "the quantity of the Dharma" is like that, it is far beyond what we human beings can conceive of as the truth of the Buddha Dharma this way or that way. These things are written throughout these pages. “the quantity of understanding,” means that we have a clear understanding of what is going on, but even that clarity does not mean that we are living in the content that we can say that this is the end of it. It's the same with our eyes all day long. We live our lives to the extent that we don't know how much we look at things. This is what it says.
“It has already been thirty-six generations from Shakyamuni Buddha that the direct transmission to Yakusan in this way.” Now that we are studying each other here on ZOOM, how many generations have passed since the time of the Buddha? I, for example, am 86 generations descended from Buddha Shakyamuni thorough my teacher. So I think that you are all listening to me, the 86th generation. “Tracing upward from Yakusan, there is Sakyamuni, directly thirty-six generations.” I would say that there is the appearance of the Buddha thirty-six generations ago. What this is saying is that there is no deviation. Years and years pass, but the real state of things is always the same, no matter what time period it is. It would be strange if what we call the state of being now were to be deviated from as the age goes down. The state of now is always now. There is no other place to refer to this at any other time. It is done orderly like that. “Having been transmitted rightly in this way, there is already thinking thus the state of not thinking.” “Thinking thus the state of not thinking.” It is necessary to really take up the content that is like this, and to attend to the truth itself when you are sitting in this way. So while you are sitting, before you know it, even the form of your sitting has been forgotten. It is strange. There is a saying somewhere, " How could that be limited to sitting or lying down?” It doesn't matter whether you are sitting or lying down. Well, I have read the first part of Zazenshin, just good place to leave off. Because of this content, Dogen Zenji used this story in "Fugan zazen gi" or promoting Zazen in all places. This story exchanged between Kodo Daishi of Yakuzan and a certain monk is easy to understand, or it would be rude to say that it is easy to understand. I suppose it is because this is what is really conveyed correctly about the rightly transmitted Buddhism and Zazen. As he himself says. “Realizing the Great Master’s words like this, we should practice thoroughly the steady immovable state.” “Realizing the Great Master’s words like this,” If you really want to sit, this is the important part. If you do Zazen without this, then you are crass ignorance. “We should rightly transmit the steady immovable state. It is the thorough mastery of the steady immovable state transmitted in the Buddha Way.”
I would like you all to do this as well. I have taken up the Shobogenzo  Zazenshin for the first time today, and I have to say that it is different from the Fugan Zazengi and has many different flavors.

Zazenshin The Forth
Today we begin with the first line of page 233 of the Zazenshin lecture book. I will read a little bit down the passage, so if you have a copy, please look through it with me.
“Nangaku says 'Polishing to make a mirror.' We should clarify these words. There is always the principle for polishing to make a mirror, it is the Law of realized Universe. It is not a groundless pretense. Though a tile is a tile, and a mirror is a mirror, we should know that there are limitless model features when we are truly working on the principle of polishing.It should be that the old mirror and the clear mirror are becoming mirror by polishing. If we don’t know that mirrors are derived from polishing a tile, we are without the Buddhist patriarchs’ sayings, we have not met the Buddhist patriarchs’ mouth opening, we don’t see and hear the Buddhist patriarchs’ exhalations.”
Well, read that much. The phrase “Polishing to make a mirror.” And “We should clarify these words.” Which is mentioned, a mirror is a tool for reflecting things, and as you are probably well aware, if you take a piece of tile like this and rub it on a stone like this, how a mirror works, the mirror shows what is happening as you rub them together. That is what a mirror is, isn't it? The phrase “Polishing to make a mirror.” is used. I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say. The actual thing that is rubbing the tile here and the image in the mirror, the mirror is not two images like that. In the human mind, when we look at a mirror, we understand that the actual thing that we are doing here now is directly reflected in the mirror. That's how everyone understands it. However, a mirror does not have an object to be reflected outside the mirror, without reflecting it in the mirror, it is just this way of being active inside the mirror. That is the principle of
磨作鏡,(Masakin)“Polishing to make a mirror.” And that's why it's also 現成公案,(genjokoan), The manifestation of the universal law. That's really how it is. However, no matter how far we go, the human way of thinking is that we recognize ourselves, we recognize the mirror, and we see the mirror as a tool to reflect the fact that exists here.
However, please put the mirror away and imagine a situation in which you can actually see what you think is outside. When you see the view outside, you may be assuming that you are seeing what seems to be the view outside and what seems to be you here, but when you see the view outside, there is no sign that you are seeing the view outside reflected on you in the mirror of yourself. It is just the appearance of the outside itself. That is what you all see when you look outside, so-called reflecting in a mirror. Isn't that what is really happening here and now? That is exactly what is happening. There is the manifestation of the universal law. And because it's not a groundless presence, it means it's not a futile, irresponsible saying. “It is not a groundless pretense.” It truly is, isn't it? If you stand in front of the mirror again, you will know. When you stand in front of the mirror and look at the mirror like this, there is nothing about your appearance outside the mirror. All you see is what is really inside the mirror. People don't realize that. The reason why they don't realize this is because they only see themselves here, the mirror over there, and things reflecting in the mirror, so that's what is shown around here.
“Though a tile is a tile, and a mirror is a mirror,” Of course, the tiles would be tiles, and the mirrors have the appearance of mirrors. “when we are truly working on the principle of polishing.” The principle of polishing is the state of things as they are now. This is the way it is now, grinding the tiles against the stone, which is the principle of polishing. Please touch the current state of polishing in this way, everyone. “we should know that there are limitless model features.” There will be a truly limitless state of affairs like this. The way it is now, endlessly. They are models, you know, “model features.” It's always like this. Even when you are polishing a tile like this, there is no sign of what happened before. Only what is happening now is unfolding. It is the same in everyday life. The daily life that you are living from morning to night, only the current state of affairs is unfolding. It's not like the previous state of affairs comes along with it.
“It should be that the old mirror and the clear mirror are becoming mirror by polishing.” When we say we can really obtain things, there is no deviation anywhere. When you say that there is no deviation, it means that there is no difference between the appearance of the other side and the appearance of this side. As I often say, what is called a fact, a fact for a thing, is that there are never two facts for each and every thing. It is the same with a hair or a grain of sand. There is absolutely no other thing that is the same. That is why everything is done exactly as it should be done there. “are becoming mirror by polishing,” it is said. Because of this state of affairs, there is really no sign that the mirror is reflecting what is over there to this side, as it is, when it reflects things. That is the way a mirror should be, originally.
“If we don’t know that mirrors are derived from polishing a tile,” If we don't understand or realize this way of being, then, “we are without the Buddhist patriarchs’ sayings,” you say that the Buddha and the Patriarchs were made aware of themselves, but you won't be able to touch on those contents. “we have not met the Buddhist patriarchs’ mouth opening,” It is said that we open our mouths, but what it means is that they talk to us. The Patriarchs and Buddhas have left us many things, they have taught us many things. That means that if we are not clear on this matter, there is no need for them to preach. “we don’t see and hear the Buddhist patriarchs’ exhalations.” The lively state of the Buddhas cannot be seen. It means that we cannot hear and receive them. It is the appearance of being alive. This must be the expression
磨作鏡, (Masakin) “Polishing to make a mirror.” as Nangaku calls it.
In response to this, " Daijaku says, " it is Baso Doitsu, “How can you polish a tile be a mirror?” In response to this argument, Dogen Zenji continued to speak a lot later, but when many people read this, there must be a lot of misunderstandings. There are many people who understand this as Daijaku saying that no matter how many tiles are rubbed together, it cannot be a mirror.  Daijaku doesn't say that really. Dogen Zenji is saying about that in the next part.
Let me go a little bit ahead, and on page 234, line 3. “This saying looks like a question only about this place, but it is also asking about the other place. We should know that, for example, when a best friend meets a best friend, his being my best friend is my being his best friend.” Something like that, and being expressed “‘Just what is right here and now?’ is instant appearance at the same time.” This is what Dogen Zenji has received the content of Daijyaku’s saying “How can polishing a tile be a mirror?” People who don't know this, in the previous story about Zazen, think that if they do Zazen they can become a Buddha, so they take it as if Nangaku asked Daijyaku if he could really become a Buddha by doing Zazen. In any case, both are different. It's not what we normally think of. It's really what you are at that moment. The mirrors that we think of as mirrors, as explained there, we only know of mirrors that are handled in such a way that there is something on the other side that reflects things and there is something on this side that is reflected. The mirrors that the Buddhas are dealing with are the very things that you see, hear and taste when you are living like this now. It's not about reflecting. He says that's the content of the mirror. I would like you to thoroughly study about that. As an addition to this understanding, I would like to ask you, as I have always said, is there another one out there somewhere that is just like the one we are living in now? When you look at it as a fact and something that is being reflected. You think of a mirror as a world where there is a fact and a thing that is being reflected. But the real mirror is only what is in the mirror. This is also true when you are living your life now. There is absolutely no another thing about the fact that we're living now. I am saying that is the content of what is being reflected in the mirror. “Truly, polishing a tile, as an iron man,” this is really the way he is practicing, “though it does not borrow the other' s power,” We don't need to borrow other people's help with. When you face a thing, it's not that it can be seen, it's that you don't know, yet it is as suddenly as there is a thing there. It is said seeing, ‘Without confronting circumstances, yet being lightened,’ it is not really used like that if a person touches something that is over there, he or she can come to see it as it is there. “not from any other power, polishing a tile is not being a mirror. Though being a mirror is nothing other than itself, it should be immediate.” All of a sudden, suddenly, you don't do anything, there is no sign of seeing it, there is no sign of understanding it, but there is the appearance just as it is. That's the way you all live your lives, isn't it? To put it briefly, TAP! When I have done this, the sound was made over there and you heard it over here, you heard it because it was made, you understood it because you heard it, we don't use one of those nasty various things. TAP! TAP! It clicks before you hear it. That's all done. This is what you call “being a mirror.” Well, let's leave it at that.
“Nangaku says, ‘How can you become a buddha in Zazen?’” This must have been an inquiry into what Daijyaku meant by “How can you polish a tile to be a mirror?” This inquiry shows that Daijyaku does not answer in the ordinary way, saying, "Master, even if you polish a tile by placing it on a stone as hard as you can, it will not become a mirror." If Nangaku was convinced, "you are doing Zazen, but do you think that you become a Buddha if you do Zazen?", if he was so convinced, then it would be clear that "Oh you also understood it like that," when Daijyaku says “How can you polish a tile to be a mirror?”
And when Dogen Zenji said, “Clearly, there is the principle that Zazen does not await becoming buddha.” it must be the way things are done between the two of them. He said it's not like we're going to do something and become something from now on. CLAP (He claps hands) It's not like you're going to become something from now on. Having heard that. Having rubbed the mirror together. It's not like you're going to do something from now on. Suddenly, suddenly, if you hit it, the way you hit it is just as you hit it. There is no place to go. That's what it says, “Clearly, there is the principle that Zazen does not await becoming buddha.” “The principle is not concealed that to become buddha is irrelevant to Zazen.” This will be a great thing here too. “The principle that to become buddha is irrelevant to Zazen.” This is it. It's not like you become a Buddha for the first time because you sat and did Zazen. CLAP! You may understand that you become able to hear for the first time because you have heard, but before you know it, CLAP! you become like. In this area of the relationship between Nangaku and Daijaku Zenji, there is something very important that must not be overlooked. In short, they are in tune with each other. As we just read, “We should know that, for example, when a best friend meets a best friend,” They are both in the stage of knowing the truth about each other. It's not like the two of us are still in the process of practicing and becoming truly enlightened and clarified or not. It is a talk of comrades who are both clear about the truth of the Buddhas in this intimate way. I want you to know this. That's what we just read, “This saying looks like a question only about this place,” You can see the annotation below. It sounds like asking, like inquiring, like a question, but it is not a question, he says. “but it is also asking about the other place.” There is the content of him acknowledging what the master is doing by saying, "Oh, yes, that's really true.” This kind of intimacy between the two of them is being preached here.
“It is instant appearance at the same time.” It appears at the same time, simultaneously. Even when you meet, it is never just one of you that meets the other. Whenever they meet, they always appear at the same time. It is impossible that you only see the person on the other side. It is impossible that it is only the situation of this side. It is not the case that both the other side and the other side are separate. That is what encounters are about. If we examine the contents of such encounters carefully, what we can understand is that there is no need for us to do anything. It means that there is already so much wonderful activity going on that we are all done with it before we can handle it. I want you to really wake up to the truth about yourself. I want you to be aware of it.

The previous questions and answers have come and gone, and it is quite untidy to be exchanging between the host and guests. To some extent, it would be like to set flowers in the empty flowerless sky. Even so, in this country, in the field of Zazen practice, the principle has not yet been conveyed, and those who want to know would be deeply disappointed. For this reason, I would like to bring together the few things what I learned in other countries, and record the true essence of the clarified Master's teachings so that those who want to learn can listen. In addition to this, there are the rules and formalities of the monasteries and the style of the temples, I have not time to show them and it should not be done in haste.

In general, even though our dynasty is located to the east of the Sea of Dragon, and are far separated by the clouds and mists, it is very fortunate for the people in our country that the Buddha Dharma in the west has been progressing eastward since around the reigns of the Kinmei and Yomei periods. But the terms and forms as well as the ritual and formalities have been mixed in confusion and the way of practicing has become troublesome. Bur now, we live with the mended robes and fixed bowls through our live time, tying thatched beside the blue cliffs and white stones and do Zazen and practice, the matter of the rise of the Buddha instantly manifests and we will complete the great matter of our life time practice. This is the ordinance of Ryuge; Mater Ryuge Kondon (835-923) and the legacy of Kukkutapada; Master Mahakayapa. The ritual and rules for doing Zazen are should be done following Fukan-Zazengi which I compiled in the Karoku era.

Although it is said that we should receive the royal decree to propagate the Buddha Dharma throughout the country, when I think about the legacy of the Vulture Peak again, all of the kings, nobles, ministers, and generals who have appeared in hundreds of thousands of millions lands have graciously received the Buddha's decree, and have come into being without forgetting their duty to uphold and guard Buddha Dharma of their past lives. As to the boundary of influencing, which place could not be a Buddha land? Therefore, in order to propagate the way of the Buddhist patriarchs, we should not necessarily choose a particular place and wait for conditions, but rather, we should think that today is the start.

Being so, then I should gather this together and leave it for excellent masters who seek the Buddha's Dharma, and true stream of practitioners who seek to learn the way of the Buddha wondering like floating clouds and drifting water weeds.”
In the middle of the autumn of the year of Kanki, the of Shin-u,
                                     By the Buddhist monk Dogen, who went to the Sung Dynasty and received the transmission of the Dharma.”
BENDOWA

 

Today's article does not contain anything too difficult. As we have read so far, it means "The previous questions and answers have come and gone,” Looking at the exchange of questions and answers, it is said, it is quite untidy to be exchanging between the host and guests.” Which means that they exchange questions and answers with each other. It would mean that the position of which one is the protagonist and which one is the guest is not always fixed. “to be exchanging between the host and guests,” is. That's how it' s called, It is quite untidy. And if you look at the content, you will see that it says, it would be like to set flowers in the empty flowerless sky.So, we can say that many kinds of unexpected questions come up. As is true for all of us, people ask questions that they themselves would not think to ask. So, when you talk with a lot of people, you may find that you notice things that you didn't expect. That's one of the interesting points. Even so,” that is true, but, in Japan, when people were practicing Zazen, the content was not well known at that time. So, even if there were people who wanted to know about it, the content was not clear, and that was a pity, he said.
Then, he went to China and spent a short but fulfilling time there, “record the true essence of the clarified Master's teachings,” and through his encounter with Nyojo Zenji, he was able to clarify the true essence of the Buddha Dharma,
with which, others may also have mentioned, he firmly marked what he had seen and heard from those with clear eyes, and teach and convey it to those who are interested in learning it, like us now. In addition, Dogen Zenji went to China and absorbed many other things in his life. The amount he absorbed during his stay in China was enormous. It is not clear if he did it all by himself or not. When he went to China, he took a boat to China, and there were many people around him. For example, there was a man named Tohkuro, who conveyed to Japan porcelain, made by crushing stones and throwing them on a potter's wheel to make plates, bowls, tea bowls, and various other items called ceramics, went together with him. Of course, he came back with knowledge of buildings and architecture, including many blueprints and drawings, so there must have been people who were well acquainted with such things.

And food, for example, or the volume of washing, there is a vast amount of information on how to wash one's face, brush one's teeth, how to use the bathroom, how to wash one's clothes, how to eat, human relations, etiquette, and the rules of the day, and so on. I would like to take a look at such things if I have a chance.

“the rules and formalities of the monasteries and the style of the temples,” In the footnote, it says that they mean some detailed rules and regulations, though, of course, such rules and regulations are included. I think that the blueprints of a building, as I mentioned earlier, are also a part of formality. Well, in any case, since there is not enough time to show them now, he started with the most important ones first, but he also said that other things should not be neglected.

The next paragraph says, In general, even though our dynasty is located to the east of the Sea of Dragon," looking at the world globe, the land areas of the world today are divided into water and land areas, and the globe is made up of these two areas. This country of Japan has become what it is today because of various studies conducted by scholars and specialists who say that this is the way it used to be. If it were far away, it would not be east of the Sea of Dragon, and there was a time when it was not separated from it, but now there is a trench called the Sea of Japan, and it is attached to the east. I guess that's what they mean here. I think “are far separated by the clouds and mists,” I should leave it as it is.

Emperor Kinmei and Emperor Yomei are mentioned. This is probably because they are related to the Eastward Expansion of Buddhism. I think Emperor Kinmei was born in the 500th or 500th year of the Western calendar. The second prince of Emperor Kinmei would be Emperor Yomei. Emperor Kinmei was the 29th emperor and Emperor Umei was the 31st emperor of Japan, and Prince Shotoku was one of Emperor Youmei's children. It will be easier for you to understand if I mention that they were the people like this. It is said that Buddhism was introduced to Japan during the period of the Eastern Expansion of Buddhism, when there was a lot of exchange from China. “it is very fortunate for the people in our country.”

However, as he says, “But the terms and forms as well as the ritual and formalities have been mixed in confusion,” Through China, many people went to China and brought back Chinese translations of the original Buddhist scriptures called Shakyo, and they worked hard to copy them and brought them to Japan, which is said to be the progress eastward of Buddhism, or the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. That is why the scriptures were transmitted, and because the true meaning of the scriptures was not fully conveyed, it became necessary to read down the scriptures that had been brought in, to see what was written and what was being said.

Then, what is it? I think it is the same today, but when the text is left there, when you read the text and start reading what it says, the biggest problem is that you start to understand what is written there, without dealing with the truth of yourself, your situation itself, or the situation of each of you who are doing this now. And then, when you understand what it means, you think, "Oh, I get it now." I think this has been the mainstream practice in Japan for a long time, even today.

Dogen Zenji went to China, and how did he spend his time there? I think he studied in such a way that he could see the true nature of what was left behind, written down, and handed down, in the very state he was in now. It is a religion of self-awareness, and the way of self-awareness is to know the truth about oneself, to awaken, and to make oneself clear about one's own state of being. In many cases, however, it seems that people have neglected themselves and instead it has become an academic study to inquire about what is said in the texts that are written and left behind. This is what is referred to here as “But the terms and forms as well as the ritual and formalities have been mixed in confusion,” This is the way each person reads, understands, and thinks about this text, so, you know, it can be annotated in various ways, and it can be interpreted, because it is a way of thinking. Then, to be mixed in confusion, it means that some people say this and some say that. It would be fair to say that the more learners read, the more they read, and the more they read the interpretations left behind by many others, the more they become unclear. This was already the situation in Japan at that time. Accordingly, “the way of practicing has become troublesome.” There was no definitive one as to how the practice could really be done correctly. There was no one to convey such things. Therefore, Zen Dogen Zenji, who is represented BENDOEA, must have himself visited China early on. He went to China in search of guidance and a master. Fortunately, he was able to meet Nyojo Zenji. The next sentence reads, “we will complete the great matter of our life time practice.” In China, under Nyojyo Zenji, what the Buddha Way is all about has been settled.

And I will say a bit before that, too. Now it means binding torn garments, broken-looking dishes, shabby. It's a simple life. For his life, “tying thatched beside the blue cliffs and white stones and do Zazen and practice,” He spent his time in a simple building where he could eat and sleep with only a small amount of his body inside. Then what did he do there? He sat and practiced Zazen. In Japan, as well as in China, it is probably the case, but here, we can best highlight the situation in which he went to China and spent time under Nyojyo Zenji.

the matter of the rise of the Buddha instantly manifests When he says that the matter of the rise of the Buddha instantly manifests, it does not mean that it will be perfected through further practice. I am sure you know this by looking at your lives. The fact that you are living like this now, will this fact that you are living now be completed in the future? By practice. I don't think so. First of all, you should be most careful. What you are doing now is not going to be completed in the future. What we're doing now, this is exactly how it's done as perfectly as it is done. Have you noticed that? It's the matter of the rise of the Buddha. It appears instantly. What's going on now shows up instantly, doesn't it? You don't know where it will come from. You don't know when things will turn out the way they are now. There is no need to do a single thing. Everyone is doing everything right, right now. Dogen Zenji made this perfectly clear, and that's why he said, “complete the great matter of our life time practice.” So, this is how it has turned out. He must have been astonished to see how completely different from the beginning it was from what he had thought, imagined. Like this, CLAP!(clapping palms) Even if we make one sound, it will be the same. You hear it. We hear perfectly well even though we do nothing. And it won't happen later. It's not like you can hear it properly after you have practiced it. That's how we live our lives, isn't it? This is what I want to say here.

The following sentence, “This is the ordinance of Ryuge, Mater Ryuge Konton (835-923),” is a poem called living in mountains by Ryuge Kondon Zenji. What is written is at the bottom of the page. The poem is written in the lower part of the verse: "Mokijiki, Eating only nuts and grass, in shabby grass robe, mind like the moon, lifetime with non-thinking, without limit,  and when asked where do you live? I say, "Green Water Blue Mountain is my home.”  I guess we should read it this way. As Dogen Zenji wrote earlier, “tying thatched beside the blue cliffs and white stones and do Zazen and practice,” which would be in in accord with the phrase we just read. And all your life without thinking, without thoughts. It is not to think. The facts are unfolding all the time. The fact is unfolding, and that fact is endless. We say " the present state of things," but the present state of things is limitless. There is no limit. There is no one who can say that the state of being now is formed by anyone's hands. And when asked where do you live? we say, "Green Water Blue Mountain is my home. You are just here now. To be here now means, to put it politely, that you are living in the place where this thing called body and mind, written body and mind, is located. The question is, "Where are you?" It' s so where you are at any given time. I have told you this many times, but I have never been anywhere other than where this body and mind reside. There is no living anywhere away from this.

Such a thing is the ordinance of Ryuge, and it is the legacy of Kukkutapada, Master Mahakayapa. The Great  Master Mahakayapa in the Mount. Kukkutapada. There is a person called Mahakayapa. This refers to the successor to Lord Buddha, Venerable Mahakasyapa. The Mt. Kukkutapada, As you can see here, there is a mountain in China that has a ridge like a chicken's foot, and when the foot is spread out, the toe is like this and there is a tendon at the back, the mountain 's foot is like that, it is called Kukkutapada. It is a little over 3,000 meters high. It is a high mountain. I have never been there, but I searched for it. There are records that there were as many as 6,000 monks practicing Buddhism in the area around the mountain at one time. It is also one of the top ten monasteries for Buddhist practice in China. Well, this is such a place and it is the way of life that Venerable Mahakasyapa has left behind.

The appearance of these Zazen activities can be seen in his book written after his return to Japan. He came back to Japan from Nyojyo Zenji’s place, it is Karoku period, he is 28 years old, I guess. He must have returned to Kyushu after the summer of 1227. After that, he wrote the original of the Fugan zazenyi, and later refined it into the current version, which is called Ryufubon, the popular book, "Fugan Zazengi" which is commonly read by the general public. There is a Tenpuku version of the Fugan zazenyi between those two, and it is housed at Eiheiji Temple. There are a few differences between the Ryufubon and the Tenpuku version of the Fugan Zazengi. Please look at them if you are interested. In any case, the appearance of Zazen is shown in this Fugan Zazen-gi, which he himself presented.

It says, “Although it is said that we should receive the royal decree to propagate the Buddha Dharma throughout the country,” As Japan is said to be a Buddhism country, it is said that it was around the time of Emperor Kinmei and Emperor Yomei, as mentioned earlier, that Japan came to be known as a Buddhism country and that Buddhism was the national religion of Japan. Among the children of Emperor Kinmei were Prince Shotoku and others, who really cherished Buddhism and made it known to the people. “when I think about the legacy of the Vulture Peak again,” The legacy that Buddha entrusted to future generations as wishes while he was alive are called legacy. “all of the kings, nobles, ministers, and generals who have appeared in hundreds of thousands of millions lands have graciously received the Buddha's decree, and have come into being without forgetting their duty to uphold and guard Buddha Dharma of their past lives.” Thanks to the efforts of these leaders and those in positions of leadership, this has been spreading throughout Japan.

“As to the boundary of influencing, which place could not be a Buddha land?” In Japan, lines are drawn in various places according to human intentions, just as in the case of prefectural borders, it is divided into one metropolis (Tokyo), one "circuit" (Hokkaido), two urban prefectures (Osaka and Kyoto) and 43 prefectures proper, and the way politics is conducted is divided accordingly. When the Buddha Dharma is spread, it transcends the lines drawn by human beings, and has the power to permeate everywhere. He says, propagate the way of the Buddhist patriarchs,” I believe the word “propagate" is used to describe how water, no matter how thick the bamboo, flows through the roots of the bamboo. It permeates any place without being disturbed. Therefore, it does not necessarily choose a place. It is not because the customs and history of the place are good enough to accept people, or because the place is inferior. “we should not necessarily wait for conditions,” Just waiting, though, doesn't always get things done. They say that chances are important. In order to encounter a chance, you have to be willing to receive such a chance, or else you will often have miss opportunities. For example, if you ask if they want to get married and they say that they do not want to get married, it will be difficult for them to find a partner. If you say, "Do you want to get married," "Yes, I want to get married," or " You have feelings like that," then you can offer him or her any number of ways. To take a simple example, it is, “we should not necessarily wait for conditions, but rather, we should think that today is the start.” We should think that today is the start. There is no such thing as tomorrow in Buddhism. The first day you think of it is a good day. There are many ways. There is no earlier time than now. For us to do it. The fastest time is to do it now.

“Being so, then I should gather this together and leave it for excellent masters who seek the Buddha's Dharma, and true stream of practitioners who seek to learn the way of the Buddha wondering like floating clouds and drifting water weeds.”

Because of this, Dogen Zenji himself decided to write the Shobogenzo while he had the strength and clarity of memory, so he must have started writing the Shobogenzo around the 28th year of his 52-year life, and left behind nearly 100 scrolls.  Whenever he had time, he would give lectures, give sermons, receive guests, eat with them, and do Zazen with them, which I am looking at, I wonder whether he really slept for 3 or 4 hours or not, and he left these things behind at such a rapid pace as if he had been burning up. This is what I feel now when I look back at the history of Dogen Zenji. It shows how great Dogen Zenji's passion was. Thanks to him, we are able to read these things so close to our hearts. I am grateful for that. The day of the middle of autumn in Kanki-Shin-u, the autumn of his 32nd year. That's amazing. Well, this is the end of my reading. I hope that by the time you finish reading this book, you will be able to say, "The importance of a lifetime of study has come to an end here." I hope you will.

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