T2582 Shōbōgenzō The True Dharma-Eye Treasury, Volume I

Chapter 15: Busso - The Buddhist Patriarchs

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67 Treasure (value), marshes (nature), space (the stage of action), and mountains (reality) correspond to the four faces of reality outlined in the Buddha's Four Noble Truths. 68 In zazen, mountains exist as they are. 69 Master Unmon Bun'en says,

"Venerable monks! Do not have delusions. The sky is the sky. The earth is the earth. Mountains are mountains. Water is water. Monks are monks. Laymen are laymen" (Unmonkōroku,Vol. 1). 70 Acknowledgment is due to Professor Carl Bielefeldt of Stanford University for his exemplary translation of this chapter. 71 1240.

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[Chapter Fifteen]

Busso

67a3

The Buddhist Patriarchs

Translator's Note: Butsumeans "buddha

"

or

"Buddhist,

" someans

"

patriarch,

"

and therefore bussomeans Buddhist patriarchs. Master Dōgen revered buddhas of the past; he also esteemed the Buddhist transmission from buddha to buddha. Furthermore he believed in the continuity of the Buddhist order; the successive leaders of the Buddhist order held an important place in his thought. Here Master Dōgen enumerates the names of the patriarchs of the Buddhist order, and in doing so, he confirms the Buddhist tradition they maintained. [209] The realization of the Buddhist patriarchs1is [our] taking up the Buddhist patriarchs and paying homage to them. This is not of only the past, the present, and the future; and it may be ascendant even to the ascendant [reality] of buddha.

2 It is just to enumerate those who have maintained and relied upon the real features3 of Buddhist patriarchs, to do prostrations to them, and to meet them. Making the virtue of the Buddhist patriarchs manifest and uphold itself, we have dwelled in and maintained it, and have bowed to and experienced it. [210] (1) Great Master4 Vipaśyin Buddha —here5 called Kōsetsu [Universal Preaching]6 (2) Great Master Śikhin Buddha —here called Ka [Fire]

(3) Great Master Viśvabhū Buddha —here called Issaiji [All Benevolent] (4) Great Master Krakucchanda Buddha —here called Kinsennin [Gold Wizard] (5) Great Master Kanakamuni Buddha —here called Konjikisen [Golden Wizard] 235

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67b

(6) Great Master Kāśyapa Buddha —here called Onkō[Drinking Brightness] (7) Great Master Śākyamuni Buddha —here called Nōninjakumoku [Benevolence and Serenity] [1] Great Master Mahākāśyapa7 [2] Great Master Ānanda8 [3] Great Master Śāṇavāsa9 [4] Great Master Upagupta10 [5] Great Master Dhītika11 [6] Great Master Micchaka12 [7] Great Master Vasumitra13 [8] Great Master Buddhanandhi [9] Great Master Baddhamitra [10] Great Master Pārśva14 [11] Great Master Puṇyayaśas15 [12] Great Master Aśvaghoṣa16 [13] Great Master Kapimala17 [14] Great Master Nāgārjuna18 —also [called] Ryūju [Dragon Tree] or Ryūshō[Dragon Excellence] or Ryūmō[Dragon Might] [15] Great Master Kāṇadeva19 [16] Great Master Rāhulabhadra20 [17] Great Master Saṃghanandi21 [18] Great Master Geyāśata [19] Great Master Kumāralabdha22 236

Chapter Fifteen

[20] Great Master Gayata23 [21] Great Master Vasubandhu24 [22] Great Master Manura25 [23] Great Master Hakulenayasas26 [24] Great Master Siṃha27 [25] Great Master Vaśasuta28 [26] Great Master Puṇyamitra29 [27] Great Master Prajñātara30 [28] [1] Great Master Bodhidharma31 [29] [2] Great Master Eka32 [30] [3] Great Master Sōsan33 [31] [4] Great Master Dōshin34 [32] [5] Great Master Kōnin35 [33] [6] Great Master Enō36 [34] [7] Great Master Gyōshi37 [35] [8] Great Master Kisen38 [36] [9] Great Master Igen39 [37] [10] Great Master Donjō40 [38] [11] Great Master Ryōkai41 [39] [12] Great Master Dōyō42 [40] [13] Great Master Dōhi43 [41] [14] Great Master Kanshi44 [42] [15] Great Master Enkan45 [43] [16] Great Master Kyōgen46 67c

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[44] [17] Great Master Gisei47 [45] [18] Great Master Dōkai48 [46] [19] Great Master Shijun49 [47] [20] Great Master Seiryō50 [48] [21] Great Master Sōkaku51 [49] [22] Great Master Chikan52 [50] [23] Great Master Nyojō53 [222] Dōgen, during the summer retreat of the first year of the Hōgyō era54of the great kingdom of Song, met and served my late master, the eternal buddha of Tendō, the Great Master. I perfectly realized the act of prostrating to, and humbly receiving upon my head, this Buddhist Patriarch; it was [the realization of] buddhas alone, together with buddhas. 55

Shōbōgenzō Busso

Written at Kannondōrikōshōhōrinji in the Uji district of Yōshū,

56 Japan, and preached to the assembly there on the third day of the first lunar month in the second year of Ninji. 57

238

Notes

1 Busso. So,

"patriarch" or "ancestor,

" is originally neuter in gender. However, Master

Dōgen often uses the term sofor people of the present as well as for people of the past. Therefore, for want of a more neutral alternative, the translation "patriarch" has been preferred throughout the present volume.

2 Butsu-kōjō.See Chapter Twenty-eight (Vol. II), Butsu-kōjō-no-ji. 3 Menmoku,or "face and eyes.

"

4 "Great Master" is daioshō.The honorific term oshōwas used in China to address a master directly. The corresponding term in Sanskrit is upādhyāya(lit., preceptor, abbot, teacher). In the recitation of the names of the Buddhist patriarchs in Japan, the word daioshōgive a natural rhythm to the reciting. Appendix III shows the standard form of the recitation practiced in Japan.

5 China and Japan.

6 The names of the seven ancient buddhas and the first twenty-eight patriarchs (with the exception of the twelfth, Master Aśvaghoṣa) are represented by Chinese characters that transliterate the pronunciation of the original Sanskrit name. In general, sources for Sanskrit names and words are the Zengaku-daijitenand Sir Monier Monier-Williams's Sanskrit-English Dictionary.These two sources do not give Sanskrit equivalents for the names of the twentieth, twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fifth patriarchs. These names were rendered into Sanskrit in Nishijima Roshi's Gendaigoyaku-shōbōgenzō(Shōbōgenzō in Modern Japanese) relying on a variety of other sources. The names of the seven ancient buddhas and Master Nāgārjuna are given both in Chinese characters representing the Sanskrit pronunciation and in Chinese characters that have meaning.

7 One of the Buddha's ten great disciples, said to be foremost among the ten great disciples in nonattachment, and foremost at dhūta,the practice of austerity. He was born into a brahman family on the outskirts of Rājagṛha, and became the Buddha's disciple in the third year after the Buddha's realization of the truth. It is said that he entered the state of an arhat after only eight days. After the Buddha's death, Master Mahā kāśyapa succeeded the Buddha as leader of the Buddhist order, and organized the First Council at Rājagṛha. At the First Council, in 483 B.C.E., the Pāli canon— consisting of Vinaya (precepts) and Sutra (the Buddha's discourses)—was codified so as to be passed on through recitation to future generations. One hundred years 239

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later, in 383 B.C.E., a Second Council was held to discuss revision of the Vinaya. Here two traditions emerged: the School of the Elders (Theravādins), and the members of the Great Community (Mahāsaṃghika, later to develop into the Mahayana). A Third Council was held at Patna in 253 B.C.E.under the patronage of King Aśoka. Here the existing Vinaya and Sutra were supplemented by commentaries which later become known as the Abhidharma. The Tripiṭaka (three baskets) of Vinaya, Sutra, and Abhi dharma were later written on palm leaves in the monasteries of Sri Lanka in the first century B.C.E.Master Mahākāśyapa, having chosen Ānanda as his successor, retired to Kukkuṭapāda Mountain and passed away while sitting in zazen. See for example Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji.

8 Also one of the Buddha's ten great disciples, foremost at remembering the Buddha's preaching. The Buddha's half brother, and only a few days younger than the Buddha himself, he served the Buddha as an attendant monk. Though a monk for forty-four years, he had not realized the truth when the Buddha died. However, he is said to have become an arhat shortly before the First Council at Rājagṛha, where he was to recall the Buddha's discourses for posterity.

9 See for example Chapter Twelve, Kesa-kudoku.

10 See for example Chapter Eighty-six (Vol. IV), Shukke-kudoku;and Chapter Ninety (Vol. IV), Shizen-biku.

11 A native of the ancient Indian state of Magadha. See for example Chapter Eighty-six (Vol. IV), Shukke-kudoku.

12 A native of central India. His name is written either as Micchaka or as Miccaka. 13 A native of the northern Indian state of Gandhāra, born at the end of the first century C.E.He is said to have organized, in the kingdom of Kaniṣka, the Fourth Council, where he compiled the Abhidharmamahāvibhāṣa-śāstra.See for example Chapter Seventy-seven (Vol. IV), Kokū.

14 A native of central India. He is also said to have presided over the Fourth Council. He was called the Side Saint, because he made a vow never to sleep like a corpse, on his back. See for example Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji. 15 A native of the ancient Indian state of Kośala.

16 The Sanskrit aśvaghoṣaliterally means "horse whinny" and in the source text the name is represented not phonetically but by the Chinese characters memyō, "horse

whinny.

" A native of Śrāvastī, he was distinguished in music and in literature. His Buddhist writings include the Buddhacarita,a biography of the Buddha in metric form.

17 A native of the central Indian state of Magadha. It is said that at first he led a non-Buddhist group of three thousand disciples, but later he met Master Aśvaghoṣa, realized the truth, and spread the Dharma through the west of India. 240

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18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 The three Chinese names for Master Nāgārjuna are Ryūju, Ryūshō, and Ryūmō. In each case, ryū,

"dragon,

" represents the meaning of the Sanskrit nāga.In the case of Ryūju, the Chinese character for tree, ju,may represent either the sound or the meaning of the Sanskrit arjuna,which is the name of a tree.

Master Nāgārjuna lived in the second or third century C.E.He was born into a brahman family in southern India. When he became a monk he first studied the Hinayana canon, but later journeyed to the Himalayas and learned the teachings of the Mahayana from a venerable old bhikṣu.Eventually he succeeded Master Kapimala and compiled many fundamental Mahayana texts, including the Madhyamaka-kārikā. The Mahā prajñāpāramitopadeśais also attributed to him. See for example, Chapter Twelve, Kesa-kudoku;Chapter Seventy (Vol. II), Hotsu-bodaishin; Chapter Eightyfive (Vol. IV), Shime;Chapter Eighty-nine (Vol. IV), Shinjin-inga;and Chapter Ninety (Vol. IV), Shizen-biku.

Called Kāṇadeva because of his loss of an eye (the Sanskrit kāṇameans one-eyed). Also called Āryadeva. He lived in southern India in the third century and is said to have been killed by a non-Buddhist. See for example Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō.

A native of Kapilavastu, in present-day Nepal.

A native of the city of Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient state of Kośala. See for example Chapter Eighty-four (Vol. IV), Sanji-no-gō; and Chapter Eightynine (Vol. IV), Shinjin-inga. A native of northern India. See for example Chapter Eighty-four (Vol. IV), Sanji-nogō; and Chapter Eighty-nine (Vol. IV), Shinjin-inga. Born in the fifth century in Puruṣapura (close to present-day Peshawar), the capital of Gandhāra. His many works include the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya.Master Vasubandhu's brothers Asaṅga and Buddhasiṃla were also prominent Buddhist philosophers of the time. Their teaching formed the basis of the Yogācāra shool. The Yogācāra school and the Madhyamaka school of Master Nāgārjuna are seen as the two major streams of Mahayana Buddhism in India.

The son of the king of Nadai (Sanskrit equivalent unknown). Became a monk at the age of thirty.

Born into a brahman family. He spread the Dharma in central India. Born into a brahman family in central India. He spread the Dharma in the northern state of Kaśmīra (present-day Kashmir). It is said that he was executed by the king of Kaśmīra. See Chapter Eighty-four (Vol. IV), Sanji-no-gō. A native of western India.

A native of southern India.

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30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Born into a brahman family in eastern India. See for example Chapter Twenty-one (Vol. II), Kankin;and Chapter Forty-two (Vol. III), Kūge.

The third son of a southern Indian king. Having succeeded Master Prajñā tara, he sailed to China during the reign of Emperor Bu (r. 502-549) of the Liang dynasty and became the First Buddhist Patriarch in China. He went to the Songshan Mountains in central northern China to practice zazen, and transmitted the Dharma to Master Taiso Eka. See for example Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji;Chapter Forty-six (Vol. III), Kattō;Chapter Forty-nine (Vol. III), Butsudō; and Chapter Seventy-two (Vol. IV), Zanmai-ō-zanmai.

Master Taiso Eka (Ch. Dazu Huike). See for example Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji; Chapter Forty-six (Vol. III), Kattō;and Chapter Forty-eight (Vol. III), Sesshin-sesshō. Master Kanchi Sōsan (Ch. Jianzhi Sengcan). It is said that he was already in his forties when he became a disciple of Master Taiso Eka. He wrote the Shinjinmei(Inscription on Believing Mind). To escape persecution by Emperor Bu (r. 561-578) of the Northern Zhou dynasty, he secluded himself in the mountains for ten years. Master Daii Dōshin (Ch. Dayi Daoxin). Became a disciple of Master Kanchi Sōsan at the age of fourteen, and succeeded him after nine years. Died in 651. Master Daiman Kōnin (Ch. Daman Hongren) (688-761). See for example Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō.

Master Daikan Enō (Ch. Dajian Huineng) (638-713). Spent eight months working as a temple servant at Master Daiman Kōnin's temple, in which time he received the master's affirmation and the authentic transmission of the Buddhist robe. After that he lived on Sōkeizan and spread Buddhism from there for forty years. Master Dōgen revered Master Daikan Enō very highly as "the Founding Patriarch" and "the eternal buddha.

" See for example Chapter One, Bendōwa; Chapter Seven, Senjō;Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō;Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji;Chapter Forty-four (Vol. III), Kobusshin;and Chapter Forty-nine (Vol. III), Butsudō. Master Seigen Gyōshi (Ch. Qingyuan Xingsi). Died in 740. See for example Chapter Forty-nine (Vol. III), Butsudō.

Master Sekitō Kisen (Ch. Shitou Xiqian) (700-790). Had his head shaved by the aged Master Daikan Enō, who advised him to follow Master Seigen Gyōshi. It is said that after succeeding Master Seigen, he built a hut on a rock, earning himself the nickname Sekitō (On Top of the Rock). He wrote the Sekitōsōan-no-uta(Songs from Seki tō' s

Thatched Hut) and the Sandōkai(Experiencing the State). See for example Chapter Forty-nine (Vol. III), Butsudō.

Master Yakusan Igen (Ch. Yueshan Weiyan) (745-828). Having become a monk at the age of seventeen, he learned the sutras and commentaries, kept the precepts, and met Master Sekitō Kisen, at whose suggestion he also visited Master Baso Dōitsu. Eventually he became Master Sekitō's successor. See for example Chapter Twentyseven (Vol. II), Zazenshin. 242

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40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Master Ungan Donjō (Ch. Yunyan Tansheng) (782-841). Practiced for twenty years under Master Hyakujō Ekai, after whose death he became the disciple of Master Yakusan. See for example Chapter Fifty-three (Vol. III), Mujō-seppō;and Chapter Sixty-three (Vol. III), Ganzei.

Master Tōzan Ryōkai (Ch. Dongshan Liangjie) (807-869). Became a monk at the age of twenty-one and traveled around visiting Buddhist masters including Master Nansen Fugan and Master Isan Reiyū. At the latter's suggestion he became the disciple and later the successor of Master Ungan. He wrote the Hōkyōzanmai(Samādhi, the State of a Jewel-Mirror). See for example Chapter Forty-eight (Vol. III), Sesshinsesshō;Chapter Fifty-three (Vol. III), Mujō-seppō;Chapter Sixty-three (Vol. III), Ganzei;and Chapter Sixty-six (Vol. III), Shunjū.

Master Ungo Dōyō (Ch. Yunju Daoying) (835?-902). Having succeeded Master Tōzan, he spread the Dharma from Ungozan for thirty years. It is said that his disciples always numbered at least fifteen hundred.

Master Dōan Dōhi (Ch. Tongan Daopi). He lived on Hōseizan in the Kōshū district, but his life history is not known.

Master Dōan Kanshi (Ch. Tongan Guanzhi). His life history is unclear. Master Ryōzan Enkan (Ch. Liangshan Yuanguan). His life history is also unclear. Master Taiyō Kyōgen (Ch. Dayang Jingxuan) (942-1027). Became a monk under a certain Master Chitsu, then traveled around learning Buddhism under various masters before becoming the disciple and eventually the successor of Master Ryōzan. When Master Taiyō was about to die, he entrusted his robe, pātra, etc. to Master Fuzan Hōen to give to Master Fuzan's disciple Tōsu Gisei, thus making Master Tōsu his successor. See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 3, no. 43.

Master Tōsu Gisei (Ch. Touzi Yiqing) (1032-1083). Became a monk at the age of seven. Later spent about six years in the order of Master Fuzan Hōen (a member of Master Rinzai's lineage). Receiving the portrait, shoes and other personal effects entrusted by Master Taiyō to Master Fuzan, Master Tōsu succeeded Master Taiyō as the tenth-generation descendant in the lineage of Master Seigen Gyōshi. Gorokuin two volumes. See for example Chapter Fifty-three (Vol. III), Mujō-seppō;and Chapter Sixty-four (Vol. III), Kajō.

Master Fuyō Dōkai (Ch. Furong Daokai) (1043-1118). Having realized the Dharma under Master Tōsu, he preached on Taiyōzan and at other temples. The Song emperor Kisō (r. 1101-1126) bestowed on him a purple robe and the title Zen Master Jōshō, but Master Fuyō refused to accept them and was consequently banished. Later he was pardoned and built himself a thatched hut on Fuyōzan, where he lived in the ancient style. See for example Chapter Fourteen, Sansuigyō;and Chapter Sixty-four (Vol. III), Kajō.

Master Tanka Shijun (Ch. Danxia Zichun) (1064-1117). Having succeeded Master Fuyō, he lived on Tankazan, with such disciples as Master Wanshi Shōgaku and 243

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MasterShinketsu Seiryō. Gorokuin two volumes. The six-volume Kidōshū(Kidō Collection) is also a record of the words of Master Tanka Shijun. Kidō (lit., "empty

hall") was probably one of Master Tanka's names.

50 Master Shinketsu Seiryō (Ch. Zhenxie Qingliao) (1089-1151). Goroku in two volumes. 51 Master Tendō Sōkaku (Ch. Tiantong Zongjue). Though he was the grandfather in Buddhism of Master Tendō Nyojō, his life history is not known clearly. 52 Master Setchō Chikan (Ch. Xuedou Zhijian) (1105-1192). See for example Chapter Fifty-one (Vol. III), Mitsugo.

53 Master Tendō Nyojō (Ch. Tiantong Rujing) (1163-1228). After realizing the Dharma in Master Chikan's order, he traveled around and taught at temples in many districts for forty years. While living at Jyōji ji, in 1224 he received an imperial edict to become the master of Keitokuzenji on Tendōzan, where he was to teach Master Dōgen. See for example Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji;Chapter Fifty-nine (Vol. III), Baike;and Chapter Seventy-two (Vol. III), Zanmai-ō-zanmai.

54 1225.

55 "Perfectly realize" is gujin.

"Buddhas alone, together with buddhas" is yui-butsu-yobutsu.These words are from a sentence in the Lotus Sutrawhich Master Dōgen often quoted: "Buddhas alone, together with buddhas, can perfectly realize that all dharmas are real form.

" (LS 1.684)

56 Yōshū was the Japanese pronunciation of the name of a district in China. People of the time, looking up to China, borrowed the Chinese name, probably for the district then called Yamashiro-no-kuni. The area corresponds to present-day Kyoto prefecture. 57 1241.

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Chapter 16: Shisho - The Certificate of Succession

[Chapter Sixteen]

Shisho

The Certificate of Succession Translator's Note: Shi means "

succession

"

or

"transmission.

" Shomeans

"

certificate.

" So shishomeans

"the certificate of succession. " Buddhism is

not only theory but also practice or experience. Therefore it is impossible for a Buddhist disciple to attain the Buddhist truth only by reading Buddhist sutras or listening to a master '

s lectures. The disciple must live with a master and study the master

'

s behavior in everyday life. After a disciple has learned the master

'

s life and has realized the Buddhist truth in his or her own life, the master gives a certificate to the disciple, certifying the transmission of the truth from master to disciple. This certificate is called shisho.From a materialistic viewpoint, the certificate is only cloth and ink, and so it cannot hold religious meaning or be revered as something with religious value. But Buddhism is a realistic religion, and Buddhists find religious value in many concrete traditions. The certificate is one such traditional object that is revered by Buddhists. Therefore Master Dōgen found much value in this certificate. In this chapter he explains why the certificate is revered by Buddhists, and records his own experiences of seeing such certificates in China. [3] Buddhas, without exception, receive the Dharma from buddhas, buddhato-buddha, and patriarchs, without exception, receive the Dharma from patriarchs, patriarch-to-patriarch; this is experience of the [Buddha's] state, 1 this

is the one-to-one transmission, and for this reason it is "the supreme state of bodhi.

" It is impossible to certify a buddha without being a buddha, and no one becomes a buddha without receiving the certification of a buddha. Who but a buddha can esteem this state as the most honored and approve it as the supreme? When we receive the certification of a buddha, we realize the state independently, without a master, 2 and we realize the state independently, without our self.

3 For this reason, we speak of buddhas really experiencing the succession, and of patriarchs really experiencing the same state. The 68a

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import of this truth cannot be clarified by anyone other than buddhas. How could it be the thought of [bodhisattvas in] the ten states or the state of balanced awareness?4 How much less could it be supposed by teachers of sutras, teachers of commentaries, and the like? Even if we explain it to them, they will not be able to hear it, because it is transmitted between buddhas, buddha-to-buddha.

[5] Remember, the Buddha's state of truth is the perfect realization only of buddhas, and without buddhas it has no time. The state is like, for example, stones succeeding each other as stones, jewels succeeding each other as jewels, chrysanthemums succeeding each other, and pine trees certifying each other, at which time the former chrysanthemum and the latter chrysanthemum are each real as they are, and the former pine and the latter pine are each real as they are. People who do not clarify the state like this, even if they encounter the truth authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha, cannot even suspect what kind of truth is being expressed; they do not possess the understanding that buddhas succeed each other and that patriarchs experience the same state. It is pitiful that though they appear to be the Buddha's progeny, they are not the Buddha's children, and they are not child-buddhas. [6] Sōkei,

5 on one occasion, preaches to the assembly,

"From the Seven

Buddhas to Enō there are forty buddhas, and from Enō to the Seven Buddhas there are forty patriarchs.

"6This truth is clearly the fundamental teaching to

which the Buddhist patriarchs have authentically succeeded. Among these "Seven Buddhas,

" some have appeared during the past kalpaof resplendence7 and some have appeared in the present kalpaof the wise. 8At the same time,

to connect in a line the face-to-face transmissions of the forty patriarchs is the truth of Buddha, and is the succession of Buddha. This being so, going up from the Sixth Patriarch to the Seven Buddhas, there are forty patriarchs who are the buddha successors, and going down from the Seven Buddhas to the Sixth Patriarch, the forty buddhas must be the buddha successors. The truth of buddhas, and the truth of patriarchs, is like this. Without experience of the state, without being a Buddhist patriarch, we do not have the wisdom of a buddha and do not have the perfect realization of a patriarch. Without a buddha's wisdom, we lack belief in the state of buddha. Without a patriarch's perfect realization, we do not experience the same state as a patriarch. To speak of forty patriarchs, for the present, is just to cite those who are close. 246

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Thus, the succession from buddha to buddha is profound and eternal; it is without regression or deviation and without interruption or cessation. The fundamental point is this: although Śākyamuni Buddha realizes the truth before the Seven Buddhas, it has taken him a long time to succeed to the Dharma of Kāśyapa Buddha.

9 Although he realizes the truth on the eighth

day of the twelfth month, thirty years after his descent and birth, [this] is realization of the truth before the Seven Buddhas; it is the same realization of the truth shoulder-to-shoulder with, and in time with, the many buddhas; it is realization of the truth before the many buddhas; and it is realization of the truth after all the many buddhas. There is also the principle to be mastered in practice that Kāśyapa Buddha succeeds to the Dharma of Śākyamuni Buddha. Those who do not know this principle do not clarify the Buddha's state of truth. Without clarifying the Buddha's state of truth, they are not the Buddha's successors. The Buddha's successors means the Buddha's children. Śākyamuni Buddha, on one occasion, causes Ānanda to ask, 10 "Whose disciples are the buddhas of the past?" Śākyamuni Buddha says, "The buddhas

of the past are the disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha.

" The Buddhist doctrine

of all the buddhas is like this.

[9] To serve these buddhas and to accomplish the succession of Buddha is just the Buddha's truth [practiced by] every buddha. This Buddha's truth is always transmitted in the succession of the Dharma, at which time there is inevitably a certificate of succession. Without the succession of Dharma, we would be non-Buddhists of naturalism. If the Buddha's truth did not dictate the succession of Dharma, how could it have reached the present day? Therefore, in [the transmission] that is [from] buddha [to] buddha, a certificate of succession, of buddha succeeding buddha, is inevitably present, and a certificate of succession, of buddha succeeding buddha, is received. As regards the concrete situation of the certificate of succession, some succeed to the Dharma on clarifying the sun, the moon, and the stars, and some succeed to the Dharma on being made to get the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow;11 some receive a kaṣāya;some receive a staff; some receive a sprig of pine; some receive a whisk;12 some receive an uḍumbaraflower; and some receive a robe of golden brocade.

13There have been successions with straw sandals14

and successions with a bamboo stick.

15When such successions of the Dharma

are received, some write a certificate of succession with blood from a finger, 247

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some write a certificate of succession with blood from a tongue, and some perform the succession of Dharma by writing [a certificate] with oil and milk; these are all certificates of succession. The one who has performed the succession and the one who has received it are both the Buddha's successors. Truly, whenever [Buddhist patriarchs] are realized as Buddhist patriarchs, the succession of the Dharma is inevitably realized. When [the succession] is realized, many Buddhist patriarchs [find that] though they did not expect it, it has come, and though they did not seek it, they have succeeded to the Dharma. Those who have the succession of Dharma are, without exception, the buddhas and the patriarchs.

[12] Since the twenty-eighth patriarch16 came from the west, the fundamental principle has been rightly heard in the Eastern Lands that there is in Buddhism the succession of the Dharma. Before that time, we never heard it at all. [Even] in the Western Heavens, it is neither attained nor known by teachers of commentaries, Dharma teachers, and the like. It is also beyond [bodhisattvas of] the ten sacred and the three clever states. Teachers of mantric techniques who intellectually study the Tripiṭaka17are not able even to suspect that it exists. Deplorably, though they have received the human body which is a vessel for the state of truth, they have become uselessly entangled in the net of theory, and so they do not know the method of liberation and they do not hope for the opportunity to spring free. Therefore, we should learn the state of truth in detail, and we should concentrate our resolve to realize the state in practice.

[13] Dōgen, when in Song [China], had the opportunity to bow before certificates of succession, and there were many kinds of certificate. One among them was that of the veteran master Iichi Seidō18 who had hung his traveling staff at Tendō [Temple]. He was a man from the Etsu district, and was the former abbot of Kōfukuji. He was a native of the same area as my late master. My late master always used to say,

"For familiarity with the state, ask Iichi

Seidō!" One day Seidō said,

"Admirable old [calligraphic] traces are prized

possessions of the human world. How many of them have you seen?" Dōgen said,

"I have seen few.

" Then Seidō said,

"I have a scroll of old calligraphy

in my room. It is a roster. I will let you see it, venerable brother. " So saying,

he fetched it, and I saw that it was a certificate of succession. It was a certificate of the succession of Hōgen's19 lineage, and had been obtained from among 248

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the robes and pātra20of an old veteran monk: it was not that of the venerable Iichi himself. The way it was written is as follows: "The first patriarch Mahākāśyapa realized the truth under Śākyamuni Buddha; Śākyamuni Buddha realized the truth under Kāśyapa Buddha. . . .

"It was written like this. Seeing

it, Dōgen decisively believed in the succession of the Dharma from rightful successor to rightful successor. [The certificate] was Dharma that I had never before seen. It was a moment in which the Buddhist patriarchs mystically respond to and protect their descendants. The feeling of gratitude was beyond endurance.

[15] The veteran monk Shūgetsu, while he was assigned to the post of head monk21 on Tendō, showed Dōgen a certificate of succession of Unmon's lineage. The master directly above the person now receiving the certificate, and the Buddhist patriarchs of the Western Heavens and the Eastern Lands, were arranged in columns, and under those was the name of the person receiving the certificate. All the Buddhist patriarchs were directly aligned with the name of this new ancestral master. Thus, the more than forty generations from the Tathāgata all converged on the name of the new successor. For example, it was as if each of them had handed down [the Dharma] to the new patriarch. Mahākāśyapa, Ānanda, and so on, were aligned as if [they belonged to] separate lineages.

22 At that time, Dōgen asked Head Monk

Shūgetsu,

"Master, nowadays there are slight differences among the five sects23 in their alignment [of names]. What is the reason? If the succession from the Western Heavens has passed from rightful successor to rightful successor, how could there be differences?" Shūgetsu said, "Even if the difference

were great, we should just study that the buddhas of Unmonzan are like this. Why is Old Master Śākyamuni honored by others? He is an honored one because he realized the truth. Why is Great Master Unmon honored by others? He is an honored one because he realized the truth.

" Dōgen, hearing these

words, had a little [clearer] understanding. Nowadays many leaders of the great temples24 in Kōsoshō and Setsukōshō25 are successors to the Dharma of Rinzai, Unmon, Tōzan, and so on. However, among fellows claiming to be distant descendants of Rinzai a certain wrongness is sometimes contrived; namely, they attend the order of a good counselor, and cordially request a hanging portrait and a scroll of Dharma words,

26 which they stash away as

standards of their succession to the Dharma. At the same time, there is a 249

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group of dogs who, [prowling] in the vicinity of a venerable patriarch, cordially request Dharma words, portraits, and so on, which they hoard away to excess; then, when they become senior in years, they pay money to government officials and they seek to get a temple, [but] when they are assigned as abbots they do not receive the Dharma from the master [who gave them] the Dharma words and the portrait. They receive the Dharma from fellows of fame and repute of the present generation, or from old veterans who are intimate with kings and ministers, and when they do so they have no interest in getting the Dharma but are only greedy for fame and reputation. It is deplorable that there are wrong customs like this in the corrupt age of the latter Dharma. Among people like these, not one person has ever seen or heard the truth of the Buddhist patriarchs, even in a dream. In general, with respect to the granting of Dharma words, portraits, and so forth, they may be given to lecturers of doctrine and laymen and laywomen, and they may be granted to temple servants, tradesmen, and the like. This principle is clear from the records of many masters. Sometimes, when some undeserving person, out of a rash desire for evidence of succession to the Dharma, wants to get a certificate, [a master] will reluctantly take up the writing brush, though those who possess the truth hate to do so. In such a case the certificate does not follow the traditional form; [the master] just writes some brief note saying "succeeded me.

" The method of recent times is simply to succeed to the Dharma as soon as one attains proficiency in the order of a particular master, with that master as one's master. [That is to say, there are] people who, although they have not received certification from their former master, are occupying the long platform [of another temple] that they have visited only for entry into [the master's] room and formal preaching in the Dharma hall; [but] when they break open the great matter while staying at [this other] temple, they do not have the time to uphold the transmission of their [original] master; instead they very often take this [new] master as their master. Another matter: there was a certain Library Chief27 Den, a distant descendant of Zen Master Butsugen, that is, Master Seion of Ryūmon. 28 This Library Chief Den also had

a certificate of succession in his possession. In the early years of the Kajō era,

29 when this Library Chief Den had fallen ill, Venerable Elder30 Ryūzen, though a Japanese, had nursed Library Chief Den with care; so [Library Chief 250

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Den] had taken out the certificate of succession and let [Ryūzen] bow before it to thank him for his nursing work, because his labors had been unremitting. [At that time Library Chief Den] had said,

"This is something hardly seen.

I will let you bow before it.

" Eight years later, in the autumn of the sixteenth

year of Kajō,

31 when Dōgen first stopped on Tendōzan, Venerable Elder Ryūzen kindly asked Library Chief Den to let Dōgen see the certificate of succession. The form of the certificate was as follows: the forty-five patriarchs from the Seven Buddhas to Rinzai were written in columns, while the masters following Rinzai formed a circle in which were transcribed the masters' original Dharma names32and their written seals. 33The [name of the] new successor

was written at the end, under the date. We should know that the venerable patriarchs of Rinzai's lineage have this kind of difference. [21] My late master, the abbot of Tendō, profoundly cautioned people against bragging about succeeding to the Dharma. Truly, the order of my late master was the order of an eternal buddha, it was the revival of the monastery. 34

He himself did not wear a patterned kaṣāya.He had a patched Dharma robe transmitted from Zen Master Dōkai of Fuyōzan,

35 but he did not wear it

[even] to ascend the seat of formal preaching in the Dharma hall. In short, he never wore a patterned Dharma robe throughout his life as an abbot. Those who had the mind and those who did not know things all praised him and honored him as a true good counselor. My late master, the eternal buddha, in formal preaching in the Dharma hall would constantly admonish monks in all directions, saying,

"Recently many people who have borrowed the

name of the Patriarch's truth randomly wear the Dharma robe and like [to have] long hair, and they sign their name with the title of master as a vessel of promotion. They are pitiful. Who will save them? It is lamentable that the old veterans of all directions have no will to the truth and so they do not learn the state of truth. There are few who have even seen and heard of the causes and conditions of the certificate of succession and the succession of the Dharma. Among a hundred thousand people there is not even one! This is [due to] the decline of the Patriarch's truth.

" He was always admonishing the

old veterans of the whole country like this, but they did not resent him. In conclusion, wherever [people] are sincerely pursuing the truth they are able to see and to hear that the certificate of succession exists. "To have seen and

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heard" may be "learning the state of truth" itself. On the Rinzai certificate of succession, first the [master] writes the name [of the successor], then writes "Disciple So-and-So served under me,

" or writes "has attended my order,

"

or writes "entered my inner sanctum,

" or writes "succeeded me,

" and then

lists the former patriarchs in order. [So] it also shows a trace of traditional36 instruction about the Dharma, the point being for the successor simply to meet a true good counselor, regardless of whether the meeting is in the end or in the beginning: this is the unassailable fundamental principle. 37Among

[certificates of] the Rinzai [lineage], there are some written as described above—I saw them with my own eyes, and so I have written about them. [24] "Library Chief Ryōha38 is a person of the Ibu39 district, and now he is my disciple. [I,] Tokkō,

40 served Kō41 of Kinzan. Kinzan succeeded

Gon42 of Kassan. Gon succeeded En43 of Yōgi. En succeeded Tan44 of Kaie. Tan succeeded E45 of Yōgi. E succeeded En46 of Jimyō. En succeeded Shō47 of Fun'yō. Shō succeeded Nen48 of Shuzan. Nen succeeded Shō49 of Fuketsu. Shō succeeded Gyō of Nan'in.

50 Gyō succeeded Shō51 of Kōke. Shō was the

excellent rightful successor of the founding patriarch Rinzai. "52

[27]Zen Master Busshō Tokkō of Aikuōzan53 wrote this and presented it to Musai [Ryō]ha. When [Musai Ryōha] was the abbot of Tendō, my brother monk54 Chiyu secretly brought it to the Dormitory of Quiescence55 to show to Dōgen. That was the first time I saw it, the twenty-first day of the first lunar month of the seventeenth year of the great Song era of Kajō [1224]. How overjoyed I felt! This was just the mystical response of the Buddhist patriarchs. I burned incense and did prostrations, then opened and read it. My asking for this certificate of succession to be brought out [happened as follows]: Around the seventh lunar month of the previous year [1223], in the Hall of Serene Light, Chief Officer56 Shikō had told Dōgen about it in secret. Dōgen had asked the chief in passing,

"Nowadays, what person would have

one in their possession?" The chief said,

"It seems that the venerable abbot

has one in his room. In future, if you cordially request him to bring it out, he will surely show it [to you].

" Dōgen, after hearing these words, never

stopped hoping, day or night. So in that year (1224), I cordially put my humble request to brother monk Chiyu. I did so with all my heart, and the request was granted. The base on which [the certificate] was written was a 252

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lining of white silk, and the cover was red brocade. The rod was precious stone, about nine inches57 long. [The scroll's] extent was more than seven feet.

58 It was never shown to an idle person. Dōgen thanked Chiyu at once, and then went straightway to visit the abbot, to burn incense and to bow in thanks to Master Musai. At that time Musai said, "This sort of thing is rarely

able to be seen or known. Now, venerable brother, you have been able to know of it. This is just the real refuge in learning the truth. " At this Dōgen's

joy was uncontainable. Later, in the Hōgyō era, 59 while traveling as a cloud

between Tendaizan,

60 Ganzan, and so on, Dōgen arrived at Mannenji61 in the Heiden district. The master of the temple at that time was Master Genshi from Fukushū province. Master [Gen]shi had been assigned following the retirement of the veteran patriarch Sokan and he had completely revitalized the temple. While I was making personal salutations, we had a conversation about the traditional customs of the Buddhist patriarchs, and while quoting the story of the succession from Daii62 to Kyōzan, 63 the veteran master said,

"Have you ever seen the certificate of succession [that I have] in my room?" Dōgen said,

"How might I have the chance to see it?" The veteran master himself immediately rose and, holding aloft the certificate of succession, 64

he said,

"I have not shown this even to intimates, or even to those who have spent years serving as attendant monks. That is the Buddhist patriarchs' Dharma instruction. However, while staying in the city on my usual visit to the city in order to meet the governor of the district, Genshi had the following dream: An eminent monk, whom I supposed to be Zen Master Hōjō of Daibai zan, 65 appeared holding up a branch of plum blossoms and said, 'If there is

a real person who has crossed the side of a ship, do not begrudge [these] blossoms.

' Thus saying, he gave the plum blossoms to me. Unconsciously, Genshi dreamed of chanting,

'Even before he has stepped over the side of

the ship, I would like to give him thirty strokes!' In any event, five days have not passed and I meet you, venerable brother. What is more, you have crossed over the side of a ship. And this certificate of succession is written on cloth patterned with plum blossoms. You must be what Daibai was telling me about. You match the image in the dream exactly and so I have brought out [the certificate]. Venerable brother, would you like to receive the Dharma from me? If you desire it, I will not begrudge it. " Dōgen could not contain

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his belief and excitement. Though he had said that I might request the certificate of succession, I only venerated and served him, burning incense and performing prostrations. Present at that time was a [monk] called Hōnei, an assistant for the burning of incense; he said that it was the first time he had seen the certificate of succession. Dōgen thought inwardly, "It would be very

difficult indeed to see and to hear this sort of thing without the mystical help of the Buddhist patriarchs. Why should a stupid fellow from a remote land be so fortunate as to see it several times?" My sleeves became damp with the tears of gratitude. At that time the Vimalakīrti Room, the Great Hall, 66

and the other rooms were quiet and empty; there was no one about. This certificate of succession was written on white silk patterned with plum blossoms fallen on the ground. It was more than nine inches across, and it extended to a length of more than a fathom. The rod was of a yellow precious stone and the cover was brocade. On the way back from Tendaizan to Tendō, Dōgen lodged at the overnight quarters of Goshōji on Daibaizan. [Here] I dreamed a mystical dream in which the ancestral master Daibai came and gave me a branch of plum flowers in bloom. A patriarch's mirror is the most reliable thing there is. The blossoms on that branch were more than a foot in diameter. How could the plum blossoms not have been the flowers of the uḍumbara?67 It may be that the state in a dream and the state in waking consciousness are equally real. Dōgen, while in Song [China] and since returning to this country, has not before related [the above] to any person.

[33] Today in our lineage from Tōzan [the way] the certificate of succession is written is different from [the way] it is written in the Rinzai and other [lineages]. The founding patriarch Seigen,

68 in front of Sōkei's desk,

personally drew pure blood from his finger to copy [the certificate] that the Buddhist patriarch had kept inside his robe, and [thus] he received the authentic transmission. Legend says that [the certificate] was written and transmitted using a mixture of this finger blood and blood from the finger of Sōkei. Legend says that in the case of the First Patriarch and the Second Patriarch also, a rite of mixing blood was performed.

69We do not write such words as

"My disciple" or "Served me.

" This is the form of the certificate of succession

written and transmitted by the many buddhas and by the Seven Buddhas. So remember that Sōkei graciously mixed his own blood with the pure blood of Seigen, and Seigen mixed his own pure blood with Sōkei's own blood, 254

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and that the founding patriarch, Master Seigen, was thus the only one to receive the direct certification—it was beyond other patriarchs. People who know this fact assert that the Buddha-Dharma was authentically transmitted only to Seigen.

[34] My late master, the eternal buddha, the great master and abbot of Tendō, preached the following: "The buddhas, without exception, have experienced the succession of the Dharma. That is to say, Śākyamuni Buddha received the Dharma from Kāśyapa Buddha, Kāśyapa Buddha received the Dharma from Kanakamuni Buddha, and Kanakamuni Buddha received the Dharma from Krakucchanda Buddha.

70We should believe that the succession

has passed like this from buddha to buddha until the present. This is the way of learning Buddhism.

" Then Dōgen said,

"It was after Kāśyapa Buddha had

entered nirvana that Śākyamuni Buddha first appeared in the world and realized the truth. Furthermore, how could the buddhas of the kalpaof wisdom receive the Dharma from the buddhas of the kalpaof resplendence?71What [do you think] of this principle?" My late master said, "What you have just

expressed is understanding [based on] listening to theories. It is the way of [bodhisattvas at] the ten sacred stages or the three clever stages. It is not the way [transmitted by] the Buddhist patriarchs from rightful successor to rightful successor. Our way, transmitted from buddha to buddha, is not like that. We have learned that Śākyamuni Buddha definitely received the Dharma from Kāśyapa Buddha. We learn in practice that Kāśyapa Buddha entered nirvana after Śākyamuni Buddha succeeded to the Dharma. If Śākyamuni Buddha did not receive the Dharma from Kāśyapa Buddha, he might be the same as a naturalistic non-Buddhist. Who then could believe in Śākyamuni Buddha? Because the succession has passed like this from buddha to buddha, and has arrived at the present, the individual buddhas are all authentic successors, and they are neither arranged in a line nor gathered in a group. We just learn that the succession passes from buddha to buddha like this. It need not be related to the measurements of kalpas and the measurements of lifetimes mentioned in the teaching of the Āgamas. If we say that [the succession] was established solely by Śākyamuni Buddha, it has existed for little over two thousand years, [so] it is not old; and the successions [number] little more than forty, [so] they might be called recent. This Buddhist succession is not to be studied like that. We learn that Śākyamuni Buddha succeeded to the Dharma 255

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of Kāśyapa Buddha, and we learn that Kāśyapa Buddha succeeded to the Dharma of Śākyamuni Buddha. When we learn it like this, it is truly the succession of the Dharma of the buddhas and the patriarchs. " Then Dōgen not

only accepted, for the first time, the existence of Buddhist patriarchs' succession of the Dharma, but also got rid of an old nest. 72

Shōbōgenzō Shisho

Written at Kannondōrikōshōhōrinji on the seventh day of the third lunar month in the second year of Japan's Ninji era, 73 by [a

monk] who entered Song [China] and received the transmission of the Dharma, śramaṇaDōgen.

The twenty-fourth day of the ninth lunar month in [the first year of] Kangen. 74 Hung

our traveling staffs at old Kippōji, a thatched cottage in Yoshida district of Echizen.

75 (written seal)76

256

Notes

1 Shōkai. Shōmeans experience. Kaimeans pledge, promise, accord, or binding agreement and, by extension, the state which is exactly the same as the state of Gautama Buddha.

2 Mushi-dokugo.This expression appears repeatedly in the Shōbōgenzō. 3 Muji-dokugo.This is Master Dōgen's variation.

4 Jūchi-tōgaku.It is said that bodhisattvas pass through fifty-two stages on the way to buddhahood. The forty-first to the fiftieth stages are jūchi,the ten sacred stages. The fifty-first stage is tōkaku,or "balanced awareness, " and the ultimate stage is myōkaku,

or "subtle awareness.

"

5 Master Daikan Enō (638-713), successor of Master Daiman Kōnin. 6 Master Daikan Enō was the Sixth Patriarch in China, counting from Master Bodhi dharma as the First Patriarch in China. He was the thirty-third patriarch, counting from the Buddha's successor, Master Mahākāśyapa as the first patriarch. And he was the fortieth patriarch counting from Vipaśyin Buddha, the first of the seven ancient buddhas.

7 Shōgonkō.The past age extending from the eternal past to Viśvabhū Buddha (the third of the Seven Buddhas), in which one thousand buddhas appeared. 8 Kengō,from the Sanskrit bhadra-kalpa,the age in which we are living now. 9 Kāśyapa Buddha is the sixth of the Seven Buddhas. 10 Master Ānanda is the second patriarch in India. See Chapter Fifteen, Busso. 11 Refers to the transmission between Master Bodhidharma and Master Taiso Eka. See Chapter Forty-six (Vol. III), Kattō.

12 Hossu(Skt. vyajana), a whisk usually with a long plume of white animal hair, held by a Buddhist master during a lecture or ceremony, originally used in India to clear insects from one's path.

13 Refers to the transmission between the Buddha and Master Mahākāśyapa. See Chapter Sixty-eight (Vol. III), Udonge.

14 For example, the succession between Master Taiyō Kyōgen and Master Tōsu Gisei (see notes to Chapter Fifteen, Busso).

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15 Shippei.A stick about three feet long, made of split bamboo, with a ceremonial handle. It is used, for example, in the ceremony to inaugurate a head monk. 16 Master Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch in China. 17 Sanzō, lit.,

"three storehouses,

" from the Sanskrit Tripiṭaka (three baskets): Sutra, Vinaya (precepts), and Abhidharma (commentaries). 18 Seidō, lit.,

"west hall,

" is a title of respect for a veteran master who has retired from his own temple and is now living as a guest in the west hall of another temple. 19 Master Hōgen Bun'eki (885-958), the successor of Master Rakan Keichin, who was a successor of Master Gensha Shibi.

20 A pātrais a Buddhist food bowl. Robes and pātrasymbolize the possessions of a monk. 21 Shuso,lit.,

"head seat.

" The shusowas the leader of the main body of monks in a temple. He was the highest ranking of the six chōshu,or assistant officers. Ranking above them were the six chiji,or main officers. 22 That is, the names of the first and second patriarchs were arranged not in a vertical line but side by side at the top of their respective columns of historical patriarchs. 23 The Rinzai, Igyō, Sōtō, Unmon, and Hōgen sects. See Chapter Forty-nine (Vol. III), Bu tsu dō.

24 Daisetsu. Setsuis from the Sanskrit kṣetra,which means a sacred spot or district (see Glossary of Sanskrit Terms). At the same time, the character appears in Buddhist sutras in the compound sekkan,or "kṣetrapole, " that is, a temple flagpole. This led

Chinese scholars to interpret that setsumight be a transliteration of yaṣṭi,which means flagpole. In ancient India a flag announced Buddhist preaching and so Chinese scholars interpreted that a flagpole symbolized a place of Buddhist preaching, and hence a temple.

25 Provinces in eastern China bordering on the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, respectively.

26 Hōgo,calligraphy containing a word or a phrase of Buddhist preaching. 27 Zōsu,the monk in charge of storing sutras. The zōsuwas one of the six chōshu,or assistant officers.

28 Master Ryūmon Butsugen (d. 1120), a successor of Master Goso Hōen. He received the title Zen Master Butsugen, together with a purple robe, from the emperor. The Goroku,a record of his words, is in eight volumes. 29 1208-1224.

30 Jōza,from the Sanskrit honorific sthavira,or in Pāli, thera,as in Thera vāda, the School of the Elders. See Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 31 1223.

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32 "Original Dharma name" is hōki. Hōmeans Dharma or Buddhist and kimeans "the name to be avoided.

" After a monk had died, it was customary to avoid using the name he had used in his lifetime, and to use a posthumous title instead. While living, monks in China and Japan usually have at least two personal names, each written with two Chinese characters. One name is the hōgō,

"Dharma title,

" and another name is the

hōmyō,

"Dharma name.

" A hōmyōis always a hōki,whereas a hōgōmay be a name used in a monk's lifetime or it may be a posthumous name. 33 Kaji.This seal was not stamped but written with a brush. 34 Sōrin,lit.,

"clump of forest,

" from the Sanskrit piṇḍavana,meaning a large assembly of monks, or a monastery.

35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Master Fuyō Dōkai (1043-1118), the Eighteenth Patriarch in China and a successor of Master Tōsu Gisei. See for example Chapter Fourteen, Sansuigyō; Chapter Twentynine (Vol. II), Gyōji;and Chapter Sixty-four (Vol. III), Kajō. "Traditional" is ii kitare ru,lit.,

"having been spoken.

"

In other words, the most important matter in the transmission is the relation between master and student. This is reflected in the form of the certificate in the Rinzai sect. Master Musai Ryōha. He was the master of Keitokuji on Tendōzan when Master Dōgen arrived in China. When Master Ryōha's death was approaching, he sent a letter to Master Dōgen's future master, Master Tendō Nyojō, asking him to become the master of the temple.

Present-day Fukien, a province of southeast China bordering on the Formosa Strait. Master Busshō Tokkō (1121-1203). Author of the Sōtairoku(Record of Answers to an Emperor), one volume.

Master Daie Sōkō (b. 1089, d. 1163, thirty-seven years before Master Dōgen's birth). He is thought to be the founder of the so-called kōan Zen of the Rinzai sect, and as such was criticized by Master Dōgen several times in the Shōbōgenzō.See for example Chapter Seventy-five (Vol. IV), Jishō-zanmai.

Master Engo Kokugon (1063-1135). Edited the Hekiganroku(Blue Cliff Record). Master Engo is quoted in Chapter Sixty-six (Vol. III),Shunjū,and Chapter Seventyfour (Vol. IV), Tembōrin. Master Goso Hōen (1024-1104). The Goroku,a record of his words, is in four volumes. He was the third patriarch of the temple on Yōgizan founded by Master Yōgi Hōe. Master Hōen is quoted in Chapter Seventy-four (Vol. IV), Tembōrin. Master Kaie Shutan (1025-1072). Also called Master Hakkun Shutan. (Kaie and Hakkun are both hōgō(Dharma titles)—see note 32). Master Yōgi Hōe (992-1049). Lived on and spread the Dharma from Yōgizan. The Goroku andKōroku,records of his words, are in one volume each. 259

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46 Master Jimyō Soen (986-1039). Became a monk at the age of twenty-two. 47 Master Fun'yō Zenshō (947-1024). The Goroku,a record of his words, is in three volumes.

48 Master Shuzan Shōnen (926-993). The Goroku,a record of his words, is in one volume. 49 Master Fuketsu Enshō (896?-973).

50 Master Nan'in Egyō (d. 930?).

51 Master Kōke Sonshō (830-888).

52 Master Rinzai Gigen (815?-867). A successor of Master Ōbaku Kiun. The Goroku, a record of his words, is in one volume. His disciples included Master Kōke Sonshō, Master Sanshō Enen, and Master Kankei Shikan. See, for example, Chapter Fortynine (Vol. III), Butsudō. In this certificate, the names Ryōha and Tokkō are hōmyō(Dharma names) while Rinzai is a hōgō(Dharma title). For the other names only the first character of the hōmyōis written. When a master's name is written in full, the name of the master's temple or mountain often precedes the hōmyō.Thus E of Yōgizan is Master Yōgi Hōe, Nyojō of Tendōzan is Master Tendō Nyojō, Dōgen of Eiheiji is Master Eihei Dōgen, etc. See note 32.

53 Aikuō means King Aśoka. In 282 a priest called Ryūsaku discovered an old stupa on this mountain, and guessed that it might be one of eighty-four thousand stupas said to have been built by King Aśoka of ancient India. So the mountain was named after King Aśoka. It later became one of the five mountains: Mount Kin, Mount Hoku, Mount Taihaku, Mount Nan, and Mount Aikuō. The government of the Song dynasty, promoting Buddhism as part of its political strategy, designated the temples on these five mountains as the most important in China.

54 Shō-shi-sō.The term was used for a monk who had not passed ten summer retreats since receiving the precepts.

55 The Dormitory of Quiescence (ryōnen-ryō) and the Hall of Serene Light (jakkō-dō) were proper names of these particular buildings on Mount Tendō. 56 Tsūsu,the highest of the six temple officers. The six main officers are 1) tsūsu,chief officer, head of the temple office, comptroller; 2) kansu,prior; 3) fūsu,assistant prior; 4) dōsuor inō,supervisor of monks in the zazen hall, rector; 5) tenzo,head cook; and 6) shisui,caretaker.

57 Literally,

"About nine sun.

" One sunis 1.193 inches.

58 Literally,

"more than seven shaku.

" One shakuis ten sun.

59 1225-27.

60 Abbreviated in the original text to Daizan. The Tendai sect takes its name from this mountain in Chekiang province in eastern China, where Master Tendai Chigi 260

Chapter Sixteen

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 (538-597)lived. Master Dōgen became a monk in the Tendai sect in Japan while still a teenager.

A temple established on Mount Tendai, at the site where Master Tendai Fugan died. Master Fugan was a successor of Master Hyakujō Ekai.

Master Isan Reiyū (771-853), a successor of Master Hyakujō Ekai. He had many excellent disciples such as Master Kyōzan Ejaku, Master Kyōgen Chikan, and Master Reiun Shigon. TheGoroku,a record of his words, is in one volume. Master Kyōzan Ejaku (807-883). The Goroku,a record of his words, is in one volume. The story of Master Kyōzan's succession is contained in the Gotōegen,chapter 8. It is usual to place venerated things on the palms of the hands and to hold them up high.

Master Daibai Hōjō (752-839), a successor of Master Baso Dōitsu. He lived in seclusion on Daibaizan; see Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji. Proper names of these particular rooms.

The uḍumbarais a species of fig tree whose flowers form a kind of peel, so that there do not appear to be any uḍumbaraflowers. The uḍumbaraflower is a symbol of the transmission of Dharma. See Chapter Sixty-eight (Vol. III), Udonge. Master Seigen Gyōshi (660-740) was one of several successors of Master Daikan Enō of Sōkei Mountain, the Sixth Patriarch in China. Master Tōzan belongs to the lineage of Master Seigen Gyōshi. Master Rinzai belongs to the lineage of another of Master Daikan Enō's successors, Master Nangaku Ejō.

Master Bodhidharma and Master Taiso Eka.

Krakucchanda Buddha, Kanakamuni Buddha, Kāśyapa Buddha, and Śākyamuni Buddha were the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh of the seven ancient buddhas. The kalpaof wisdom means the present age. The kalpaof resplendence means the eternal past. See note 7.

The tense of the original Japanese sentence is the historical present. When Master Dōgen uses the historical present for a story, we generally try to use the present in translation. But in the many places in this chapter where Master Dōgen uses the historical present to describe his own experiences, and in the description of his late master, the past tense has been used in translation.

73 1241.

74 1243. The year is identified, using the Chinese dating system, by the characters kibō. Kiis the tenth calendar sign (the younger brother of water) and bōis the fourth horary sign (the rabbit). The year at the end of the chapter is usually expressed in two ways, using the Japanese dating system and the Chinese dating system (ignored in translation) 261