T2582 Shōbōgenzō The True Dharma-Eye Treasury, Volume III

Chapter 44: Kobusshin - The Mind of Eternal Buddhas

Shōbōgenzō Volume III 66 "Flowers in space" and "flowers of emptiness" are originally the same word, kūge. "Flowers of emptiness" suggests the interpretation of śūnyatāthat Master Dōgen has opposed in this chapter—the interpretation that phenomena are devoid of reality. 67 O-kū,

"in emptiness, " suggests intellectual effort to relate phenomena to the concept śūnyatā. O,or [ni] oi[te], means "at, " "in,

" "on,

" or "in regard to. " This expression is distinct from the more concrete expression used earlier, kūchū, "in space,

" which

means "inside space" or "in the concrete reality of space. " See note 26. 68 Jūkū,

"from space, " "relying on space, " or "on the basis of space, " suggests a more concrete state than o-kū, "in emptiness. " Jū,or [ni] yori[te], means "following from, "

"relying on, " or "on the basis of. "

69 Jūchi,

"from the ground, " "on the ground, " "relying on the ground, " or "on the basis of the ground, " is Master Sekimon's expression. It suggests a still more concrete state. 70 Master Dōgen explains the character hotsu in Master Sekimon's words with the character kai. Hotsu means "to shoot out, " "to emit,

" or "to open up. " It is used, for example, to describe the establishment of the will to the truth. See Chapter Seventy, Hotsu-bodaishin. Kaimeans "to open"; at the same time, it also sometimes means "to disclose" or "to reveal. " See Chapter Seventeen (Vol. I), Hokke-ten-hokke. 71 Jūjindaichi, "from the whole earth" or "on the basis of the whole earth, " is Master

Dōgen's expression. Thus, four expressions may be contrasted in this part: 1) o-kū, "in emptiness"; 2) jūkū, "on the basis of space"; 3) jūchi, "on the basis of the ground"; and 4) Master Dōgen's suggestion of zazen which is jūjindaichi, "from the whole earth.

"

72 "The gateless" is mumon,translated in Master Sekimon's words as "there is no gate. "

Master Dōgen does not deny the effort to get something, and at the same time he suggests that we get reality (in which there is no concept "gate") just in action (buying) itself.

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28

[Chapter Forty-four]

Kobusshin

The Mind of Eternal Buddhas Translator's Note: Ko means "

old"

"

or

eternal,

" butsu means

"buddha

"

and shin means

"

mind.

" So kobusshin means

"the mind of eternal buddhas. "

In this chapter, Master Dōgen cites examples of the mind of eternal buddhas, quoting Master Tendō Nyojō, Master Engo Kokugon, Master Sozan Kōnin, and Master Seppō Gison. Then he explains a story about National Master Daishō (Master Nan

'

yō Echū) and his disciple that suggests the oneness of the mind of eternal buddhas and miscellaneous concrete things. At the end of the chapter he quotes Master Zengen Chūkō' s words on the matter.

[55] The succession of the Dharma by ancestral patriarchs is forty patriarchs from the Seven Buddhas to Sōkei1 and forty buddhas from Sōkei to the Seven Buddhas. Because each of the Seven Buddhas has the virtue of ascending and of descending,

2 they extend to Sōkei and extend to the Seven Buddhas. Because Sōkei has the virtue of ascending and of descending, he receives the authentic transmission from the Seven Buddhas, he receives the authentic transmission from Sōkei, and he passes the authentic transmission to later buddhas. But it is beyond only former and later. At the time of Śākyamuni Buddha, all the buddhas of the ten directions are present; at the time of Seigen, Nangaku is present;3 at the time of Nangaku, Seigen is present; and so on— at the time of Sekitō, Kōzei is present. 4 Their not hindering each other may be different from having no connection. We should investigate the presence of such virtue. Each of the forty Buddhist patriarchs mentioned above is an eternal buddha. At the same time, each has a mind, a body, a state of brightness, and a national land. Each has passed away long ago and has never passed away at all. It may be that both never having passed away, and having passed away long ago, are equally the virtue of an eternal buddha. Those who learn in practice the truth of eternal buddhas realize in experience the truth of 29

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eternal buddhas; they are the eternal buddhas of each age. Although the "eternal" of "eternal buddhas" is exactly the same as the "old"5 in "new and old, "

[eternal buddhas] have completely transcended past and present;6 they belong directly in eternity.

[58] My late master says,

"I have met with the eternal buddha Wanshi.

"7

Clearly, an eternal buddha is present in the house of Tendō, and Tendō is present in the house of an eternal buddha.

[58] Zen Master Engo8 says,

"I bow to the ground9 before the true eternal

buddha Sōkei.

"

Remember, we should bow down to the thirty-third patriarch from Śākyamuni Buddha, bowing to him as an eternal buddha. Because Zen Master Engo has the resplendent brightness of an eternal buddha, in the state of having met with an eternal buddha, he is able to prostrate himself like this. This being so, mindful of the state of Sōkei which is right from beginning to end, we should remember that eternal buddhas are the grasping of a nose-ring10 like this. One who has this ability to grasp a nose-ring is just an eternal buddha. [59] Sozan11 says,

"On the peak of Daiyurei Mountain12 an eternal buddha is present, and he is radiating brightness that shines on this place. "13

Remember, Sozan has already met with an eternal buddha. We need not search elsewhere; the place where an eternal buddha exists is the peak of Daiyurei Mountain. Those who themselves are not eternal buddhas cannot know the place where eternal buddhas appear. One who knows the concrete place where an eternal buddha exists may be an eternal buddha. [60] Seppō14 says,

"The eternal buddha Jōshū!"15

Remember, even though Jōshū is an eternal buddha, if Seppō had not been endowed with his own share of an eternal buddha's power, it might be hard for him to realize the secret of how to pay homage to an eternal buddha. In his action now, as he relies on the influence of an eternal buddha and learns from an eternal buddha, there is effort "beyond conversing, "16 which is, in

other words, Old Man Seppō, the great stout fellow, himself. The everyday customs of eternal buddhas, and the dignified behavior of eternal buddhas, are not similar to and never the same as those of people who are not eternal buddhas. This being so, by learning in practice the state of Jōshū which is "good in the beginning, middle, and end,

"17 we should learn in practice "the

lifetime"18 of an eternal buddha.

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Chapter Forty-four

[62] National Master Daishō,

19 of Kōtakuji in the Western Capital,

20 is

a Dharma successor of Sōkei, revered and venerated by human emperors and celestial emperors alike, and one who is rarely seen and heard [even] in China. Not only is he the teacher of four generations of emperors, but the emperors themselves lead his carriage into the imperial court. Still more, invited to the palace of the god Indra, he ascends far into the heavens and, for Indra among celestial multitudes, he preaches the Dharma. [63] The National Master is once asked by a monk, "What is the mind

of eternal buddhas?"

The master says,

"Fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles.

"

The question says "this has got it" and says "that has got it. " [The monk]

has taken this expression of the truth and made it into a question. And this question far and wide has become an eternal expression of the truth. Thus, myriad trees and hundreds of weeds, which are "flowers opening, " are eternal

buddhas' expressions of the truth and eternal buddhas' questions. The nine mountains and eight oceans, which are "the occurrence of the world, "21 are

eternal buddhas' sun-faces and moon-faces and eternal buddhas' skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. Furthermore, there may be instances of the eternal mind practicing buddha,

22 there may be instances of the eternal mind experiencing buddha,

23 there may be instances of the eternal mind making buddha, 24 and

there may be instances of the eternity of buddha making up a mind. 25 The

reason we speak of "the eternal mind" is that the mind is eternal. Because [the unity of] the mind and buddha is inevitably eternal, the eternal mind is "a chair of bamboo and wood,

" is "not being able to find a person who understands the Buddha-Dharma even if we search the whole earth, " and is "the

master calling this what?"26 The moment and causes-and-conditions of the present, and the lands-of-dust and space of the present, are both nothing other than the eternal mind. They maintain and rely upon the eternal mind, and they maintain and rely upon the eternal state of buddha—it is maintenance and reliance upon two heads with one face, two things in a picture. [65] The master says,

"Fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles.

" The point here

is that there is a line of attack whereby, facing fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles, we express them: "Fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles. " And there is another

mode of expression: there is a line of retreat whereby, inside the concrete place of fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles, "Fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles"

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speak. In the state of round realization and perfect realization in which these expressions are realized, there are walls standing a thousand feet or ten thousand feet high, there are fences standing around the earth and around the heavens, there is the covering of a tile or half a tile, and there are sharp edges of pebbles, big ones and small ones. What exists like this is not only the mind but also the body itself, and even object-and-subject. This being so, we should ask, and we should say,

"What are fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles?" And if we want to converse, we should answer,

"The mind of eternal buddhas.

"

Maintaining and relying upon the state like this, we should investigate further: Just what are fences and walls? What do we call "fences and walls"? With what forms and stages are they furnished at this moment? We should investigate them like this, in detail. Are fences and walls caused to appear through a process of production,

27 or is production caused to appear on the basis of fences and walls? Are they products or are they beyond production? Should we see them as sentient or as insentient? Are they appearing before us now, or are they beyond appearance in the present? In the state like this of mental effort, and of learning in practice, whether it is in the heavens above or in the human world, and whether it appears in this land or in other worlds, the mind of eternal buddhas is fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles. No additional speck of dust has ever protruded to taint it. [68] Great Master Zengen Chūkō,

28 the story goes, is asked by a monk,

"What is the mind of eternal buddhas?"

The master says,

"The world is shattered.

"

The monk says,

"Why is the world shattered?"

The master says,

"How is it possible to be without our own body?"29 As regards this "world,

" its ten directions are totally the world of Buddha, and there has never been any world that is not the world of Buddha. As regards the form and stages of "being shattered, " we should learn them in

practice in this whole world in ten directions, never learning them as self. Because we do not learn them as self, the very moment of "shatteredness" is one thing, two things, three, four, and five things, and therefore limitless things. Each thing is its "own body" in "the undecided state of being without. "30 "Our own body is the undecided state of being without. " Do not selfishly begrudge the moment of the present and thus fail to make your own body into the mind of eternal buddhas. Truly, prior to the Seven Buddhas 32

Chapter Forty-four

the mind of eternal buddhas stands as a wall, and after the Seven Buddhas the mind of eternal buddhas sprouts. Prior to all the buddhas the mind of eternal buddhas flowers, and after all the buddhas the mind of eternal buddhas bears fruit. Prior to "the mind of eternal buddhas" the mind of eternal buddhas is liberated.

Shōbōgenzō Kobusshin

Preached to the assembly at Rokuharamitsuji31 on the twenty-ninth day of the fourth lunar month in the first year of Kangen. 32

33

Notes

1 Master Daikan Enō, the thirty-third patriarch. See Chapter Fifteen (Vol. I), Busso. 2 Kōjō-koge.The virtue of kōjō,

"ascending" or "the ascendant state,

" is discussed in

Chapter Twenty-eight (Vol. II), Butsu-kōjō-no-ji,and in the chapter of the same title in the twenty-eight-chapter edition of the Shōbōgenzō. See Vol. IV, Appendix II. 3 Master Seigen Gyōshi (d. 740) and Master Nangaku Ejō (677-744) were both disciples of Master Daikan Enō. Master Dōgen's lineage is through Master Seigen Gyōshi. The Rinzai lineage is through Master Nangaku Ejō. 4 Master Sekitō Kisen (700-790) was the successor of Master Seigen. Kōzei (Ch. Kiangsi) refers to Master Baso Dōitsu (709-788), successor of Master Nangaku. 5 Koliterally means "old" or "ancient,

" but in this sentence Master Dōgen indicates that in the phrase kobutsu the character means not only "old" but also "eternal. "

6 Kokon, lit.,

"ancient-present,

" means not only "past and present" or "ancient and modern times,

" but also "all ages" or "eternity.

"

7 Master Wanshi Shōgaku (1091-1157), successor of Master Tanka Shijun. Around 1130 Master Wanshi became the master of Keitokuji on Mount Tendō, where—almost a hundred years later—Master Dōgen finally met Master Tendō Nyojō. 8 Master Engo Kokugon (1063-1135), successor of Master Goso Hōen. 9 Keishumeans a prostration in which the head touches the ground. 10 Habi,lit.,

"grasping of the nose,

" refers to the ring used to lead a water buffalo by the nose. It suggests humility and self-control. 11 Master Sozan Kōnin (837-909), a successor of Master Tōzan Ryōkai. 12 The name of a mountain in Kiangsi province in southeast China. 13 The full story is: Master Sozan asks a monk how much the monk intends to pay a craftsman for building a monument—three coins, two coins, or one coin. The monk goes to see Master Razan Dōkan who resides in a hut on Daiyurei Mountain. Master Razan recommends the monk to take the middle way. Hearing of this, Master Sozan prostrates himself toward Daiyurei Mountain and says, "I had thought there was no one, but on the peak of Daiyurei Mountain an eternal buddha is present, and he is radiating brightness that shines on this place.

" See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 97; Rentōeyō,chap. 22. 35

Shōbōgenzō Volume III 14 Master Seppō Gison (822-907), successor of Master Tokusan Senkan. 15 Gotōegen,chap. 7, relates that on hearing the words of Master Jōshū Jūshin (778-897), Seppō says, "The eternal buddha Jōshū!" He just does prostrations toward Jōshū, and subsequently does not converse. See also Shinji-shōbōgenzō, pt. 3, no. 84; Rentōeyō,chap. 21. 16 Futōwa,

shōbōgenzō.

"not conversing,

" appears in the story in the Gotōegen and in the Shinji-17 Shochūgo-zen, "good in the beginning, middle, and end, " alludes to a phrase in the Lotus Sutra. See LS 1.42; Chapter Seventeen (Vol. I), Hokke-ten-hokke. 18 Juryō,

"lifetime,

" alludes to nyorai-juryō, sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Nyorai-juryō. "Tathāgata's lifetime, " as described in the 19 Master Nan'yō Echū (d. 775), successor of Master Daikan Enō. National Master Daishō is his posthumous title. 20 Seikyō,

"Western Capital,

" in this case refers to the area of China now called Luoyang. There were five areas of Tang China called Seikyō, "Western Capital.

"

21 Master Prajñātara said, Chapter Forty-three, Kūge. "The opening of flowers is the occurrence of the world. " See

22 Gyōbutsu,

"practicing buddha" or "acting buddha, " is discussed in detail in Chapter Twenty-three (Vol. II), Gyōbutsu-yuigi. 23 Shōbutsu,

126.

"experiencing buddha" also appears in Chapter Twenty-three (Vol. II), Gyōbutsu-yuigi.See also, for example, Chapter Thirty-six (Vol. II), Kōmyō,paragraph 24 Sabutsu,

"making buddha" or "becoming buddha, " is discussed in Chapter Twenty (Vol. I), Kōkyō,from paragraph 175. 25 Bukko no ishin naru, the decision to be a Buddhist. "buddha-eternity becoming the content of a mind, " suggests

26 Alludes to a conversation between Master Gensha Shibi and Master Rakan Keichin, recorded in Chapter Forty-seven, Sangai-yuishin.See also Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 2, no. 12.

27 Zōsa,lit.,

"made by building,

" has the connotation of human intentionality or enforcement. It represents the Sanskrit saṃskṛta(put together) and is opposed to the term musa,

"without being made,

" which represents the Sanskrit asaṃskṛta(unadorned, without elaboration). See Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 28 Master Zengen Chūkō (dates unknown), successor of Master Dōgo Enchi (769-835). He was the tenzo(cook) in the order on Dōgozan, where he realized the Dharma one day on hearing a child reciting the Kannonkyō.After that he lived and taught at Zengen.

36

Chapter Forty-four

29 Keitokudentōroku,chap. 11.

30 31 Neimu.In the story, these characters (read as nanzo . . . nakara n ya) mean "How is it possible for… not to exist?" At the same time nei, or mushiro, means "A rather than B" or "preferably"; it suggests the existence of two possibilities and therefore openness or undecidedness. Moreover, Master Dōgen frequently uses mu to mean "the state of being without [anything superfluous or lacking]. " See, for example,

Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō.

Rokuharamitsuji is in the Higashiyama district of the city of Kyoto. Hatano Yoshishige, Master Dōgen's most powerful supporter, occupied a government office that was located nearby.

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37

Chapter 45: Bodaisatta-shishōbō - Four Elements of a Bodhisattva’s Social Relations

[Chapter Forty-five]

Bodaisatta-shishōbō

Four Elements of a Bodhisattva's Social Relations

Translator's Introduction:Bodaisatta means "bodhisattva,

"

a person who

is pursuing the Buddhist truth; shi means "four

"

; and shōbō means

"

elements

of social relations

"

"

or

methods for social relations.

" The four are dāna,

free giving; priya-ākhyāna, kind speech; artha-carya, helpful conduct; and samāna-arthatā, identity of purpose, or cooperation. Buddhism puts great value on our actual conduct. For this reason, our conduct in relating to each other is a very important part of Buddhist life. In this chapter Master Dōgen preaches that these four ways of behaving are the essence of Buddhist life. He explains the real meaning of Buddhism in terms of social relations. [71] First is free giving. Second is kind speech. Third is helpful conduct. Fourth is cooperation.

1

[72] "Free giving"2 means not being greedy. Not being greedy means not coveting. Not coveting means, in everyday language, not courting favor. 3

Even if we rule the four continents, if we want to bestow the teaching of the right truth, we simply must not be greedy. That might mean, for example, donating treasures that are to be thrown away to people we do not know. When we offer flowers from distant mountains to the Tathāgata, and when we donate treasures accumulated in our past life to living beings, whether [the gift] is Dharma or material objects, in each case we are originally endowed with the virtue that accompanies free giving. There is a Buddhist principle that even if things are not our own, this does not hinder our free giving. And a gift is not to be hated for its small value, but its effect should be real. When we leave the truth to the truth, we attain the truth. When we attain the truth, the truth inevitably continues to be left to the truth. When possessions are left to be possessions, possessions inevitably turn into gifts. We give ourselves 39

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to ourselves, and we give the external world to the external world. The direct and indirect influences of this giving pervade far into the heavens above and through the human world, even reaching the wise and the sacred who have experienced the effect. The reason is that in becoming giver and receiver, the subject and object of giving are connected; this is why the Buddha says, "When a person who gives comes into an assembly, others admire that person from the beginning. Remember, the mind of such a person is tacitly understood.

"4 So we should freely give even a single word or a single verse of Dharma, and it will become a good seed in this life and in other lives. We should freely give even a single penny or a single grass-stalk of alms, and it will sprout a good root in this age and in other ages. 5 Dharma can be

a treasure, and material gifts can be Dharma—it may depend upon [people's] hopes and pleasures. Truly, the gift of a beard can regulate a person's mind, 6

and the service of sand can gain a throne.

7 Such givers covet no reward, but

just share according to their ability. To provide a boat or to build a bridge are free giving as the dāna-pāramitā.

8 When we learn giving well, both

receiving the body and giving up the body are free giving. Earning a living and doing productive work are originally nothing other than free giving. Leaving flowers to the wind, and leaving birds to time, 9 may also be the

meritorious conduct of free giving. Both givers and receivers should thoroughly learn the truth which certifies that Great King Aśoka's being able to serve half a mango10 as an offering for hundreds of monks is a wide and great service of offerings.

11 We should not only muster the energy of our

body but should also take care not to overlook suitable opportunities. Truly, it is because we are originally equipped with the virtue of free giving that we have received ourselves as we are now. The Buddha says, "It is possible

to receive and to use [giving] even if the object is oneself, and it is all the easier to give to parents, wives, and children.

" Clearly, to practice it by

oneself is one kind of free giving, and to give to parents, wives, and children may also be free giving. When we can give up even one speck of dust for free giving, though it is our own act we will quietly rejoice in it, because we will have already received the authentic transmission of one of the virtues of the buddhas, and because for the first time we will be practicing one of the methods of a bodhisattva. What is hard to change is the mind of living beings.

12 By starting with a gift we begin to change the mental state of living 40

Chapter Forty-five

beings, after which we resolve to change them until they attain the truth. At the outset we should always make use of free giving. This is why the first of the six pāramitās is dāna-pāramitā.

13 The bigness or smallness of mind is

beyond measurement, and the bigness or smallness of things is also beyond measurement, but there are times when mind changes things, and there is free giving in which things change mind.

[78] "Kind speech"14 means, when meeting living beings, first of all to feel compassion for them and to offer caring and loving words. Broadly, it is there being no rude or bad words. In secular societies there are polite customs of asking others if they are well. In Buddhism there are the words "Take good care of yourself!"15 and there is the disciple's greeting "How are you?"16 Speaking with the feeling of "compassion for living beings as if they were babies"17 is kind speech. We should praise those who have virtue and should pity those who lack virtue. Through love of kind speech, kind speech is gradually nurtured. Thus, kind speech which is ordinarily neither recognized nor experienced manifests itself before us. While the present body and life exist we should enjoy kind speech, and we will not regress or deviate through many ages and many lives. Whether in defeating adversaries or in promoting harmony among gentlefolk, kind speech is fundamental. To hear kind speech spoken to us directly makes the face happy and the mind joyful. To hear kind speech indirectly etches an impression in the heart18 and in the soul. Remember, kind speech arises from a loving mind, 19 and the seed of a loving mind

is compassion. We should learn that kind speech has the power to turn around the heavens; it is not merely the praise of ability.

[80] "Helpful conduct"20 means utilizing skillful means21 to benefit living beings, high or low; for example, by looking into the distant and near future and employing expedient methods22 to benefit them. People have taken pity on stricken turtles and taken care of sick sparrows.

23 When they saw the

stricken turtle and the sick sparrow, they did not seek any reward from the turtle and the sparrow; they were motivated solely by helpful conduct itself. Stupid people think that if we put the benefit of others first, our own benefit will be eliminated. This is not true. Helpful conduct is the whole Dharma. It universally benefits self and others. The man of the past who bound his hair three times in the course of one bath, and who spat out his food three times in the course of one meal,

24 solely had a mind to help others. There

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was never a question that he might not teach them just because they were the people of a foreign land. So we should benefit friends and foes equally, and we should benefit ourselves and others alike. If we realize this state of mind, the truth that helpful conduct naturally neither regresses nor deviates will be helpfully enacted even in grass, trees, wind, and water. We should solely endeavor to save the foolish.

[82] "Cooperation"25 means not being contrary.

26 It is not being contrary

to oneself and not being contrary to others. For example, the human Tathāgata "identified"27 himself with humanity. Judging from this identification with the human world we can suppose that he might identify himself with other worlds. When we know cooperation, self and others are oneness. The proverbial "harps, poems, and sake"28 make friends with people, make friends with celestial gods, and make friends with earthly spirits. [At the same time,] there is a principle that people make friends with harps, poems, and sake, and that harps, poems, and sake make friends with harps, poems, and sake; that people make friends with people; that celestial gods make friends with celestial gods; and that earthly spirits make friends with earthly spirits. This is learning of cooperation.

"The task [of cooperation]"29 means, for example,

concrete behavior, a dignified attitude, and a real situation. There may be a principle of, after letting others identify with us, then letting ourselves identify with others. [The relations between] self and others are, depending on the occasion, without limit. The Kanshi30 says: "The sea does not refuse water; therefore it is able to realize its greatness. Mountains do not refuse earth; therefore they are able to realize their height. Enlightened rulers do not hate people; therefore they are able to realize a large following. " Remember, the sea not refusing water is cooperation. Remember also that water has the virtue of not refusing the sea. For this reason it is possible for water to come together to form the sea and for the earth to pile up to form mountains. We can think to ourselves that because the sea does not refuse the sea it realizes the sea and realizes greatness, and because mountains do not refuse mountains they realize mountains and realize height. Because enlightened rulers do not hate people they realize a large following. "A large following" means a nation.

"An enlightened ruler" may mean an emperor.

Emperors do not hate the people. They do not hate the people, but that does not mean there is no reward and punishment. Even if there is reward and 42

Chapter Forty-five

punishment, there is no hatred for the people. In ancient times, when people were unaffected, nations were without reward and punishment—at least inasmuch as the reward and punishment of those days were different from those of today. Even today there may be people who seek the truth with no expectation of reward, but this is beyond the thinking of stupid men. Because enlightened rulers are enlightened, they do not hate people. Although people always have the will to form a nation and to find an enlightened ruler, few completely understand the truth of an enlightened ruler being an enlightened ruler. Therefore, they are glad simply not to be hated by the enlightened ruler, while never recognizing that they themselves do not hate the enlightened ruler. Thus the truth of cooperation exists both for enlightened rulers and for ignorant people, and this is why cooperation is the conduct and the vow of a bodhisattva. We should face all things only with gentle faces. [85] Because these four elements of sociability are each equipped with four elements of sociability, they may be sixteen elements of sociability. Shōbōgenzō Bodaisatta-shishōbō

Written on the fifth day of the fifth lunar

month31 in the fourth year of Ninji32 by a monk

who went into Song China and received the

transmission of the Dharma, śramaṇaDōgen.

43

Notes

1 Shishōbō, the four methods for social relations, or the four elements of sociability (from the Sanskrit catvāri saṃgrahavastūni; see Glossary of Sanskrit Terms), are listed and explained in chap. 66 of the Daichidoron.They are also mentioned in the Daibadatta("Devadatta") chapter of the Lotus Sutra(LS 2.208), and in the eleventh chapter in the twelve-chapter edition of Shōbōgenzō, Ippyakuhachi-hōmyōmon.See Vol. IV, Appendix III.

2 Fuse, from the Sanskrit dāna.

3 Master Dōgen first explains the Chinese word fuse, "free giving,

" with the Chinese

word fudon,

"not being greedy,

" which he then explains using a Japanese word written in kana, musaboru,

"to covet.

" Finally he takes his explanation further using another colloquial Japanese word, hetsurau,which means to curry favor through groveling, flattery, etc.

4 Paraphrased by Master Dōgen in Japanese from chap. 24 of the Zōitsuagongyō, the fourth of the Āgama sutras.

5 Traditionally dānais categorized into āmiṣa-dāna, zaise, "giving of material gifts"

(by lay Buddhists to monks) and dharma-dāna, hose, "giving of Dharma" (by monks

to lay Buddhists). Master Dōgen alludes to that distinction in these two sentences. A third category of dānais sometimes added, namely abhaya-dāna, mui-se, "giving of

fearlessness.

" See, for example, LS 3.252.

6 Alludes to the story that when an officer in the court of the Tang emperor Taisō (r. 627-649) fell sick and needed the ashes from a beard for medicine, Taisō burned his own beard and gave the ashes to the officer. 7 The Aikuōkyō (King Aśoka Sutra) tells the story of a child who was playing in the sand when the Buddha came by on an almsround. The child put an offering of sand into the Buddha's almsbowl, and by virtue of his giving he later became King Aśoka. 8 Dando. Danrepresents the sound of the Sanskrit dāna. Do,lit., "crossed over,

" represents the meaning of the Sanskrit pāramitā,which literally means "gone to the far shore.

" See Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 9 Leaving owls to hoot at night, cocks to crow in the morning, etc. 10 Anrarepresents the sound of the Sanskrit āmra,which means mango. 45

Shōbōgenzō Volume III

11 Alludes to a story in chap. 5 of the Aikuōkyō.King Aśoka is said to have become the ruler of a vast Indian empire two hundred and eighteen years after the Buddha's death, and to have reigned from 269 to 232 B.C.E., converting many peoples to Buddhism. He had edicts in local languages carved on rocks and specially erected pillars throughout his empire. King Aśoka also sponsored the Third Council held in Patna in 235 B.C.E., during which the Abhidharma (commentaries) were added to the existing Thera vāda (Pāli) canon of Vinaya (precepts) and Sutra (discourses). 12 Cf.

"That without constancy is the buddha-nature. That which has constancy is the mind that divides all dharmas into good and bad. " (Master Daikan Enō, quoted in

Chapter Twenty-two [Vol. II], Busshō.) 13 The six pāramitās are dāna-pāramitā(giving freely), śīla-pāramitā(observance of precepts), kṣānti-pāramitā(forbearance), vīrya-pāramitā(diligence), dhyāna-pāramitā (the balanced state of zazen), and prajñā-pāramitā(wisdom). 14 Aigo,literally,

"loving words,

" from the Sanskrit priya-ākhyāna. 15 Chinchō, literally,

"value [yourself] highly.

" This expression is used, for example, in Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji,paragraph 241, by Master Fuyō Dōkai when finishing his talk and taking his leave.

16 Fushin no kōkō ari,literally,

"there is the act of filial piety of 'it is not totally clear. '"

The expression fushin,

"everything is not totally clear" or "I do not know everything in detail,

" appears at the beginning of a disciple's question to a master in many of the stories in the Shōbōgenzō.See, for example, Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō, paragraph 89: "I wonder. . . .

" Master Dōgen himself uses the expression rhetorically in Chapter Twenty-one (Vol. I), Kankin,paragraph 188. It is a kind of polite formula, and at the same time a polite greeting from student to teacher. 17 Quotation from a Chinese text; source untraced. 18 Kimoliterally means "the liver. "

19 Shin, kokoromeans not only "mind" but also "heart. " In fact the Chinese character

shinis originally a pictograph of a heart. In this translation of the Shōbōgenzō, shin has almost always been translated as "mind, " but the intended meaning is the subjective side of the whole human state, not only intellectual consciousness. 20 Rigyō,

"helpful conduct" or "beneficial conduct, " from the Sanskrit artha-carya,

useful conduct. See Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 21 Zengyō,lit.,

"good skill"; short for zengyō-hōben, "skillful means" or "skillful expedients, " from the Sanskrit upāya-kauśalya.See Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 22 Hōben.See note 21.

23 A Chinese chronicle, the Shinjō (History of the State of Shin) says that a man called Koyu saved a turtle in distress and as a result of this good act he later became the 46

Chapter Forty-five

governor of a district in the state. Another chronicle, the Taigunikki,says that a nineyear-old boy called Yoho took care of an injured bird, and as a result of this good act his descendants ascended to three top positions in the Chinese government. See also Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji,paragraph 207. 24 The Chinese history Shiki says that when a king called Shuko appointed his son Hakukin as a district governor, Shuko told his son, "If three guests came while I was taking a bath, I would bind my hair three times to meet them, and if three guests came while I was eating, I would stop eating three times to meet them. . . . "

25 Dōji,lit.,

"identity of task,

" from the Sanskrit samāna-arthatāwhich literally means "identity of purpose" or "sharing the same aim" (see Glossary of Sanskrit Terms); or, to use a more colloquial expression, "being in the same boat.

" Dōmeans "same"

and jimeans "thing,

" "matter,

" or "task.

"

26 Fui. I,

"different" or "contrary,

" is opposed to dō,

"the same,

" in dōji.

27 Dō zeru.The character dōis as in dōji. 28 The Daoist text Goshainzuisays that harps, poems, and sake are [a hermit's] three friends. Master Dōgen picks up this sentence and uses it to express the principles of mutual agreement between subject and object and identity of subject and object. 29 "The task [of cooperation]" is the character jiof dōji.Real cooperation is not abstract but is always related to a concrete task. 30 Kanshi is the name of a Chinese Daoist text in twenty-four volumes attributed to Kanchu (Ch. Guanzi). Scholars suspect that there were actually several different authors.

31 Tango no hi.The fifth day of the fifth lunar month was a day of celebration, referred to as tango no hi.In Japan today, the term tango no hiis still sometimes used for the national holiday on May Fifth (Children's Day). 32 1243.

47

Chapter 46: Kattō - The Complicated

[Chapter Forty-six]

Kattō

176a3

The Complicated

Translator's Note: Katsu means

"

arrowroot"

and to means

"

wisteria.

"

Arrowroot and wisteria, being vines, are unable to stand by themselves but grow by entwining with other plants. Because of this, in China and Japan, arrowroot and wisteria are used as a symbol of something that is very complicated. Buddhist philosophy strives to describe what reality is. Because reality cannot be adequately expressed with words, it is sometimes described as

"the ineffable.

" Here, Master Dōgen uses the word kattō, the complicated, to suggest reality, which is very direct but complicated. He felt that the words "the complicated"

express the nature of reality rather well.

[87] The experience and the transmission, in the order on Vulture Peak, of Śākyamuni Buddha's right Dharma-eye treasury and supreme truth of bodhi belongs only to Great Master Mahākāśyapa. Authentically experienced in the transmission from rightful successor to rightful successor, it arrives at the twenty-eighth patriarch, Venerable Bodhidharma. The Venerable One demonstrates in China the behavior of a patriarch, and transmits the right Dharma-eye treasury and the supreme truth of bodhito Great Master Taiso Shōshū Fukaku,

1 making him the Second Patriarch. We call the twentyeighth patriarch, as the first in China to possess the behavior of a patriarch, "the First Patriarch"; and we call the twenty-ninth patriarch "the Second Patriarch.

" This is the custom in the Eastern Lands. The First Patriarch, under Venerable Prajñātara in the past, has directly experienced and has received the direct transmission of the Buddha's instruction and the bones of the truth. Using the original root he has experienced the original root, and made this into a base for branches and leaves. In general, although sacred beings all aim to learn the cutting of the roots of the complicated, 2 they do

not learn that cutting means cutting the complicated with the complicated, 49

176b

Shōbōgenzō Volume III and they do not know that the complicated is entwined with the complicated. How much less could they know that the succession of the complicated continues by means of the complicated? Few have known that the succession of the Dharma is the complicated itself. No one has heard so. No one has said so. Could many have realized so in experience? [89] My late master, the eternal buddha, says, "A bottle gourd vine entwines with a bottle gourd. "

This preaching has been neither seen nor heard in the orders in all directions of masters of all the ages. It has been preached by my late master, for the first time, and by him alone. Bottle gourd vines intertwining with bottle gourd vines is Buddhist patriarchs investigating the state of Buddhist patriarchs and is Buddhist patriarchs experiencing the exact-same state of Buddhist patriarchs. It is the state, for example, of "the mind being transmitted by the mind.

"3

[90] The twenty-eighth patriarch says to his disciples, "The time is

approaching.

4 Why don't you say what you have got. "

Then the disciple Dōfuku5 says, "My view now is, without being attached to words or being detached from words, to perform the function of the truth.

"

The Patriarch says, "You have got my skin. "

The nun Sōji6 says, "My understanding now is like that of Ānanda7 seeing the land of Akṣobhya Buddha. 8 Seen once, it is not seen again. "

The Patriarch says, "You have got my flesh. "

The disciple Dōiku9 says, "The four elements10 are originally bare. The five aggregates11 are not 'existence. ' My viewpoint is that there is nothing to be got. "

The Patriarch says, "You have got my bones. "

Finally, Eka12 does three prostrations and then stands at his place. The Patriarch says, "You have got my marrow. "

Consequently, he makes [Eka] the Second Patriarch, transmitting the Dharma and transmitting the robe. 13

[92] Now, learn in practice, the First Patriarch's words "You have got my skin, flesh, bones, and marrow" are the Patriarch's words. The four disciples each possess what they have got and what they have heard. Both what 50

Chapter Forty-six

they have heard and what they have got are skin, flesh, bones, and marrow that spring out of body and mind, and skin, flesh, bones, and marrow which drop away body and mind. We cannot see and hear the ancestral Master only by means of knowledge and understanding, which are but one move in a go game—not one-hundred-percent realization of subject-and-object, that-and-this. Nevertheless, people who have not received the authentic transmission think that there are degrees of intimacy in the understanding of each of the four disciples, and so the Patriarch also [expresses] differences of profundity between skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. Thinking skin and flesh to be further away than bones and marrow, [people] say that the Second Patriarch has received certification of getting the marrow because his understanding is superior. People who talk like this have never experienced learning in practice under the Buddhist patriarchs and have never received the authentic transmission of the Patriarch's truth. Remember, the Patriarch's skin, flesh, bones, and marrow are beyond shallowness and depth. Even if there is superiority and inferiority in understanding, the Patriarch's words are only about "getting me.

" The point here is that the expression "You have

got my marrow" and the expression "You have got my bones" are both beyond sufficiency and insufficiency, whether in teaching people or in receiving people, whether in picking up weeds or falling into grass. 14 [The Patriarch's

expressions,] for example, are like picking up a flower and like transmitting the robe.

15 What [the Patriarch] expresses for the four disciples is, from the beginning, utterly the same. The Patriarch's expression is utterly consistent, but this does not necessarily mean that the four understandings are the same. Though the four understandings are individual and distinct, the Patriarch's expression is just the Patriarch's expression. Generally, speech and understanding cannot always be entrusted to each other. When the ancestral master addresses each of the four disciples he is saying, for example, "You have

got me as my skin.

" If there were hundreds of thousands of disciples after the Second Patriarch, there would have been hundreds of thousands of expressions; there would be no limit. There are only four disciples and so there are only the four expressions of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, but there are many possible expressions left unexpressed. Remember, even in addressing the Second Patriarch, he could say "You have got my skin. " Even

if [the expression] were "You have got my skin,

" [the First Patriarch] would

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be transmitting the right Dharma-eye treasury to [Eka] as the Second Patriarch. Getting skin or getting marrow do not rely upon superiority or inferiority. Again, in addressing Dōfuku, Dōiku, Sōji, or others, he could say "You have got my marrow.

" Even if they are "my skin,

" he must transmit the Dharma

to them. Consider the body-mind of the ancestral master: his skin, flesh, bones, and marrow are each the ancestral master himself; it is never the case that marrow is close and skin is distant. Now, when one who is equipped with the eyes of learning in practice receives certification that "You have got my skin,

" that is the ultimate realization of getting the ancestral master. There is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body16 is skin; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body is flesh; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body is bones; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body is marrow; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body is mind; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body is body; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized mind is mind; there is the ancestral master who is the thoroughly realized ancestral master; there is the ancestral master whose thoroughly realized body gets me-and-you; and so on. If these ancestral masters manifest themselves together and address hundreds of thousands of disciples, they will say, as now,

"You have got my skin.

" The hundreds of thousands

of expressions will be the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, but onlookers will excitedly consider them without reason to be expressions about skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. If there were six or seven disciples in the ancestral master's order he might say "You have got my mind, " he might say "You

have got my body,

" he might say "You have got my state of buddha, " he

might say "You have got my eyes,

" and he might say "You have got my real experience.

" As regards "you,

" there are times when it is the Patriarch and there are times when it is Eka. We should also investigate in detail the truth of "having got.

" Remember, there are cases of "you have got me" and there are cases of "I have got you.

" There are cases in which "getting me" is "you" and there are cases in which "getting you" is "me. " If, when we research the

body-mind of the ancestral master, we say that inside and outside cannot be oneness, or that the whole body cannot be the thoroughly realized body, we are not in the real land of Buddhist patriarchs. To have got the skin is to have got the bones, the flesh, and the marrow; to have got the bones, the flesh, 52

Chapter Forty-six

and the marrow is to have got the skin, the flesh, and the countenance. How could this state only be the clear understanding that "The whole universe in ten directions is the real body"?17 It is utterly the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow themselves. For this reason, it is "getting my robe" and is "You have got the Dharma.

" On this basis, even the speaking of words is individual instances of the springing out in which master and disciple experience the same state. And even the action of listening is individual instances of the springing out in which master and disciple experience the same state. Investigation of the same state by master and disciple is the entanglement18 of Buddhist patriarchs. The entangled state of Buddhist patriarchs is the lifeblood of their skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. The picking up of a flower and the winking of an eye are entanglement itself, and a face breaking into a smile is the skin, the flesh, the bones, and the marrow themselves. We should investigate further. In the seed of entanglement the potential exists here and now to lay bare the substance and it is by virtue of this that there are stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits entwining in the entangled; because these [real stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits] are beyond complicatedness and uncomplicatedness, Buddhist patriarchs are realized and the universe is realized. [99] Great Master Shinsai of Jōshū19 preaches to the assembly, "Mahā kāśyapa gave the transmission to Ānanda. Say then, Bodhidharma gave the transmission to what person?"

Then a monk asks,

"How about the Second Patriarch who got the marrow?" The master says,

"Do not insult the Second Patriarch!"20 On another occasion, the master says,

"In Bodhidharma's words, someone

who is outside gets the skin and someone who is inside gets the bones. Say then, someone who is still further inside gets what?" A monk asks,

"What does it mean to have got the marrow?" The master says,

"Just be aware of the skin! The old monk here and now does not even broach the subject of marrow. "

The monk asks,

"But what is the marrow?"

The master says,

"If you are like that you cannot grope even for the skin.

"

[100] So remember, when we cannot grope for the skin we cannot grope for the marrow, and when groping gets the skin it also gets the marrow. We 53

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Shōbōgenzō Volume III

should consider the truth of being like that, unable to grope even for the skin. When [the monk] asks,

"What does it mean to have got the marrow?"

, the

expression "Just be aware of the skin! The old monk here and now does not even broach the subject of marrow" is realized. In "being aware of the skin, "

"not even broaching the subject of marrow" is the real "meaning of having got the marrow.

" On this basis, the question "How about the Second Patriarch who got the marrow?" has been realized. When we reflect exactly21 the moment in which Mahākāśyapa gives the transmission to Ānanda, Ānanda is concealing his body in Mahākāśyapa and Mahākāśyapa is concealing his body in Ānanda. At the same time, in the moment of their meeting within the transmission, they are not beyond the sphere of concrete actions that change the countenance and change the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. On this basis, [Jōshū] preaches "Say then, Bodhidharma gives the transmission to a What person.

"22 When Bodhidharma is giving the transmission he is Bodhi dharma, and when the Second Patriarch is getting the marrow he is Bodhidharma. Relying on investigation of this truth, the Buddha-Dharma has remained the Buddha-Dharma to the present day. If it were otherwise, the Buddha-Dharma could not reach the present. Quietly endeavoring to master this principle, we should express it ourselves and should cause others to express it.

[102] "Someone who is outside gets the skin and someone who is inside gets the bones. Say then, someone who is still further inside gets what?" The meaning of the "outside" expressed now, and of the "inside" expressed now, should be extremely straight and direct. When we are discussing "outside, "

skin, flesh, bones, and marrow each have an outside; when are discussing "inside,

" skin, flesh, bones, and marrow each have an inside. This being so, the four Bodhidharmas have each mastered, instance by instance, the ascendant state of hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of skins, of fleshes, of bones, and of marrows. Do not think that there can be no state ascendant to the marrow; there are further concrete states of ascendance, numbering three or five. What the eternal buddha Jōshū has now preached to the assembly is the Buddha's truth. It is beyond others such as Rinzai, Tokusan, Daii, and Unmon; they have never dreamt of it; how much less could they express it? The unreliable old veterans of recent times do not even know that it exists, and if we told them of it, they might be astonished and afraid. 54

Chapter Forty-six

[103] Zen Master Setchō Myōkaku23 says, "The two 'Shūs,

' Jō[shū] and

Boku[shū],

24 are eternal buddhas.

"25 So the eternal buddha's words are evidence of the Buddha-Dharma and are a past expression of the self. Great Master Seppō Shinkaku26 says, "The eternal buddha Jōshū!" A former Buddhist patriarch27 has eulogized him with the eulogy "eternal buddha" and a later Buddhist patriarch28 has also eulogized him with the eulogy "eternal buddha.

" Clearly, in that which is ascendant to the past and present, [Jōshū] is a transcendent eternal buddha. In sum, the truth that skin, flesh, bones, and marrow are entangled is the standard for the state of "you have got me" which is preached by eternal buddhas. We should endeavor to master this criterion. [105] Furthermore, some say that the First Patriarch has returned to the West, but we learn that this is wrong. What Soun29 saw may not have been real. How could Soun see the leaving and coming of the ancestral master? The true study is just to learn that after the ancestral master passed away [his ashes] were deposited on Yūjisan. 30

Shōbōgenzō Kattō

Preached to the assembly at Kannondōrikōshōhōrinji in the Uji district of Yōshū31 on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in the first year of Kangen.

32

55

178a

Notes

1 Master Taiso Eka (487-593), the Second Patriarch in China. Great Master Taiso Shōshū Fukaku is his posthumous title.

2 Kattō.In colloquial modern Japanese, and also in Zen teachings other than Master Dōgen's, the word kattō has negative connotations. Kenkyusha '

s New Japanese-English Dictionarygives: "trouble(s), discord, dissension; complications. " The Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary(JEBD) gives: "A derogatory word used to express complicated teachings.

" JEBD also has the following dubious entry for kattō-zen: "Wordy Zen. Zen which clings to words and letters and does not understand the great way of the buddhas and patriarchs" (cf. words of Master Dōfuku in paragraph 90). 3 Ishin-denshin.The phrase ishin-denshin,

"intuitive communication from mind to

mind,

" is common in everyday speech even among Japanese today. The Buddhist meaning of ishin-denshincan be represented with the metaphor of the sympathetic resonance of tuning forks.

4 Master Bodhidharma knew that the time of his death was drawing near. 5 Master Dōfuku (464-524), successor of Master Bodhidharma. He traveled through many lands in search of a true teacher before finally meeting Master Bodhidharma and becoming his successor.

6 The nun Sōji (dates unknown), successor of Master Bodhidharma. She was the daughter of Emperor Bu (r. 502-549) of the Liang dynasty. Nun Sōji is her title, her ordained name being Myoren.

7 Keiki,

"joy,

" represents the meaning, not the sound, of the Sanskrit ānanda.The name is said to be derived from the fact that Master Ānanda's birthday was the day on which the Buddha first realized the truth.

8 In the mandala used by the Shingon sect there are five buddha images, and the image on the eastern side is of Akṣobhya Buddha. This buddha is mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, Kejō-yu ("Parable of the Magic City"): "Two of those śramaṇeras became buddhas in the eastern quarter. The first was named Akṣobhya and lived in the Land of Joy. The second was named Sumeru Peak.

" (LS 2.66) In the story, the buddha land

of Akṣobhya Buddha means an imaginary land or an ideal world. 9 Master Dōiku (dates unknown), successor to Master Bodhidharma. 10 The four elements are earth, water, fire, and wind. 57

Shōbōgenzō Volume III

11 The five aggregates, or five skandhas, are matter, perception, thinking, action, and consciousness. The four elements and the five aggregates represent all physical things and mental phenomena in the universe.

12 Master Taiso Eka. See note 1.

13 Keitokudentōroku,chap. 3. See also Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 3, no. 1. 14 Nensō-rakusō,lit.,

"picking up weeds and falling into weeds, " suggests miscellaneous

cases of sincere active behavior and trivial passive behavior in everyday life. 15 Refers to the transmissions between the Buddha and Master Mahākāśyapa, and between Master Daiman Kōnin and Master Daikan Enō. 16 Tsūshin.See Chapter Thirty-three (Vol. II), Kannon. 17 Alludes to the words of Master Chōsha Keishin. See Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō. 18 Kattō,

"the complicated,

" as in the chapter title.

19 Master Jōshū Jūshin (778-897), successor of Master Nansen Fugan. Great Master Shinsai is his posthumous title.

20 Kōsonshukugoroku,chap. 13.

21 Tōkan. Tō means to be exact, especially with regard to timing, and kan means to reflect. The phrase is discussed in Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō, note 19. 22 Shimo no hitomeans 1) what person? and 2) a person whose state cannot be explained with words.

23 Master Setchō Jūken (980-1052), successor of Master Chimon Kōso. He was honored with the title Zen Master Myōkaku during his lifetime. See, for example, Chapter Nineteen (Vol. I), Shin-fukatoku.

24 Master Bokushū Dōmyō (780?-877?), successor of Master Ōbaku Kiun. See, for example, Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji,paragraph 170. 25 From the Myōkakuzenjigoroku,vol. 1.

26 Master Seppō Gison (822-907). The same quotation is discussed in Chapter Fortyfour, Kobusshin. 27 Master Seppō.

28 Master Setchō.

29 The monk Soun was sent by imperial edict to India in 518 and he returned three years later with sutras and commentaries of the Mahayana. The Keitokudentōrokusays that three years after Master Bodhidharma's death, Soun and Bodhidharma met while Soun was returning to China along the Silk Road. 30 A mountain in China where Master Bodhidharma's stupa was erected. 58

Chapter Forty-six 31 32 1243.

Corresponds to present-day Kyoto prefecture. 59

Chapter 47: Sangai-yuishin - The Triple World Is Only the Mind

[Chapter Forty-seven] Sangai-yuishin The Triple World Is Only the Mind Translator's Note: San means "three

"

and kai means "

world.

" So sangai means

"three worlds "

or

"triple world. " Traditionally, Buddhist theory looks at the world as the amalgamation of three worlds: the world of thinking, the world of feeling, and the world of action. In traditional Buddhist terminology these three worlds are called the worlds of volition, matter, and non-matter. The phrases "the three worlds "

or

"the triple world" are often used to mean this world here and now, the whole world, the real world, which includes the world of thinking, the world of feeling, and the world of action. Yui means "

only,

" "

solely,

"

"

or

alone,

"

and shin means "

mind.

" So sangai-yuishin means

"the triple world is only the mind" or

"the triple world is the mind alone.

" The phrase "the triple world is only the mind" is often interpreted as an idealistic insistence that the whole world is produced by our mind. Historically, many Buddhist monks thought that this was the case. Master Dōgen did not agree; he insisted that in Buddhism the phrase "the triple world is only the mind" means something far more real. This phrase refers to the teaching that reality exists in the contact between subject and object. From this viewpoint, when we say that the world is only the mind, we also need to say that the mind is only the world, to express the fact that the relationship is a mutual one. In this chapter, Master Dōgen explains the meaning of the phrase

"the triple world is only the mind" from the Buddhist viewpoint, criticizing idealistic interpretations. [107] Great Master Śākyamuni says, The triple world is only the one mind, There is nothing else outside of the mind. The mind, buddha, and living beings— The three are without distinction. 1

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[107] [This] one saying is the whole effort of [the Buddha's] lifetime. The whole effort of his lifetime is the complete wholeness of his total effort. While it is deliberate action, it may also be action in the natural stream of speech and action. Thus, the words now spoken by the Tathāgata, "The triple

world is only the mind" are the whole realization of the whole Tathāgata, and his whole life is the whole of this one saying. The triple world2 is the whole world; we do not say that the triple world is the same thing as mind. The reason is that however brilliant in all aspects the triple world is, it is still the triple world. Even if we misunderstand that it might be beyond the triple world, that is completely impossible. Inside, outside, and middle, beginning, middle, and end; all are the triple world. The triple world is as the triple world is seen, and a view of something other than the triple world is a mistaken view of the triple world. While in the triple world, we see views of the triple world as old nests and see views of the triple world as new twigs. 3 The old

nests were visions of the triple world, and a new twig is also a vision of the triple world.

[110] For this reason. . .

Great Master Śākyamuni says,

"It is best to see the triple world as the

triple world.

"4

This view is the triple world itself. This triple world is just as it is seen. The triple world is not original existence, the triple world is not present existence, the triple world is not fresh realization, the triple world does not arise from causes and conditions, and the triple world is beyond beginning, middle, and end. There is "getting free from the triple world, "5 and there is "the triple world

that is here and now.

"6 This state is the pivot meeting the pivot and entanglement promoting entanglement. The triple world here and now is the object seen as the triple world, and this object seen is [the agent's] "seeing it as the triple world.

" "Seeing it as the triple world" is the realized triple world, is the triple world's realization, and is the realized universe. 7 Being able to make the triple

world establish the mind, undergo training, [realize] bodhi, and [experience] nirvana, is just the state in which "All is my possession. "

[112] For this reason. . .

Great Master Śākyamuni says,

Now this triple world

All is my possession

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Chapter Forty-seven

And living beings in it

All are my children.

8

Because this triple world here and now is the Tathāgata's "own possession, " the whole universe is the triple world. Because the triple world is the whole universe,

"here and now"9 is the past, present, and future. The reality of past, present, and future does not obstruct "the here and now. " The reality

of "the here and now" blocks off past, present, and future. "My possession"

[expresses that] "The whole universe in ten directions is a real human body, "10

and "The whole universe in ten directions is a śramaṇera's one eye. "11 "Living

beings" are the real bodies of the whole universe in ten directions. Because there are many beings, each one with a life as a living being, they are "living beings.

" "All are my children" is the truth that children themselves are the manifestation of all functions. At the same time,

"my children" inevitably

receive from a compassionate father their body, hair, and skin, which they neither injure nor lack, and this is seen as the child's realization. 12 That the

state in the moment of the present is beyond the father being former and the child being latter, beyond the child being former and the father being latter, and beyond father and child being aligned together, is the truth of "my children. " Without being given, this state is received, and without being taken by force it is acquired. It is beyond the forms of leaving and coming, beyond the scale of large and small, and beyond discussion of old and young. We should retain "old" and "young" as the Buddhist Patriarch retains "old" and "young.

" Sometimes a father is young and a child is old;13 sometimes a father is old and a child is young; sometimes a father is old and a child is old; and sometimes a father is young and a child is young. One who imitates the maturity of a father is not being a child, and one who does not pass through the immaturity of childhood will not be a father. We must consider and investigate in detail, without fail and without haste, the maturity and youth of a child and the maturity and youth of a father. There are [relations between] father and child that become apparent at the same time to father and to child, there are those that actually cease at the same time for father and for child, there are those that become apparent at different times to father and to child, and there are those that cease to be apparent at different times for father and for child. Though not restricting the compassionate father, we are realized as "my children,

" and without restricting "my children,

" the compassionate

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father is realized. There are mindful living beings and there are unmindful living beings; there are "my children" who are mindful of it and there are "my children" who are not mindful of it. 14 All such children—

"my children"

and "childlike 'me's"

—are true heirs of the compassionate father Śākyamuni. Those living beings of the past, present, and future that exist throughout the universe in ten directions are the past, present, and future buddhas of the universe in ten directions. The buddhas' "my children" are living beings, and the compassionate fathers of living beings are the buddhas. This being so, the flowers and fruits of all things are the buddhas' "own possessions"; rocks and stones, large and small, are the buddhas' "own possessions"; "a peaceful abode" is "forests and fields,

" and "forests and fields" are "already free. "15

And though this may be so, the point of the Tathāgata's words is only to speak of "my children.

" We should investigate that he has never spoken of being the father.

[116] Śākyamuni Buddha says,

"Even the suitably transforming Dharma

bodies16 of the buddhas do not leave the triple world. Outside the triple world there are no living beings, so what object could buddhas teach? For this reason, I say the doctrine that there is another world of living beings outside the triple world is a doctrine in the non-Buddhist Scripture of the Great Existence, 17 and not the preaching of the Seven Buddhas. "18

[117] We should clearly realize in practice that "the suitably transforming Dharma bodies of the buddhas" are all of "the triple world. " The triple world

has "no outside,

"19 in the same way, for example, as the Tathāgata has "no outside,

" and in the same way as fences and walls have "no outside. " Just

as the triple world has "no outside,

" living beings have "no outside.

" At the

place where "there are no living beings, what is the object that buddhas teach?" The object of buddhas' teaching is always living beings. Remember, that which brings into existence another world of living beings outside the triple world is a non-Buddhist Scripture of the Great Existence, and not a sutra of the Seven Buddhas.

"The mind alone"20 is beyond one or two; it is beyond the triple world and beyond leaving the triple world; it is free of error; it has thinking, sensing, mindfulness, and realization and it is free of thinking, sensing, mindfulness, and realization; it is fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles and it is mountains, rivers, and the earth. The mind itself is skin, flesh, bones, and marrow; the mind itself is the picking up of a flower and a 64

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face breaking into a smile. There is conscious mind and there is unconscious mind; there is mind in which the body is present and there is mind in which no body is present; there is mind before the moment of the body and there is mind after the moment of the body. When the body is born, there are different kinds of birth—from womb, from egg, from moisture, and from transformation—and when the mind is born, there are different kinds of birth—from womb, from egg, from moisture, and from transformation. Blues, yellows, reds, and whites are the mind. The long, the short, the square, and the round are the mind. Living-and-dying and coming-and-going are the mind. Years, months, days, and hours are the mind. Dreams and fantasies, and flowers in space, are the mind. The spray of water, foam, and flame are the mind. Spring flowers and the autumn moon are the mind. Each moment is the mind. And yet it can never be broken. For this reason the real form of all dharmas is the mind, and buddhas alone, together with buddhas, are the mind. [120] Great Master Shūitsu21 of Gensha-in Temple asks Great Master Shinō22 of Jizō-in Temple,

"How do you understand 'the triple world is the mind alone'?"

Shinō points to a chair and says,

"What does the master call this thing?" The great master says,

"A chair.

"

Shinō says,

"The master does not understand 'the triple world is the mind alone.

'"

The great master says,

"I call this thing bamboo and wood. What do you call it?"

Shinō says,

"Keichin also calls it bamboo and wood. "

The great master says,

"If we search the whole earth for a person who understands the Buddha-Dharma, it is impossible to find one. "23

[121] As regards the question that the great master now asks, "How do

you understand 'the triple world is the mind alone, '" both "somehow understanding"24 and "somehow not understanding" are "the triple-world-mind alone,

"25 and for this reason, they may not yet have become "the triple world is the mind alone.

" Shinō, for this reason, points to a chair and says, "What

does the master call this thing?" Remember, [the meaning of] "How do you understand?" is "What does the master call this thing?" As for the great master's words "a chair, " say, for the present, are they words that understand the triple world? Are they words that do not understand the triple world? Are 65

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they words of the triple world? Are they words beyond the triple world? Are they expressed by the chair? Are they expressed by the great master? We should investigate expression like this, "seeing if we can express something ourselves.

"26 We should have understanding, "seeing if we can understand

something ourselves.

" And we should have investigation in experience, "seeing if we can experience something ourselves. " Shinō says,

"The master

does not understand 'the triple world is the mind alone. '" This expression,

for example, in expressing Jōshū, is "the east gate and the south gate, " but

there may also be "a west gate and a north gate, " and furthermore there is

east Jōshū itself and south Jōshū itself. 27 Even if we have the state of understanding "the triple world is the mind alone, " we should also master "not

understanding" "the triple world is the mind alone. " Moreover, there is "the

triple-world-mind alone" that is beyond both understanding and not understanding. The great master says, "I call this thing bamboo and wood. " We

must completely master, both before it is voiced and after it becomes words, this unprecedented and unrepeatable28 snippet of an expression. "I call this

thing bamboo and wood": prior to the naming that has now taken place, what was it called? In its former state of brilliance in all aspects, has it always been, in the beginning, middle, and end, bamboo and wood? Is to call it bamboo and wood now to express "the triple world is the mind alone"? Is it to leave unexpressed "the triple world is the mind alone"? Remember, when "the triple world-mind-alone" is expressed in the morning it may be a chair, it may be the mind alone, and it may be the triple world, but when "the triple world-mind-alone" is expressed in the evening it comes out as "I call this thing bamboo and wood.

" Shinō says,

"Keichin also calls it bamboo and wood.

" Remember, though this is a conversation between master and disciple, it may also be a state of rightness from beginning to end that they are experiencing together. At the same time, we should investigate whether the great master's words "I call this thing bamboo and wood, " and Shinō's words "I

also call it bamboo and wood,

" are the same or not the same, and whether they are adequate or not adequate. The great master says, "If we search the

whole earth for a person who understands the Buddha-Dharma, it is impossible to find one.

" We should also closely scrutinize and decide about this expression. Remember, the great master only calls it bamboo and wood, and Shinō also only calls it bamboo and wood. They never understand "the triple world 66

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is mind alone,

" they never negate understanding of "the triple world is mind alone,

" they never express "the triple world is mind alone, " and they never

negate expression of "the triple world is mind alone. " Even so, I would like

to ask Great Master Shūitsu, "You say that 'if we search the whole earth for a person who understands the Buddha-Dharma, it is impossible to find one'; but see if you can answer this:29 What is it that you call 'the whole earth'?" In conclusion, we should investigate it and make effort like this. Shōbōgenzō Sangai-yuishin

Preached to an assembly on Yamashi Peak in Etsu district,

30 on the first day of the intercalary seventh lunar month in the first year of Kangen. 31

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Notes

1 The Garland Sutrasays,

"[All] that exists in the triple world is solely the one mind, "

(part 37) and "The mind, buddha, and living beings—the three are without distinction" (part 10).

2 Sangai,

"triple world,

" represents the Sanskrit trayo-dhātavah.The three worlds are kāmadhātu (Jp. yokkai),

"world of desire or volition (thinking)"; rūpadhātu (Jp. shikikai),

"world of matter or form (feeling)"; and ārūpyadhātu (Jp. mushiki-kai), "world of non-matter or formlessness (action). " See Glossary of Sanskrit Terms.

3 While living in reality, we are constantly getting rid of views and opinions of reality, and at the same time, at every moment we are looking at reality directly. 4 Quoted from the Nyorai-juryō ("The Tathāgata's Lifetime") chapter of the Lotus Sutra(LS 3.18). See Chapter Forty-three, Kūge,note 49. 5 Shutsuri-sangai.The characters shutsu-sangai, "to get free from the triple world, "

appear several times in the third chapter of the Lotus Sutra,Hiyu("A Parable"), in which a wealthy man causes his children to leave a burning house just as the Buddha causes living beings to get free from the suffering of the triple world (by seeing the triple world as it is). The characters ri-sangai, "to be free from the triple world, "

appear in the quotation in the following note. 6 Konshi-sangai, lit.,

"the triple world now and here" or "now this triple world. . . "

appears in the Lotus Sutra,Hiyu:The Tathāgata, already free from/The burning house of the triple world/Lives serenely in seclusion/Abiding peacefully in forests and fields./Now this triple world/All is my possession/And the living beings in it/All are my children.

" (LS 1.198)

7 The triple world is realized by the action of seeing. 8 LS 1.198. See note 6.

9 Konshi,literally,

"now this,

" (as in the Buddha's words) or "now and here. "

10 Master Dōgen frequently quotes this expression in the Shōbōgenzō.It expresses the oneness of the Buddhist state and the external world. In Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō, Master Dōgen attributes the expression to Master Chōsha Keishin. 11 Master Chōsha Keishin's words, quoted in Chapter Sixty, Juppō,again expressing the oneness of the Buddhist state and the external world. 69

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12 This may allude to the Confucianist text called Kōkyō (Book of Filial Piety), which says that to be sincere to one's parents is not to injure or mutilate one's own body, hair, and skin.

13 This case is considered in the fifteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra,Jū-chi-yūshutsu ("Springing Out from the Earth"): "The father young and the children old./The whole world does not believe it. " (LS 2.318)

14 "Conscious" and "unconscious" are ushinand mushin,literally, "with mind, without

mind.

" This may allude to Lotus Sutra,Hiyu:"All living beings/Are my children/[But] deeply attached to worldly pleasures/They do not have wisdom (wisdom = literally, "wise mind").

" (LS 1.198)

15 See note 6.

16 Ōke-hosshin.The phrase suggests the fact that buddhas manifest the Buddhist state in different forms as is appropriate to save different beings. 17 Gedōdaiukyō.It has not been established whether this refers to the proper name of a non-Buddhist scripture, or whether it is a general term. 18 Ninnōgokokuhannyaharamitsugyō,pt. 1. 19 Muge.Master Dōgen reversed the order of the characters in the sutra ("outside . . . there are no. . .

") in order to suggest the state in which there is no object separate from the subject.

20 Yuishin,

"only the mind" or "mind only, " as in the chapter title. 21 Master Gensha Shibi (835-907), successor of Master Seppō Gison. Great Master Shūitsu is his posthumous title. 22 Master Rakan Keichin (867-928), successor of Master Gensha Shibi. Great Master Shinō is his posthumous title. 23 Keitokudentōroku,chap. 11. 24 Somosan-e,in Master Gensha's words, means "How . . . understand?" Here the word somosan,

"how,

" suggests openness. It indicates that the understanding is real or intuitive rather than merely intellectually precise. See also the end of Chapter Thirty-five (Vol. II), Hakujushi.

25 Sangai-yuishin.Here Master Dōgen uses the phrase not as the statement "the triple world is the mind alone" but as a compound noun: "[the unity] of the triple world and the mind alone,

" i.e., one reality with the two faces of world and mind. 26 Kokoromo[ni] i[e] mi[n], "Try saying something!" or "See if you can express it yourself, " is a phrase that appears in the preaching of Master Tendō Nyojō. See for example Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji, paragraph 264: "Try to express it yourself. " In the

expressions which follow, Master Dōgen substituted the words "understand" and "experience" for "express. "

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27 28 29 30 Master Jōshū is asked by a monk, "What is Jōshū?" The master replies, "The east

gate, the south gate, the west gate, and the north gate. " See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 46. Jōshū is the name of the master, a city, and a district where the master lived. The monk's question suggests interest in Master Jōshū's personality. Master Jōshū's answer suggests that he was only conscious of living in reality. Kōzen-zetsugo.This is a poetic variation on the expression kūzen-zetsugo, which means "never before or since. "

Kokoromo[ni] i[e] mi[n]. See note 26. Corresponds to present-day Fukui prefecture. 31 1243.

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