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T2582 Shōbōgenzō The True Dharma-Eye Treasury, Volume III
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Chapter 60: Juppō - The Ten Directions
Shōbōgenzō Volume III 76 Sōhō,
and object.
"mutual encounter, " means getting rid of the illusion of separation of subject 77 Kokon,
"past-present,
" means eternity. 78 79 80 81 82 Master Goso Hōen (1024?-1104), successor of Master Hakuun Shutan. Quoted from chap. 30 of the Zokutōroko. Ācārya Taigen Fu (dates unknown), a successor of Master Seppō Gison (822-907). He traveled through many districts of China, not becoming the master of a temple. Tenzo, head cook, was one of the six main officers of a big temple. Master Dōgen showed the importance he attached to this job by writing his own Tenzokyōkun (Instructions for the Cook). The name of the cook referred to here has not been traced. A temple was founded on Kassan Mountain in 870 by Master Kassan Zenne, a disciple of Master Sensu Tokujō. 246
[Chapter Sixty]
Juppō
The Ten Directions
Translator's Note: Ju means
"ten
"
and hō means
"direction,
"
so juppō
means
"the ten directions.
" The ten directions are east, west, south, north, northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest, and upward and downward. These represent all directions, the whole of space, or the whole world. In Buddhist philosophy the meaning of space is frequently discussed. In these discussions, the word juppō,
"ten directions,
" is often used as a concrete expression of space. In this chapter, Master Dōgen picks up the word juppō and uses it to discuss real space.
[3] A fist is just the concrete ten directions. 1 A moment of sincerity2 is the
brilliant ten directions. [With these words] the marrow has been struck out of the bones.
[4] Śākyamuni Buddha tells a great assembly, "In the buddha lands of
the ten directions, there only exists the One-Vehicle Dharma. "3
These "ten directions" have grasped "buddha lands" and made them into the concrete. Thus, unless we bring the buddha lands here, the ten directions never exist. Because they are the buddha lands, we see the Buddha as the ruler. This sahā realm, it seems, is the buddha land of Śākyamuni. Taking up this sahāworld, and clearly noting that eight ounces is half a pound, we should learn in practice that the buddha lands of the ten directions are of seven feet or of eight feet. These ten directions fit into a single direction and fit into a single buddha, and for this reason they have manifested the ten directions. Because they are the ten directions, one direction, this direction, [my] own direction, and the present direction, they are the direction of the eyes, the direction of a fist, the direction of an outdoor pillar, and the direction of a stone lantern. The buddhas of the ten directions in such buddha lands of the ten directions never retain "great" and "small, " or "pure" and "impure.
"
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For this reason, the "buddhas alone together with buddhas" of the ten directions praise and admire each other. They never see maligning each other and discussing each others' relative merits or likes and dislikes as the turning of the Dharma wheel or as the preaching of Dharma. As buddhas and as the Buddha's disciples, they promote and salute [each other]. 4 In receiving the
Dharma of the Buddhist patriarchs, we learn under them like this, not criticizing each other as right and wrong and slandering and shaming each other, as if we were non-Buddhists or demons. When we open and peruse the Buddhist sutras that have now been transmitted to China, and glimpse the totality of the [Buddha's] lifetime of teaching, Śākyamuni Buddha never says that buddhas of other directions are inferior, never says that buddhas of other directions are superior, and never says that buddhas of other directions are not buddhas. In sum, what we can never find in [Śākyamuni Buddha's] lifelong preaching are words of the Buddha that criticize other buddhas. Words of buddhas of other directions that criticize Śākyamuni Buddha, similarly, have never been reported. [7] Thus. . .
Śākyamuni Buddha tells a great assembly,
"I alone know concrete form,
and the buddhas of the ten directions are also like that. "5
Remember, the form of "I alone know concrete form" is the enaction of round form.
6 Round form is "this bamboo being as long as this, and that bamboo being as short as that.
"7 The truth of the buddhas of the ten directions is the preaching that "I alone know concrete form, and Śākyamuni Buddha is also like that.
" It is "I alone experience concrete form, and the buddhas of this direction8 are also like that.
" It is the form of "I,
" the form of "knowing,
" the form of "the concrete,
" the form of "all,
" the form of "the ten directions,
" the form of the sahārealm, and the form of Śākyamuni Buddha. This principle is the Buddhist sutras. Buddhas and their lands are beyond duality, they are beyond the sentient and beyond the insentient, they are beyond delusion and realization, they are beyond good, bad, and indifferent, they are beyond purity and beyond impurity, they are beyond creation, beyond existence, beyond destruction, and beyond emptiness, 9 they are beyond constancy and beyond non-constancy, they are beyond existence and beyond nonexistence, they are beyond self and beyond others; they have left behind the four lines10 and transcended the hundred negations. They are nothing 248
Chapter Sixty
other than the ten directions and nothing other than the buddha lands. In sum, the ten directions are just folk who have heads and do not have tails. [10] Zen Master Chōsha Keishin11 addresses the assembly: "The whole universe in the ten directions is a śramaṇa's12 eye. "13
What has been described now is one eye of the śramaṇaGautama. The eye of the śramaṇaGautama is "I possess the right Dharma-eye treasury. "
It belongs to anyone,
14 and at the same time it is the eye of the śramaṇaGautama. The whole universe in the ten directions in its ragged and jagged state is Gautama's eye-organ. This "whole universe in the ten directions" is one among a śramaṇa's eyes. And going up beyond this, there are "limitlessly abundant eyes.
"15
[11]"The whole universe in the ten directions is a śramaṇa's everyday speech.
"
"Everyday"16 means "ordinary" or, in colloquial Japanese, yonotsune. So the ordinary speech of a śramaṇa's everyday life is the whole universe in the ten directions; it is correctness in word and correctness in speech. We should clearly learn in practice the truth that because everyday speech is the whole universe in the ten directions, the whole universe in the ten directions is everyday speech. This "ten directions,
" because it is without "limit,
"17 is
[called] "the whole18 ten directions.
"19 In everyday life we use this speech.
It is as in the case of seeking a horse, seeking salt, seeking water, and seeking a pot, and as in the case of serving water, serving a pot, serving salt, and serving a horse.
20 Does anyone know that a great person who is free of thought transforms the body and transforms the brain within the stream of this speech, and transforms [even] speech in mid-speech. The correctness in word and straightness in speech of the ocean's mouth and the mountains' tongue is "everyday.
" Thus, even if we cover our mouth and cover our ears, the ten directions are this real existence.
[13] "The whole universe in the ten directions is a śramaṇa's whole body. "
With one hand indicating the heavens as the heavens and with the other hand indicating the earth as the earth, [the Buddha says that,] although they are real as they are,
"In the heavens and under the heavens, I alone am the Honored One":21 this state is the whole universe in the ten directions as the śramaṇa's whole body. Brain, eyes, and nostrils, skin, flesh, bones, and marrow: each is totally the śramaṇa's body as clarification and liberation of the 249
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whole ten directions. Without our moving the whole ten directions, it exists like this. Not depending upon intellectual thinking, but by mustering the śramaṇa's body which is the whole universe in the ten directions, we realize the śramaṇa's body which is the whole universe in the ten directions. [14] "The whole universe in the ten directions is the brightness of the self.
"22
"The self" means the nostrils that are prior to the birth of one's parents. And the condition in which the nostrils happen to be present in the hands of the self is called "the whole universe in the ten directions. " In that condition
the self is realized and it realizes reality; it opens the hall and meets Buddha. At the same time, it is "someone having replaced the eyes with black beads. "23
But there again,
"when the face has split we may be able to meet with great masters.
"24 Moving on further,
"to call someone to us is easy but to send them away is difficult.
" Conversely,
"when we get called we turn the head. What is the use of turning the head by oneself? In fact, I turn my head adhering to this concrete person.
"25 And "while a meal is waiting for someone to eat it and a robe is waiting for someone to wear it" —even if you seem to be groping in vain26
—
"I am afraid that I am already going to give you thirty strokes. "
[16] "The whole universe in the ten directions exists inside the brightness of the self.
"
An eyelid is called "the brightness of self. " And its sudden opening is called "existence inside.
"27 That which exists in eyes as a result of looking is called "the whole universe in the ten directions. " And though it is like this,
"when we
sleep on the same floor we know the holes in [each other's] covers. "28
[17] "In the whole universe in the ten directions there is no one who is not himself.
"
So among individual excellent instructors and individual concrete fists, there is no instance of a "ten directions" who is not him- or herself. Because of being itself, each individual self is totally the ten directions. The ten directions of each individual self directly restrict the ten directions. Because the lifeblood of each individual self is present in the hands of each individual, each returns to others the original cost of straw sandals. 29 How can it be that
Bodhidharma's eyes and Gautama's nostrils are now newly conceived in the wombs of outdoor pillars? Because getting out and getting in are left utterly to the ten directions and ten aspects. 250
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[19] Great Master Shūitsu30 of Gensha-in Temple says, "The whole universe in the ten directions is one bright pearl. "31
Clearly, the one bright pearl is the whole universe in the ten directions. Those with heads of gods or faces of demons have seen it as their cave, descendants of the Buddhist Patriarch have seen it as the eye, men and women of human families have seen it as brains and fists, and beginners and late learners have seen it as wearing robes and eating meals. My late master made it into a mud ball with which to strike brothers senior and junior. Furthermore, although this was plain and simple placement of a piece, 32 it had scooped
out the eyes of the ancestors. During the scooping, ancestors each lent a hand, and the insides of their eyes radiated light. [20] Master Kempō,
33 the story goes, is asked by a monk, "'The bhaga vats of the ten directions are on one road to nirvana's gate. ' I wonder where
they are on the street?"
Kempō draws a circle34 with his staff and says, "They are right here.
"35
"Being right here" is the ten directions. "The bhagavats" are a staff.
"A
staff" is being right here.
"One road" is the ten directions. But36 do not let a staff get lost inside "Gautama's nostrils, " and do not let a staff get lost in "the nostrils of a staff": do not batter a staff into "the nostrils of a staff. " And
at the same time do not recognize that Old Man Kempō has meditated on "the bhagavats of the ten directions being on one road to nirvana's gate": he only speaks of being right here. Being right here is not to be denied, and if Old Man Kempō is, from the outset, not deluded by his staff, that is good. In sum we just learn in practice, as the ten directions, nostrils that are alive. Shōbōgenzō Juppō
Preached to the assembly at Kippō Temple in Esshū,
37 Japan, on the thirteenth day of the eleventh lunar month in the first year of Kangen.
38
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Notes
1 Juppō,from the Sanskrit dāśa-diś.Both the Sanskrit diśand the Chinese character hōmean not only a direction but also a quarter, region, or district. 2 Sekishin,lit.,
"red mind,
" means naked mind or sincere mind. 3 Lotus Sutra,Hōben.See LS 1.106. 4 Monjin, lit.,
"to ask [how someone is], " in practice means to bow, either with the palms of the hands together (gasshō-monjin), or with the left hand curled round the thumb and the right hand covering the back of the left hand (shasshu-monjin). See also Chapter Fifty-five, Darani. 5 Lotus Sutra,Hōben.See LS 1.74. 6 Ta-ensō.In a verse quoted in Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō,Master Nāgārjuna preaches that his body manifests en-getsu-sō, "the roundness of the moon. " Here, as
in that chapter, en,
"round,
" means not only circular but real. 7 Words of Master Suibi Mugaku. See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 71. 8 Jihō means "the direction of [my]self"; that is, "this direction" or "this concrete place.
"
9 Jō, jū, e, kū,
"creation, existence, destruction, emptiness, " allude to the idea that there are four kalpas (of creation, existence, destruction, emptiness) between the establishment of one world and the establishment of the next world. 10 Shiku.Alludes to the philosophical system called shiku-funbetsu, "four-line discrimination": 1) u, "existence,
" "being,
" or "having,
" and 2) mu,
"nonexistence,
" "absence,
"
or "being without,
" suggest two opposing approaches to describing reality—affirmative and negative. 3) Yaku-u yaku-mu, "both existence and nonexistence, " suggests concrete
reality as inclusive of two sides. 4) Hi-u hi-mu, "neither existence nor nonexistence, "
suggests reality as beyond affirmation and negation. 11 Master Chōsha Keishin (d. 868), successor of Master Nansen Fugan. 12 The Sanskrit śramaṇa (lit., "striver") originally described a wandering mendicant who was not of the brahman caste—as distinct from a pārivrājaka(lit., "wanderer"),
a wandering mendicant of brahman origin. The Buddha applied the term śramaṇato Buddhist monks. So śramaṇa means 1) a diligent practitioner, and 2) a monk. 253
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13 This and the following quotations of Master Chōsha's words appear together in the Keitokudentōroku,chap. 10. See also Chapter Thirty-six (Vol. II), Kōmyō. 14 Asui ni fushoku su.The Buddha said, "I possess the right Dharma-eye treasury and the fine mind of nirvana. I transmit them to Mahākāśyapa" (see Chapter Sixty-eight, Udonge). Here Master Dōgen substituted asui, "anyone,
" for "Mahākāśyapa.
" Asui
means 1) "who?" or "anyone, " and 2) a person in the state that cannot be expressed with words. Fushoku, or fuzoku, here means "belong, " but in the Buddha's words means "transmit.
"
15 Nyokyo-ta-gen.See Chapter Thirty-three (Vol. II), Kannon. 16 Kajōmeans, as an adjective, state.
" See Chapter Sixty-four, Kajō. "everyday,
" and as a noun,
"everyday life,
" or "the usual
17 Jinhere means "limit. "
18 Jinhere means "to the limit" or "whole. "
19 The full sentence is: kono juppō, mujin naru ga yue ni, jinjuppō nari. Mujinmeans "without limit,
" and jinjuppōmeans "the ten directions to the limit, " i.e.,
"the whole
of the ten directions.
" Ironically, therefore, this sentence says that because the ten directions are without jin(= limit), they are jin(= whole). 20 The word saindhava,
"product of the Indus River basin" is ambiguous or inclusive, but a wise retainer knows from the real situation whether a king who requests sain dhavawants a horse, salt, water, or a pot. See Chapter Eighty-one (Vol. IV), Ō-sakusendaba. 21 Alludes to the legend that after his birth the Buddha took seven steps in each of the four directions and, pointing to the sky with one hand and pointing to the ground with the other, he said "In the heavens and under the heavens, I alone am the Honored One.
" Source not traced. See also Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō. 22 Jiko no kōmyōmeans "the brightness of the self" or "my own brightness. "
23 Having black beads for eyeballs means not being overexcited. The same expression is quoted in Chapter Twenty-eight (Vol. II), Butsu-kōjō-no-ji,paragraph 65, but the original source has not been traced. 24 Heki-men-rai-taike-sōken, "the face having split, meeting with great masters, " suggests
the appearance of a new face, habitual imbalances having been transcended, and concrete entry into the real world of buddhas—which is not necessarily dependent on the opening of a Buddha hall. The expression is in the style of a sentence written in Chinese (and has therefore been placed in quotemarks), but a Chinese source has not been traced. The same applies to the expressions in quotes in the remainder of the paragraph.
25 Ko[no] kan[ni] tsui[te] ezu[suru], "I turn my head by myself. "
"I turn my head adhering to this fellow, " means
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26 Mosaku-fujaku, lit.,
effort.
"groping without touching,
" suggests innocence, or immature
27 Zairi,taken from Master Chōsha's words, suggests concrete existence. 28 The four sentences of the paragraph exemplify the progress of Master Dōgen's thoughts through the four philosophies of subject, object, synthesis in action, and ordinary reality.
29 To repay the cost of one's straw sandals means to have earned one's keep, to be worth one's salt. See also Chapter Twenty-two (Vol. II), Busshō,paragraph 73. 30 Master Gensha Shibi (835-907). Great Master Shūitsu is his posthumous title. 31 Keitokudentōroku,chap. 18; Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 15. See also Chapter Four (Vol. I), Ikka-no-myōju.
32 Ichijakusumeans one stone placed on a goboard. 33 Master Esshū Kempō (dates unknown), successor of Master Tōzan Ryōkai. 34 Ikkaku[o] kaku[su], lit.,
"draw a drawing,
" in context suggests that the master etched a circle in the ground with his staff, and said that the bhagavats of the ten directions existed inside the circle.
35 Gotōegen,chap. 13. See also Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 37. 36 The previous sentence has considered the meaning of concepts in the story. This sentence affirms the concrete existence of a staff. 37 Corresponds to present-day Fukui prefecture. 38 1243.
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Chapter 61: Kenbutsu - Meeting Buddha
[Chapter Sixty-one] Kenbutsu
Meeting Buddha
Translator's Note:Ken means "look at,
" "
"
"
meet,
or
realize the state of, "
and butsu means "buddha
"
or
"buddhas.
" Therefore kenbutsu means "
meeting Buddha
"
"
or
meeting buddhas. " In order to meet buddhas it is necessary first to become buddha, because buddhas can be seen only by buddhas. In this chapter, Master Dōgen explained the real situation of meeting buddhas and the true meaning of meeting buddhas. [23] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses a great assembly: "If we see [both] the many forms and [their] non-form, we at once meet the Tathāgata. 1
"To see the many forms" and "to see [their] non-form, " as described
now, is a liberated bodily experience, and so it is "to meet the Tathāgata. "
Realization in which this eye of meeting the Buddha is already open in experience is called "meeting buddha. "2 The vigorous Way [called] "the eye of meeting the Buddha" is eyes partaking in buddha. When we see in others our own buddha, and when we see our own buddha outside of buddhas, 3
although all things are a tangle, to have learned "meeting Buddha" in practice, to be pursuing and realizing "meeting buddha, " to be getting free of "meeting buddha,
" to be attaining the vivid state of meeting buddha, and to be utilizing meeting buddha, are the real manifestation of sun-faced buddhas4 and the real manifestation of moon-faced buddhas. Meeting buddha like this, in each case, is meeting buddha whose faces are limitless, whose body is limitless, whose mind is limitless, and whose hands and eyes are limitless. The effort in pursuit of the truth, and mastery of experience of the [Buddha's] state, which we are performing to the tips of the toes in the present and which we have continued since establishing the mind and taking the first step: all are vivid eyes and vivid bones and marrow running inside meeting buddha. This being so, the whole world of the self and all worlds in other directions, this 257
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individual and that individual, are all equally the effort of meeting buddha. When people without eyes of learning in practice take up the Tathāgata's words "If we see the many forms [and] non-form. . .
" they think,
"To see the
many forms as non-form is just to see the Tathāgata.
" In other words, they
think the words describe seeing the many forms not as forms but as the Tathāgata. Truly, a faction of small thinkers will [inevitably] study the words like that, but the reality of the words which the Buddha intended is not like that. Remember, to see the many forms, and to see [their] non-form, is to meet the Tathāgata at once. There is the Tathāgata and there is the non-Tathāgata. 5
[26] Zen Master Dai Hōgen6 of Seiryō-in Temple says,
"If we see the
many forms [as] non-form, we are not then meeting the Tathāgata. "7
This expression of Dai Hōgen now is an expression in the state of meeting buddha. In it, there is the expression of Hōgen, and there is the expression of meeting buddha: conversing, they come head-to-head in competition and they extend hands in cooperation. We should listen to Hōgen's expression with the ears, and we should listen to the expression of meeting buddha with the eyes. At the same time, [students] in the past who have learned this principle in practice have thought as follows: "The many forms are the form of the Tathāgata, and there is no instance of them having mingled with a form that is not the form of the Tathāgata. We should never see this concrete form as non-form. To see it as non-form is "leaving the father and running away. "8
They have asserted that,
"Because this concrete form is just the form of the
Tathāgata, we say that the many forms should be the many forms. " This is
truly a supreme discourse of the Great Vehicle, and the experience of the masters of many districts. Decisively determining it to be so, we should believe it and experience it. Do not be fluff following the wind to the east and to the west.
"The many forms are the form of the Tathāgata, not nonform": investigating this and meeting buddha, deciding this and experiencing conviction, we should receive it and retain it, and we should recite it and become thoroughly versed in it. In so doing, we should make it seen and heard ceaselessly through our own ears and eyes, we should get free of it through our own body, mind, bones, and marrow, and we should make it clear through our own mountains, rivers, and universe. Such is the action of learning the state of Buddhist patriarchs. Do not think that, because it is your own speech and conduct, it cannot make your own eyes clear. Being transformed by our 258
Chapter Sixty-one
own words of transformation,
9 we get free of the view of our own transformation into a Buddhist patriarch. This is the everyday state of Buddhist patriarchs. Therefore, there is only one way to comprehend the state in experience, namely: "the many forms are already beyond non-form, and non-form is just the many forms.
" Because non-form is the many forms, non-form is truly non-form. We should learn in practice that the form called "non-form" and the form called "the many forms, " are both the form of the Tathāgata. 10 In
the house of learning in practice, there are two kinds of texts: sutras that are seen, and sutras that are not seen. This is what eyes in the vivid state learn in practice. If we have never experienced the ultimate state of putting on the eyes and looking at these texts, [our eyes] are not eyes that experience the ultimate. If [the eyes] are not eyes that experience the ultimate, [the state] is not meeting buddha. In meeting buddha there are the many forms which are seen and non-form which is seen; the state is "I do not understand the Buddha-Dharma. "11 In not meeting buddha there are the many forms which are not seen and non-form which is not seen; which state "People who understand the Buddha-Dharma have attained. " Hōgen's expression, which is "eighty or ninety percent of realization, " is like this. At the same time, in regard to this "one great cause,
"12 we should say further,
"If we see the many forms
as real form, we at once meet the Tathāgata. " An expression like this is totally by virtue of Śākyamuni Buddha's influence; it is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of no figure other than his. [31] At that time Śākyamuni Buddha, on Vulture Peak, 13 addresses the
great assembly through Bodhisattva Medicine King: If we are close to a teacher of the Dharma, We instantly attain the bodhisattva way. And if we learn following this teacher, We are able to meet buddhas [numerous] as sands of the Ganges. 14
"Being close to a teacher of the Dharma" describes the Second Patriarch's eight years of serving his master, after which he gets the marrow with his whole arm.
15 It describes Nangaku's fifteen years of pursuing the truth. 16 Getting the
master's marrow is called "being close. " "The bodhisattva way" is "me being like this, and you also being like this. "17 It is "instantly to attain" a limitlessly abundant tangle of action.
"Instant attainment" is not the acquisition of that 259
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which has been manifested since ancient times, is not the first attainment of that which has never before occurred, and is not the rounding up of an amorphous state that exists in the present. Getting free of attainment of "being close" is called "instant attainment. " Therefore all attainment is "instant attainment.
"18 In regard to "Learning following this teacher, " being as if an
attendant is the ancient example, and we should research it. Just at the moment of this action, direct experience of "being able to meet" is present. In that state "we meet buddhas [as numerous] as sands of the Ganges. " Buddhas [as
numerous] as sands of the Ganges are just individual instances of the state of vigorous activity itself. Do not run cringing to meet buddhas [as numerous] as sands of the Ganges. First apply yourself to "learning following a teacher. "
"To learn following a teacher" is "to attain the buddha-view. "19
[34] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses the assembly, all of whom are experiencing the truth of bodhi: Profoundly entering the balanced state of dhyāna, [We] meet the buddhas of the ten directions. 20
The whole universe is "profound" because it is "in the buddha lands of the ten directions.
"21 It is not wide, not great, not small, and not narrow. When we act, we "act following circumstances. "22 This is called "total inclusion. " This [action] is not of seven feet, eight feet, or ten feet; it is total inclusion with no outside, and is the one word "enter. " And this "profound entry"
is "the balanced state of dhyāna. " "To profoundly enter the balanced state of dhyāna" is "to meet the buddhas of the ten directions. " Because he is able
to exist—
"profoundly entering this place, with no one contacting him"23 —
he "meets the buddhas of the ten directions. " Because "she will not receive
it even if I take it,
"24 buddhas in the ten directions exist. "Profound entry"
cannot manifest itself for a long, long time. 25 "Meeting the buddhas of the
ten directions" is just "to see a reclining Tathāgata. "26 "The balanced state of
dhyāna" is impossible to get into or to get out of. 27 Neither disbelieving nor
fearing the real dragon, in the present moment of meeting buddha we need endeavor no further to get rid of doubt. We meet buddha relying upon meeting buddha, and thus we profoundly enter the balanced state of dhyānarelying upon the balanced state of dhyāna.This truth of the balanced state of dhyāna, meeting buddha, profound entry, and so on, has not been produced in the past 260
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by folk who could ponder it at leisure, and then passed onto the folk of today. And it is not an innovation of the present. Rather, a truth such as this is inevitable. All transmissions of the truth and receptions of the behavior are like this. Initiation of causes and attainment of effects are like this. [37] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses Bodhisattva Universal Virtue:28 "If there is anyone who receives and retains, reads and recites, rightly remembers, practices, and copies this Sutra of the Flower of Dharma,we should know that that person is meeting Śākyamuni Buddha, and hearing this sutra as if from the Buddha's mouth.
"29
In general, all the buddhas say that "to meet Śākyamuni Buddha" and to realize the state of Śākyamuni Buddha is to realize the truth and to become buddha. Such behavior of buddhas is originally attained through each of these seven practices. A person who performs the seven practices is "that person" whom "we should know,
"30 and is "the very person here and now,
as he or she is.
"31 Because this is just the state in which we meet Śākyamuni Buddha, it is directly "hearing this sutra as if from the Buddha's mouth. "
Śākyamuni Buddha, since having met Śākyamuni Buddha, is Śākyamuni Buddha. Thus, the form of his tongue universally enfolds the three-thousandfold [world]: what mountain or ocean could be other than the Buddha's sutras? For this reason,
"the very person here and now" who copies is meeting alone with Śākyamuni Buddha.
"The Buddha's mouth" is constantly open
through the myriad ages: what moment could be other than the sutras? For this reason, the practitioner who receives and retains the sutras is meeting solely with Śākyamuni Buddha. The virtue of not only the eyes and ears but also the nose and so on, may also be like this.
32 The front and the back, the
left and the right, taking and leaving, an instant of the present, also, are like this. We have been born to experience "this sutra"33 of the present: how could we not rejoice to be meeting Śākyamuni Buddha? Life is an encounter with Śākyamuni Buddha. People who, spurring the body-mind, "receive and retain,
read and recite, rightly remember, practice, and copy this Sutra of the Flower of Dharma" may [already] "be meeting Śākyamuni Buddha. " They are "hearing this sutra as if from the Buddha's mouth": who could not vie to listen to it? Those who have no urgency and who do not apply themselves are wretched living beings without happiness or wisdom. One who "practices" is "that person whom we should know is meeting Śākyamuni Buddha. "
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[39] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses the great assembly: "If good sons and good daughters, hearing my preaching of the eternity of [the Tathāgata's] lifetime, believe and understand it with a profound mind, then they will see the Buddha constantly existing on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, surrounded by an assembly of great bodhisattvas and many śrāvakas, and preaching the Dharma. And they will see this sahāworld with its land of lapis lazuli, even, level, and right.
"34
This "profound mind" means "the sahāworld.
" "Belief and understanding"35 means the place of no escape. Who could not believe and understand the Buddha's words of real truth?36 That we have met this sutra is an opportune circumstance that we should believe in and understand. In order to believe in and understand with a profound mind this Flower of Dharma, and in order to believe in and understand with a profound mind the eternity of [the Tathāgata's] lifetime,
37 we have longed to be born in this sahārealm.
The mystical power of the Tathāgata,
38 the power of his compassion, and
the power of the eternity of his lifetime, are able, by means of mind, to make us believe and understand; are able, by means of body, to make us believe and understand; are able, by means of the whole universe, to make us believe and understand; are able, by means of Buddhist patriarchs, to make us believe and understand; are able, by means of all dharmas, to make us believe and understand; are able, by means of real form, to make us believe and understand; are able, by means of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, to make us believe and understand; and are able, by means of living-and-dying and going-and-coming, to make us believe and understand. These instances of belief and understanding are the state of meeting buddha itself. Thus, clearly, when we possess the eye of the mind we meet Buddha, and when we attain the eye of belief and understanding we meet Buddha. That he speaks not only of "meeting buddha" but of seeing his "constant existence on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa" may mean that the constant existence of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa is totally the same as the Tathāgata's lifetime. This being so, "seeing the Buddha
constantly existing on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa" describes the constant existence, in the past, both of the Tathāgata and of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, and the constant existence, in the future, both of the Tathāgata and of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. 39
The bodhisattvas and śrāvakas, similarly, may be constant existence, and preaching the Dharma also may be constant existence. We are looking at 262
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"the sahāworld with its land of lapis lazuli, even, level, and right. " Do not
be disturbed in looking at the sahāworld: high places are level being high, and low places are level being low.
40 This ground is land of lapis lazuli. 41
Do not disdain eyes that see it as even, level, and right. Land in which the ground is of lapis lazuli is like this. If we saw this ground as other than lapis lazuli, Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa would not be Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, and Śākyamuni Buddha would not be Śākyamuni Buddha. The belief and understanding that "the land is lapis lazuli" is just the form of profound belief and understanding, and is the state of meeting buddha itself. [43] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses the great assembly: And [when living beings], with undivided mind, desire to meet buddha,
Without attaching to their own body and life, Then I, with many monks,
Appear together on Vulture Peak.
42
The "wholeheartedness"43 described here is not the wholeheartedness discussed by the common person, the two vehicles, and the like. It is the wholehearted state of meeting buddha. The wholehearted state of meeting buddha is "Vulture Peak" and is "the accompanying many monks. " When
each present individual secretly arouses "the desire to meet buddha, " we are
desiring to meet buddha through concentration of the Vulture Peak mind. So "the undivided mind" is indeed "Vulture Peak" itself. And how could the undivided body not appear together with the mind? How could the state not be the undivided body-mind together? Just as body and mind are like this already, so too are lifetime and life like this. For this reason, we totally surrender our own "self-attachment" to the Vulture Peak state of solely attaching to the supreme truth. Thus, [the Buddha] expresses the state in which "I with many monks appear together on Vulture Peak" as the undivided mind of meeting buddha.
[44] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses the great assembly: If they preach this sutra
Just this is to meet me,
Tathāgata Abundant Treasures,
And many transformed buddhas.
44
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"The preaching of this sutra" is "I am always living at this place, [but] with mystical powers I make living beings who are upset still fail to see me though I am close.
"45 This Tathāgata-state of mystical powers apparent and hidden has the virtue of just this being to meet me and other [buddhas]. [45] Śākyamuni Buddha addresses the great assembly: One who is able to keep this sutra,
Is already meeting me,
And also meeting the Buddha Abundant Treasures, And those [buddhas] who are [my] offshoots.
46
Because to keep this sutra is difficult, the Tathāgata constantly encourages it. In the rare event that there is "one who keeps this sutra, " the state is just
meeting buddha. Clearly, if one is meeting buddha one is keeping the sutra, and one who is keeping the sutra is one who is meeting buddha. This being so, even to hear a single verse or a single line, and to receive and to retain them, is to be able to meet Śākyamuni Buddha, is also to meet the Buddha Abundant Treasures, is to meet the buddhas who are offshoots, is to receive the transmission of the treasury of the Buddha-Dharma, is to attain the Buddha's right eye, is to be able to experience the Buddha's life, is to attain the eye of the ascendant state of Buddha,
47 is to attain the Buddha's brain
and eyes, and is to attain the Buddha's nostrils. [47] The Buddha Constellation King of Flower Wisdom with Voice of Thunder addresses King Resplendent:48 "Remember, great king! A good counselor49 is the great cause whereby we are educated and guided to be able to meet buddha and to establish the will to [the supreme truth of] anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi.
"50
The mats of this great order [described] now are not yet rolled up. Although we speak of "the buddhas of the past, the present, and the future, "
[these past, present, and future] are not to be equated with the three times of the common person. [In the Buddha's order] what is called "the past" is matters in the mind,
"the present" is a fist, and "the future" is the projections of the brain. This being so, the Buddha Constellation King of Flower Wisdom with Voice of Thunder is an instance of meeting buddha realized in the mind. Commonly understood talk of meeting buddha is like this. "Education and
guidance" is meeting buddha. Meeting buddha is "establishing the will to 264
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anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi.
" And establishment of the bodhi-mind is meeting buddha being right in the beginning and right at the end. [48] Śākyamuni Buddha says:
Beings who practice all the virtues,
And who are gentle, simple, and straight,
All see my body,
Existing here and preaching the Dharma.
51
What he calls "all the virtues" is dragging through the mud and staying in the water, or following ripples and chasing waves. 52 Those who practice
this are called "beings who are gentle, simple, and straight" —
"As also I am,
and as also you are.
"53 They have experienced this state of meeting buddha inside mud and have experienced this state of meeting buddha in the waves of mind; [thus] they witness [the Buddha] "existing here and preaching the Dharma.
" On the other hand, in the great kingdom of Song recently, cronies calling themselves "Zen masters" are numerous. They do not know the length and breadth of the Buddha-Dharma, and their experience is very scant. Barely parroting two or three sayings of Rinzai or Unmon, they have considered these to be the whole truth of the Buddha-Dharma. If the Buddha-Dharma could be perfectly expressed by two or three sayings of Rinzai or Unmon, the Buddha-Dharma could not have reached the present day. It is hard to call Rinzai and Unmon venerable in the Buddha-Dharma. How much less [venerable] are the cronies of today who are inferior to Rinzai and Unmon; they are rabble who do not deserve to be mentioned. Because they are too stupid to understand the meaning of the Buddhist sutras for themselves, they randomly insult the Buddhist sutras and neglect to practice and learn them. We should call them flotsam in the stream of non-Buddhism. They are not the children and grandchildren of Buddhist patriarchs. How much less could they arrive at the boundary of the state of meeting buddhas? They are rabble who cannot even attain the principles of Confucius and Laozi. No child in the house of the Buddhist patriarchs should meet with those cronies who call themselves "Zen masters.
" Just investigate in practice and realize in physical experience the eyes which are the eye of meeting buddha. [50] My late master Tendō, the eternal buddha, quotes the following: "King Prasenajit54 asks Venerable Piṇḍola55 'I have heard that the Venerable 265
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One has intimately met Buddha. Is it true or not?' The Venerable One, lifting up an eyebrow with his hand, indicates affirmation.
"
My late master praises [Piṇḍola] as follows:
By lifting an eyebrow he answers the question in part. He has met Buddha intimately, without any mutual deceit. To this day he deserves offerings from the four quarters. Spring is on the plum twigs, embraced by the coldness of the snow. 56
This "meeting buddha" is neither meeting our own state of buddha nor meeting the buddha in others; it is meeting Buddha. Because one branch of plum blossoms meets one branch of plum blossoms, the blooming of flowers is perfectly clear. The point of King Prasenajit's question is to ask whether the Venerable One has already met buddha and whether he has become buddha. The Venerable One, unequivocally, has lifted an eyebrow. It is verification of meeting buddha, by which no one can be deceived, and to this day, it has not ceased: [Piṇḍola's] "deservedness of offerings"57 is apparent without concealment. [And yet] we cannot trace his "meeting buddha, " which
is "intimate experience.
"58 The meeting buddha of that master of three hundred million59 is the meeting buddha of the present: it is beyond seeing the thirtytwo signs. Who could be far from the state of seeing the thirty-two signs?60 There may be many types of human beings, gods, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas who do not know this principle of meeting buddha. It is similar, for example, when we say that those who stand up a fly whisk are numerous, but those who stand up a fly whisk are not many.
61 To be meeting buddha is
to have been realized by the state of buddha. Even if the self wishes to conceal it, the state of meeting buddha has already leaked itself out—this is the principle of meeting buddha. We should investigate in detail the real features of this lifting an eyebrow, making effort with body-minds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Even if, for a hundred thousand myriad kalpas of days and nights, we have constantly lived together with Śākyamuni Buddha, if we lack the ability to lift an eyebrow, the state is not meeting buddha. Even if, more than two thousand years on, we are in a remote place more than a hundred thousand miles away, if we have intimately realized the ability to lift an eyebrow, it is realization of the state of Śākyamuni Buddha that precedes King of Emptiness, it is realization of one branch of plum blossoms, and it 266
Chapter Sixty-one
is realization of "plum twigs" as "spring. " This being so,
"intimate experience
of meeting buddha" is the performance of three prostrations, joining hands and bowing, a face breaking into a smile, a fist emitting a thunderclap, and crossed legs sitting on a round cushion. [54] Venerable Piṇḍola goes to a great gathering at the palace of King Aśoka for a midday meal. After distributing incense, the king does prostrations and asks the Venerable One,
"I have heard that the Venerable One has intimately met Buddha. Is it true or not?" The Venerable One brushes up his eyebrow with his hand and says, "Do
you understand?"
The king says,
"I do not understand.
"
The Venerable One says,
"When Dragon King Anavatapta invited Buddha to a midday meal, I62 was also admitted among that number. "63
The point of King Aśoka's question is that the words "Is it true that the Venerable One has intimately met Buddha?" ask whether the Venerable One is already the Venerable One. Then the Venerable One at once brushes up his eyebrow. This causes the state of meeting buddha "to appear in the world";64 it causes act of becoming buddha to be "intimately experienced. "
He says,
"When Dragon King Anavatapta invited Buddha to a midday meal, I was also admitted among that number. " Remember, in a gathering of
buddhas,
"buddhas alone, together with buddhas, " may be as [abundant as]
"rice, hemp, bamboo and reeds,
"65 [but śrāvakas of] the fourth effect and pratyekabuddhas cannot be admitted. Even if [śrāvakas of] the fourth effect and pratyekabuddhas have come, we cannot count them among the number of buddhas. The Venerable One himself has already declared, "When Buddha
was invited to a midday meal, I also was among that number" —a natural
self-expression that has emerged freely. The fact that he is meeting buddha is evident.
"Inviting Buddha" means not only inviting Śākyamuni Buddha, but inviting all the countless and limitless buddhas of the three times and the ten directions. To be included in the number of invited buddhas is the state without hesitation, and the state beyond hesitation, of intimate experience of meeting buddha. Indication of meeting buddha, of meeting a teacher, of meeting myself, and of meeting you, in general, should be like this. Dragon King Anavatapta is the dragon king of Lake Anavatapta. Lake Anavatapta is called in this country the "Lake of No Suffering from Heat. "
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[61] Zen Master Honei Ninyū66 praises [Piṇḍola] as follows: Our Buddha intimately met with Piṇḍola Whose eyebrows were long, hair short, and eyes rough. Even King Aśoka doubted him.
Oṃ maṇi śrī sūrya.
67
This eulogy is not perfect in its expression, but I quote it because it is relevant research.
68
[57] Great Master Shinsai of Jōshū, 69 the story goes, is asked by a monk, "I have heard that you intimately met Nansen. Is it true or not?" The master says,
"Chinshū district produces big radishes. "70
The expression realized now is verification of "intimately meeting Nansen.
" It is neither words that say something nor words that say nothing. It is neither words bestowed from above nor words of common parlance. It is neither the lifting of eyebrows nor the brushing up of eyebrows. It is intimate meeting with [Nansen's] eyebrows. Even though [Jōshū] was an individual71 of outstanding talent, without intimately meeting [Nansen], he could not be like this. This story of the big radishes produced in Chinshū is an account of the time when Great Master Shinsai was the abbot of Shinsaiin Temple in Tōka-en Gardens in Chinshū. He was later given the title "Great Master Shinsai.
" Because he was like this, he received the authentic transmission of the Buddhist patriarchs' right Dharma-eye treasury from his first opening in experience of the eye of meeting buddha. When the authentic transmission of the right Dharma-eye treasury is present, the dignified behavior is realized of a buddha manifesting an easy bearing, and the state of meeting buddha, at this place, is towering and magnificent. Shōbōgenzō Kenbutsu
Preached to the assembly on Mount Yamashibu on the first and the nineteenth days of the eleventh lunar month in the winter of the first year of Kangen.
72
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Notes
1 Quoted from the Diamond Sutra (Kongōhannyaharamitsukyō). Shoso, means that which can be perceived by the senses. Hiso, cannot be perceived by the senses, i.e., meaning, essence, value. "many forms,
"
"non-form,
" means that which
2 Kenbutsu,lit.,
"seeing Buddha,
" means realization of the whole reality of the state of action that is called "buddha. " It does not describe seeing the Buddha's form. Ken has been translated as "see, " "meet,
" "real manifestation,
" "view,
" and "realization,
"
depending on the context.
3 An example might be leaving a Buddhist temple and receiving very helpful service from a layperson doing his or her daily job. 4 Jitsu-men-butsu-ken.When Master Baso Dōitsu was unwell a monk asked him how he was. The master replied "Sun-faced buddhas, moon-faced buddhas. " The story is
quoted in the Eiheikōroku,vol. 9, no. 80. 5 In other words, even the Buddha has both form and non-form. 6 Master Hōgen Bun'eki (885-958), successor of Master Rakan Keichin. Dai Hōgen Zenji ("Zen Master Great Hōgen") is his posthumous title. 7 Wanshizenjigoroku,chap. 3. In both the Buddha's words and Master Hōgen's words, the characters of the first clause are exactly the same, but in the first case they are read mo[shi] shosō [to] hi-sō [to o] mi[re ba]. . . and in the second case they are read mo[shi] shosō [wa] hi-sō [nari to] mi[re ba]. 8 Sha-fu tōzei.Alludes to Lotus Sutra,Shinge.See LS 1.224. 9 Ichitengo,
"turning word.
" Ichimeans "one" or "the whole. " Tenmeans 1) "turn" as
in tenki,
"turning point,
" and 2) "move" or "change" as in tenshin, "moving oneself
(from A to B)" or "transforming one's body" (see also note 18 in Chapter Sixty-two, Hensan). Gomeans "word(s).
" Ichican be understood as modifying 1) ten,in which case ichitenmeans "complete transformation, " or 2) go,in which case ichigomeans "one word" or "a word.
" See also Chapter Twenty (Vol. I), Kōkyō, paragraph 155; Chapter Seventy-six (Vol. IV), Dai-shugyō. 10 The mental face of reality and the concrete face of reality are both faces of reality. 11 A monk asks Master Daikan Enō, master says [ironically],
"What people attained Ōbai's teaching?" The "People who understood the Buddha-Dharma [intellectually] 269
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attained it.
" The monk says,
"Did you yourself attain it, Master?" The master said, "I did not attain it.
" The monk says,
"Why did the master not attain it?" The master says,
"I do not understand the Buddha-Dharma. " See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 59.
12 Ichidaiji-innen,
"one great cause,
" means the quotation from the Diamond Sutra. At the same time, it alludes to the passage in the Lotus Sutra,Hōben,which says that the buddhas appear in the world only on account of one great cause or one great purpose: to cause living beings to disclose, to be shown, to realize, and to enter, the Buddha's wisdom. See LS 1.88-90. 13 Ryō-jūsen,
"Sacred Vulture Peak,
" represents the Sanskrit Gṛdhrakūṭa, which literally means "Vulture Peak.
" Ryō,
"sacred,
" which was presumably added in the Chinese translation from the Sanskrit, has been omitted in the translation of this chapter. 14 The closing lines of Lotus Sutra,Hōsshi.See LS 2.166. 15 Master Taiso Eka, the Second Patriarch in China. Legend has it that he cut off his arm at the beginning of his practice under Master Bodhidharma; he was later affirmed with the words,
"You have got my marrow. " See Chapter Thirty (Vol. II), Gyōji; Chapter Forty-six, Kattō. 16 Master Nangaku Ejō pursued the truth for fifteen years under Master Daikan Enō. 17 Go-yaku-nyoze, nyo-yaku-nyoze,or "I am also like this, and you are also like this. "
Alludes to the famous conversation between Master Daikan and Master Nangaku quoted in Chapter Seven (Vol. I), Senjō;Chapter Sixty-two, Hensan;etc. 18 In other words, real attainment (experience that is not restricted by worrisome concepts such as "being close") can only take place in the present moment. 19 Toku-butsu-ken,
"to attain buddha-realization. " The last line of the quotation has toku ken . . . butsu,
"being able to meet buddhas. . . . " Here Master Dōgen reversed the order of the characters kenand butsu. 20 Lotus Sutra,Anrakugyō.See LS 2.282. The original subject in the Lotus Sutrais kono kyō o yoman mono,
"a person who reads this sutra. "
21 Juppō-butsudō-chū alludes to LS 1.106: "In the buddha lands of the ten directions,/There only exists the One-Vehicle Dharma. " In the Lotus Sutra chū is used here as a preposition, "in" or "within,
" but in Master Dōgen's commentaries chūis frequently used as a noun, "inside of,
" "content of,
" or "reality of.
" See, for
example, the opening words of Chapter Seventeen (Vol. I), Hokke-ten-hokke. 22 Zuitako suis a variation of the traditional phrase zuitako,which means "following others completely" or "just following circumstances. " The latter phrase, which appears for example in Chapter Twenty-four (Vol. II), Bukkyō,paragraph 177, and Chapter Thirty-seven (Vol. II), Shinjin-gakudō, paragraph 152, suggests a flexible attitude. 270
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23 Shin-nyū-riko-munin-setsu-kyosuggests the independence of a person who is absorbed in his or her own action. Kyo, kare, "him,
" is originally masculine in gender. The phrase is in Chinese characters only but a source has not been traced. 24 Setsu-shi-shōrai-ta-yaku-fu-jusuggests detachment. Ta, is originally neutral in gender. Quoted from the Wanshizenjigoroku. "he,
" "she,
" or "the other,
"
25 This expression chō-chō shutsu,lit., "long, long manifestation, " also appears in Chapter Three (Vol. I), Genjō-kōan.In that chapter, Master Dōgen says that we continue to manifest the state of realization for a long time (as a bell continues ringing after it has been struck). Here, however, he is interpreting nyū, "enter,
" not as an enduring state of having entered but as the momentary action of entering. 26 Refers to a story about the first meeting between Master Jōshū Jūshin and Master Nansen Fugan. See Chapter Thirty-five (Vol. I), Hakujushi. 27 In other words, dhyānais just the state at the present moment. Entering, as action, can exist in the present moment. But entering into or getting out of a state, as processes over time, cannot exist in the present moment. 28 Fugen, from the Sanskrit Samantabhadra. He is often depicted, riding on a white elephant, as the right-hand attendant of the Buddha. See also Chapter Seventeen (Vol. I), Hokke-ten-hokke.
29 Lotus Sutra, Fugen-bosatsu-kanpotsu ("Encouragement of Bodhisattva Universal Virtue"). See LS 3.330.
30 Tōchi-zenin,
"should know that person, " is taken directly from the Lotus Sutra. Zenin, "that person,
" means a concrete person, a real person. 31 32 Nyoze-tōnin.This is Master Dōgen's characteristic variation using characters that appear in the Lotus Sutra. Nyoze,used as an adjective, means "as it is, " and used as a
noun means "reality as it is. " (See also Chapter Seventeen [Vol. I], Hokke-ten-hokke; Chapter Fifty, Shohō-jissō). Tōoriginally means "to hit the target. " Here it emphasizes
the actual existence of the agent himself or herself. In the Lotus Sutra, tō, read as masa[ni], means "should. " Ninmeans person or human being. For example, the virtue of meeting Śākyamuni Buddha is to be had not only from reading the sutras and hearing their recitation but also from smelling incense, tasting tea, etc.
33 In the Shōbōgenzō,the Lotus Sutraand the universe itself are identified in the words shikyōor, as here, shikyōten, "this sutra.
"
34 Lotus Sutra,Funbetsu-kudoku("Discrimination of Merits"). See LS 3.56. 35 Shinge,
Sutra.
"Belief and Understanding, " is the title of the fourth chapter of the Lotus 36 Jōtai,
"real truth,
" represents the meaning of the Sanskrit bhūta, which means "actually happened, true, real.
" See Glossary of Sanskrit Terms. 271
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37 Nyorai-juryō,
Lotus Sutra.
"The Tathāgata's Lifetime,
" is the title of the sixteenth chapter of the 38 Nyorai-jinriki,
chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
"The Mystical Power of the Tathāgata, " is the title of the twenty-first 39 Not only the Tathāgata but also the concrete mountain is eternal; and not only the concrete mountain but also the Tathāgata is real. 40 Master Kyōzan Ejaku, following his master Isan Reiyū, is making a new paddy field. Master Kyōzan says,
"This place is low like this. That place is high like that. " Master
Isan says,
"Water is able to make things level. We will make it level just with water. "
Master Kyōzan says,
"There is no need to rely on water, Master. High places are level being high, and low places are level being low. " See Shinji-shōbōgenzō,pt. 1, no. 23. 41 Ruri,from the Sanskrit vaiḍūrya,is a semiprecious stone that is usually rich azure blue. In ancient India it was a symbol of excellence (see Glossary of Sanskrit Terms). 42 Lotus Sutra,Nyorai-juryō.See LS 3.30. 43 Isshin, lit.,
"one mind,
" translated in the quotation as "with undivided mind. "
44 Lotus Sutra, Ken-hōtō ("Seeing the Treasure Stupa"). See LS 2.194. The chapter describes countless buddhas emanating from the body of Śākyamuni Buddha and coming from all directions to hear the Dharma. These buddhas are called kebutsu, "transformed buddhas"; that is, transformations of Śākyamuni Buddha. 45 Lotus Sutra,Nyorai-juryō.See LS 3.30. 46 Lotus Sutra,Nyorai-jinriki ("The Mystical Power of the Tathāgata").See LS 3.162. Bunshin,
"offshoots,
" means the same as kebutsu,
"transformed buddhas,
" in the previous quotation.
47 48 Butsu-kōjō-gensuggests the optimistic attitude that derives from the daily practice of zazen. Butsu-kōjō,
"ascendant state of buddha" or "going beyond buddha, " expresses
the continuing daily practice of a Buddhist practitioner even after he or she has already realized the truth. In Chapter Twenty-eight (Vol. II), Butsu-kōjō-no-ji,Master Dōgen explains the term as follows: "What has been called 'the matter of the ascendant state of buddha' means, having arrived at the state of buddha, progressing on and meeting buddha again.
" Gen,
"eye,
" expresses the Buddhist view or attitude, in which is contained the whole body-mind of the practitioner. Myō-shōgon-ō, from the Sanskrit Śubhavyūharāja (King Resplendent). 49 Zenchishiki,from the Sanskrit kalyāṇamitra,in general means a teacher who gives practical guidance on how to apply the principles of Buddhism in daily life (see Chapter Fifty-two, Bukkyō,note 3; Vol. I, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms). In this specific episode in the Lotus Sutra,King Resplendent has just praised his own sons as "good counselors" or "friends in virtue, " for transforming his wrong mind, and causing him to be able to abide in the Buddha-Dharma and meet the World-honored One. 272
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50 Lotus Sutra,Myō-shōgon-ō-honji.See LS 3.306. 51 Lotus Sutra,Nyorai-juryō.See LS 3.32.
52 Common efforts in daily life.
53 Go-yaku-nyoze, nyo-yaku-nyoze. Master Daikan Enō's words to Master Nangaku Ejō. See note 17.
54 King Prasenajit was the ruler of the kingdom of Kośala, and a supporter of the Buddha's order. See also notes to Chapter Fifty-nine, Baike. 55 One of the sixteen original arhats in the Buddha's order. Ibid. 56 Nyojōoshōgoroku.Also quoted in Chapter Fifty-nine, Baike. 57 Ōgu.Read in the poem as ku[ni] ō[zu], these characters mean "to deserve offerings. "
At the same time, ōgurepresents the Sanskrit term of reverence "arhat, " which means
"one who deserves.
" Many temples in Japan have images of the sixteen arhats, to which offerings continue to be served.
58 Shinzō no kenbutsu,
"meeting buddha as intimate experience,
" is the mutual relation
between subject and object, and so we cannot witness it as a third party. Shinmeans familiar, intimate, or immediate; it describes absence of separation into subject and object. Sō, zōmeans formerly, having taken place in the past; in the poem, read as katsu[te], its function is to indicate the past tense, but in the compound shinzō it suggests experience. The phrase shinzōalso appears in Chapter Twenty-six (Vol. II), Daigo,paragraph 225 ("familiar experience"); Chapter Thirty-six (Vol. II), Kōmyō, paragraph 121 ("direct experience"); and Chapter Fifty-seven, Menju,paragraph 170 ("familiar to us").
59 According to legend, Śrāvasti, the capital of the kingdom of Kośala, had a population of nine hundred million, one third of whom were Buddhists under Venerable Piṇḍola. 60 Anyone could see the Buddha's physical form. Piṇḍola's meeting Buddha was not only that but also realization of the state of buddha. 61 Many set themselves up as Buddhist teachers but few really teach Buddhism. 62 Hindō,lit.,
"poor way,
" a humble form used by a Buddhist monk. The same words are used by Master Prajñātara in Chapter Twenty-one (Vol. I), Kankin,paragraph 191. 63 Aikuōkyō (King Aśoka Sutra), chap. 3.
64 Shutsugen-o-se.These words appear frequently in the Lotus Sutra.See, for example, LS 1.88-90.
65 Both expressions in quotemarks originate in the Lotus Sutra. See LS 1.68, 1.72. 66 Master Honei Ninyū (dates unknown), successor of Master Yōgi Hōe. The poem is quoted from the one-volume record of his words, Honeininyūzenjigoroku. 273
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67 68 69 The Sanskrit oṃis a word of affirmation often placed at the beginning of six-syllable Buddhist incantations called vidyā shadaksharī; maṇi means jewel, gem, or pearl; śrīmeans to diffuse light; and sūryameans the sun. In the context of this poem, Oṃ maṇi śrī sūrya,or "Truly, a pearl shines like the sun!" suggests the author's respectful affirmation of Master Piṇḍola.
Shukō no sangaku. Shu, omomukimeans purport or gist, and kō, mu[kau] means to direct toward; so shukō nohere means "being relevant to.
" In modern Japanese the
compound shukōmeans a plan, idea, design, scheme, or device. At the same time, as a traditional term representing the Sanskrit pratipādana (see Glossary of Sanskrit Terms), shukōsometimes means action itself, or conduct in the world. This meaning is retained for example in the Fukanzazengi: shukō sarani kore hyōjō naru mono nari,
"actions are balanced and constant" or "undertakings are balanced and constant. "
Master Jōshū Jūshin (778-897), successor of Master Nansen Fugan. Shinsai-in was the name of his temple, and Great Master Shinsai is his posthumous title. 70 Kōsonshukugoroku,chap. 13.
71 Doppo. Dokumeans alone, solitary, or independent, and homeans step or walk. In Chapter Forty-nine, Butsudō, paragraph 186, Master Dōgen describes the singular excellence of Master Seigen Gyōshi by praising him as shō-jinsoku no doppo,literally, "a solitary step of a true mystical foot.
72 1243.
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Nguồn: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka (bdkamerica.org).
