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!
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