Genjo-Koan

When I initially undertook this project, I forgot how heavily loaded the first few fascicles are in the Shobogenzo. This chapter by Dogen is actually recited during particular ceremonies in most zendos. It is probably the most often quoted work in the Shobogenzo.

A koan is a word puzzle used by Zen students to attain realization. Their main utility is to exhaust the rational mind and allow students to get in touch with their intuitive mind. Each koan tells a story that was posted on a bulletin board in monasteries. In fact, the word koan litereally translates to something like "notice board/public record." 

The word genjo (げんじょ) means "realized," so genjo-koan means something like "realized universe." Taken together, the title of this chapter indicates that Dogen is descibing to us the Universe itself.

Dogen begins by describing how all phenomena (dharmas) can be viewed in different ways. We can look at themfrom the relative world, where there is practice and realization, life and death, etc.; and we can look at them in the realm of the absolute where there is no practice nor realization, no life nor death, etc. One line that is particularly memorable to me is - "and though it is like this, it is only that flowers, while loved, fall; and weeds while hated, flourish."

When we try to force balance into our lives, the ego is reinforced as we think we can change our external circumstances. It is only when we let go that we can achieve that balance. Thinking that we can achieve some state where we will never have to overcome hardships is a delusion. Realizing that conditioned existence is suffering, temporary, and not-self is achieving that state of balance. Even when you have achieved this inner peace, you may not necessarily know it.

Another notable quote from the Genjo-Koan was printed on the front of the welcome pamphlet at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center - "To learn the Buddha's truths is to learn ourselves. To learn ourselves is to forget ourselves. To forget ourselves is to be experienced by the myriad dharmas. To be experienced by the myriad dharmas is to let our own body-and-mind, and the body-and-mind of the external world, fade away." This was appropriately used as the first words a Zen student should read, because it emphasizes the importance of the Buddhist teaching, anatta (not-self).

Dogen points out that just as things in the physical world can be viewed from several perspectives, our understanding about metaphysical concepts can also be viewed from many perspectives, some of which are incorrect. The most common and pernicious of these misconceptions is that our ego-identity is either permanent, or defines some ineffible self. He makes an analogy to firewood and ash. When a fire burns out, you can't say where the fire has gone or turn the ash back into wood. We can't ever say that one thing has transitioned into another, like a person who transmigrates between human shells in a series of lives.

We can only say that things exist at one moment in a particular arrangement. However, everything disappears and reappears at a very fast rate, each stage providing a whole new universe. In this way, we cannot say that anything has a permanent self. The universe is perceived by sentient existence as being continuous despite this frequent disappearance and appearance of phenomena, just as a film consists of individual frames on a reel but appears to be a continuous video.

"A person getting realization is like the moon being reflected in water, the moon does not get wet, and the water is not broken." Even though the moon is immense, it can be entirely and perfectly reflected by miniscule drops of water. This description is used as an analogy to describe the experience of realization, which is not present if a person re-inforces their ego-identity. It is very easy to unintentionally re-inforce the ego-identity by imagining that we have perfect understanding. We might take some view as being the truth, and later discover that we hadn't yet achieved clear vision.

When we view things without making the distinction between subject and object, we attain balance. If you don't create the ego, it will not appear. If you use the ego to reduce suffering in the universe, you don't lose that balance even if you think you have. In fact, this state of balance is the universe itself, as it could be no other way. Because of this, Dogen claims that you will not necessarily realize when you attain realization, even though it happens at once, all in an instant. He expands on this by saying that the state of not achieving is the experience of realization.

The chapter concludes with the recitation of an old text which describes a student, and master, and his fan. The student questions the master, along the lines of "since the air is the way it is, why do you re-inforce you ego by using the fan [manipulating it]?" The master responds saying that the student intellectually understands that air can only be the way it is, but he does not yet know the truth of how that is so. The student asks what it means to know the truth. The master just continues fanning himself, indicating that even though there is no self, we can still observe that there is from a relative perspective and control our actions.

Some people say that one no longer has to practice zazen after their enlightenment, because things are the way they are and the realized person sees balance in everything. However, it is the act of practicing zazen that lets us experience the universe as it is. Because of these truths, there are many great sanghas all throughout the world where men and women practice zazen earnestly, and with great vigor.

Maka Hayna Haramitsu

"Maka-hannya-haramitsu means the accomplishment which is great real wisdom." The Maha-prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra, also known simply as the Heart Sutra, is the core of the prajnaparamita ("perfection of wisdom") sutras that decsribes how to achieve true wisdom. Master Nishijima notes that Buddhist wisdom involves intuition, not intellecual abilities. He describes this intuition as being the byproduct of keeping our bodies and minds in harmony and balance. To this day, many Mahayana groups will chant the Heart Sutra quite often. The Heart Sutra is used for nearly all Soto Zen ceremonies. "Maka Hannya Haramitsu" is Master Dogen's interpretation of that sutra.

The sutra begins by stating that Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was "deeply practicing prajnaparamita" when he discovered that the five aggregates (matter, feeling, thinking, enaction, and consciousness) are empty. He also found that the twelve ayatanas (the six sense organs and their objects) are also empty of any absolute or independent characteristics. Dogen adds that the five aggregates and twelve ayatanas "are suffering, accumulation, cessation, and the Way." This simply means that our everyday existence is the direct experience of each of the Four Noble Truths, all at the same time.

Just as the aggregates and ayatanas are connected interdependently, so are the six paramitas (perfections). We can't have wisdom without generosity, good conduct, patience, diligence, and meditation. Any of these six paramitas can be defined in terms of the others. Dogen continues to describe many other classes of phenomena as being interdependent: past, present, and future; earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness; walking, standing, sitting, and lying-down.

Despite the fact that all phenomena are interdependent and empty of any absolute characteristics, we can still observe and describe them in terms relative to our everyday experiences. The Buddha acknowledges that experiencing this duality of non-duality is very difficult to achieve intuitively - "the profound prajna-paramita is too subtle and fine to fathom." After hearing this, a student asks venerable Subhuti how should one go about researching prajnaparamita. Dogen confirms that "researching prajna is space itself. Space is the research of prajna." In this way, trying to guard the bodhisattvas that are practicing prajnaparamita is like trying to guard space. Receiving and retaining prajna are the same as guarding prajna.

When we venerate prajna, this is the same as venerating the buddhas. This is beause prajna is the buddha, and the buddha is prajna. Everyone who receives and practices true wisdom receives it from the same place, regardless of their level of experience with the practice. All aspects of buddhist conduct and views are just different manifestations of prajnaparamita.

Bendowa

The first fascicle in the Shobogenzo is Bendowa, which means "a talk about pursuing the truth." We can consider zazen as pursuing the truth, so the title can also be read as "a talk about zazen." Bendowa is one of the most important fascicles in Dogen's work, even though it was the first that he wrote. My dharma name, Butsu'in comes from this passage, as my teacher liked to give out dharma names that come from Bendowa.

The passage starts out with a paragraph in praise of zazen, nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to Dogen's writing. This is followed by a very short autobiography of the author: his travels to China, and his subsequent enlightenment. He describes how after receiving the teaching, he "came home determined to spread the Dharma and to save living beings - it was as if a heavy burden had been placed on my shoulders." In order to spread the dharma, he states that he decided to sit down and compile everything that he learned in China, and that this writing would be his testimony (the Shobogenzo, or Right Dharma Eye Treasury).

After this proclamation, he talks more about zazen. We are told that the sutras claim that all of the ancestors, starting with Shakyamuni Buddha, practiced zazen as the one true way. Of course, this isn't really true - the Buddha teaches vipassana and shamatha in the Pali canon, which is the only source that is likely based off of what the Buddha actually said, and thus practiced. In the Mahayana canon, the Buddha does describe some practices that could be construed as zazen, but that is debatable. And even then, these sutras were actually communicated by the Sambogakaya (reward body), not the Nirmanakaya (physical body, the flesh-and-bones, Shakyamuni Buddha). These sutras were received as pure visions by great bodhisattvas in India. The Buddha never spoke them. And thus, never practiced zazen. But anyway, Dogen likes to tell us that zazen has always been taught as the one true way to the truth. And, he is correct.

Dogen continues to gush about the merits of zazen. He says some really cool things, like how sitting in zazen is completely achieving all of the Buddha's work. He states that when one person sits zazen, he "thus enters into mystical co-operation with all dharmas, and completely penetrates all times; and it therefore performs, within the limitless Universe, the eternal work of the Buddha's guiding influence in the past, future, and present." Sounds pretty powerful, eh? It gets better. Zazen doesn't begin or end with the sound of the bell. Zazen is not just the practice of zazen, it is the activity of the entire universe. Everything you do is zazen. And finally, even if a thousand million bagillion buddha's tried with all of their might, they could never calculate the merit of even one person's zazen. That must be some really meritorious stuff! One Buddha alone is perfectly omniscient. They directly perceive all phenomena of the three times without any effort, and yet, a hundred thousand million bagillion of these guys can't even calculate the amount of merit created by one dude sitting in zazen for one second!

The rest of this fascicle is a series of questions and answers, where Dogen is providing the answers. I will now provide a very condensed version of this Q/A session, and what it means to me.

Q: Why is zazen the only authentic way to attain the Way?

A: All of the Buddhas and patriarchs have always taught zazen as being the only practice to be used in order to attain the Way.

Q: Reading sutras and chanting are the way people become enlightened, what good is sitting around on a cushion?

A: You fool! Zazen is not just sitting around on a cushion, it is the perfect realization of a Buddha. You cannot underestimate the power of zazen. To think "that only to wag the tongue and to raise the voice has the virtue of the Buddha's work" is a very dangerous and unreliable thought. However, he doesn't completely dismiss sutra reading and chanting. He says that we read sutras and chant to verify what we have learned from the practice of zazen. In Dogen's view, the only real way to the truth is through zazen, any other practices can only serve to verify that truth.

He denigrates chanting as being like frogs sitting around and croaking in a rice paddy. I see a potential hole in this argument, in that zazen can also look like a frog just sitting around in a rice paddy, and not even croaking. But eh, you really can't take these analogies for more than what they are, or they lose their meaning.

Dogen encourages us to find a true master who has attained the way through the practice of zazen. Not someone who is very book-learned about various Buddhists scriptures. Find someone who has experienced the same state that Bodhidharma, Hui-Neng, Dogen, and the rest have experienced. Follow them, and put forth great effort into practicing zazen.

Q: The stuff the guys are teaching in the Shingon sect is pretty cool. They have this saying about how the five ancient buddhas tell us that our mind can become a buddha. What makes your method so much better than theirs?

A: We can't compare methods to each other, judging one practice as great and another as inferior. The only things that matters is whether or not a person's practice is genuine. People have become enlightened in a vast number of ways, you can't say that one method will not work (even though zazen was the only authentic gate). All teachings are ideas and only ideas. The only way to attain the truth is through the direct experience transmitted from a true master.

Q: The buddha has taught the six paramitas (generosity, conduct, patience, effort, meditation, and wisdom), and meditation is only one of these six. Why do you only talk about one of the paramitas in your Zen school?

A: Meditation is the greatest perfection, it is the "one great matter." The zazen Dogen talks about is not the paramita of meditation. The zazen Dogen talks about is the true Buddha-Dharma. It is the entire body of the Buddha, and nothing is greater than it.

Q: The buddhas have talked about the four postures: walking, standing, sitting, lying down. Why is zazen only practiced in one posture?

A: Sitting down is the most peaceful posture.

Q: Zazen is the way to attain the truth, but what good is it for someone who is already enlightened?

A: "In the Buddha-Dharma, practice and experience are completely the same."

Q: Teachers in the past have taught Buddhism, but they didn't teach zazen. Why?

A: The time hadn't come.

Q: Didn't they know about the effectiveness of zazen, though?

A: If they did, they would have taught it.

Q: The body is temporary but the body is eternal. Knowing this enables us to become free from birth and death. Even if we spent our whole life sitting in zazen with our material bodies, what good could it possibly do?

A: The view you have just talked about is a non-Buddhist view. It is denied in the Avatamsaka sutra by the Buddha. Clinging to the notion of an eternal mind is exactly what will keep you stuck in birth and death. The mind and body are one reality, essence and form are not two. Since body and mind, essence and form, are not separate, they cannot have different properties. "We should realize that living-and-dying is just nirvana." Your body and mind are in a constant state of dying and being reborn. (This happens about 60 times during the time it takes to snap a finger.) Since your mind is constantly dying, how could it be eternal?

Wanting to get rid of living-and-dying would be to hate the Buddha-Dharma. There is no state that is different from our original mind, not even nirvana.

Q: Must someone who practices zazen follow the precepts?

A: People who have realized the truth through zazen will always follow the precepts; but that is not to say that those who don't follow the precepts and still practice zazen will not gain any merit from their practice.

Q: Can people who practice zazen practice other methods?

A: The masters have never attained the way through any other method. Don't be a jack of all trades; just master one.

Q: Can lay people practice zazen?

A: Yes.

Q: How can a lay person have enough time to practice zazen?

A: There have been many lay people in the past who have attained the way. Dogen describes how anyone can enter the way, as long as they have the will power. He says "those who think that worldy affairs hinder the Buddha-Dharma only know that there is no Buddha-Dharma in the world; they do not know that there are no worldly dharmas in the state of Buddha." This is quite a profound statement. At first, it seems deceptive, because the masters always teach how the buddhadharma is not separate from the "mundane." But I don't think that Dogen is refuting that here. My take is that he is emphasizing the emptiness of all phenomena.

Q: Can people still become enlightened in today's corrupt world?

A: If you practice, you will experience the results for yourself and will not ask this question. This is a rather poignant question, as another 800 years have past since Dogen's time, and people commonly believe that practice was somehow easier back then. It is reassuring to know that people felt the same way even back when Dogen was practicing, because he was still able to achieve what he did even though others were doubting. If he could do what he did in the presence of doubt, so can you.

Q: Since we have buddha nature, we don't need to practice, right?

A: This is ridiculous. If this were true, why would you be here trying to attain something. Certainly having buddha nature does not instantly cause liberation. The buddhadharma is not something that can ever be fully understood with the intellect. You have to sit zazen and experience its truth.

Q: Many of the ancestors achieved the way through different experiences. For example, Shakyamuni was enlightened when he saw the morning star. I thought you said the truth can only be understood through zazen?

A: Dogen's answer to this is hard to understand. I believe what he is saying is that their conviction in attaining the way was so strong that their efforts were a form of zazen. However, I am likely mistaken, and there is probably a better explanation that I can't come up with.

Q: Our culture is inferior to that of the culture that the ancestors were living in. Is it possible that we can attain the same truth we did, even though our minds started out much more impure?

A: Everyone can attain the truth, we all have buddha nature. This is, again, a very pertinent question, because "the West" is thought of as being very superficial and not ready for true Dharma practice. It is nice to know that Dogen's society was thought of in the same way, and he still flourished.

Dogen finishes the fascicle with a brief explanation of why he wrote down his answers to these questions. He notes that the rest of the Shobogenzo will be him explaining what he learned in China. And finally, he talks about how we should whole-heartedly make the decision to pursue the truth through zazen RIGHT NOW. Don't delay!

Citation

I would like to state that all quotes in this blog, unless otherwise noted, come from Nishijima-roshi's (along with Chodo Cross) translation of the Shobogenzo. The translation I am using is a four book series, the first of which can be purchased here. Nishijima-roshi has permitted me to quote his material with the stipulation that I acknowledge him as the source of my quotes. Here is my acknowledgment.

Thank you Master Nishijima!

Project Announcement

This blog will catalog my interpretation of the Shobogenzo. The Shobogenzo is a very important work written by Master Dogen. I will be using the Nishijima/Cross translation of the text, which can be purchased at Amazon or Wisdom Books.

To give you a brief history about my experience with Buddhist studies, I've been practicing Soto Zen for three years. If you don't already know, Soto is the sect that our beloved Master Dogen founded about 800 years ago. I have been sitting nearly every day since I started practicing. Most of my practice has heavily focused on sitting, but I have done some reading. With respect to the Pali canon, I've read both the Majjhima Nikaya and the Samyutta Nikaya. As far as Mahayana sutras go, I've read the Lankavatara Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Diamond Cutter Sutra, Vimalkirti Sutra, and the extremely succinct Heart Sutra. I've also read an equal amount of other texts - mostly pop-Buddhist books by Thich Nhat Hahn or the Dalai Lama, but some classics like Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamikakarika or The Platform Sutra of Hui Neng.

I started my practice at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center, where I received Zaike Tokudo from Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston, Roshi. My dharma name is Butsu'in, or 仏印, which means "Buddha seal" and refers to the posture a human exhibits during the practice of zazen. After practicing in Atlanta and reading a lot, I decided to live as a monk at Antai-ji for three months in 2008. Since then, I re-situated myself as a lay person and currently practice with Dogen Sangha Los Angeles, led by Brad Warner.

So, that is my background. I'd just like to lay it out so that you know where I'm coming from. I'm not some random person picking up the Shobogenzo. (Actually, I already read 1/4 of it a while ago.) However, I am certainly no expert. I am not a priest. I am not a scholar. I am simply a motivated lay practitioner.

I am currently working my way through the Lotus sutra for the third time. I feel this sutra is incredibly important to Dogen. In Nishijima's translation, he constantly references the Lotus sutra in his commentary. I recommend to anyone who picks up the Shobogenzo to read the Lotus Sutra first, if nothing else. So, hold tight while I brush the dust off of that one. After I'm finished with that, I will embark on my quest. Plan to hear back in less than a couple of weeks. I don't know how frequently I will be able to write, but each post will be devoted to one fascicle, and they will be done in order. (Nishijima's translation is organized chronologically.)

If Nishijima-roshi is so kind, I will even be posting quotes from his text to analyze in detail.

Stay tuned!