Welcome to the fifth talk on Fukanza Zenji,
Universal Principles of Zen Meditation by Ehe Dogen.
Dogen refers to his approach to practice,
Shikantaza,
Or just sitting,
As shusho ichinyo,
Or practice and realization are one.
That is,
Practice expresses our realized nature.
The metaphor of purifying gold serves as a traditional example.
Gold is already gold,
But it can continuously be refined.
Refining the gold is not making it into something else.
We are not alchemists trying to change lead into gold.
It is already gold.
You are already you.
Realization or awakeness is already inherent to your being.
In Zazenshin,
The Needlepoint of Zazen,
A later writing in which Dogen elaborates Fukanza Zenji,
He offers a commentary on the old tile-polishing dialogue between Zen Master Baso and his student,
Matsu.
He writes,
Quote,
When the polishing of the tile becomes a mirror,
Matsu makes a Buddha.
And when Matsu makes a Buddha,
Matsu quickly becomes Matsu.
And when Matsu becomes Matsu,
Zazen quickly becomes Zazen.
In terms of musho toku,
Or no gaining mind,
Dogen demonstrates a complete acceptance of our humanity and our wholehearted commitment to work on ourselves.
Polishing a tile to make a mirror is not a goal.
Rather,
It's the activity of Buddha nature,
The expression of Buddha nature.
Zazen,
Just sitting,
Is the expression of Buddha nature.
It is realization in action.
Dogen has shifted the emphasis from fixed states of mind and goals to the dynamic action of relationships.
Returning to Fukanza Zenji,
He further supports and elaborates his message regarding practice by writing,
Suppose one gains pride of understanding and inflates one's own enlightenment,
Glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things.
One is making an initial partial excursion about the frontiers,
But is still somewhat deficient in the vital way of total emancipation.
End quote.
Each moment of realization,
Of clarity,
Is just its own moment.
Each moment is new,
Fresh,
Evolving,
A new dharmagate that we vow to enter.
How do you relate to this moment?
Then the next.
Realization is beginningless.
Practice is endless.
Here,
Dogen is cautioning us to remain vigilant,
Constant,
Not to become complacent or to get caught up in thinking we got it made,
Or I got it made,
Mind.
The dynamics of action that I mentioned finds expression here.
That is,
We must be vigilant about how we enter each moment of our practice,
Both on and off the cushion.
Dogen is warning us here about having a taste of realization and then falling into arrogance,
Complacency,
Or over-satisfaction.
We can easily become seduced and caught in these notions and psychic states.
Again,
This is why sitting in Mushotoku becomes extremely important.
Dogen then uses the examples of Shakyamuni Buddha and Bodhidharma,
Basically saying that if just sitting was good enough for them,
Then it should be good enough for us.
He writes,
Need I mention the Buddha,
Who is possessed of inborn knowledge,
The influence of his six years of upright sitting is noticeable still?
Or Bodhidharma's transmission of the mind seal?
The fame of his nine years of wall sitting is celebrated to this day.
Since this was the case with the saints of old,
How can men of today dispense with negotiation of the way?
Mind seal is another term for the way or the dharma.
It has to do with the mind-to-mind transmission of the dharma beyond words and letters.
It evolves through prajna or intuited wisdom.
As intuited wisdom,
It comes through practice.
In this regard,
Nothing is really transmitted from one to another.
Realization is not a thing,
Like a pill or something that someone else can give you.
Remember,
Zen is an inner-directed practice.
The teacher can point us in the right direction,
But we still need to do the walking.
It is therefore important to trust your fundamental being,
Buddha nature,
In action.
The teacher simply verifies your realization.
Realization is its own transmission.
You transmit yourself to yourself.
You realize that this body,
This mind,
This heart,
This moment,
This spot is already the result.
What else is there?
Nothing is excluded.
Dogen often brings up the succession of ancestors to humanize us,
To humanize them,
And place us on equal footing with them.
In this regard,
While realization is self-motivated and depends on studying and knowing the self,
Maizumi Roshi cautions us that self-styled understanding is insufficient.
For this reason,
We emphasize the importance of the transmission by a teacher who really knows and how it should be taken care of.
How do we do this in terms of our practice?
Easy.
In the Fourth Noble Truth,
Shakyamuni Buddha teaches us to cultivate the Eightfold Noble Path that includes right understanding,
Right intention,
Right speech,
Right action,
Right livelihood,
Right effort,
Right awareness,
And right concentration.
I invite you to take any of these points and ask yourself,
Without judgment,
How am I doing?
What is my understanding?
What are my intentions?
What am I aware of from one moment to the next?
All without judgment and just keep practicing no matter what.
Thank you.
Thank you.
