This is the fourth talk on A.
A.
Dogen's Fukanza Zenji,
Universal Principles of Zen Meditation.
Welcome,
And thank you for being here.
In this talk we'll be examining the notion of dualistic fixation.
Dogen continues,
".
.
.
And yet,
If there is the slightest discrepancy,
The way is as distant as heaven from earth.
If the least like or dislike arises,
The mind is lost in confusion.
" Dogen often directly borrows from the Zen ancestors to make his points.
The notion of like and dislike as a form of discrepancy derives from the third ancestor of Zen in China,
Sosan,
Who lived from 496 to 606.
He wrote the Hsing Ming,
Or Trust in Mind.
In this comment,
Dogen emphasizes the separation or alienation from the way that is caused by dualistic fixation.
He emphasizes this problem basically through concrete and emotion-laden notions of like and dislike.
Basically,
This is what he means by discrepancy,
That I'm describing as dualistic fixation,
Based on avidya,
A Sanskrit term for primary ignorance.
It works like this.
We take the five skandhas or aggregates,
Which include form,
Feeling,
Perception,
Karmic formations,
And consciousnesses,
Which are all constantly in flux,
Impermanent,
And empty of any fixed or permanent self,
And then we add the idea or the notion of a fixed sense of self onto them.
This fixed sense of self creates a subject and object separation,
That is,
A me or an I sense,
An anatomy or an other,
And induces feelings of attachment and aversion that can become expressed as fear,
Hate,
Aggression,
Flight or flight,
And a possible feeling of alienation.
We hold on to and protect what we have for fear of losing it,
And we tend to push away or avoid what we dislike,
Hate,
Or fear.
This is,
Again,
Why zazen with Musho Toku,
No gaining mind,
Is very important,
Because it cuts through the tendency,
As I mentioned in the first talk,
To seek preferred mind states and to get rid of disliked or intolerable mind states.
It's a losing battle motivated by desire,
The desire to get or the desire to get rid of something.
The more we fight,
Grasp after,
Or push away,
The stronger these states become.
We become object seeking or object rejecting on both the material and the psychic level.
Our attention is in the wrong place.
What I mean by the wrong place is that we become preoccupied with objects of perception when we sit,
Especially with regard to thoughts,
Memories,
Feelings,
And future concerns.
These are objects of mind,
Not the infinite,
Expansive,
Crystal clear nature of mind itself.
The antidote is to simply sit back and notice what is happening,
Moment by moment.
In this passage,
Dogen is giving us credit for being on the path,
But he is describing what happens when we take a wrong turn.
Since there is no goal,
You might ask,
What is a wrong turn?
This is what Dogen describes when he writes,
The slightest discrepancy and the way is as distant as heaven from earth.
And the wrong turn,
To continue with Dogen's quote,
Is when the least like or dislike arises and the mind is lost in confusion.
The Buddha's Four Noble Truths serves as a good example.
We can take the path of suffering,
Or we can take the eightfold path of freedom from suffering.
It's totally up to us.
I like George Harrison's song lyric,
If you don't know where you're going,
Any road will take you there.
The wrong turn is turning away from the reality of the present moment and getting stuck in a goal-seeking attitude,
Lost in a memory and old feelings,
Or dominated by future concerns,
Wishes,
Or fantasies.
Internally,
We take a wrong turn by getting trapped in the intellect,
Trying to figure out things with logic,
Rather than just sitting and trusting the process.
Trusting to just keep sitting no matter what,
Maintaining Sosan's trust in mind.
Remember,
By raising Mushotoku,
No gaining mind,
To guide and stabilize our practice,
Dogen is pointing out that we are already on top of the mountain.
We are already the result.
All of us,
Without exception,
Sitting here together,
Practicing as Sangha,
No matter where you may be in this one bright pearl of a world,
Is the result of your whole life up to this point,
This moment.
This is a very optimistic,
Strong,
And supportive life-affirming orientation.
Again,
He brings us back to practice with Mushotoku and asserting the intention to raise Bodhicitta,
The mind of true awareness of the rising and falling of all experience,
Without attachment,
Aversion,
Or judgment.
These states are aspects of dualistic fixation and create a relationship to the way,
As he notes,
As distant as heaven from earth.
Again,
He acknowledges our sincere strivings,
But points out that we are at the threshold of the doorway but have not fully entered.
It is like being tied to the dock of the bay and thinking we're in the ocean.
The anchor is composed of the various solidified preconceptions and ideas that we carry with us.
This is tricky business because even Buddhist truths can become anchors that interfere with our freedom.
For example,
You might ask and act on the notion,
If we're already on top of the mountain,
Why should I bother with practice?
This misguided view that we don't have to do anything is described as the naturalist heresy.
On the other hand,
We can easily become stuck on the enlightened idea or an experience like Kensho,
Which will serve as another type of anchor.
Can we let go and then let go of letting go before the letting go becomes another anchor?
If we're trying to become someone else,
We're adding flowers to brocade to use as an image.
The brocade is already complete.
You are already complete.
Anyway,
Who would that someone else be?
Everyone else is already taken.
I think Oscar Wilde said that.
Taizan Maezumi Roshi notes that if we practice to become something else,
We simply put another head on top of our own,
Making ourselves ghosts.
One head is enough.
This point,
Realizing that we are already complete as we are,
Dogen informs us,
Is why we practice.
That is,
If we realize it,
How do we clarify or verify this point?
So ask yourself,
Why do I practice?
Do I enjoy practice?
Do I shun or put off practice?
Do I maintain a regular practice?
Or is my practice convenient or committed?
Until next time,
Please just keep practicing no matter what.
Thank you.
