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T2582 Shōbōgenzō The True Dharma-Eye Treasury, Volume III

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SHŌBŌGENZŌ

THE TRUE DHARMA-EYE TREASURY VOLUME III

Front Matters

BDK English Tripiṭaka Series SHŌBŌGENZŌ

THE TRUE DHARMA-EYE TREASURY Volume III

(Taishō Volume 82, Number 2582) Translated from the Japanese by

Gudo Wafu Nishijima and

Chodo Cross

BDK America, Inc. 2008

Copyright

Copyright of the Original Edition © 1994-1999 Gudo Wafu Nishijima and Chodo Cross Gudo Nishijima was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1919, and graduated from Tokyo University in 1946. In 1940 he first met Master Kōdō Sawaki, whose teaching he received until the master

s death in 1965. During this time he combined the daily practice of zazen and study of the Shōbōgenzō with a career at the Japanese Ministry of Finance and at a securities financing company. In 1973 he became a priest under the late Master Renpo Niwa, and in 1977 he received transmission of the Dharma from Master Niwa (who subsequently became abbot of Eiheiji). Shortly thereafter Nishijima became a consultant to the Ida Ryogokudo company, and in 1987 established the Ida Ryogokudo Zazen Dōjō in Ichikawa City near Tokyo. He continues to give instruction in zazen and lectures, in Japanese and in English, on Master Dōgen '

works in Tokyo and Osaka and at the Tokei-in Temple in Shizuoka Prefecture. Chodo Cross was born in Birmingham, England, in 1959. He went to Japan in 1982, after graduating from Sheffield University, met Nishijima Roshi in June 1982, and received the Buddhist precepts in May 1983. In 1994 he returned to England to train as a teacher of the FM Alexander Technique. He formally received the Dharma in 1998 and in the following year established the Middle Way Re-education Centre (www.the-middle-way.org).

BDK America, Inc.

Reprinted by permission of Gudo Wafu Nishijima and Chodo Cross All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. Third Printing, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-886439-37-5

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008931432 Published by

BDK America, Inc.

1675 School Street

Moraga, California 94556

Printed in the United States of America

A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripiṭaka

The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand different teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a different treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a different medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suffering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the suffering to which it was addressed.

Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eightyfour thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirtynine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project. It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future.

It is most gratifying that, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten off the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the Compassionate One reach each and every person in the world.

NUMATA Yehan

Founder of the English

August 7, 1991 Tripiṭaka Project

Editorial Foreword

In January 1982, Dr. NUMATA Yehan, the founder of Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taishō edition of the Chinese Tripiṭaka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation Committee of the English Tripiṭaka was officially convened. The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late) HANAYAMA Shōyū (Chairperson), (late) BANDŌ Shōjun, ISHIGAMI Zennō, (late) KAMATA Shigeo, KANAOKA Shūyū, MAYEDA Sengaku, NARA Yasuaki, (late) SAYEKI Shinkō, (late) SHIOIRI Ryōtatsu, TAMARU Noriyoshi, (late) TAMURA Kwansei, URYŪZU Ryūshin, and YUYAMA Akira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: KANAZAWA Atsushi, WATA NABE Shōgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium.

After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written in India but also include works written or composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published.

Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless, as Dr. NUMATA wished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present members have passed away.

Dr. NUMATA passed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. NUMATA Toshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project. The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, vii

Publisher’s Foreword

Editorial Foreword

Professor HANAYAMA Shōyū, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. After these severe blows, the Committee elected me, then Vice President of Musashino Women's College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention of Dr. NUMATA, under the leadership of Mr. NUMATA Toshihide. The present members of the Committee are MAYEDA Sengaku (Chairperson), ISHIGAMI Zennō, ICHISHIMA Shōshin, KANAOKA Shūyū, NARA Yasuaki, TAMARU Noriyoshi, Kenneth K. Tanaka, URYŪZU Ryūshin, YUYAMA Akira, WATANABE Shōgo, and assistant member YONEZAWA Yoshiyasu.

The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripiṭaka First Series. The Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center in December 1991. Since then the publication of all the volumes has been and will continue to be conducted under the supervision of this Committee in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo. MAYEDA Sengaku

Chairperson

Editorial Committee of

the BDK English Tripiṭaka

viii

Publisher's Foreword

On behalf of the Publication Committee, I am happy to present this contribution to the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. The initial translation and editing of the Buddhist scripture found here were performed under the direction of the Editorial Committee in Tokyo, Japan, chaired by Professor Sengaku Mayeda, Professor Emeritus of Musashino University. The Publication Committee members then put this volume through a rigorous succession of editorial and bookmaking efforts. Both the Editorial Committee in Tokyo and the Publication Committee in Berkeley are dedicated to the production of clear, readable English texts of the Buddhist canon. The members of both committees and associated staff work to honor the deep faith, spirit, and concern of the late Reverend Dr. Yehan Numata, who founded the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series in order to disseminate Buddhist teachings throughout the world.

The long-term goal of our project is the translation and publication of the one hundred-volume Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, plus a few influential extracanonical Japanese Buddhist texts. The list of texts selected for the First Series of this translation project is given at the end of each volume. As Chair of the Publication Committee, I am deeply honored to serve in the post formerly held by the late Dr. Philip B. Yampolsky, who was so good to me during his lifetime; the esteemed Dr. Kenneth K. Inada, who has had such a great impact on Buddhist studies in the United States; and the beloved late Dr. Francis H. Cook, a dear friend and colleague.

In conclusion, let me thank the members of the Publication Committee for the efforts they have undertaken in preparing this volume for publication: Senior Editor Marianne Dresser, Dr. Hudaya Kandahjaya, Dr. Eisho Nasu, Reverend Kiyoshi Yamashita, and Reverend Brian Nagata, President of the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.

John R. McRae

Chairperson

Publication Committee

Note on the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series

Reprint Edition

After due consideration, the Editorial Committee of the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series chose to reprint the translation of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzōby Gudo Wafu Nishijima and Chodo Cross (originally published under the title Master Dogen '

Shobogenzo, Books 1-4,by Windbell Publications, 1994-1999) in order to make more widely available this exemplary translation of this important text. Volumes I and II of this edition of Shōbōgenzō: The True Dharma-eye Treasury were published in November 2007 and July 2008. The remaining volume IV will be published in sequence in 2008.

Aside from the minor stylistic changes and the romanization of all Chinese and Japanese characters in adherence to the publishing guidelines of the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series, this edition reproduces as closely as possible the original translation.

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripiṭaka NUMATA Yehan v

Editorial Foreword MAYEDA Sengaku vii Publisher's Foreword John R. McRae ix Note on the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series Reprint Edition xi Translators' Introduction Gudo Wafu Nishijima and Chodo Cross xv

Shōbōgenzō: The True Dharma-eye Treasury, Volume III Chapter Forty-two. Tsuki:The Moon 3 Chapter Forty-three. Kūge: Flowers in Space Chapter Forty-four. Kobusshin:The Mind of Eternal Buddhas 13 29

Chapter Forty-five. Bodaisatta-shishōbō:Four Elements of a Bodhisattva's Social Relations 39 Chapter Forty-six. Kattō:The Complicated 49 Chapter Forty-seven. Sangai-yuishin:The Triple World Is Only the Mind 61

Chapter Forty-eight. Sesshin-sesshō:Expounding the Mind and Expounding the Nature 73

Chapter Forty-nine. Butsudō:The Buddhist Truth Chapter Fifty. Shohō-jissō:All Dharmas are Real Form Chapter Fifty-one. Mitsugo:Secret Talk 129 Chapter Fifty-two. Bukkyō:The Buddhist Sutras 87 109

139

Chapter Fifty-three. Mujō-seppō:The Non-emotional Preaches the Dharma 155

Chapter Fifty-four. Hosshō:The Dharma-nature 171 Chapter Fifty-five. Darani:Dhāraṇī 179 Chapter Fifty-six. Senmen:Washing the Face 189 xiii

Translators’ Introduction

Contents

Chapter Fifty-seven. Menju:Face-to-Face Transmission 209 Chapter Fifty-eight. Zazengi:The Standard Method of Zazen 225 Chapter Fifty-nine. Baike:Plum Blossoms 229 Chapter Sixty. Juppō:The Ten Directions 247 Chapter Sixty-one. Kenbutsu:Meeting Buddha 257 Chapter Sixty-two. Hensan:Thorough Exploration 275 Chapter Sixty-three. Ganzei:Eyes 285 Chapter Sixty-four. Kajō:Everyday Life 293 Chapter Sixty-five. Ryūgin:The Moaning of Dragons 303 Chapter Sixty-six. Shunjū:Spring and Autumn 309 Chapter Sixty-seven. Soshi-sairai-no-i:The Ancestral Master's Intention in Coming from the West 319 Chapter Sixty-eight. Udonge:The UḍumbaraFlower 325 Chapter Sixty-nine. Hotsu-mujōshin:Establishment of the Will to the Supreme 335

Chapter Seventy. Hotsu-bodaishin:Establishment of the Bodhi-mind 349 Chapter Seventy-one. Nyorai-zenshin:The Whole Body of the Tathāgata 365

Chapter Seventy-two. Zanmai-ō-zanmai:The SamādhiThat Is the King of Samādhis 371

Appendix. Chinese Masters 377

Glossary of Sanskrit Terms 381

Bibliography 393

Index 401

A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripiṭaka (First Series) 429 xiv

Translators' Introduction

Preface

by Gudo Wafu Nishijima

The Shōbōgenzō was written by Dōgen in the thirteenth century. I think that reading the Shōbōgenzōis the best way to come to an exact understanding of Buddhist theory, for Dōgen was outstanding in his ability to understand and explain Buddhism rationally.

Of course, Dōgen did not depart from traditional Buddhist thought. However at the same time, his thought as expressed in the Shōbōgenzōfollows his own unique method of presentation. If we understand this method, the Shōbōgenzō would not be difficult to read. But unless we understand his method of thinking, it would be impossible for us to understand what Dōgen is trying to say in the Shōbōgenzō.

Buddhists revere the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Buddha means Gautama Buddha. Sangha means those people who pursue Gautama Buddha's truth. Dharma means reality. Dōgen's unique method of thought was his way of explaining the Dharma. Basically, he looks at a problem from two sides, and then tries to synthesize the two viewpoints into a middle way. This method has similarities with the dialectic method in Western philosophy, particularly as used by Hegel and Marx. Hegel's dialectic, however, is based on belief in spirit, and Marx's dialectic is based on belief in matter. Dōgen, through the Buddhist dialectic, wants to lead us away from thoughts based on belief in spirit and matter. Dōgen recognized the existence of something that is different from thought; that is, reality in action. Action is completely different from intellectual thought and completely different from the perceptions of our senses. So Dōgen's method of thinking is based on action and, because of that, it has some unique characteristics. xv

Translator's Introduction

First, Dōgen recognized that things we usually separate in our minds are, in action, one reality. To express this oneness of subject and object Dōgen says, for example:

If a human being, even for a single moment, manifests the Buddha's posture in the three forms of conduct, while [that person] sits up straight in samādhi, the entire world of Dharma assumes the Buddha's posture and the whole of space becomes the state of realization. This sentence, taken from the Bendōwachapter (Chapter One), is not illogical but it reflects a new kind of logic.

Secondly, Dōgen recognized that in action, the only time that really exists is the moment of the present, and the only place that really exists is this place. So the present moment and this place—the here and now—are very important concepts in Dōgen's philosophy of action.

The philosophy of action is not unique to Dōgen; this idea was also the center of Gautama Buddha's thought. All the Buddhist patriarchs of ancient India and China relied upon this theory and realized Buddhism itself. They also recognized the oneness of reality, the importance of the present moment, and the importance of this place.

But explanations of reality are only explanations. In the Shōbōgenzō,after he had explained a problem on the basis of action, Dōgen wanted to point the reader into the realm of action itself. To do this, he sometimes used poems, he sometimes used old Buddhist stories that suggest reality, and he sometimes used symbolic expressions.

So the chapters of the Shōbōgenzōusually follow a four-phased pattern. First Dōgen picks up and outlines a Buddhist idea. In the second phase, he examines the idea very objectively or concretely, in order to defeat idealistic or intellectual interpretations of it. In the third phase, Dōgen's expression becomes even more concrete, practical, and realistic, relying on the philosophy of action. And in the fourth phase, Dōgen tries to suggest reality with words. Ultimately, these trials are only trials. But we can feel something that can be called reality in his sincere trials when we reach the end of each chapter.

I think this four-phased pattern is related with the Four Noble Truths preached by Gautama Buddha in his first lecture. By realizing Dōgen's method of thinking, xvi

Translator's Introduction

we can come to realize the true meaning of Gautama Buddha's Four Noble Truths. This is why we persevere in studying the Shōbōgenzō. Notes on the Translation

by Chodo Cross

Source Text

The source text for Chapters Forty-two to Seventy-two is contained in volumes seven to nine of Nishijima Roshi's twelve-volume Gendaigo-yaku-shōbōgenzō(Shōbōgenzō in Modern Japanese). The Gendaigo-yaku-shōbōgenzōcontains Dōgen's original text, notes on the text, and the text rendered into modern Japanese. Reference numbers enclosed in brackets at the beginning of some paragraphs of this translation refer to corresponding page numbers in the Gendaigo-yaku-shōbōgenzō,and much of the material reproduced in the notes comes from the Gendaigo-yaku-shōbōgenzō.

The Gendaigo-yaku-shōbōgenzōis based upon the ninety-five-chapter edition of the Shōbōgenzō,which was arranged in chronological order by Master Hangyō Kōzen sometime between 1688 and 1703. The ninety-five-chapter edition is the most comprehensive single edition, including important chapters such as Bendōwa (Chapter One, Vol. I) and Hokke-ten-hokke (Chapter Seventeen, Vol. I) that do not appear in other editions. Furthermore, it was the first edition to be printed with woodblocks, in the Bunka era (1804-1818), and so the content was fixed at that time. The original woodblocks are still preserved at Eiheiji, the temple in Fukui prefecture that Dōgen founded.

Sanskrit Terms

As a rule, Sanskrit words such as samādhi(the balanced state), prajñā(real wisdom), and bhikṣu(monk), which Dōgen reproduces phonetically with Chinese characters, read in Japanese as zanmai, hannya, and biku,have been retained in Sanskrit form.

In addition, some Chinese characters representing the meaning of Sanskrit terms that will already be familiar to readers (or which will become familiar in the course of reading the Shōbōgenzō) have been returned to Sanskrit. Examples are hō("reality,

" "law,

" "method,

" "things and phenomena"), usually translated

as "Dharma" or "dharmas"; nyorai("Thus-come"), always translated as "Tathāgata"; and shōmon("voice-hearer"), always translated as "śrāvaka. "

xvii

Translator's Introduction

The Glossary of Sanskrit Terms includes all Sanskrit terms appearing in this volume not included in the Glossary of Sanskrit Terms in Volumes I and II. Chinese Proper Nouns

In general Chinese proper nouns have been romanized according to their Japanese pronunciation—as Dōgen would have pronounced them for a Japanese audience. Thus, we have let the romanization of all names of Chinese masters follow the Japanese pronunciation, while also adding an appendix showing the Chinese romanization of Chinese masters' names. Chinese Text

Dōgen wrote the Shōbōgenzōin Japanese, that is to say, using a combination of Chinese characters (squared ideograms usually consisting of many strokes) and the Japanese phonetic alphabet which is more abbreviated. Chinese of course is written in Chinese characters only. Therefore when Dōgen quotes a passage, or borrows a phrase, from a Chinese text—as he very often does—it is readily apparent to the eye as a string of Chinese ideograms uninterrupted by Japanese squiggles. We attempted to mirror this effect, to some degree, by using italics for such passages and phrases. (Editorial Note: In this BDK English Tripiṭaka Series edition, all such passages appear in quotemarks. Also, in adherence to the publishing guidelines of the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series, all Chinese characters have been omitted in this reprint edition. Interested readers may consult the original Windbell Publications edition, Master Dogen '

s Shobogenzo,Books 1-4.)

The Meaning of Shōbōgenzō,

"True Dharma-eye Treasury"

Shōmeans "right" or "true.

" Hō,

"law,

" represents the Sanskrit "Dharma.

All of us belong to something that, prior to our naming it or thinking about it, is already there. And it already belongs to us. "Dharma" is one name for what

is already there.

Hōgen,

"Dharma-eye,

" represents the direct experience of what is already there. Because the Dharma is prior to thinking, it must be directly experienced by a faculty that is other than thinking. Gen, "eye,

" represents this direct experience that is other than thinking. Shōbōgen,

"true Dharma-eye,

" therefore describes the right experience of what is already there.

xviii

Translator's Introduction

Zō,

"storehouse" or "treasury,

" suggests something that contains and preserves the right experience of what is already there. Thus, Nishijima Roshi has interpreted Shōbōgenzō,

"true Dharma-eye treasury,

" as an expression of zazen itself.

Nishijima Roshi's right Dharma-eye is, for me, evidenced nowhere more clearly than in his introduction to one of the chapters of this volume, Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō: All Dharmas are Real Form. Any virtue that this translation has stems entirely from the profoundly philosophical mind, the imperturbable balance, and the irrepressible optimism and energy of Nishijima Roshi. xix

SHŌBŌGENZŌ THE TRUE DHARMA-EYE TREASURY VOLUME III by

Dōgen

Chapter 42: Tsuki - The Moon

[Chapter Forty-two]

Tsuki1

168a10

The Moon

Translator's Note:Tsuki means "

moon

; in this chapter Master Dōgen uses the moon as a symbol to explain the relationship between an abstract concept and a concrete entity. The moon existed yesterday, it exists today, and it will exist tomorrow. We can say that at one moment in time the moon is a unique and independent entity. At the same time, there is the abstract concept " "

moon.

The concept "

moon

" is an abstraction of the concrete moon which exists at one moment; that is the moon yesterday, the moon today, the moon tomorrow. Although the unique, concrete moon is the origin of the abstract concept "the moon,

we are prone to discuss philosophical problems only in terms of abstract concepts, forgetting concrete facts, and creating a division between thinking and perception. Buddhist philosophy synthesizes the two factors, and here Master Dōgen explains the mutual relationship between thinking and sensory perception, comparing the abstract concept " "

moon

with the

concrete moon. Secondly, Master Dōgen uses the relationship between moon and cloud to explain the relationship between subject and object. Buddhist theory says that reality is oneness between subject and object here and now. Master Dōgen explains this using the example of the moon and a cloud that surrounds the moon.

[3] The round realization of moons is not only three and three before and not only three and three after. 2 The state in which moons are round realization is not only three and three before and not only three and three after. 3 Therefore.

. .

Śākyamuni Buddha says, The Buddha's true Dharma body4 Is just like space.

168b

Shōbōgenzō Volume III

Manifesting its form according to things, It is like the moon in water. 5

The "reality as it is"6 in this "is like the moon in water" may be the [oneness of] "water-and-moon, " or it may be "the water's reality, "7 or "the moon's

reality,

"8 or "being in reality,

"9 or "the reality of being in. "10 "Being like"

does not express resemblance; being like is concrete existence. 11 "The

Buddha's true Dharma body" is "the reality itself"12 of "space. " This "space"

is the "Buddha's true Dharma body" of "reality itself. " Because [space] is

the Buddha's true Dharma body, the whole earth, the whole world, the whole Dharma, and the whole of "manifestation, " are themselves naturally space. The "reality itself" of the manifest hundred things and myriad phenomena is totally the true Dharma body of Buddha, and it "is like the moon in water. "

The time of the moon is not always night, and night is not always dark. Do not limit yourself to narrow human consideration. There may be day and night even where there is no sun or moon. The sun and the moon are not for day and night. The sun and the moon each are reality as it is, therefore [the moon] is not one moon or two moons and not a thousand moons or ten thousand moons. Even if the moon maintains and relies upon a view of itself as one moon or two moons, that is the view of the moon, but it is not necessarily an expression of the Buddha's truth or the wisdom of the Buddha's truth. So although the moon was there last night, tonight's moon is not yesterday's moon. We should master in practice that the moon tonight, at the beginning, middle, and end, is the moon tonight. Because the moon succeeds the moon, the moon exists and yet is not new or old. 13

[6] Zen Master Banzan Hōshaku says:14 Mind-moon, alone and round. Light swallows myriad phenomena. Light does not illuminate objects, Neither do objects exist.

Light and objects both vanish, This is what?

What has now been expressed is that the Buddhist patriarchs and the Buddha's disciples always have the state of "mind-moon. " Because we see

the moon as the mind, it is not the mind unless it is the moon, and there is 4

Chapter Forty-two

no moon which is not the mind.

"Alone and round" means lacking nothing. That which is beyond two and three is called "myriad phenomena. " "Myriad

phenomena,

" being moonlight itself, are beyond "myriad phenomena"; therefore "light swallows myriad phenomena. " Myriad phenomena have naturally swallowed moonlight, and so he expresses light swallowing light as "light swallows myriad phenomena.

" It may be, for another example, that the moon swallows the moon, or that light swallows the moon. This being so, he says, "Light does not illuminate objects,/Neither do objects exist. " Because

[buddhas]15 have got the state like this, when "people must be saved through the body of a buddha, they manifest at once the body of a buddha and preach for them the Dharma.

"16 When people must be saved through a common17 physical body, they manifest at once a common physical body and preach for them the Dharma. There is no such instance which is not the turning of the Dharma wheel in the moon. Even though the illumination of phenomena by yinenergy and by yangenergy18 is produced by the fire pearl and the water pearl,

19 at the same time it is just the direct manifestation of reality. This mind is the moon itself, and this moon is naturally the mind. The Buddhist patriarchs and the Buddha's disciples master the principles of the mind and master the facts of the mind like this. [8] An eternal buddha says,

"One mind is the whole Dharma, and the whole Dharma is one mind.

"20 So the mind is the whole Dharma, and the whole Dharma is the mind. And, because the mind is the moon, it may be that the moon is the moon. Because the whole Dharma as the mind is totally the moon, the whole world is the whole moon, and the "thoroughly realized body"21 is in its entirety the thoroughly realized moon. Even among the "three and three before and after"

—which belong directly to eternity—is any not the moon? The sun-faced buddhas and moon-faced buddhas which are the present body-mind or object-subject may all be in the moon. Living-anddying, coming-and-going, are both "in the moon. " The whole universe in

ten directions may be the top, bottom, left, and right of "in the moon. "22 Daily

functions23 now are the hundred things being utterly clear "in the moon, "

and are the mind of the ancestral masters being utterly clear "in the moon. "24

[10] Great Master Jisai25 of Tōsuzan in Jōshū district, the story goes, is asked by a monk,

"How is the moon when not yet round?" The master says,

"Swallowing three or four [concrete moons]. "

168c

169a

Shōbōgenzō Volume III

The monk says,

"And after it has been round?"

The master says,

"Vomiting seven or eight.

"26

The states under investigation now are "not yet being round" and "having been round.

" Both are moments of the moon. Among three or four [concrete moons] in the moon, there is one [conceptual moon] which is not yet round. 27

Among seven or eight [concrete moons] in the moon, there is one [conceptual moon] which has been round. Swallowing is [a concrete matter of] three or four; this moment is the realization of "the time when the moon is not yet round.

" Vomiting is [a concrete matter of] seven or eight; this moment is the realization of "having been round.

" When the moon swallows the moon,

it is [a concrete matter of] three or four. In the act of swallowing, the moon exists and is realized. The moon is the realization of swallowing. When the moon vomits the moon, it is [a concrete matter of] seven or eight. In the act of vomiting, the moon exists and is realized. The moon is the realization of vomiting. Therefore it is swallowing wholly and it is vomiting wholly. The whole earth and the whole heavens are the act of vomiting, and the entire heavens and the entire earth are the act of swallowing. We should swallow the self and should swallow the external world. We should vomit the self and should vomit the external world.

[12] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses Bodhisattva Diamond Treasury:29 "Just as, for example, moving eyes are able to stir calm waters and still eyes make fire seem to swirl, so too it is that [when] a cloud flies the moon moves and [when] a boat sails the shore drifts. "30

We must clarify and master in practice the present preaching of the Buddha that "[when] a cloud flies the moon moves and [when] a boat sails the shore drifts.

" We must not understand it hastily and must not compare it with the sentiments of the common person. Still, those who see and hear this preaching of the Buddha in accordance with the preaching of the Buddha are few. When we are able to learn in accordance with the preaching of the Buddha, round realization31 is not always "the body-mind" and not always "bodhi"

or "nirvana.

" Bodhiand nirvana are not always "round realization" and not always "the body-mind.

" The words now spoken by the Tathāgata

that "[when] a cloud flies the moon moves and [when] a boat sails the shore drifts" mean that at the time of the cloud's flying the moon is moving, and 6

Chapter Forty-two

at the time of the boat's sailing the shore is drifting. The point is that the moving together of the cloud and the moon, in the same step, at the same time, in the same way, is beyond beginning and end and is beyond before and after. The moving together of the boat and the shore, in the same step, at the same time, in the same way, is beyond starting and stopping and is not a cycle. Similarly, when we learn human action, a person's action is beyond starting and stopping, and the action of stopping and starting is beyond the person. Do not think of human action in the relative terms of starting and stopping. The flying of a cloud, the moving of the moon, the sailing of a boat, and the drifting of a shore, are all like this. Do not stupidly think limited thoughts according to the small view. Do not forget the principle that the flying of a cloud is beyond east, west, north, and south, and the moving of the moon is ceaseless day and night, past and present. The sailing of a boat and the drifting of a shore, both being beyond the three times, are able to utilize the three times. For this reason,

"Having arrived directly at the present,

we are full up and not hungry.

"32

[15] Still, stupid people have understood that the unmoving moon appears to move because of the flying of a cloud, and that the motionless shore seems to drift because of the sailing of a boat. If it were as stupid people say, how could it be the teaching of the Tathāgata? The fundamental principle of the Buddha-Dharma is never the small thoughts of human beings and gods: although it is unthinkable, it is that there is only practice at every opportunity. Who could fail to sift through the boat and the shore over and over again? Who could fail to put on their eyes at once and look at the cloud and the moon?

[16] Remember, the teaching of the Tathāgata does not liken a cloud to something else, does not liken the moon to something else, does not liken a boat to something else, and does not liken a shore to something else. We should consider this truth quietly and master it in practice. A step of the moon is the round realization of the Tathāgata, and the round realization of the Tathāgata is the action of the moon, which is beyond movement and stillness and beyond progress and retreat. Because the moon's moving is never a metaphor, its essence and form are "alone and round.

" Remember, the gait

of the moon—even if it is a gallop—is beyond beginning, middle, and end. For this reason, the first moon and the second moon exist. 33 The first and the

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second are both the moon itself. What is "truly lovely for practice" is the moon; what is "truly lovely for serving offerings" is the moon; and what "swings the sleeves and goes at once" is the moon. 34 Its roundness and sharpness are beyond waxing and waning. Using and not using the cycle of waxing and waning, letting go and holding back, it gives free play to the elegant ways,

35 and so it exists like this in many moons. Shōbōgenzō Tsuki

Written at Kannondōrikōshōhōrinji on the sixth day of the first lunar month in [the fourth year of] Ninji.

ŚramaṇaDōgen

Notes

1 All chapters of the Shōbōgenzōhave at least two Chinese characters in the title. Thus, in the chapter title, for the sake of conformity, Master Dōgen represents the Japanese word tsuki,

"moon,

" phonetically with the two Chinese characters tsuand ki.In the chapter itself, Master Dōgen uses the usual single character for moon: getsu, tsuki. 2 Zen sansan, go sansan,

"three and three before, three and three after, " suggests random

concrete facts as opposed to general abstractions. See, for example, Shinji-shōbōgenzō, pt. 2, no. 27: "Monju asks Mujaku: Where have you come from? Mujaku says: The south. Monju says: How is the Buddha-Dharma of the south dwelled in and maintained? Mujaku says: Few bhikṣus in the age of the latter Dharma observe the precepts. Monju says: How big is the sangha? Mujaku says: In some cases three hundred, in some cases five hundred. Mujaku asks Monju: How is the Buddha-Dharma here dwelled in and maintained? Monju says: The common and the sacred live together, and dragons and snakes mix in confusion. Mujaku says: How big is the sangha? Monju says: Three and three before, three and three after.

3 The opening sentences suggest the oneness of realization and moons, denying that the scientific or materialist viewpoint of the moon is the only viewpoint. 4 Hosshinrepresents the Sanskrit dharmakāya.

5 Nyo-sui-chū-getsu,or suichū no tsuki no gotoshi.On the surface nyo, gotoshimeans "like,

" and chūmeans "in,

" but in his commentary Master Dōgen explores the meaning of these two characters more deeply. Quoted from the Konkōmyōkyō(Golden Light Sutra), vol. 24. The verse is also quoted in Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 2, no. 25; Chapter Ten (Vol. I), Shoaku-makusa.

6 Nyo-nyo. Nyomeans "like.

" At the same time, as a suffix, nyoaffirms the thing itself or the thing as it is. Further, the character sometimes represents the state of reality as it is, as in the word nyorai,

"thus-come,

" or "one who has arrived at reality" (from the Sanskrit Tathāgata). Therefore nyo-nyomeans reality itself or reality affirmed as it is. 7 Suinyo.

8 Getsunyo.

9 Nyochū.

10 Chūnyo. Chūas a preposition means "in" and as a noun means "the middle" or "the center.

" Master Dōgen often uses the character chuto represent the concrete state of 9

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being in reality. For other examples of this usage see notes to Chapter Fourteen (Vol. I), Sansuigyō;Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō;and Chapter Thirty-eight (Vol. II), Muchū-setsumu.

11 Nyo wa ze nari.The various meanings of zeare discussed at length in Chapter Six (Vol. I), Soku-shin-ze-butsu. 12 The characters are read in the poem as nao . . . gotoshi, "just like" or "indeed similar to.

" In Master Dōgen's commentary the characters read as yū-nyakumean "reality itself.

13 Because the moon is as it is at every moment, even though the moon exists as an ongoing entity, it is never new or old. 14 Keitokudentōroku,chap. 7.

15 The subject may be understood as busso busshi, "the Buddhist patriarchs and the Buddha's disciples,

" from the opening sentence of the commentary. 16 Alludes to the twenty-fifth chapter of the Lotus Sutra,Kanzeon-bosatsu-fumon("The Universal Gate of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Sounds of the World"). See LS 3.252. 17 "Common" is fugen,literally, "universally manifest.

" Universally manifest physical bodies means bodies that can be seen everywhere, such as those listed in the Lotus Sutra—bodies of generals, kings, monks and laypeople, boys and girls, gods, dragons, etc.

18 Onshō yōshō,

"yin energy and yang energy.

" In general, yin is associated with the moon, and yangis associated with the sun. 19 Chap. 7 of the Daichidoron (the Chinese translation of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) says: "There are two kinds of brightness: The first is fire energy. The second is water energy. The pearl of the sun is fire energy and the pearl of the moon is water energy.

" The fire pearl thus suggests the sun, and the water pearl suggests the moon. 20 The quotation can be found, for example, in the Makashikan,a text that Master Dōgen would have studied from the age of twelve when he began monastic life on Mount Hiei, the head temple of the Tendai sect in Japan. Makashikan,which means "Great [Practice of] Stopping and Reflecting, " is a twenty-fascicle record of the lectures of Master Tendai Chigi (538-597), who is generally regarded as the founder of the Tendai sect in China.

21 Tsūshin.See Chapter Thirty-three (Vol. II), Kannon. 22 Getsuchū,

"in the moon,

" means "in the presence of the moon" and at the same time "the reality of the moon.

" See note 10.

23 Nichiyō. Nichimeans both "daily" and "the sun. "

24 Alludes to the saying mei-mei [taru] hyaku-sō-tō, meimei [taru] busso [no] i. "Clear,

clear are the hundred things; clear, clear is the will of the Buddhist patriarchs. " The

Chapter Forty-two

saying is attributed to the so-called Happy Buddha, Hōtei (Chinshū Fuke). See Shinjishōbōgenzō, pt. 1, no. 8; Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō; Chapter Twentythree (Vol. II), Gyōbutsu-yuigi;Chapter Thirty-six (Vol. II), Kōmyō;etc. 25 Master Tōsu Daidō (819-914), successor of Master Suibi Mugaku (a third-generation descendant of Master Seigen Gyōshi). Before becoming the disciple of Master Suibi, he was a student of the Garland Sutra. In his later years, Master Tōsu returned to Tōsuzan in his home district and built a hut there where he lived for thirty years, receiving many visitors.

26 Rentōeyō,chap. 21; Hekiganroku,no. 79. 27 "Three or four [concrete moons]" is sanko shiko. "One [conceptual moon]" is ichimai.

Chinese and Japanese use different counters for different objects. The counter kois used for small inanimate objects like potatoes or pebbles. The counter maiis for thin flat objects such as sheets of paper, photographs, and paintings. In the story the counter ko is used. Master Dōgen uses both counters in his commentary; ko for concrete moons, and maifor the moon as an abstract concept or picture. 28 When the moon realizes itself in action. 29 Called Vajragarbha in Sanskrit.

30 Daihōkōengakushutararyōgikyō(Mahāvaipulya Round Realization Sutra). 31 Engaku,

"round realization,

" suggests the concrete experience of wholeness in zazen. 32 Master Reiun Shigon said,

"Having arrived directly at the present, I have no further doubts.

" See Chapter Nine (Vol. I), Keisei-sanshiki. 33 Daiichi-getsu, dai-ni-getsu,lit.,

"moon number one and moon number two" or "the primary moon and the secondary moon,

" means the first month and the second month, or the moon and its reflection, or concentrated mind and divided mind. The words dai-ni-getsuappear in the Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 83. 34 One night Seidō, Hyakujō, and Nansen happen to be enjoying the moon. Master [Baso] asks,

"How is it just at this moment?" Seidō says, "It is truly lovely for serving

offerings.

" Hyakujō says,

"It is truly lovely for practice.

" Nansen swings his sleeves

and goes [to the zazen hall] at once. (Gotōegen,chap. 3.) 35 Alludes to the words of Master Tendō Nyojō quoted in Chapter Thirty-eight (Vol. II), Muchū-setsumu, paragraph 175: "Dreams going awry and dreams coming true,/Holding back and letting go,/We give free play to the elegant ways. "

36 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). These signs identify the year as 1243, which, in the Japanese system, was both the fourth and final year of the Ninji era and the first year of the Kangen era. See also Chapter Sixteen (Vol. I), Shisho,note 74. 11

Chapter 43: Kūge - Flowers in Space

[Chapter Forty-three]

Kūge

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Flowers in Space

Translator's Note:Kū means "the sky

space,

and ge means

"flowers.

What are flowers in space? Master Dōgen uses the words "flowers in space

to express all phenomena in this world. According to the ideas of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, we cannot be sure whether things really exist in this world, but we can be sure that there are phenomena which we can perceive with our senses. Therefore, for him, phenomena are not necessarily identified with reality although they do actually appear in this world. He refused to discuss the metaphysical problem of " real existence

and based his philosophy on human reason. The same idea was present in ancient Buddhism. Master Dōgen thought that this skeptical attitude was important in considering the meaning of our life, and so in this chapter he explains the meaning of "flowers in space,

which in Buddhism expresses real phenomena. [19] The Founding Patriarch says: A flower is five petals opening, Effects naturally are realized. 1

We should learn in practice this moment of a flower opening, and its brightness, color, and form. The composition of a flower is five petals, and the opening of five petals is a flower. Penetration of the truth of a flower is "I originally came to this land to transmit the Dharma and to save deluded emotional beings.

"2 The state that is visited by brightness and by color may be present in this learning in practice. "I entrust effects to effects themselves": this expresses "natural realization. "3 "Natural realization" means enacting causes and accepting effects. The world has causes, and the world has effects. We enact the cause-and-effect that is this world, and we accept the causeand-effect that is the world. "The [natural] self"4 is "itself, "5 and the self is

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inevitably just you, in other words, the four elements and five aggregates. Because we are "utilizing a true human being without rank, "6 the state is not

I and not anyone else, and so we call what is indefinite "the self. "7 "The state

of being [natural]"8 means "agreement.

"9 "Natural realization" is the very

moment of opening flowers and bearing fruit,

10 and the very moment of transmitting the Dharma and saving the deluded. For example, the time and place that blue lotus11 flowers open and spread are in the midst of fire and in the time of fire.

12 And all sparks and flames exist at the place and at the time that blue lotus flowers open and spread. Beyond the time and the place of blue lotus flowers, not a single spark is born, and not a single spark has vivid life. Remember, in a single spark there are hundreds and thousands of clusters of blue lotus flowers, and they open and spread in space, they open and spread on the ground, they open and spread in the past, and they open and spread in the present. To experience the actual time and the actual place of fire is to experience blue lotus flowers. We should not pass by the time and the place of blue lotus flowers, but should experience them.

[22] An ancestor says: "Blue lotus flowers open inside fire. "13

So "blue lotus flowers" inevitably open and spread "inside fire. "14 If we

want to know "the inside of fire,

" it is the place where blue lotus flowers open

and spread. We should not, out of attachment to human views and views of gods, neglect to research "the inside of fire.

" If we are to doubt, we might doubt that

lotus flowers have grown in water, or we might doubt that other flowers are present on branches and twigs. Again, if we are to doubt, we might doubt that the objective world15 is stably established, but this we do not doubt. None other than Buddhist patriarchs knows that "the opening of flowers is the occurrence of the world.

"16 "Flowers opening" are "three and three before, and three and three after.

"17 In order to make up these numbers, they have accumulated material particles and exalted them. Letting this truth come to us, we should consider spring and autumn: Not only in spring and in autumn do flowers and fruit exist; existence-time always has flowers and fruit. Every flower and fruit has maintained and relied upon a moment of time, and every moment of time has maintained and relied upon flowers and fruit. For this reason, all miscellaneous things have flowers and fruit: trees all have flowers and fruit; trees of gold, silver, copper, iron, coral, crystal, and so forth, all have flowers and fruit; and trees of earth, wind, fire, water, and space, all have flowers and fruit. Flowers are present in 14

Chapter Forty-three

human trees, flowers are present in human flowers, and flowers are present in withered trees. In such circumstances there are the flowers in space18 of which the World-honored One speaks. Yet people of small knowledge and small experience do not know of the colors, brightness, petals, and flowers of flowers in space, and they can scarcely even hear the words "flowers in space.

" Remember, in Buddhism there is talk of flowers in space. In non-Buddhism they do not even know, much less understand, talk of flowers in space. Only the buddhas and the patriarchs know the blooming and falling of flowers in space and flowers on the ground, only they know the blooming and falling of flowers in the world, and so on; only they know that flowers in space, flowers on the ground, flowers in the world, and so on, are sutras. This is the standard for learning the state of buddha. Because flowers in space are the vehicle upon which Buddhist patriarchs ride, the Buddhist world and all the buddhas' teachings are just flowers in space.

[26] Nevertheless, when the common and the stupid hear the Tathāgata's words that "What is seen by clouded eyes is flowers in space, " they imagine

that "clouded eyes" means the upset eyes of ordinary beings. They imagine that sick eyes, because they are upset, perceive "flowers in space" in a pure void. Because [stupid people] attach to this theory, they have concluded that the triple world, the six states, the existence of the buddha-nature, and the nonexistence of the buddha-nature all do not exist, but are deludedly seen to exist. They excitedly consider that if we could stop this deluded cloudedness of the eyes, we would not see this floweriness in space, and this is why we say that "space is originally without flowers.

" It is pitiful that people like this

do not know the time of, or the beginning and end of, the flowers in space of which the Tathāgata speaks. The truth that buddhas speak of clouded eyes and flowers in space is never seen by the common person and non-Buddhists. By practicing this flower of space,

19 the buddha-tathāgatas receive the robes,

the seat [of preaching], and the [master's] room, and they attain the truth and get the effect. Picking up a flower and winking an eye are all the universe, which is realized by clouded eyes and flowers in space. The right Dharmaeye treasury and the fine mind of nirvana, which have been authentically transmitted to the present without interruption, are called clouded eyes and flowers in space. Bodhi,nirvana, the Dharma body, selfhood, and so on, are two or three petals of five petals opened by a flower in space. 15

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[29] Śākyamuni Buddha says,

It is like a person who has clouded eyes

Seeing flowers in space;

If the sickness of clouded eyes is cured,

Flowers vanish in space.

No scholars have clearly understood this statement. Because they do not know space,

21 they do not know flowers in space. Because they do not know flowers in space, they do not know a person who has clouded eyes, do not see a person who has clouded eyes, do not meet a person who has clouded eyes, and do not become a person who has clouded eyes. Through meeting a person who has clouded eyes, we should know flowers in space and should see flowers in space. When we have seen flowers in space we can also see "flowers vanish in space.

" The idea that once flowers in space

vanish they can never reappear is the view and opinion of the Small Vehicle. At a time when flowers in space could not be seen, what could exist? Only knowing that flowers in space can become an object to get rid of, [scholars] do not know the great matter that follows from flowers in space, and do not know the seeding, maturation, and falling free of flowers in space. Among scholars today who are common people, most think that the place where yang energy resides may be space, or that the place where the sun, moon, and stars are suspended may be space, and so for example they believe that "flowers in space" might describe the appearance of colorful forms which are like floating clouds in clear sky and like flying blossoms being blown east and west and up and down by the wind. They do not know that the four elements as creator and creation, together with the real dharmas22 of the objective world, on the one hand, and original realization, 23 original nature

and so forth, on the other hand, are all called "flowers in space. " Furthermore,

they do not know that the four elements and so on which are the agents of creation exist because of real dharmas, and they do not know that the objective world abides in its place in the universe because of real dharmas; they see only that real dharmas exist because of the objective world. They understand only that flowers in space exist because of cloudedness in the eyes; they do not understand the truth that cloudedness in the eyes is caused to exist by virtue of flowers in space. Remember, in Buddhism a person of 16

Chapter Forty-three

clouded eyes is a person of original realization, a person of subtle realization, a person of the buddhas, a person of the triple world, and a person in the ascendant state of buddha.

24 Do not stupidly see cloudedness as delusion and

learn that true reality exists elsewhere. To do so would be the small view. If cloudedness and flowers were delusion, that which attaches to the wrong view that they are delusion, and the attachment itself, must all be delusion. If both [subject and object] were delusion, there would be no possibility of establishing any truth. There being no truth to establish, [to assert] that cloudedness and flowers are delusion would be impossible. [33] When realization is clouded, each of the many dharmas in realization is a dharmaadorned with cloudedness. When delusion is clouded, each of the many dharmas in delusion is a dharmaadorned with cloudedness. For the present, we can say that when clouded eyes are balanced, flowers in space are balanced; when clouded eyes are nonarising,

25 flowers in space are nonarising; and when all dharmas are real form, clouded-flowers are real form. We should neither discuss this as past, present, or future, nor relate it to beginning, middle, and end. Because it is not hindered by arising and passing, it can cause arising and passing to arise and pass—arising in space26 and passing in space, arising in clouded eyes27 and passing in clouded eyes, arising in flowers28 and passing in flowers, and so on for all other times and places. Learning of flowers in space may take many forms: there is what is seen by clouded eyes, what is seen by clear eyes, what is seen by the Buddha's eyes, what is seen by the patriarchs' eyes, what is seen by the eyes of the truth, what is seen by blind eyes, what is seen by three thousand years, what is seen by eight hundred years, what is seen by hundreds of kalpas, and what is seen by countless kalpas. All these see flowers in space, but space itself is multifarious, and flowers also are diverse. Remember that space is a thing. 29

This space unfailingly yields flowers as all the hundred things30 yield flowers. To express this truth, the Tathāgata says,

"Space is originally without flowers.

"31 Although there are originally no flowers, now there are flowers—a fact which is true for peach and plum trees and true for apricot and willow trees.

32 [The Tathāgata's expression] is like saying "the apricot yesterday was without flowers but the apricot in spring has flowers. " Still, when the

season arrives and just then flowers bloom, this may be the flowers' time or it may be the flowers arriving.

33 This exact moment of flowers arriving is

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never a random event. Apricot and willow flowers inevitably bloom on apricot and willow trees; looking at [apricot and willow] flowers we can identify apricot and willow trees, and looking at apricot and willow trees we can distinguish [apricot and willow] flowers. Peach and plum flowers never bloom on apricot or willow trees. Apricot and willow flowers bloom on apricot and willow trees, and peach and plum flowers bloom on peach and plum trees. Flowers in space blooming in space are also like this; they never bloom on other things and never bloom on other trees. Looking at the various colors of space flowers, one imagines the limitlessness of space fruits. Watching flowers in space open and fall, we should learn of the spring and autumn of flowers in space. Spring for flowers in space and spring for other flowers may be alike. As flowers in space are miscellaneous, so must spring seasons be of many kinds. Thus do springs and autumns of the past and present exist. People who understand that flowers in space are not real but other flowers are real are people who have not seen or heard the Buddha's teaching. To understand, on hearing the preaching that "space is originally without flowers, " that there now exist flowers in space which originally did not exist, is the near-sighted and small view. We should step ahead and take the broad view. An ancestral master34 says,

"Flowers have never appeared.

" The realization of this principle is, for example, the truth that flowers have never appeared,

35 that flowers have never disappeared, that flowers have never been "flowers" and that space has never been "space.

" We should not engage

in idle discussion of existence and nonexistence, confusing the before and after of flower-time. Flowers always seem to be imbued with all colors. [But] colors are not always limited to flowers: other seasons also have blues, yellows, reds, whites, and other colors. Spring brings in flowers, and flowers bring in spring.

[38] The mandarin Chō Setsu36 is a lay disciple of Sekisō. 37 The poem

he makes on realizing the truth is as follows:

Brightness is serenely illuminating the whole sands-of-the-Ganges world.

This "brightness" has clearly realized the monks' hall, the Buddha hall, the kitchen hall, and the temple gate.

38 The "whole sands-of-the-Ganges

world" is realized by brightness, and is brightness realized. 18

Chapter Forty-three

[39] All souls, common and sacred, are my family. It is not that there are no common people and saints. [But] do not insult common people and saints by this [discrimination]. [40] When not one image appears39 the total body manifests itself. Image and image are one by one.

40 This state is inevitably not appearance, 41 and it is the total manifestation of the total body. For this reason he says that one image is not appearance.

[40] If the six sense organs are slightly moved [the mind] is covered with clouds.

Although "the six sense organs" are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and sense-center, they are not always two times three; they may be "three and three before and after.

"43 "Moving" is as Mount Sumeru,

44 as the earth,

as the six sense organs, and as slight moving itself. Because moving is as Mount Sumeru, not moving is also as Mount Sumeru. For example, it forms clouds and produces water.

[42] By eliminating disturbances46 we redouble the disease. We have not been free of disease hitherto; we have had the Buddha bug and the patriarch bug. Intellectual excluding now adds to the disease and augments the disease. The very moment itself of "eliminating" is inevitably "disturbance.

" They are simultaneous and are beyond simultaneousness. Disturbances always include the fact of [trying to] eliminate them. [43] To approach the truth intentionally is also wrong. To turn one's back on the truth is wrong, and to approach the truth is also wrong. The truth is the approaching and the turning away, which, in each instance of approaching or turning away, are the truth itself. Is there anyone who knows that this "wrong is also the truth"? [43] In following worldly circumstances there are no hindrances. "Worldly circumstance" and "worldly circumstance follow" each other, and "following" and "following" is "worldly circumstances. " This state is

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called "without hindrances.

" We should learn the state beyond hindrance and no hindrance as that which is obstructed by the eyes. 47

[44] Nirvana, and living-and-dying, are just flowers in space. "Nirvana" means the state of anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi.The abode of Buddhist patriarchs and the disciples of Buddhist patriarchs is just this state. "Living-and-dying" is "the real human body. "48 This "nirvana and livingand-dying" are this reality, and at the same time they are just "flowers in space.

" The roots and stalks, twigs and leaves, flowers and fruit, and brightness and colors of flowers in space, are each the blooming of flowers in space. Space-flowers inevitably bear space-fruit and drop space-seeds. Because the triple world which we are experiencing now is the "five petals opening" of flowers in space,

"It is best to see the triple world as the triple world. "49 [The

triple world] is this "real form of all dharmas. "50 It is this "flower form" of

"all dharmas"; and all dharmas, from these to others beyond imagination, are flowers in space and fruit in space. We should learn by experience that they are identical to those in apricot, willow, peach, and plum trees. [46] Zen Master Reikun51 of Fuyōzan in the Fuzhou district of the great kingdom of Song, when first entering the order of Zen Master Shishin52 of Kisūji, asks,

"What is Buddha?"

Kisū says,

"If I tell you, will you believe me or not? Master [Reikun] says,

"How could I not believe the master's honest words?"

Kisū says,

"You yourself are just it.

Master [Reikun] says,

"How should I maintain it?"

Kisū says,

"When an instance of cloudedness is there in the eyes, flowers in space tumble down.

"53

[47] The words that Kisū now speaks, "When an instance of cloudedness is there in the eyes, flowers in space tumble down, "54 express maintenance

of buddha. So remember, the tumbling down of clouded-flowers is what buddhas realize, and the flowers and fruit of eyes-and-space are what buddhas maintain. With cloudedness they make eyes real. Flowers in space are realized in eyes, and eyes are realized in flowers in space. It may be that "When flowers in space are there in the eyes, a single instance of cloudedness tumbles down,

"55 and "When an eye is there in space, all instances of cloudedness 20

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tumble down.

"56 This being so, cloudedness is "the manifestation of all functions, "57 eyes are "the manifestation of all functions, " space is "the manifestation of all functions, " and flowers are "the manifestation of all functions. "

"Tumbling down" is the "thousand eyes" and is the "thoroughly realized body" as an eye.

58 In sum, at the time and place an eye exists, there are inevitably flowers in space and flowers in eyes. We call flowers in eyes flowers in space. And an expression of eyes-and-flowers is always open and clear. [49] For this reason, Great Master Kōshō59 of Rōyasan says: How wondrous are the buddhas in the ten directions! They are originally just the flowers in our eyes. And if we want to know the flowers in our eyes, They are originally just the buddhas in the ten directions. If we want to know buddhas in ten directions, They are other than the flowers in our eyes. If we want to know flowers in eyes, They are other than the buddhas in the ten directions; And when we understand this situation clearly, The fault is with buddhas in ten directions. Not understanding this situation clearly, Voice-hearers might dance

And the independently awakened might put on make-up. 60

[50] Remember,

"the buddhas in the ten directions" are not unreal; they are originally just "the flowers in our eyes. " The place where the buddhas

of the ten directions abide is "in the eyes, " and anywhere other than "in the

eyes" is not the abode of buddhas. "The flowers in our eyes" are neither nonexistence nor existence, they are neither immaterial nor real; they are naturally just "the buddhas in the ten directions. " Now if we want to know

only the buddhas of the ten directions, one-sidedly, they are other than the flowers in our eyes; and if we want to know only flowers in eyes, one-sidedly, they seem to be other than the buddhas of the ten directions. Both "clear understanding" and "unclear understanding, " because they are like this, are

flowers in the eyes and buddhas in the ten directions. "Wanting to know"

and "it not being so"61 are the very realization of "wondrousness"; they are great wonders. The fundamental meaning of the flowers in space, and the 21

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flowers on the ground, of which the buddhas and the patriarchs speak, is such "giving of free play to the elegant ways. "62 Even teachers of sutras and teachers of commentaries are able to hear the name of flowers in space, but none other than a Buddhist patriarch has the means or the circumstances to experience the lifeblood of flowers on the ground. One who has apprehended the lifeblood of flowers on the ground speaks the state of a Buddhist patriarch. [52] Zen Master Etetsu63 of Sekimonzan in the great kingdom of Song is a venerable patriarch in the order on Ryōzan. 64 In the story, a monk asks

him,

"What is the jewel in the mountain?" The point of this question is, for example, the same as in asking "What is buddha?" It is like asking "What is the truth?" The master says,

"Flowers in space unfold on the ground. Even if we buy throughout the country, there is no gate. "65 This expression should

never be compared with other expressions. Ordinary teachers in many districts, when discussing flowers in space as "flowers of emptiness, "66 speak only of

arising in emptiness and passing in emptiness. 67 None has understood "reliance

on space";68 how much less could any understand "reliance on the ground. "69

Only Sekimon has understood. The meaning of "relying on the ground" is that beginning, middle, and end are, ultimately, "relying on the ground.

" "To

unfold" is to open.

70 Just at this moment, there is unfolding "from the whole earth,

" and there is opening "from the whole earth. "71 "Even if we buy

throughout the country, there is no gate": it is not that there is no "buying throughout the country"; it is "buying the gateless. "72 Flowers in space exist

on the basis of unfolding from the ground, and the whole ground exists on the basis of the opening of flowers. So remember, there is a principle that flowers in space cause both the ground and space to unfold. Shōbōgenzō Kūge

Preached to the assembly at Kannondōri kōshō hōrinji on the tenth day of the third lunar month in the first year of Kangen. 73

Notes

1 Ikke-kai-go-yō/kekka-jinen-jō are the third and fourth lines of a four-line poem by Master Bodhidharma, quoted in the Keitokudentōroku,chap. 3. Kekkacan be translated as 1) "effects, " and 2) "the bearing of fruit. " The fourth line can be read, "The bearing

of fruit is naturally realized. "

2 Ware moto shido ni kitari/Hō o tsutae meijō o sukuu.The first and second lines of Master Bodhidharma's poem. 3 Jinen-jō.As a compound, jinen means "naturally, " but in his commentary Master Dōgen considers the meaning of the characters jiand nenseparately. 4 Ji.As a noun jimeans "self. " As an adverb it means "by itself, " "spontaneously, " or

"naturally.

5 Komeans self, and in normal usage it only appears in compounds—most commonly the compound jiko, "self.

" Here however, Master Dōgen uses the character independently. He says ji wa ko nari,literally, "self is itself. "

6 Shitoku mu-i shinjin,the words of Master Rinzai. See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 2, no. 47. 7 Ji.See note 4. 8 Nenmeans "as is, " "being so,

" or "in such and such a state. " Used as a suffix, nen makes ji,

"self,

" into an adjective, "natural,

" or into an adverb, "naturally.

" Nencannot

ordinarily be used as a noun, but here Master Dōgen uses it as a noun— "the state of being so.

9 Chōko,

"permission,

" "approval,

" or "agreement, " here suggests acceptance of things as they are.

10 Kekka,translated in Master Bodhidharma's poem as "effects. " See note 1. 11 Ubarais a transliteration of the Sanskrit utpala,which means the blossom of the blue lotus. See Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 12 Blue lotus flowers, which bloom on pools in hot weather during the summer, are a symbol of coolness. Fire symbolizes heat. 13 This is the second line of an eight-line verse by Master Doan Jōsatsu (dates unknown), successor of Master Kyūhō Dōken. The verse is quoted in the Keitokudentōroku, chap. 29.

Shōbōgenzō Volume III

14 Kari. Ri means 1) the back side of something, 2) the inside of something, and, by extension, the concrete place of something—as in shari, "this concrete place.

15 Kiseken, literally,

opposed to ujo-seken,

"vessel world,

" or the objective world. Traditionally, kiseken is "the world of the sentient.

16 These are the words of Master Prajñātara, Master Bodhidharma's master. 17 Zensansan, gosansan suggests random concrete facts as opposed to neat general abstractions. See notes to the opening paragraph of Chapter Forty-two, Tsuki. 18 Kokūge. Kokūsuggests concrete three-dimensional space (see Chapter Seventy-seven [Vol. IV], Kokū). By using this expression at this point, Master Dōgen indicates that the expression kūge, which appears henceforward, means flowers (that is, real phenomena) in concrete space. 19 Kūge. In general kūge suggests images, or phenomena, and has been translated as plural. In this case it is preceded by kono, "this,

" and so it is singular.

"The flower of

space" or "the flower of the state of śūnyatā" suggests the system of Buddhist philosophy. 20 Shuryōgonkyō(Śūraṃgama-sūtra), vol. 4. 21 Kū.As a noun, kū, sorameans "the sky" or "space. " As an adjective it means "bare, "

"empty" (kara), or "void,

" "meaningless" (muna[shii]). At the same time, in Buddhist sutras, kūsometimes means "the immaterial, " as opposed to matter, and it sometimes represents the Sanskrit śūnyatā, "emptiness"; that is, the state of detachment in which things are seen as they are; see Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. See also Chapter Two (Vol. I), Maka-hannya-haramitsu; Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō. 22 Shohō,

"real dharmas,

" means real things and phenomena—not only objects of perception and not only subjective concepts, but things and phenomena that are realized in action here and now.

23 Hongaku.In the Tendai sect, which Master Dōgen entered at the age of twelve, there are two contradictory theories—that human beings have the buddha-nature originally, and that the buddha-nature can be attained through efforts in our life. The idea of original realization comes from the former theory. 24 Butsu-kōjō-nin.See Chapter Twenty-eight (Vol. II), Butsu-kōjō-no-ji. 25 Mushōexpresses the state at the moment of the present. At the same time, mushōis sometimes used as a synonym for nirvana, the state that is not disturbed by arising and passing conditions.

26 Kūchū ni means "in space,

" "in the midst of space,

" or "in the concrete reality of space.

" Chū literally means "the middle" (as in beginning, middle, and end). As a suffix it means the midst of something and by extension—in Master Dōgen's usage— the concrete reality of something. 24

Chapter Forty-three

27 Eichū ni.

28 Kechū ni.

29 Issō,literally,

"one weed.

" Space is a thing in the sense, for example, that it is one of the six elements: earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. 30 Hyakusō,lit.,

"hundred weeds,

" means miscellaneous concrete things. Whereas phenomenologists only affirm that flowers bloom, i.e., phenomena exist, Master Dōgen insists that things also exist—phenomena are things and things are phenomena. 31 Kū-hon-muge.Source not traced. For explanation of the meaning of mu, out,

" see Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō. "being with-32 "Plum" is ri, sumomo,and "apricot" is bai, ume.In Japan the tree referred to as ume is accurately translated as a Japanese apricot (Prunus mume). At the same time it is included in trees of the genus Prunus,which can be classified as plum trees. In this chapter, the two varieties are distinguished, but where no distinction is necessary the translation of bai, umeas "plum" rather than "apricot" has been preferred. See Chapter Fifty-nine, Baike.

33 The words describe spring directly as a simple fact, but that fact can be interpreted from two sides—flowers wait to bloom in spring, and spring waits for flowers to bloom.

34 Master Taiso Eka. See Keitokudentōroku,chap. 3. 35 Because real phenomena exist at the moment of the present. 36 Apart from the fact that he became the disciple of Master Sekisō at the recommendation of Great Master Zengetsu, his life history is not known. The poem is recorded in the Gotōegen,chap. 6.

37 Master Sekisō Keisho (807-888), successor of Master Dōgo Enchi. 38 Alludes to the words of Master Unmon Bun'en quoted in Chapter Thirty-six (Vol. II), Kōmyō:Unmon asks,

"Just what is this brightness that is present in all people?" The assembled monks make no reply. [Unmon] himself says in their place, "The

monks' hall, the Buddha hall, the kitchen, and the three gates. " See also Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 81. 39 Ichi-nen-fushō. Ichi means "one. " Nen means "image" or "thought.

" Fu expresses

negation. Shōmeans "to appear" or "to arise. " In the poem, read as ichi-nen shō[ze] za[reba], or "when an image does not arise, " these four characters suggest the desirable state in which no isolated thought emerges in zazen, so that the body-mind is free to reflect the whole.

40 Nen-nen ichi-ichi nari,

"image-image is one-one.

" Whereas the poem seems to describe an ideal situation, Master Dōgen's comment is a stark description of concrete facts: he simply notices the existence of an image at a moment. This is reminiscent of 25

Shōbōgenzō Volume III

Master Dōgen's instruction for zazen in the Fukanzazengi, Shinpitsubon:nen oko[ra ba] suna[wachi] kaku[se yo]: "When an image arises, just be aware of it. "

41 Fushō,

"not appearance,

" here suggests the state at the moment of the present in which time stands still. See note 25. Master Dōgen explains this usage in Chapter Three (Vol. I), Genjō-kōan.

42 Ichi-nen-fushō can be interpreted as a description of momentary reality: "The one image [of reality] is beyond appearance, and the total body [of reality] manifests itself.

43 We should not always understand "sense organs" as an abstract, inclusive concept. 44 Mount Sumeru, standing at the center of the universe, is generally understood to be a symbol of stability, or non-movement. But Master Dōgen's view of movement transcends the ordinary idea of movement relative to non-movement. 45 Movement is reality itself, symbolized by clouds and water. 46 Bonnō,in modern Japanese usage, as defined by Kenkyusha '

s New Japanese-English

Dictionary,means "earthly passions" or "carnal desires. " Here bonnōrepresents the

Sanskrit kleśa, which is defined in Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary (MW) as follows: "pain, affliction, distress, pain from disease, anguish; wrath, anger; worldly occupation, care, trouble.

" Kleśas are emotional imbalances that hinder a Buddhist practitioner from harmonizing with the truth—just as interference hinders the reception of a radio signal. Traditional examples of kleśaare greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, and false views.

47 Hi-gan-ge,or me [ni] saera[ru],

"being obstructed by the eyes,

" suggests the state

in which eyes inevitably see all things as they are. 48 Master Engo Kokugon said,

body.

" See Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō.

"Living-and-dying, coming-and-going, are the real human 49 Sangai no sangai o genzuru ni shika zu, from the Nyorai-juryō ("The Tathāgata's Lifetime") chapter of the Lotus Sutra(LS 3.18). The characters bunyocan be read in two ways: 1) shika zu("be best"), and 2) gotoku nara zu("not like"). This gave rise to three traditional interpretations of the words. The interpretation of the Hokkeron (Flower of Dharma Commentary) is that [the Tathāgata sees the triple world] "not like [people of] the triple world seeing the triple world. " The interpretation of the

Danaryū (Dāna school) is similar, suggesting that the triple world that the Buddha sees is different from the triple world that the common person sees. Master Dōgen favored the interpretation of the Enshinryū (Blessed Mind school) that "It is best to see the triple world as the triple world, " i.e., there is no triple world seen by the Buddha other than the triple world seen by the common person. See Chapter Fortyseven, Sangai-yuishin. 50 Shohō-jissō.See Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō. 26

Chapter Forty-three

51 Master Fuyō Reikun (dates unknown), successor of Master Kisū Chijō. His posthumous title is Great Master Kōshō.

52 Master Kisū Chijō (dates unknown), successor of Master Baso Dōitsu. Zen Master Shishin is his posthumous title.

53 Keitokudentōroku,chap. 10.

54 Ichi-ei-zai-gen-kūge-rantsui,literally, "one cloudedness being present in eyes, spaceflowers tumble. " In other words, at a moment when we realize our own delusion, phenomena become real.

55 Kūge-zai-gen-ichi-ei-rantsui, literally, "space-flowers being present in eyes, one

cloudedness tumbles.

" In other words, when we are looking at real phenomena, we transcend our delusion at that moment.

56 Ichi-gen-zai-kū-shu-ei-rantsui,literally, "one eye being present in space, all kinds of cloudedness tumble.

" In other words, when our whole body-mind is existing in concrete space (e.g., in zazen), we are transcending all kinds of delusion. 57 Zenki no gen,the words of Master Engo Kokugon. See Chapter Forty-one (Vol. I), Zenki.

58 In other words, transcendence of subjective delusion and objective images is the vigorous state of reality symbolized by Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. See Chapter Thirtythree (Vol. II), Kannon. 59 60 Master Rōya Ekaku (dates unknown), successor of Master Fun'yō Zenshō. While Master Rōya was a layman his father, who was the local governor, died so Master Rōya set off to return to his family's home. But on the way back he stopped at Yakusan Mountain and decided to become a monk. He was praised in his day, along with Master Setchō Myōkaku, as one of "the two gates of sweet dew. " Great Master Kōshō

is his posthumous title.

Śrāvakas (voice-hearers) and pratyekabuddhas (independently awakened ones) might rejoice in having understood what they have not really understood. The verse is quoted in the Gotōegen,chap. 12.

61 Fuze,translated in the poem as "are other than. . . . "

62 Alludes to words of Master Tendō Nyojō quoted in Chapter Thirty-eight (Vol. II), Muchū-setsumu,paragraph 175: "Dreams going awry and dreams coming true,/Holding back and letting go,/We give free play to the elegant ways. " See also the final paragraph

of Chapter Forty-two, Tsuki.

63 Master Sekimon Etetsu (dates unknown), successor of Master Sekimon Kenun. 64 Ryōzan generally refers to Master Ryōzan Enkan. However, the exact relationship between Master Sekimon and Master Ryōzan Enkan is unclear. 65 Tenshōkōtōroku,chap. 24.

Nguồn: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka (bdkamerica.org).