Welcome.
This is the first in a series of seven brief talks on Ryujin,
The Dragon Song,
By Ehei Dogen,
The 13th century founder of the Sōrō Zen Buddhist School in Japan.
He is often described as enigmatic and incomprehensible in his extensive writings.
There are many reasons for this,
But the emphasis in this series of talks centers on conveying an understanding of the many images,
Symbols,
And metaphors which are abundant in this brief writing,
Along with many references to koans and quotes from various Zen teachers that are sprinkled into his commentary.
The more familiar you are with the meanings and uses of the images and the context and sources of his quotes,
The clearer the meaning and the direct application to your sitting practice will be.
I hope that you will discover that the practice implications of his teachings are actually quite straightforward.
In this talk,
I'll be focusing on the title,
Ryujin,
Which by the way was written in 1243.
It's a brief piece in which he introduces a number of images.
So let's begin by first looking at the title.
Ryujin has been translated as Dragon's Song,
Dragon's Chant,
Dragon's Moan,
Dragon's Roar,
Dragon's Whisper,
And Dragon's Scream.
Jin can refer to a wide range of sounds,
Including both human and animal,
Across a spectrum from singing,
Chanting,
And reciting,
To crying,
Moaning,
Sighing,
Humming,
Or whispering,
Hence the great variation of translations.
Which do you resonate with?
Perhaps the sound and the meaning will change from time to time in a way that reflects your current mood,
Your understanding,
And relationship to the teachings and to practice.
The dragon is a mythical being,
So how can we hear the sound of the song,
The chant,
The moan,
The whisper,
Or the roar,
Or any other expression of the dragon?
The dragon serves to represent the true Dharma.
After all,
The third of the four Zen vows is Dharma gates are boundless,
I vow to enter them all.
Ryujin,
No matter how it is translated,
Refers to the true meaning of the Dharma being expressed.
Sometimes the sound of the dragon will even be silently expressed,
Such as the Buddha holding up a flower,
And Mahakasyapa,
Who became the first ancestor,
Responded simply by smiling,
Neither said a word.
Sometimes the Zen master shouts.
What is the sound of us silently sitting together in Zazen?
How does the truth of the Dharma feel to you?
When you experience the dragon's sound,
Does it feel like a scream,
A moan,
A song,
A cry,
A whisper,
Or something else?
What is the felt impact?
As the Zen teacher and Dogen translator Gudo Nishijima notes in his introduction commentary to Ryujin,
And I quote,
We feel that we can hear something that is not a sound,
Something that cannot be heard with the ears alone.
Nishijima reminds us that Zen is not a form of mysticism,
But we can't limit reality to sense perceptions alone.
How then do we hear,
Receive,
And express the true Buddhist teachings beyond the ears or any of the senses?
Zen refers to this form of communication that we can't hear with the senses as mind-to-mind transmission beyond words and letters.
So,
It makes perfect sense to me that a mythical creature,
One that we can't see or hear through the senses,
Would serve as an appropriate image for the expression of the true Dharma-I,
The authentic Buddhist teaching.
The Dragon Song is something that we simultaneously receive and express.
How then do we hear the sound that cannot be heard?
How do we express the sound that can't be heard?
Zen teaches that we experience the Dharma through intuited wisdom or prajna in Sanskrit.
I like Evans Wentz's translation of prajna.
He was a Tibetan Buddhist translator,
One of the early ones,
And he described prajna as quick knowing.
There is knowing that is immediate.
That means without the mediation of logical linear thought processes,
We just know.
It's a wow moment,
A what-is-the-matter-that-is-it moment.
On a concrete level,
Dogen teaches that the practice of shikantaza,
Or just sitting,
Is already an expression of this ineffable,
Unsayable,
Realizational moment.
In Bendoa,
The Wholehearted Practice of the Way,
He speaks to the oneness of practice and realization.
He writes,
And I quote,
This Dharma is abundantly present in each human being,
But if we do not practice it,
It does not manifest itself,
And if we do not experience it,
It cannot be realized.
So,
In the practice of simply sitting,
We are expressing realization and silently singing the dragon song.
In the next talk,
We'll begin to look at the text.
In the meantime,
Please,
Just keep practicing,
No matter what.
