T2582 Shōbōgenzō The True Dharma-Eye Treasury, Volume II

Chapter 33: Kannon - Avalokiteśvara

[Chapter Thirty-three]

Kannon

Avalokiteśvara

Translator's Note: Kannon is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese name of the bodhisattva called Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit. Avalokiteśvara is described in the Lotus Sutra as someone who always comes to this world to save a person who cries for help. 1 Kannon literally means "Regarder of

Sounds,

"

and this expresses the character of Avalokiteśvara who always responds to the cries for help of living beings in this world. Thus, Avalo kiteśvara is usually thought of as a symbol of compassion. But Master Dōgen understood Avalokiteśvara as a symbol of a life-force that is more fundamental to living beings than compassion. So in this chapter he explained the true meaning of Avalokiteśvara, quoting a famous conversation about Avalo kiteśvara between Master Ungan Donjō and Master Dōgo Enchi. [63] Great Master Ungan Muju2 asks Great Master Shūitsu3 of Dōgozan, "What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion4 do by using his limitlessly abundant hands and eyes?"5 Dōgo says, "He is like a person in the night reaching back with a hand to grope for a pillow. "

Ungan says,

"I understand. I understand. "

Dōgo says,

"How do you understand?" Ungan says,

"The whole body6 is hands and eyes. "

Dōgo says,

"Your words are nicely spoken. At the same time, your expres sion of the truth is just eighty or ninety percent of realization. "

Ungan says,

"I am just like this. How about you, brother?" Dōgo says,

"The thoroughly realized body7 is hands and eyes. "8

[65] Many voices expressing the truth of Kannon have been heard, before and since, but none has been equal to Ungan and Dōgo. If we want to learn Kannon in experience, we should investigate the present words of Ungan and Dōgo. The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion described now is Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World. 9 He is also called Bodhisattva Free in 261

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Reflection.

10 He is studied as the father and mother11 of all the buddhas. Do not learn that he is a lesser expression of the truth than the buddhas: he is the past Tathāgata Clarifier of the Right Dharma. Then let us take up and investigate the words spoken by Ungan,

"What does the Bodhisattva of Great

Compassion do by using his limitlessly abundant hands and eyes?" There are lineages that maintain and rely upon Kannon, and there are lineages that have never dreamed of Kannon. Kannon is present in Ungan, who has been experiencing it together with Dōgo. And not only one or two Kannons, but hundreds of thousands of Kannons are experiencing the same state as Ungan. Kannon is really allowed to be Kannon only in the order of Ungan. Why? The difference between the Kannon expressed by Ungan and the Kannon expressed by other buddhas is the difference between being able to express the truth and not being able to express the truth. The Kannon expressed by other buddhas is only twelve faces.

12 Ungan is not like that. The Kannon

expressed by other buddhas is merely a thousand hands and eyes. Ungan is not like that. The Kannon expressed by other buddhas is just eighty-four thousand hands and eyes. Ungan is not like that. How can we recognize that it is so? Because when Ungan says "The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion is using his limitlessly abundant hands and eyes,

" the words "limitlessly

abundant" do not mean only eighty-four thousand hands and eyes. How much less could they describe only kinds numbered as twelve, or thirty-two, or thirty-three? "Limitlessly abundant"13 means countless. It is an expression of "infinite abun dance"14

—of diversity without restriction. Given that the

diversity is origi nally unrestricted, we should not limit it even with a measure of limitlessness. We should learn in practice the arithmetic of "using limitless abundance" like this. It is already beyond the bounds of countlessness and limitlessness.

[67] Now, when the words of Ungan take up the words "limitlessly abundant hands and eyes, " Dōgo never says that the words express nothing, and there may be import in this. Ungan and Dōgo, since becoming fellow students under Yakusan,

15 have already practiced together for forty years, in which time they have discussed stories of the past and present, weeding out the false and verifying the true. Because they have been continuing like this, today, in speaking of "limitlessly abundant hands and eyes, " Ungan speaks

and Dōgo verifies. Remember,

"limitlessly abundant hands and eyes" has

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been expressed equally by the two eternal buddhas. "Limitlessly abundant

hands and eyes,

" clearly, is a state that Ungan and Dōgo are experiencing together. Now [Ungan] is asking Dōgo "The use does what?"16 We should not liken this question to questions asked by teachers of sutras and teachers of commentaries, or by [bodhisattvas at] the ten sacred stages or three clever stages. This question has manifested an assertion; it has manifested "hands and eyes.

" While [Ungan] now says "Using limitlessly abundant hands and eyes does what,

" there may be old buddhas and new buddhas who are realizing buddha by virtue of his effort. He might equally have said, "Utilizing17 limitlessly abundant hands and eyes does what. " And there might equally have

been expressions of "doing something"18 or "moving something"19 or "expressing something. "20

[69] Dōgo says,

"He is like a person in the night reaching back with a hand to grope for a pillow.

" This means that [the bodhisattva] is like, for example, a person in the night who reaches back with a hand and gropes for a pillow.

21 "To grope for" means to search around for. "In the night" is an

expression of the darkness: it is like speaking of seeing the mountains in the light of day.

"The use of hands and eyes" is "like a person in the night reaching back with a hand to grope for a pillow"; on this basis we should learn the use of hands and eyes. We should examine the difference between nighttime as it is supposed in the light of day and the nighttime as it is in the night. In sum, we should examine it as that time which is not "day" or "night. " When

people grope for a pillow, though we do not comprehend that this behavior is just like Kannon using hands and eyes, we cannot escape the truth that it is like that. Is "the person" in the words "like a person" only a word in a metaphor? Or is this person, being a normal person, 22 no ordinary person?23

If studied as a normal person in Buddhism, [the person] is not only meta phorical, in which case there is something to be learned in the groping for a pillow. Even "pillows" have certain shapes and grades that deserve inquiry. "The nighttime,

" too, is not necessarily only the nighttime of the "day and night" of human beings and gods. Remember, what is now being discussed is neither grasping the pillow, nor pulling in the pillow, nor pushing away the pillow. [Dōgo] is speaking of "reaching back with a hand in the night to grope for a pillow,

" and if we are to examine the state that Dōgo is expressing, we should notice, we should not disregard, that eyes realize the night. 24 A

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hand that is groping for a pillow has not yet touched the edge of the pillow. If reaching back with the hands is essential, is it essential to reach back with the eyes?25 We should clarify "the nighttime.

" Might it be called "the world

of hands and eyes"? Does it have a person's hands and eyes? Is it simply hands and eyes alone, flashing by like a thunderbolt? Is it one instance or two instances of hands and eyes that are right from beginning to end? When we closely examine principles like these, the use of limitlessly abundant hands and eyes is present—but still, just who is "the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion"? It is as if all that can be heard is "the Bodhisattva of Hands and Eyes.

" In that case we might ask,

"What does the Bodhisattva of Hands

and Eyes do by using his limitlessly abundant bodhisattvas of great compassion?" Remember, hands and eyes do not hin der each other;26 at the same time, their use doing what is the ineffable func tioning and is the use of the ineffable. When the ineffable expresses the truth we should not expect to be able to express the whole of hands and eyes—although the whole of hands and eyes has never been hidden—as "the whole of hands and eyes. " Unhidden

hands and eyes exist at that con crete place and unhidden hands and eyes exist at this concrete place, but they are not the self, they are not the mountains and oceans, they are not the face of the sun and the face of the moon, and they are not the mind here and now as buddha.

[73] Ungan's words "I understand, I understand" are not saying that "I understand" the words of Dōgo. In speaking of the hands and eyes that use the ineffable, and in causing them to express the truth, [Ungan says,] "I understand, I understand. " This might be freedom in using this place, and might be freedom in having to get into today. Dōgo's words "How do you understand?" are another way of saying "I understand. " Although they do not get

in the way of [Ungo's expression] "I understand,

" Dōgo has his own words,

which are "How do you understand?" This [common state of Ungan and Dōgo] is, already,

"I understand, you understand.

" Could it be other than

"eyes understand, hands understand"? Is it understanding that has been realized, or is it understanding that has not yet been realized? The under standing described by "I understand" is the "I" itself; at the same time we should consider its existence as "you" in "How do you understand?" With respect to the words of Ungan which have been manifested in the present, that "the whole body is hands and eyes,

" there are very many Kannons who, when

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orating upon "reaching back with a hand in the night to grope for a pillow, "

study that [Ungan] has said that "the whole body" is the same as "hands and eyes.

" These Kannons, though they are Kannons, are Kannons who have not yet expressed themselves. When Ungan says "The whole body is hands and eyes" he is not saying that "hands and eyes" are "a body" that is "everywhere. "27 "Being everywhere" is the whole world, but the very moment of the body-hands and body-eyes cannot be pervaded by "being everywhere. "

Even if there is, in the body-hands and body-eyes, the virtue of being everywhere, they cannot be hands and eyes that would rob from a street-market. [At the same time] the virtue of hands and eyes should not be seeing, practicing, or preaching that recognizes "rightness. "28 Hands and eyes have already

been described as "limitlessly abundant": they are beyond thou sands, beyond ten thousands, beyond eighty-four thousands, and beyond countlessness and limitlessness. It is not only "the whole body as hands and eyes" that is like this. Saving the living and preaching the Dharma may be like this, and the radiance of national lands may be like this. Therefore, Ungan's expression may be "the whole body as hands and eyes.

" We should learn in practice that

he does not make "hands and eyes" into "the whole body. " Though we use

"the whole body as hands and eyes,

" though we make it into our movements

and demeanors, active and passive, we must not disturb it. [76] Dōgo says,

"Your words are nicely spoken. At the same time, your expression of the truth is just eighty or ninety percent of realization. " The

point here is that "expression of the truth" is "speaking to a nicety. " "Speaking

to a nicety" means hitting the target by speaking, clearly manifesting some thing by speaking, and leaving nothing unexpressed. When what has hitherto been unexpressed is finally expressed so that nothing remains that words might express,

"the expression of the truth is just eighty or ninety percent of realization.

" Even if study of this point is realized a hundred per cent, if the power to speak has not been perfected, that is not mastery of the state. An expression of the truth is "eighty or ninety percent of realization"; at the same time, the words to be spoken may be spoken eighty or ninety percent perfectly, or they may be spoken a hundred percent perfectly. At the very moment [when Ungan speaks] he can express himself in a hundred thousand myriad expressions of the truth, but his power is so wonderful that, utilizing a bit of his power, he simply expresses the truth in the state of "eighty or 265

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ninety percent of realization.

" Even if, for example, we would need the power of a hundred thousand myriads to summon up the whole universe in the ten directions, [to try] may be better than not taking it up at all. [A person such as Ungan], then, who can summon up [the whole universe] with the power of one, must be beyond ordinary power. The meaning of the present "eighty or ninety percent of realization" is like this. Nevertheless, [people] understand, when they hear the Buddhist patriarch's words "Your expression of the truth is just eighty or ninety percent of reali zation, " that expressions of the truth

can be one hundred percent of realiza tion, and so an expression of the truth that does not reach that level is called "eighty or ninety percent of realization. "

If the Buddha-Dharma were like that, it could never have reached the present day. We must learn through experience that the said "eighty or ninety percent of realization" is like saying "hundreds of thousands" or like saying "limitless abundance.

" [Dōgo] has said, already,

"eighty or ninety percent of realization, "

and we have seen that he means we must not be restricted to eights and nines.

29 Stories of the Buddhist patriarchs are studied like this. When Ungan says,

"I am just like this. How about you, brother?" , he speaks about "being

just like this" because he wants to make Dōgo himself speak words that Dōgo has called "expression of eighty or ninety percent of realization. " This [being

just like this] is "not retaining any new sign or old trace"; at the same time, it is "arms being long and sleeves being short. " "The words I have just spoken

are imperfect in expression but I will leave them as they are" is not the mean ing of "I am just like this. "30

[79] Dōgo says,

"The thoroughly realized body is hands and eyes. " These

words do not mean that "hands and eyes, " as hands and eyes each existing

independently, are "a thoroughly realized body. " "The thoroughly realized

body" as "hands and eyes" is expressed "The thoroughly realized body is hands and eyes.

" So [Dōgo also] is not saying that "the body" is the same as "hands and eyes.

" "Using limitlessly abundant hands and eyes" describes the limitless abundance of using hands and using eyes, in which state hands and eyes are inevitably "the thoroughly realized body as hands and eyes. " If someone were to ask,

"Whatever is he doing by using limitlessly abundant bodies and minds?"

, there might be [in answer] the expression of the truth that "thoroughly realized body is the doing of whatever. "31 Furthermore, it is not true

that, comparing Ungan's "whole" and Dōgo's "thoroughly realized, " one is

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perfect in expression and the other is imperfect in expression. Ungan's "whole" and Dōgo's "thoroughly realized" are both beyond relative comparisons; rather it may [simply] be that, in the limitlessly abundant hands and eyes of each respective [master], such words are present. So the Kannon of which Old Man Śākyamuni speaks is only a thousand hands and eyes, or twelve faces, or thirty-three bodies,

32 or eighty-four thousand. The Kannon of Ungan and Dōgo is limitlessly abundant hands and eyes—though it is beyond discussion of abundance and scarcity. When they learn in experience Ungan and Dōgo's Kannon of limitlessly abundant hands and eyes, all the buddhas realize Kannon's samādhias eighty or ninety percent realization. ShōbōgenzōKannon

Preached to the assembly on the twenty-fifth day of the fourth lunar month in the third year of Ninji.

33

[79] Now, since the Buddha-Dharma came from the west, many Buddhist patriarchs have spoken of Kannon, but they have not equaled Ungan and Dōgo; therefore I have spoken of only this latter Kannon. In [the teaching of] Great Master Yōka Shinkaku34 there are the words, "The state of not

seeing a single dharmais called 'the Tathāgata'; or it can be called '[Bodhisattva] Free in Reflection'"35 —this is verification that the Tathāgata and Kannon "simultaneously manifest this body, "36 and that they are not separate

bodies. There is the encounter, between Mayoku37 and Rinzai, 38 concerning

true hands and eyes—it is one [hand] and one [eye] among the limitlessly abun dant. In [the teaching of] Unmon39 there is the Kannon who "on seeing sights clarifies the mind, and on hearing sounds realizes the truth"40 —what

sound or sight could be other than Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World seeing and hearing? In [the teaching of] Hyakujō there is [Kannon's] gate of entry into truth.

41 In orders of the Śūraṃgama42 there is the Kannon of all-pervading realization. In orders of the Flower of Dharma43 there is the Kannon who is universally manifest on all sides. 44 All these are in the same

state as buddha and are in the same state as mountains, rivers, and the earth. At the same time, they are just one or two instances of "limitlessly abundant hands and eyes.

"

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Notes

1 See the Lotus Sutra, Kanzeon-bosatsu-fumon("The Universal Gate of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World"): "Good son! If there are countless hundred thousand myriad koṭis of living beings who, suffering from many agonies, hear of this Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World and with undivided mind call [the bodhisattva's] name, Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World will instantly regard their cries, and all will be delivered. " (LS 3.242)

2 Master Ungan Donjō (782-841), successor of Master Yakusan Igen. He studied under Master Hyakujō Ekai for twenty years until the latter's death, after which he studied under Master Yakusan. His disciples included Master Tōzan Ryōkai and Master Shinzan Sōmitsu. Great Master Muju is his posthumous title. 3 Master Dōgo Enchi (769-835), also a successor of Master Yakusan Igen. Great Master Shūitsu is his posthumous title.

4 Daihi-bosatsu,

"Bodhisattva of Great Compassion"; Kannon, "Regarder of Sounds";

Kanzeon,

"Regarder of the Sounds of the World"; and Kanzijai, "Free in Reflection,

"

are all names for the bodhisattva known in Sanskrit as Avalokiteśvara. Throughout this chapter Kannon has been left untranslated. Other versions of the name have been rendered by approximate English translations. 5 Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara is said to have thousands of hands and eyes. 6 Henshin.

7 Tsūshin. Both henshin and tsūshinmean "the whole body, " but hen,lit.,

"everywhere,

"

is more general and not as dynamic as tsū,which describes something pervading throughout something.

8 Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 2, no. 5; Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record), no. 89. 9 Kanzeon-bosatsu.

10 Kanzijai-bosatsu. The Daihannyagyō (Heart Sutra) begins with the words "Kanzijai Bosatsu.

" See Chapter Two (Vol. I), Maka-hannya-haramitsu. 11 Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara is sometimes portrayed, especially in East Asia, as a goddess of mercy. 12 Statues of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara sometimes have eleven small faces carved around the head. The Kannon of twelve faces suggests the idealistic image of Kannon. 269

Shōbōgenzō Volume II 13 Kyota.Master Dōgen explained the meaning of these Chinese characters with the Japanese phonetic word ikusobaku,which means "how much, " "how many,

" or

"countlessly many. "

14 Nyokyota.Master Dōgen said that kyotais short for nyokyota. Nyokomeans "how much?" and tameans "many" or "abundance. "

15 Master Yakusan Igen (745-828). 16 Yō-somo.In Master Ungan's words mot[te], "with" or "by using, " functions as a preposition. Here, yōmeans "use" or "function. " Master Dōgen's question means, in other words,

"Is there any aim other than simply to function?" 17 Shi, tsuka[u], which is clearly a verb (to use, to utilize) is substituted for yō, mot[te], which can be a verb (to use, to function) or a preposition (with, by). This again draws the attention back from the end (doing something) to the means or the function (using hands and eyes). 18 Sa-shimo.In Master Ungan's words somo, "doing what,

" is a compound that is a common construction in Chinese sentences. Sa-shimo,however, separates into sa, "doing,

" and shimo,

"something.

" Master Dōgen thus emphasizes that the individual character sa,

"doing,

" represents action. The elements of Master Dōgen's sentence are sa-shimo, "doing something, " dōshimo,

"moving something, " and dō-shimo, "speaking something" or "expressing something.

"

19 Dō-shimo.

20 Dō-shimo.

21 Master Dōgen simply explained the meaning of the Chinese characters in the story with a Japanese sentence. 22 Heijō no nin.In this case, heijōmeans "balanced and constant, " as in the phrase heijōshin, "balanced and constant mind, " or "normal mind, " or "everyday mind. "

23 Heijō no nin.In this case, heijōmeans ordinary or common. 24 In other words, eyes (mental function) and night (objective fact) are one reality. 25 Master Dōgen's question encourages consideration of the relation between body and mind.

26 Hands and eyes not hindering each other suggests the state in which physical actions and mental processes are harmonized. 27 "A body that is everywhere" is shin-hen. "Whole body" is henshin. 28 Ze, ko[re] here means rightness, as in the compound zehi, Ungan's words henshin ko[re] shugen, functions as a copula— "is" or "as.

"

"right and wrong. " In Master

"the whole body is/as hands and eyes, " ze

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29 Master Dōgo's words "eighty or ninety percent of realization" are hakku-jō,literally, "eight, nine realized.

" This seems on the surface to be saying "eight or nine out of ten" or "eighty or ninety percent perfect.

" But Master Dōgen understood hakku-jō

not as an abstract number expressing relative evaluation, but as a representation of reality which does not conform to the ideal. 30 Tada-nyoze,

"being just like this,

" is an expression of reality.

31 In other words, the question might be interpreted, the human activity going on in the world?" And the answer, the activity itself.

"

"Is there any real meaning in all

"The real meaning is in

32 Lotus Sutra, Kanzeon-bosatsu-fumon.LS 3.252: "Good son! If living beings in any land must be saved through the body of a buddha, Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World manifests at once the body of a buddha and preaches for them the Dharma. To those who must be saved through the body of a pratyekabuddha,[the bodhisattva] manifests at once the body of a pratyekabuddhaand preaches for them the Dharma. . . .

" The list continues through 1) buddha, 2) pratyekabuddha,3) śrāvaka,4) King Brahmā, 5) Śakra, 6) Īśvara, 7) Maheśvara, 8) a celestial great general, 9) Vaiśravaṇa, 10) a minor king, 11) a rich man, 12) a householder, 13) a government official, 14) a brahman, 15) a bhikṣu,16) a bhikṣuṇī,17) an upāsaka,18) an upāsikā,19) the wife of a rich man, 20) the wife of a householder, 21) the wife of a government official, 22) the wife of a brahman, 23) a boy, 24) a girl, 25) a god (deva), 26) a dragon (nāga), 27) a yakṣa,28) a gandharva,29) an asura,30) a garuḍa,31) a kiṃnara, 32) a mahoraga,and 33) a vajra-holding god. 33 1242.

34 Master Yōka Genkaku, successor of Master Daikan Enō. Great Master Shinkaku is his posthumous title.

35 Quoted from Master Yōka's Shōdōka.

36 Refers to LS 3.252.

37 Master Mayoku Hōtetsu (dates unknown), successor of Master Baso Dōitsu. Master Mayoku on one occasion asks Rinzai,

"Of the thousand hands and eyes of [the Bodhisattva of] Great Compassion, which is the True Eye?" Rinzai says, "Of the thousand

hands and eyes of [the Bodhisattva of] Great Compassion, which is the True Eye? Tell me at once! Tell me at once!" The master pulls Rinzai down from the zazen platform and sits there in his place. Rinzai stands up and says, "I do not understand.

"

The master pauses for thought. Then Rinzai pulls the master down from the zazen platform and sits there in his place. The master exits at once. (Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 3 no. 45.)

38 Master Rinzai Gigen (815?-867), successor of Master Ōbaku Kiun. 39 Master Unmon Bun'en (864-949), successor of Master Seppō Gison. 271

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40 41 42 43 44 Master Unmon preaches to the assembly, "To hear sounds is to realize the truth, to see

sights is to clarify the mind. Just what does it mean to realize the truth by hearing sounds and to clarify the mind by seeing sights?" He holds up his hand and says, "The Regarder of the Sounds of the World comes with cash to buy my rice cakes. If I drop them, then they are originally just bits of dough. " (Gotōegen)

Master Hyakujō Ekai (749-814), a successor of Master Baso Dōitsu. One day when Master Hyakujō has asked everyone to work in the fields, a certain monk is holding up his rake when he suddenly hears the sound of the temple drum, throws down his rake, and, laughing loudly, goes straight back to the temple. The master exclaims, "What a splendid thing this is! It is Kannon's gate of entry into truth. " When the

master returns to the temple, he calls the monk and asks him, "What truth have you

seen to make you behave as you did just before?" The monk says, "Before I was hungry, so when I heard the sound of the drum I went back for something to eat. " The

master laughs loudly. (Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 2 no. 28; Keitokudentōroku,chapter 6.) "Orders of the Śūraṃgama" means the Buddhist orders that rely upon the teachings of the Śūraṃgama-sūtra(Jp. Shuryōgonkyō). The sixth chapter of the sutra preaches the many forms of Kannon's all-pervading realization. That is, the Buddhist orders, such as the Tendai sect, that are based upon the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Fumon-jigen-kannon.The twenty-fifth chapter of the Lotus Sutrais called Kanzeonbosatsu-fumon. Fumon,which means "universal gate" or "all-sidedness, " represents

the Sanskrit samantamukha(see Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms). 272

[Chapter Thirty-four]

Arakan

The Arhat

Translator's Note: Arakan represents the sound of the Sanskrit word arhan or arhat, which means a person who is worthy of veneration. Arhathood is also the ultimate state of the śrāvaka, or rigoristic Buddhist. The śrāvaka belongs to Hinayana Buddhism, and so Mahayana Buddhists usually did not value arhathood. But Master Dōgen did not share this opinion. According to Master Dōgen, there cannot be any difference between Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism, because he believed that there is only one Buddhism, which has been transmitted from Gautama Buddha to us. He thought that the difference between Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism was a difference produced by the difference between ages, and so we should not affirm the existence of more than one Buddhism. From this basis he explained the supreme value of the arhat in this chapter. [83] "All excesses completely exhausted; without troubles; self-possessed; realizing all bonds of existence; liberated in mind. "1 Such is the great state

of arhat, the ultimate effect of one who studies buddha, called the fourth effect,

2 buddha-arhat.

"All excesses" are a broken wooden dipper with no handle:3 it has already been used for long ages, but its "complete exhaustion" is the springing forth of the wooden dipper's whole body. "Self-possession"

is to leave and to enter the brain.

"Realization of all bonds of existence" is

the whole universe in ten directions never having been hidden. We investigate the form and grade of "liberation of the mind" as "high places being naturally balanced being high and low places being naturally balanced being low"4

—upon which basis fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles exist. The meaning of "liberation" is the mind as the manifestation of all functions. "Without

troubles" means that troubles have yet to arise, that troubles are restricted by troubles. An arhat's mystical powers, wisdom, balanced state of dhyāna, preaching of Dharma, instruction, radiance of brightness, and so on are never 273

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to be likened to those discussed by non-Buddhists, celestial demons, and the like. Doctrines such as [the arhat's] seeing of hundreds of buddha worlds5 must never be associated with the views and opinions of the common person. The principle here is "having just said that a foreigner's beard is red, there also being the fact that a red-beard is a foreigner. "6 Entering nirvana is an

arhat's conduct of getting inside a fist. For this reason [an arhat's con duct] is the fine mind of nirvana and is the place of no escape. Arhats who have entered their own nostrils are truly arhats. Those who have never got out of or into their own nostrils are not arhats. [86] Of old it was said: "Now we are truly arhats, causing all to hear the voice of the Buddha's truth.

"7

The point of this "causing all to hear" is to make all dharmas into the voice of Buddha. How could ["all"] refer only to the buddhas and their disci ples? All beings that have consciousness, that have intelligence, that have skin, have flesh, have bones, and have marrow: causing these to hear is described as "causing all.

" "That which has consciousness and has intelli gence" means national lands, grass and trees, fences and walls, tiles and pebbles. Rising and falling, flourishing and fading away, living and dying, going and coming: all these hear. [But] the basis for "causing all to hear the voice of the Buddha's truth" is not simply study of the whole world as an ear. 8

[87] Śākyamuni Buddha said,

"If any of my disciples, calling themselves arhats or pratyekabuddhas, neither hear nor recognize the fact that the buddhatathāgatas instruct only bodhisattvas, they are not the Buddha's disciples, nor arhats, nor pratyekabuddhas.

"9

"The fact of the instruction of only bodhisattvas, " of which the Buddha

speaks, is [the fact in] "I, and buddhas in the ten directions, alone can know this fact;"10 it is that "buddhas alone, together with buddhas, are directly able to perfectly realize that all dharmas are real form";11 and it is "anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi.

"12 This being so, the self-evaluation13 of bodhisattvas or buddhas must be utterly equal to [arhats and pratyekabuddhas] "calling themselves arhats or pratyekabuddhas. " Why? Because [truly] to evaluate oneself is just "to hear and to know the fact that buddha-tathāgatas instruct only bodhisattvas.

"

[89] Of old it was said,

"In the sutras of śrāvakas, arhat is the name given to the state of buddha.

"14

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The words expressed here are verification of the Buddha's truth; they are not mere speculation from the sentimental hearts of commentary teachers; they contain the standard that is universal to Buddhism. We must learn in practice the principle of calling arhat the state of buddha, and we must also learn in practice the principle of calling the state of buddha arhat. Beyond the effect of arhathood, not a single atom or a single dharmaof surplus remains—how much less could the truth of samyaksaṃbodhiremain? Beyond the truth of anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi,again, not a single atom or a single dharmaof surplus remains—how much less could the four processes and four effects15 remain? Just at the moment when arhats are bearing all the dharmas upon their shoulders, these dharmas are, in truth, neither "eight ounces" nor "half a pound.

"16 They are beyond the concrete mind, beyond

the concrete state of buddha, and beyond concrete things. Even the Buddha's eyes cannot glimpse them. We need not discuss the eighty thousand kalpas before or after. We must learn in practice the ability to gouge out the eye. If anything is surplus, the whole Dharma is surplus. [91] Śākyamuni Buddha said,

"If these bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs think to

them selves,

'I have already attained the state of arhat; this is my last life, ultimate nirvana,

' and then they no longer desire and pursue anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi,you should know that these are all people of lofty arrogance. Why? [Because] there is no such thing as a bhikṣureally attaining the state of arhat without believing in this teaching.

"17

These words certify that one who is able to believe in anuttara samyaksaṃbodhiis an arhat. Definitely to believe in "this teaching"18 is to belong to "this teaching,

" to receive the one-to-one transmission of "this teaching, "

and to practice and experience "this teaching.

" "Real attainment of the state

of arhat" is beyond [the understanding that] "This is my last life, ultimate nirvana,

" because [real attainment] is "to desire and to pursue anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi.

" "To desire and to pursue anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi"is to play with the eye; it is to sit facing the wall;19 it is to face the wall20 and open the eye. It is the whole world inclusively; and at the same time it is gods appearing, demons vanishing.

21 It is the whole of time inclusively; and

at the same it is [arhats] reciprocally throwing themselves into the moment. 22

Such is "to desire and to pursue anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi, " which is, therefore, to desire and to pur sue the state of arhat. To desire and to pursue the 275

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state of arhat is to be satis fied with your gruel and to be satisfied with your rice.

23

[93] Zen Master Engo24 of Kassan Mountain said: "After people of old had attained the gist, they went deep into the mountains and, in [huts of] straw and bramble or in stone caves, they lived for ten or twenty years on rice cooked in broken three-legged cauldrons; they completely forgot the human world and said goodbye forever to dusty circumstances. In this age, I do not desire such a situation, but only to conceal my name, cover my tracks, and stick to my original task; to become an old monk who is a bony and stern old drill and who naturally accords with the state experienced [by the Buddha]; to receive and use the state according to my own ability; to let my past karma melt away and to adapt to the long-practiced customs. If I have energy to spare, I will extend it to others, establishing conditions for prajñā,and we will train to perfection our own legs and feet. We will be as if in a wilder ness, gouging out one real individual or half of one: together we will know existence and together we will get free of life and death, creating more and more benefit for the future, and thus repaying the profound benevolence of the Buddhist patriarchs. If the frost and dew cannot be stopped from ripen ing the fruit, and through my continuing effort I am manifest in the world, 25 I will harmonize with circumstances,

I will open up and cultivate human beings and gods, but I will never dispose my mind toward gain. Still less will I depend upon the power of the nobility and become a vulgar and obsequious teacher whose behavior deceives ordinary people and defies the saints, who pursues gain and contrives fame, producing the karma of incessant [hell].

26 Though I lack the makings and the conditions,

if I can simply go through the world like this, and be without karmic effects, might I be a true dust-transcending arhat?"27

Thus, a genuine monk here and now is "a true dust-transcending arhat. "

If we want to know the nature and form of an arhat, we should know them like this. Do not deludedly consider the words of the commentary teachers of the Western Heavens. Zen Master Engo of the Eastern Lands is a Buddhist patriarch who is a rightful successor of the true transmission. [96] Zen Master Daichi28 of Hyakujōzan in Kōshū29 said, "Eyes, ears, nose,

tongue, body, mind: each does not covet and is not tainted by all substantial things and immaterial phenomena. This state is called 'to be receiving and retaining a four-line verse,

' and is also called 'the fourth effect.

'"

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The head-to-tail rightness here and now of the "eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind" that are beyond self and others is unfathomable. For this reason, the whole body is naturally "beyond coveting and taintedness. " In

the wholeness of "all substantial things and immaterial phenomena, " [the

whole body] is "beyond coveting and taintedness. " The naturally whole

wholeness of "receiving and retaining a four-line verse" is called "beyond coveting and taintedness.

" This state is also called "the fourth effect, " and

the fourth effect is arhat. Therefore, "eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind" that are realized here and now are the state of arhat itself. If we maintain basics and revere details, the state will naturally be transparent and free. "To

arrive for the first time at a solid barrier" is "to be receiving and retaining a four-line verse,

" which is the fourth effect.

"Right through to the top and

right through to the bottom, the whole is being realized, " and there is not the

slightest remnant. Ultimately, if we want to express it, how can we express it? We can say: "When arhats are in the state of the profane, all things and phenomena disturb them, and when arhats are in the state of the sacred, all things and phenomena liberate them. [So] we should know that arhats and things and phenomena are in the same state. Once we have experienced arhat, we are restricted by arhat. Thus, since before the king of [the kalpaof] emptiness, 30 [arhat] has been an old fist.

"

ShōbōgenzōArakan

Preached to the assembly on the fifteenth day of the fifth lunar month in the summer of the third year of Ninji,

31 while residing at Kannon dōrihōshōhōrinji in the Uji district of Yōshū. 32

277

Notes

1 From the opening words of the Lotus Sutra, Jo("Introductory") chapter, LS 1.8: "Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was living at Rājagṛha. On Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, he was with twelve thousand great bhikṣus. They were all arhats, having ended all excesses, being without troubles, self-possessed, realizing all bonds of existence, and liberated in mind. "

2 In Hinayana Buddhism, the śrāvakais said to pass through four stages or effects. In Sanskrit, the first is srotāpanna(stream-enterer), the second is sakṛdāgāmin(oncereturner), the third is anāgāmin(non-returner), and the fourth is arhat. 3 Symbolizes an old monk.

4 Reference to the words of Master Kyōzan Ejaku, quoted in the Shinji-shōbōgenzō, pt. 1, no. 23. In the Shinji-shōbōgenzōversion, onozuka[ra], "naturally,

" is omitted.

5 The Daichidoronsays,

"The mystical eyes of an arhat see merely a thousand worlds, the mystical eyes of a pratyekabuddhasee a hundred thousand worlds, the mystical eyes of a buddha see all the buddha lands.

"

6 The words of Master Hyakujō Ekai, quoted, for example, in Chapter Seventy-six (Vol. IV), Dai-shugyō.In this context, the quote means that an arhat has mystical powers, wisdom, etc., and someone who has mystical powers, wisdom, etc. is an arhat. 7 Lotus Sutra, Shinge("Belief and Understanding"). LS 1.260: "Now we are/Truly voicehearers,/The voice of the Buddha's truth/We cause all to hear./Now we are/Truly arhats. "

8 The basis is Buddhist practice-and-experience. 9 Lotus Sutra, Hōben. See LS 1.98-100.

10 Lotus Sutra, Hōben.See LS 1.70. See also Chapter Sixty (Vol. III), Juppō. 11 Ibid. See LS 1.68. See also Chapter Fifty (Vol. III), Shohō-jissō;Chapter Ninety-one (Vol. IV), Yui-butsu-yo-butsu.

12 Ji, kotomeans "fact" or "matter.

" In the Lotus Sutra,the character is used incidentally (recognize the fact that = recognize that). But Master Dōgen picked up the character to emphasize that the Buddha's instruction is the realization of facts. 13 Ji-i,translated in the Lotus Sutraas "calling themselves. . . . " Imeans to call or to

consider. The same characters ji-i, translated as "think to themselves, " appear in paragraph 91.

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14 Makashikan,chapter 3.

15 Shikō-shikarefers to the four effects of srotāpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin,and arhat, and the four processes leading to those four effects. 16 Literally, eight ryōor half a kin.Eight ryōand half a kinare the same weight. One kinis approximately equal to a pound (600 grams). 17 This quotation from the Lotus Sutrafollows directly after the quotation in paragraph 87 of this chapter. See LS 1.98-100. 18 Shihōmeans "this teaching" or "this Dharma" or "concrete reality. "

19 Hekimen.

20 Menpeki.Master Dōgen reversed the characters to suggest the mutual relation of wall and sitter, sitter and wall.

21 Shinshutsu-kibotsu,

"gods appear, demons vanish,

" describes unexpected random

happenings. The phrase appears in a verse by Master Engo Kokugon quoted in Chapter Twenty-three, Gyōbutsu-yuigi.

22 Gokan-tōki.This phrase also appears in the verse by Master Engo Kokugon. 23 Monks in China and Japan in Master Dōgen's time took two meals a day. Gruel was for breakfast, rice was for the midday meal. 24 Master Engo Kokugon (1063-1135), successor of Master Goso Hōen. He received the title of Zen Master Bukka from the Song emperor Kisō and the title of Zen Master Engo from the Southern Song emperor Kōsō. His posthumous title is Zen Master Shinkaku. Master Engo edited the Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record) based on Master Setchō Jūken's collection of poems and stories. 25 Shussemeans in this case to become the master of a big temple. To become the master of a big temple was not Master Engo's aim, but he recognized that it might be the natural consequence of his efforts as a monk. 26 Mugengō. Mugen,

hell.

"incessant,

" represents the Sanskrit Avīci, the name of a particular 27 Engozenjigoroku,chapter 14.

28 Master Hyakujō Ekai (749-814), successor of Master Baso Dōitsu. At Master Baso's instruction, he went to teach in Nanko, where he lived on Mount Hyakujō. Zen Master Daichi is his posthumous title.

29 In present-day Jiangxi province. 30 Kū-ō,

"Emptiness King,

" is the name of the legendary first buddha, who appeared in the kalpaof emptiness. Master Dōgen uses the phrase kū-ō-izen, "since before the

King of Emptiness,

" to describe something that has eternal value. 280

Chapter Thirty-four 31 1242.

32 Corresponds to present-day Kyoto prefecture. 281

Chapter 35: Hakujushi - Cedar Trees

[Chapter Thirty-five] Hakujushi

Cedar Trees

154b3

Translator's Note: The kōan, or story, of Hakujushi, "Cedar Trees,

" is very

famous both in China and in Japan. Although many Buddhists have presented their interpretations of the story, most of them are unsatisfactory. In this chapter, Master Dōgen gives his own interpretation. First he describes Master Jōshū'

s character, then he interprets the story. In the story a monk asks Master Jōshū Jūshin what was Master Bodhidharma '

s inten tion in coming to China from the west. Master Jōshū says "The cedar trees in the garden. " His intention is

"It was just reality

"

or

"It was just Dharma.

" But the monk understood him to mean that cedar trees are just objective things. So he asked the master for another answer. But the master again insisted that cedar trees in the garden are just reality. [101] Great Master Shinsai of Jōshū1 is the thirty-seventh patriarch after the Tathāgata Śākyamuni. He first establishes the [bodhi-]mind when he is sixtyone years old, and leaves home to learn the truth. At that time he vows, "Even

if someone is a hundred years old, if he is inferior to me, I shall teach him. Even if someone is seven years old, if he is superior to me, I shall ask him to teach me.

" Vowing thus, he travels as a cloud through the south. As he continues on his quest for the truth, he arrives at Nansen and goes to do prostrations to Master [Nansen Fu]gan. 2 Nansen happens to be lying down in the abbot's quarters, and when the master comes to see him, [Nansen] asks him straightaway,

3 "Where are you from?"4 The master says,

"Zuizō-in (Auspicious Image Temple). "5

Nansen says,

"Have you seen the auspicious image yet?" The master says,

"I have not seen any auspicious image, but right now I see a reclining Tathāgata. "

Then Nansen gets up at once and asks, "Are you a novice6 who has a master or a novice without a master?" 283

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The master replies,

"A novice who has a master.

"

Nansen says,

"Who is your master?"

The master says,

"It is early spring and still cold. With respect, Master, I am very happy to see you in such fine form. "7

Nansen immediately calls the inō8 and says, "Find a special place for

this novice.

"

Thus [Jōshū] joins the order of Nansen, where he directs his energy in pur suit of the truth for thirty years, without visiting other districts at all. He does not waste a moment of time and is free of miscellaneous preoccupations. Eventually, after he has received the transmission of the truth and received the behavior, he resides for another thirty years as master of Kannon-in Temple in Jōshū. The facts and features of his life as a temple master are never the same as those of the ordinary masters of other districts. 9

[104] On one occasion he says:

Fruitlessly we stare at the smoking fires of neighbors all around. We have not seen a bun or a rice cake since last year. Thinking of them today, I vainly swallow my spit. Periods of composure are scarce, sighs are frequent. Among one hundred people there is no good person. Those who come here only say that they want to drink tea. Unable to drink tea, they leave in anger. 10

Pitifully, [in Jōshū's order] a smoking fire is a rare event. They have little plain food and they have not had a meal of many tastes since the previous year. If a hundred people come, they are [all] looking for tea. Those who are not after tea do not come.

11 There may be not one among a hundred people who could bring tea. There are common monks12 who meet the wise man, but there might be no dragons and elephants13 who want to be the same as him. [105] On another occasion he says: Considering people throughout the country who have left home, How many can there be who endure a life like mine? A bed of earth and a tattered straw mat, The old elm log pillow is totally bare. I burn no incense14 before the honored images, In the ashes I smell only the whiff of cow dung. 15

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From these words of the truth we can know the spotless cleanliness and purity of that order; we should study and learn these ancient traces today. The monks were not many; it is said that the assembly numbered less than twenty, and the reason was that [the life] was so difficult to endure. The monks' hall was not large; it had neither a front hall16 nor a rear washstand. 17

It had no lighting at night, and no charcoal fire in winter. We might say that they were the living conditions of a pitiful old man. [But] the behav ior of eternal buddhas is like this. Once when a leg of the [zazen] platform broke, they bound it with a charred log and made do with this for years and months. Whenever the temple officers18 reported that it should be repaired, the master refused. This is an excellent example, rare through the ages. Usually "the gruel for lunch and breakfast was thinned out so much that it was completely devoid of grain; [they] vainly faced empty windows and the dust in cracks. "19

Sometimes they would gather nuts, which the monks of the assembly and [the master] himself used to enliven their daily diet. When present students of later ages praise this behavior, although we do not equal the master's behavior, we assume veneration of the ancients as our attitude of mind. [107] One day [Jōshū] preaches to the assembly, "For the thirty years I

was in the south, I solely sat in zazen. If you people want to attain this one great matter, you should see if you can master its principle by sitting in zazen. After three years, five years, twenty years, or thirty years, if you have not attained the truth, you may make the skull of this old monk into a dipper for scooping piss.

" This was his vow. Truly, pursuing the truth by sitting in zazen is the direct path to the Buddha's truth. We should master its princi ple by sitting and seeing. Later, people would say "the eternal buddha Jōshū!"20 [108] The great master is once asked by a monk, "What is the ancestral

master's21 intention in coming from the west?" The master says,

"The cedar trees in the garden.

"22

The monk says,

"Master, do not teach a person with objective things. "23

The master says,

"I do not teach people with objective things. "

The monk says,

"What is the ancestral patriarch's intention in coming from the west?"

The master says,

"The cedar trees in the garden.

"24

This kōan,

25 although it stemmed from Jōshū, ultimately is that which all buddhas, with their whole bodies, have established. Just who is "the 285

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boss"?26 The truth we should recognize in the present [story] is the principle that "cedar trees in the garden" are beyond objective things, and the principle that cedar trees are beyond the self—because [the monk says], "Master, do

not teach a person with objective things, " and because [Jōshū says],

"I do

not teach people with objective things. "27 What "master" could be restricted by being "master"? Because he is not restricted, he may be "I. "28 What I

could be restricted by being "I"? Even if restricted, "[I]" may be "a person.

"29

What "objective thing" could not be restricted by "[the ancestral master's] intention in coming from the west"?—because objective things must inevitably be his intention in coming from the west. 30 At the same time, the intention in coming from the west is beyond dependence upon objective things. The ancestral master's intention in coming from the west is not necessarily "the right-Dharma-eye treasury and the fine mind of nirvana"; it is "beyond the concrete mind, beyond the concrete state of buddha, and beyond concrete things.

"31 The present expression,

"What is the ancestral master's intention in coming from the west?"

, is not only the asking of a question and is not only two people having got the same idea. Just at the moment of such a question, "it is impossible for [the questioner] to meet with anybody, "32 and "by

himself he can attain how much?"33 To express it further, he is free of wrongness, and therefore he is one mistake after another mistake. 34 Because he is

mistake after mistake, he sees a mistake as a mistake. Could this be other than "on hearing silence, touching sound"?35 Because the "all-pervading soul is free of attachment and detachment, " it is "cedar trees in the garden. "

Without being objective things, [cedar trees] cannot be cedar trees. Even though [cedar trees] are objective things, [Jōshū says,] "I do not teach people with objective things" and [the monk says,] "Master, do not teach a person with objective things.

" [Cedar trees] are beyond an old shrine. Because they are beyond an old shrine, they keep on vanishing. Because they keep on vanishing, "Give me back my effort!"36 Because the state is [expressed] "Give me back my effort!"

, [Jōshū says] "I do not teach people with objective things. "

What else might he use to teach people? Maybe "I am also like this. "37

[113] The great master is asked by a monk, "In the end, do cedar trees

have the buddha-nature or not?" The great master says,

"They have.

"

The monk says,

"When do cedar trees become buddha?" 286

Chapter Thirty-five

The great master says,

"They time38 it with space falling to the ground.

"39

The monk says,

"When does [space] fall to the ground?"

The great master says,

"In time with the cedar trees becoming buddha.

"40

We should listen to the present words of the great master, and we should not disregard the questions of this monk. When the great master speaks of the time of space falling to the ground and the time of cedar trees becoming buddha, he is not expressing a state in which two factors are wait ing on each other. [The monk] is questioning "cedar trees" and questioning "the buddha-nature.

" He is questioning "becoming buddha" and is questioning "time.

"41 He is questioning "space" and is questioning "falling to the ground. "

When, in reply to the monk, the great master now says "they have, " [he is

saying that] the buddha-nature of cedar trees "actually exists. "42 Attaining

mastery of this truth, we should thus penetrate the lifeblood of the Bud dhist patriarchs. The words quoted here that cedar trees have the buddha-nature ordinarily cannot be expressed, and they have never before been expressed. [But cedar trees] do indeed have the buddha-nature, and we should clarify this situation. How high in the [universal] order are these cedar trees that do have the buddha-nature situated, here and now? We should investigate the length of their age, their life, and their physical bodies. We should identify their families and species. To go further, do hundreds of thousands of cedar trees all belong to the same caste, or do they have distinct bloodlines? Is it possible that there are cedar trees that become buddha, cedar trees that undergo training, and cedar trees that establish the mind? Or is it that although cedar trees become buddha, they are not furnished with [virtues] such as training and establishment of the mind? What causes and conditions are there linking cedar trees and space? If cedar trees becoming buddha is inevitably in time with you43 falling to the ground, does that mean that a cedar tree's virtue as a tree is necessarily related with space?44 As regards the stages of a cedar tree, is space [a cedar tree's] initial state or [a cedar tree's] ultimate stage?45 We should consider and investigate [these questions] in detail. Let me ask you, Old Jōshū: Is it because you yourself are a withered old cedar tree that you could breathe life into such vivid thoughts? In summary, that cedar trees have the buddha-nature is beyond non-Buddhists, the two vehicles, and the like, and is beyond the perceptions of teachers of sutras and commentaries. How much less could it be preached by the flowery 287

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words of [people like] withered trees and dead ash? It is learned and mastered only by those of the Jōshū species. [116] The words now spoken by Jōshū that cedar trees have the buddhanature [ask] "Are cedar trees restricted by cedar trees, or not?" and "Is the buddha-nature restricted by the buddha-nature, or not?" This expression had never been perfectly realized before, not by one buddha or by two buddhas. [Even] those who have the buddha-countenance cannot always perfectly realize this expression of the truth. Even among buddhas, there may be buddhas who can express it, and there may be buddhas who cannot express it. The aforementioned "waiting46 for space to fall to the ground" does not describe something that may never happen: at every time when cedar trees become buddha, space falls to the ground. The sound of such falling to the ground is louder than a hundred thousand rolls of thunder. The time of cedar trees becoming buddha, while provisionally described as "in the twelve hours, "47 is also

"the twelve hours themselves.

"48 The space that falls to the ground is not merely the space seen by the common and the sacred. There is a unity of space beyond this, which is not seen by other people, but Jōshū alone sees it. The ground on which space falls is also other than the ground occupied by the common and the sacred. There is a unity of ground beyond this, which is not reached by the forces of yinand yang, 49 but Jōshū alone has reached it. The moment when space falls to the ground—even for the sun and moon and mountains and rivers—must be a matter of "timing. " Who can assert that the

buddha-nature must necessarily become buddha? The buddha-nature is an adornment that follows after becoming buddha. Furthermore, there may also be buddha-nature that appears together with, and experiences together with, becoming buddha. In conclu sion,

"cedar trees" and "the buddha-nature" are "not different sounds in the same tune. "50 They are, in other words, the indefinable. 51 We should investigate them, asking "like what?"52 ShōbōgenzōHakujushi

Preached to the assembly at Kannondōri-in Temple in the Uji district of Yōshū, 53 on the

twenty-first day of the fifth lunar month—the season of the Japanese iris—in the third year of Ninji.

54

288

Notes

1 Master Jōshū Jūshin (778-897), successor of Master Nansen Fugan. He also studied under Masters Ōbaku, Hōju, Enkan, and Kassan. Great Master Shinsai is his posthumous title. 2 Master Nansen Fugan (748-834). He received the precepts from another master but later became the disciple, and eventually a successor, of Master Baso Dōitsu. It is said that after building a small temple at Nansen ("Southern Spring") in the Chiyo district, he passed thirty years without coming down from his mountain. He had many students, including Master Jōshū Jūshin and Master Chōsha Keishin. 3 That is, without getting up. 4 Literally,

"Recently what place have you left?" 5 Zuizō-in,

"Auspicious Image Temple,

" was the name of Master Nansen's temple. Zuizō,

"auspicious image,

" would usually suggest a statue, for instance, the buddha image in the Buddha hall.

6 Shamirepresents the sound of the Sanskrit śrāmaṇera,meaning "novice. "

7 Sontai-kikyo-banpuku,literally, "[Your] venerable body, and standing up and sitting down, are ten thousand happinesses. " Master Jōshū meant that he had already become a novice in the order of Master Nansen. 8 Inō,also called dōsu,

"hall chief,

" is one of the six main officers of a temple, responsible for supervising the monks in the zazen hall. The term inōderives from the Sanskrit karma-dāna.

9 The information in this paragraph is contained in the Keitokudentōroku,chapter 10. 10 Kosonshukugoroku,chapter 14. 11 Wanting to get tea suggests wanting to get some concrete effect, for example, enlightenment. 12 Unsui,

"clouds and water,

" is a usual term for the monks of a temple. 13 Ryūzō,

"dragons and elephants,

" means outstanding or transcendent practitioners. 14 Ansoku-kō,literally,

"peaceful breath incense.

" This is a kind of incense made from benzoin, which is a resin obtained from trees (genus Styrax) of Southeast Asia. 289

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15 Dried cowdung was burned as heating fuel. 16 Zenka,an adjoining hall in front of the monks' hall (zazen hall) proper, also furnished with a zazen platform, where monks with jobs to do in the temple could come and go without disturbing the other members. 17 Koka,mentioned, for example, in Chapter Fifty-six (Vol. III), Senmen. 18 Chiji.There were six of these main officers, namely: 1) tsūsu,chief officer, head of the temple office, comptroller; 2) kansu,prior; 3) fusu,assistant prior; 4) dōsuor inō, supervisor of monks in the zazen hall, rector; 5) tenzo,head cook; and 6) shisui,caretaker. 19 Quotation of Master Jōshū's words from the Kosonshukugoroku,chapter 14. 20 Master Seppō Gison's words, quoted in Chapter Forty-four (Vol. III), Kobusshin.See also Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 3, no. 84. 21 Soshiis often used, as in this case, for Master Bodhidharma himself. See Chapter Sixty-seven (Vol. III), Soshi-sairai-no-i. 22 Hakujushi.In Japanese this kind of tree is called konotegashiwa,which the Kenkyusha dictionary gives as "an Oriental arborvitae;a thuja. " The name arborvitae(literally,

"tree of life") applies to any of various evergreen trees of the pine family, but especially to the genus Thuja.The name cedar applies firstly to the genus Cedrus,but secondly to numerous other coniferous trees that resemble the true cedars, including trees of the genus Thuja.Therefore, for the sake of using a more familiar term than " arborvitae

" or "thuja,

"the translation "cedar trees" has been preferred. 23 That is,

"Don't teach me with objective things. "

24 Kosonshukugoroku,chapter 13.

25 Kōan.In the Shōbōgenzō, the word kōanis used to represent 1) a story that points to reality, following the universal principles of Buddhist theory, and 2) the universal law, that is, Dharma.

26 Shujinkōalludes to the words of Zen Master Zuigan, who used to call to himself "Boss!" and answer himself "Yes.

" (See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 3, no. 48). Master Dōgen begins his commentary by asking what the self is, so he picks up the word "boss" from this story, to express the self as a person who is living in reality. 27 Both Master Jōshū and the monk knew that Master Bodhidharma's intention and cedar trees are real, and therefore beyond subject and object. 28 Wa[re],

"I,

" is the first character in Master Jōshū's line "I do not teach people with objective things.

" So wa[re] means the master as himself. In order to describe a real thing, Master Dōgen often describes the thing as not being restricted by the concept "thing.

"

29 The character hito,

"human being,

" appears in both the monk's words ("a person") 290

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and Master Jōshū's words ("people"). The point is that, whether restricted or not, we cannot escape the fact that we are human beings. 30 Another formula used by Master Dōgen to describe a real thing is to describe the thing as being restricted by the thing itself. 31 Fuzeshin nari, fuzebutsu nari, fuzemotsu nari.Exactly the same expression appears in Chapter Thirty-four, Arakan,paragraph 89. 32 In other words, the questioner is a person existing independently. 33 Ikubaku,

"how much" or "how many,

" may be interpreted as an expression of the immeasurable, or the ineffable. At the same time the words suggest that the independent self has nothing to attain.

34 In other words, someone who is doing his or her best is not wrong, but at the same time, in actual life he or she has to make many mistakes. For example, Master Dōgen affirmed the efforts made by the monk in the story, but at the same time, the monk did not understand the intention of Master Jōshū's first answer. 35 When we are silent, we can recognize what sound and non-sound is. Similarly, when we are humble enough to recognize that life is full of mistakes, we can recognize what mistakes and non-mistakes are.

36 Because every present moment is cut off from the past, the present is empty of past efforts.

"Give me back my effort!" represents the reality of the present. 37 Go-yaku-nyozeare the words spoken by the Sixth Patriarch to Master Nangaku Ejō. See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 2, no. 1. See also Chapter Twenty-nine, Inmo. 38 Tai, ma[tsu] literally means "to wait. " As an adverb, the character sometimes means "at the time when" but here it is used as a verb. Master Jōshū however, is not saying that cedar trees are waiting for realization in the future; he is emphasizing that realization occurs in real time. 39 "Space falling to the ground" suggests reality as it is, without illusions. 40 Kosonshukugoroku,chapter 14.

41 The monk's second and third questions begin with the words iku-ji, "What time. . . ?"

42 U, a[ri] as a transitive verb means "to have" and as an intransitive verb means "to exist.

" As a noun, it means "existence.

" See also discussion of u-busshō,

"having the

buddha-nature,

" in Chapter Twenty-two, Busshō.

43 By substituting "you" (i.e., that monk, or a concrete person) for "space, " Master

Dōgen suggested that space falling to the ground and a person coming down to earth (becoming practical) are the same fact. 44 The question encourages us to take a whole or integrated view, not only considering the elements one by one.

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45 Master Dōgen generally considers problems in four phases: conceptual, physical, actual, and real. Thus, the space of a cedar tree is 1) a concept, 2) a physical area, 3) the place where the cedar tree actually exists, and 4) the cedar tree itself. 46 Ma[tsu]. See note 38.

47 Jūniji-chū.

48 Jūniji-chū. Chūmeans 1) inside, and by extension, 2) the inside of, the reality of, the thing itself. See also Chapter Eleven (Vol. I), Uji;Chapter Thirty-eight, Muchūsetsu mu. 49 Onyō,

"

yinand yang

"represent the negative and positive poles, respectively, within the flow of energy. See also Chapter Forty, Gabyō,paragraph 222. 50 I-on-dō-chō,lit.,

"different sounds, same tune,

" means "different words for the same thing.

" We should not call cedar trees and the buddha-nature different words for the same thing—because we honestly do not know what they are. 51 Ka-hitsuliterally means "How can it be decided that. . . ?" Used as a noun, the characters therefore suggest ambiguity, the ineffable, or something indefinable. See also Chapter Three (Vol. I), Genjō-kōan,note 11. 52 Somosanexpresses a questioning attitude. The expression often appears in the Chinese stories quoted by Master Dōgen from the Keitokudentōroku,etc. In Chapter Thirtythree, Kannon,for example, in order to get Master Dōgo to express himself, Master Ungan uses the word somosan,

"how about you?" or "what do you say?" In Chapter Thirty-two, Juki,Master Seppō uses the word in the same way with Master Gensha. 53 Corresponds to present-day Kyoto prefecture. 54 1242.

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