This certificate
of succession was written on white silk patterned with plum blossoms fallen
on the ground.
of succession was written on white silk patterned with plum blossoms fallen
on the ground.
Shobogenzo
This certificate is called shisho.
From a mate-
rialistic viewpoint, the certificate is only cloth and ink, and so it cannot hold
religious meaning or be revered as something with religious value. But
Buddhism is a realistic religion, and Buddhists find religious value in many
concrete traditions. The certificate is one such traditional object that is revered
by Buddhists. Therefore Master Dogen found much value in this certificate.
In this chapter he explains why the certificate is revered by Buddhists, and
records his own experiences of seeing such certificates in China.
[3] Buddhas, without exception, receive the Dharma from buddhas, buddha-
to-buddha, and patriarchs, without exception, receive the Dharma from patri-
archs, patriarch-to-patriarch; this is experience of the [Buddha's] state,1 this
is the one-to-one transmission, and for this reason it is �the supreme state of
bodhi. � It is impossible to certify a buddha without being a buddha, and no
one becomes a buddha without receiving the certification of a buddha. Who
but a buddha can esteem this state as the most honored and approve it as the
supreme? When we receive the certification of a buddha, we realize the state
independently, without a master,2 and we realize the state independently,
without our self. 3 For this reason, we speak of buddhas really experiencing
the succession, and of patriarchs really experiencing the same state. The
import of this truth cannot be clarified by anyone other than buddhas. How
could it be the thought of [bodhisattvas in] the ten states or the state of bal-
anced awareness? 4 How much less could it be supposed by teachers of sutras,
teachers of commentaries, and the like? Even if we explain it to them, they
will not be able to hear it, because it is transmitted between buddhas, buddha-
to-buddha.
[5] Remember, the Buddha's state of truth is the perfect realization only
of buddhas, and without buddhas it has no time. The state is like, for exam-
ple, stones succeeding each other as stones, jewels succeeding each other as
jewels, chrysanthemums succeeding each other, and pine trees certifying
each other, at which time the former chrysanthemum and the latter chrysan-
themum are each real as they are, and the former pine and the latter pine are
each real as they are. People who do not clarify the state like this, even if
they encounter the truth authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha,
cannot even suspect what kind of truth is being expressed; they do not pos-
sess the understanding that buddhas succeed each other and that patriarchs
experience the same state. It is pitiful that though they appear to be the
Buddha's progeny, they are not the Buddha's children, and they are not child-
buddhas.
[6] Sokei,5 on one occasion, preaches to the assembly, �From the Seven
Buddhas to Eno there are forty buddhas, and from Eno to the Seven Bud-
dhas there are forty patriarchs. �6 This truth is clearly the fundamental teach-
ing to which the Buddhist patriarchs have authentically succeeded. Among
these �Seven Buddhas,� some have appeared during the past kalpa of resplen-
dence7 and some have appeared in the present kalpa of the wise. 8 At the same
time, to connect in a line the face-to-face transmissions of the forty patri-
archs is the truth of Buddha, and is the succession of Buddha. This being so,
going up from the Sixth Patriarch to the Seven Buddhas, there are forty patri-
archs who are the buddha successors, and going down from the Seven Bud-
dhas to the Sixth Patriarch, the forty buddhas must be the buddha succes-
sors. The truth of buddhas, and the truth of patriarchs, is like this. Without
experience of the state, without being a Buddhist patriarch, we do not have
the wisdom of a buddha and do not have the perfect realization of a patri-
arch. Without a buddha's wisdom, we lack belief in the state of buddha.
Without a patriarch's perfect realization, we do not experience the same state
as a patriarch. To speak of forty patriarchs, for the present, is just to cite
those who are close. Thus, the succession from buddha to buddha is pro-
found and eternal; it is without regression or deviation and without inter-
ruption or cessation. The fundamental point is this: although Sakyamuni
Buddha realizes the truth before the Seven Buddhas, it has taken him a long
time to succeed to the Dharma of Kasyapa Buddha. 9 Although he realizes
the truth on the eighth day of the twelfth month, thirty years after his descent
and birth, [this] is realization of the truth before the Seven Buddhas; it is the
same realization of the truth shoulder-to-shoulder with, and in time with, the
many buddhas; it is realization of the truth before the many buddhas; and it
is realization of the truth after all the many buddhas. There is also the prin-
ciple to be mastered in practice that Kasyapa Buddha succeeds to the Dharma
of Sakyamuni Buddha. Those who do not know this principle do not clarify
the Buddha's state of truth. Without clarifying the Buddha's state of truth,
they are not the Buddha's successors. The Buddha's successors means the
Buddha's children. Sakyamuni Buddha, on one occasion, causes Ananda to
ask,10 �Whose disciples are the buddhas of the past? � Sakyamuni Buddha
says, �The buddhas of the past are the disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha. � The
Buddhist doctrine of all the buddhas is like this.
[9] To serve these buddhas and to accomplish the succession of Buddha
is just the Buddha's truth [practiced by] every buddha. This Buddha's truth
is always transmitted in the succession of the Dharma, at which time there
is inevitably a certificate of succession. Without the succession of Dharma,
we would be non-Buddhists of naturalism. If the Buddha's truth did not dic-
tate the succession of Dharma, how could it have reached the present day?
Therefore, in [the transmission] that is [from] buddha [to] buddha, a certifi-
cate of succession, of buddha succeeding buddha, is inevitably present, and
a certificate of succession, of buddha succeeding buddha, is received. As
regards the concrete situation of the certificate of succession, some succeed
to the Dharma on clarifying the sun, the moon, and the stars, and some suc-
ceed to the Dharma on being made to get the skin, ? esh, bones, and mar-
row;11 some receive a ka? aya; some receive a staff; some receive a sprig of
pine; some receive a whisk;12 some receive an u? umbara ? ower; and some
receive a robe of golden brocade. 13 There have been successions with straw
sandals14 and successions with a bamboo stick. 15 When such successions of
the Dharma are received, some write a certificate of succession with blood
from a finger, some write a certificate of succession with blood from a tongue,
and some perform the succession of Dharma by writing [a certificate] with
oil and milk; these are all certificates of succession. The one who has per-
formed the succession and the one who has received it are both the Buddha's
successors. Truly, whenever [Buddhist patriarchs] are realized as Buddhist
patriarchs, the succession of the Dharma is inevitably realized. When [the
succession] is realized, many Buddhist patriarchs [find that] though they did
not expect it, it has come, and though they did not seek it, they have suc-
ceeded to the Dharma. Those who have the succession of Dharma are, with-
out exception, the buddhas and the patriarchs.
[12] Since the twenty-eighth patriarch16 came from the west, the fun-
damental principle has been rightly heard in the Eastern Lands that there is
in Buddhism the succession of the Dharma. Before that time, we never heard
it at all. [Even] in the Western Heavens, it is neither attained nor known by
teachers of commentaries, Dharma teachers, and the like. It is also beyond
[bodhisattvas of] the ten sacred and the three clever states. Teachers of mantric
techniques who intellectually study the Tripi? aka17 are not able even to sus-
pect that it exists. Deplorably, though they have received the human body
which is a vessel for the state of truth, they have become uselessly entan-
gled in the net of theory, and so they do not know the method of liberation
and they do not hope for the opportunity to spring free. Therefore, we should
learn the state of truth in detail, and we should concentrate our resolve to
realize the state in practice.
[13] Dogen, when in Song [China], had the opportunity to bow before
certificates of succession, and there were many kinds of certificate. One among
them was that of the veteran master Iichi Seido18 who had hung his traveling
staff at Tendo [Temple]. He was a man from the Etsu district, and was the
former abbot of Kofukuji. He was a native of the same area as my late mas-
ter. My late master always used to say, �For familiarity with the state, ask
Iichi Seido! � One day Seido said, �Admirable old [calligraphic] traces are
prized possessions of the human world. How many of them have you seen? �
Dogen said, �I have seen few. � Then Seido said, �I have a scroll of old cal-
ligraphy in my room. It is a roster. I will let you see it, venerable brother. �
So saying, he fetched it, and I saw that it was a certificate of succession. It
was a certificate of the succession of Hogen's19 lineage, and had been obtained
from among the robes and patra20 of an old veteran monk: it was not that of
the venerable Iichi himself. The way it was written is as follows: �The first
patriarch Mahakasyapa realized the truth under Sakyamuni Buddha; Sakya-
muni Buddha realized the truth under Kasyapa Buddha. . . . � It was written
like this. Seeing it, Dogen decisively believed in the succession of the Dharma
from rightful successor to rightful successor. [The certificate] was Dharma
that I had never before seen. It was a moment in which the Buddhist patri-
archs mystically respond to and protect their descendants. The feeling of
gratitude was beyond endurance.
[15] The veteran monk Shugetsu, while he was assigned to the post of
head monk21 on Tendo, showed Dogen a certificate of succession of Unmon's
lineage. The master directly above the person now receiving the certificate,
and the Buddhist patriarchs of the Western Heavens and the Eastern Lands,
were arranged in columns, and under those was the name of the person receiv-
ing the certificate. All the Buddhist patriarchs were directly aligned with the
name of this new ancestral master. Thus, the more than forty generations
from the Tathagata all converged on the name of the new successor. For
example, it was as if each of them had handed down [the Dharma] to the
new patriarch. Mahakasyapa, Ananda, and so on, were aligned as if [they
belonged to] separate lineages. 22 At that time, Dogen asked Head Monk
Shugetsu, �Master, nowadays there are slight differences among the five
sects23 in their alignment [of names]. What is the reason? If the succession
from the Western Heavens has passed from rightful successor to rightful
successor, how could there be differences? � Shugetsu said, �Even if the dif-
ference were great, we should just study that the buddhas of Unmonzan are
like this. Why is Old Master Sakyamuni honored by others? He is an hon-
ored one because he realized the truth. Why is Great Master Unmon hon-
ored by others? He is an honored one because he realized the truth. � Dogen,
hearing these words, had a little [clearer] understanding. Nowadays many
leaders of the great temples24 in Kososho and Setsukosho25 are successors
to the Dharma of Rinzai, Unmon, Tozan, and so on. However, among fel-
lows claiming to be distant descendants of Rinzai a certain wrongness is
sometimes contrived; namely, they attend the order of a good counselor, and
cordially request a hanging portrait and a scroll of Dharma words,26 which
they stash away as standards of their succession to the Dharma. At the same
time, there is a group of dogs who, [prowling] in the vicinity of a venerable
patriarch, cordially request Dharma words, portraits, and so on, which they
hoard away to excess; then, when they become senior in years, they pay
money to government officials and they seek to get a temple, [but] when
they are assigned as abbots they do not receive the Dharma from the master
[who gave them] the Dharma words and the portrait. They receive the Dharma
from fellows of fame and repute of the present generation, or from old vet-
erans who are intimate with kings and ministers, and when they do so they
have no interest in getting the Dharma but are only greedy for fame and rep-
utation. It is deplorable that there are wrong customs like this in the corrupt
age of the latter Dharma. Among people like these, not one person has ever
seen or heard the truth of the Buddhist patriarchs, even in a dream. In gen-
eral, with respect to the granting of Dharma words, portraits, and so forth,
they may be given to lecturers of doctrine and laymen and laywomen, and
they may be granted to temple servants, tradesmen, and the like. This prin-
ciple is clear from the records of many masters. Sometimes, when some
undeserving person, out of a rash desire for evidence of succession to the
Dharma, wants to get a certificate, [a master] will reluctantly take up the
writing brush, though those who possess the truth hate to do so. In such a
case the certificate does not follow the traditional form; [the master] just
writes some brief note saying �succeeded me. � The method of recent times
is simply to succeed to the Dharma as soon as one attains proficiency in the
order of a particular master, with that master as one's master. [That is to say,
there are] people who, although they have not received certification from
their former master, are occupying the long platform [of another temple] that
they have visited only for entry into [the master's] room and formal preach-
ing in the Dharma hall; [but] when they break open the great matter while
staying at [this other] temple, they do not have the time to uphold the trans-
mission of their [original] master; instead they very often take this [new]
master as their master. Another matter: there was a certain Library Chief27
Den, a distant descendant of Zen Master Butsugen, that is, Master Seion of
Ryumon. 28 This Library Chief Den also had a certificate of succession in his
possession. In the early years of the Kajo era,29 when this Library Chief Den
had fallen ill, Venerable Elder30 Ryuzen, though a Japanese, had nursed
Library Chief Den with care; so [Library Chief Den] had taken out the cer-
tificate of succession and let [Ryuzen] bow before it to thank him for his
nursing work, because his labors had been unremitting. [At that time Library
Chief Den] had said, �This is something hardly seen. I will let you bow before
it. � Eight years later, in the autumn of the sixteenth year of Kajo,31 when
Dogen first stopped on Tendozan, Venerable Elder Ryuzen kindly asked
Library Chief Den to let Dogen see the certificate of succession. The form
of the certificate was as follows: the forty-five patriarchs from the Seven
Buddhas to Rinzai were written in columns, while the masters following
Rinzai formed a circle in which were transcribed the masters' original Dharma
names32 and their written seals. 33 The [name of the] new successor was writ-
ten at the end, under the date. We should know that the venerable patriarchs
of Rinzai's lineage have this kind of difference.
[21] My late master, the abbot of Tendo, profoundly cautioned people
against bragging about succeeding to the Dharma. Truly, the order of my
late master was the order of an eternal buddha, it was the revival of the
monastery. 34 He himself did not wear a patterned ka? aya. He had a patched
Dharma robe transmitted from Zen Master Dokai of Fuyozan,35 but he did
not wear it [even] to ascend the seat of formal preaching in the Dharma hall.
In short, he never wore a patterned Dharma robe throughout his life as an
abbot. Those who had the mind and those who did not know things all praised
him and honored him as a true good counselor. My late master, the eternal
buddha, in formal preaching in the Dharma hall would constantly admonish
monks in all directions, saying, �Recently many people who have borrowed
the name of the Patriarch's truth randomly wear the Dharma robe and like
[to have] long hair, and they sign their name with the title of master as a ves-
sel of promotion. They are pitiful. Who will save them? It is lamentable that
the old veterans of all directions have no will to the truth and so they do not
learn the state of truth. There are few who have even seen and heard of the
causes and conditions of the certificate of succession and the succession of
the Dharma. Among a hundred thousand people there is not even one! This
is [due to] the decline of the Patriarch's truth. � He was always admonishing
the old veterans of the whole country like this, but they did not resent him.
In conclusion, wherever [people] are sincerely pursuing the truth they are able
to see and to hear that the certificate of succession exists. �To have seen and
heard� may be �learning the state of truth� itself. On the Rinzai certificate of
succession, first the [master] writes the name [of the successor], then writes
�Disciple So-and-So served under me,� or writes �has attended my order,�
or writes �entered my inner sanctum,� or writes �succeeded me,� and then
lists the former patriarchs in order. [So] it also shows a trace of traditional36
instruction about the Dharma, the point being for the successor simply to
meet a true good counselor, regardless of whether the meeting is in the end
or in the beginning: this is the unassailable fundamental principle. 37 Among
[certificates of] the Rinzai [lineage], there are some written as described
above�I saw them with my own eyes, and so I have written about them.
[24] �Library Chief Ryoha38 is a person of the Ibu39 district, and now
he is my disciple. [I,] Tokko,40 served Ko41 of Kinzan. Kinzan succeeded
Gon42 of Kassan. Gon succeeded En43 of Yogi. En succeeded Tan44 of Kaie.
Tan succeeded E45 of Yogi. E succeeded En46 of Jimyo. En succeeded Sho47
of Fun'yo. Sho succeeded Nen48 of Shuzan. Nen succeeded Sho49 of Fuketsu.
Sho succeeded Gyo of Nan'in. 50 Gyo succeeded Sho51 of Koke. Sho was the
excellent rightful successor of the founding patriarch Rinzai. �52
[27] Zen Master Bussho Tokko of Aikuozan53 wrote this and presented
it to Musai [Ryo]ha. When [Musai Ryoha] was the abbot of Tendo, my
brother monk54 Chiyu secretly brought it to the Dormitory of Quiescence55
to show to Dogen. That was the first time I saw it, the twenty-first day of the
first lunar month of the seventeenth year of the great Song era of Kajo [1224].
How overjoyed I felt! This was just the mystical response of the Buddhist
patriarchs. I burned incense and did prostrations, then opened and read it.
My asking for this certificate of succession to be brought out [happened as
follows]: Around the seventh lunar month of the previous year [1223], in
the Hall of Serene Light, Chief Officer56 Shiko had told Dogen about it in
secret. Dogen had asked the chief in passing, �Nowadays, what person would
have one in their possession? � The chief said, �It seems that the venerable
abbot has one in his room. In future, if you cordially request him to bring it
out, he will surely show it [to you]. � Dogen, after hearing these words, never
stopped hoping, day or night. So in that year (1224), I cordially put my hum-
ble request to brother monk Chiyu. I did so with all my heart, and the request
was granted. The base on which [the certificate] was written was a lining of
white silk, and the cover was red brocade. The rod was precious stone, about
nine inches57 long. [The scroll's] extent was more than seven feet. 58 It was
never shown to an idle person. Dogen thanked Chiyu at once, and then went
straightway to visit the abbot, to burn incense and to bow in thanks to Mas-
ter Musai. At that time Musai said, �This sort of thing is rarely able to be
seen or known. Now, venerable brother, you have been able to know of it.
This is just the real refuge in learning the truth. � At this Dogen's joy was
uncontainable. Later, in the Hogyo era,59 while traveling as a cloud between
Tendaizan,60 Ganzan, and so on, Dogen arrived at Mannenji61 in the Heiden
district. The master of the temple at that time was Master Genshi from Fukushu
province. Master [Gen]shi had been assigned following the retirement of the
veteran patriarch Sokan and he had completely revitalized the temple. While
I was making personal salutations, we had a conversation about the tradi-
tional customs of the Buddhist patriarchs, and while quoting the story of the
succession from Daii62 to Kyozan,63 the veteran master said, �Have you ever
seen the certificate of succession [that I have] in my room? � Dogen said,
�How might I have the chance to see it? � The veteran master himself imme-
diately rose and, holding aloft the certificate of succession,64 he said, �I have
not shown this even to intimates, or even to those who have spent years serv-
ing as attendant monks. That is the Buddhist patriarchs' Dharma instruction.
However, while staying in the city on my usual visit to the city in order to
meet the governor of the district, Genshi had the following dream: An emi-
nent monk, whom I supposed to be Zen Master Hojo of Daibai zan,65 appeared
holding up a branch of plum blossoms and said, �If there is a real person who
has crossed the side of a ship, do not begrudge [these] blossoms. ' Thus say-
ing, he gave the plum blossoms to me. Unconsciously, Genshi dreamed of
chanting, �Even before he has stepped over the side of the ship, I would like
to give him thirty strokes! ' In any event, five days have not passed and I
meet you, venerable brother. What is more, you have crossed over the side
of a ship. And this certificate of succession is written on cloth patterned with
plum blossoms. You must be what Daibai was telling me about. You match
the image in the dream exactly and so I have brought out [the certificate].
Venerable brother, would you like to receive the Dharma from me? If you
desire it, I will not begrudge it. � Dogen could not contain his belief and
excitement. Though he had said that I might request the certificate of suc-
cession, I only venerated and served him, burning incense and performing
prostrations. Present at that time was a [monk] called Honei, an assistant for
the burning of incense; he said that it was the first time he had seen the cer-
tificate of succession. Dogen thought inwardly, �It would be very difficult
indeed to see and to hear this sort of thing without the mystical help of the
Buddhist patriarchs. Why should a stupid fellow from a remote land be so
fortunate as to see it several times? � My sleeves became damp with the tears
of gratitude. At that time the Vimalakirti Room, the Great Hall,66 and the
other rooms were quiet and empty; there was no one about.
This certificate
of succession was written on white silk patterned with plum blossoms fallen
on the ground. It was more than nine inches across, and it extended to a
length of more than a fathom. The rod was of a yellow precious stone and
the cover was brocade. On the way back from Tendaizan to Tendo, Dogen
lodged at the overnight quarters of Goshoji on Daibaizan. [Here] I dreamed
a mystical dream in which the ancestral master Daibai came and gave me a
branch of plum ? owers in bloom. A patriarch's mirror is the most reliable
thing there is. The blossoms on that branch were more than a foot in diam-
eter. How could the plum blossoms not have been the ? owers of the u? um-
bara? 67 It may be that the state in a dream and the state in waking con-
sciousness are equally real. Dogen, while in Song [China] and since returning
to this country, has not before related [the above] to any person.
[33] Today in our lineage from Tozan [the way] the certificate of suc-
cession is written is different from [the way] it is written in the Rinzai and
other [lineages]. The founding patriarch Seigen,68 in front of Sokei's desk,
personally drew pure blood from his finger to copy [the certificate] that the
Buddhist patriarch had kept inside his robe, and [thus] he received the authen-
tic transmission. Legend says that [the certificate] was written and trans-
mitted using a mixture of this finger blood and blood from the finger of Sokei.
Legend says that in the case of the First Patriarch and the Second Patriarch
also, a rite of mixing blood was performed. 69 We do not write such words
as �My disciple� or �Served me. � This is the form of the certificate of suc-
cession written and transmitted by the many buddhas and by the Seven Bud-
dhas. So remember that Sokei graciously mixed his own blood with the pure
blood of Seigen, and Seigen mixed his own pure blood with Sokei's own
blood, and that the founding patriarch, Master Seigen, was thus the only one
to receive the direct certification�it was beyond other patriarchs. People
who know this fact assert that the Buddha-Dharma was authentically trans-
mitted only to Seigen.
[34] My late master, the eternal buddha, the great master and abbot of
Tendo, preached the following: �The buddhas, without exception, have expe-
rienced the succession of the Dharma. That is to say, Sakyamuni Buddha
received the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha, Kasyapa Buddha received the
Dharma from Kanakamuni Buddha, and Kanakamuni Buddha received the
Dharma from Krakucchanda Buddha. 70 We should believe that the succes-
sion has passed like this from buddha to buddha until the present. This is the
way of learning Buddhism. � Then Dogen said, �It was after Kasyapa Buddha
had entered nirvana that Sakyamuni Buddha first appeared in the world and
realized the truth. Furthermore, how could the buddhas of the kalpa of wis-
dom receive the Dharma from the buddhas of the kalpa of resplendence? 71
What [do you think] of this principle? � My late master said, �What you have
just expressed is understanding [based on] listening to theories. It is the way
of [bodhisattvas at] the ten sacred stages or the three clever stages. It is not
the way [transmitted by] the Buddhist patriarchs from rightful successor to
rightful successor. Our way, transmitted from buddha to buddha, is not like
that. We have learned that Sakyamuni Buddha definitely received the Dharma
from Kasyapa Buddha. We learn in practice that Kasyapa Buddha entered
nirvana after Sakyamuni Buddha succeeded to the Dharma. If Sakyamuni
Buddha did not receive the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha, he might be the
same as a naturalistic non-Buddhist. Who then could believe in Sakyamuni
Buddha? Because the succession has passed like this from buddha to buddha,
and has arrived at the present, the individual buddhas are all authentic suc-
cessors, and they are neither arranged in a line nor gathered in a group. We
just learn that the succession passes from buddha to buddha like this. It need
not be related to the measurements of kalpas and the measurements of life-
times mentioned in the teaching of the Agamas. If we say that [the succes-
sion] was established solely by Sakyamuni Buddha, it has existed for little
over two thousand years, [so] it is not old; and the successions [number] lit-
tle more than forty, [so] they might be called recent. This Buddhist succession
is not to be studied like that. We learn that Sakyamuni Buddha succeeded
to the Dharma of Kasyapa Buddha, and we learn that Kasyapa Buddha suc-
ceeded to the Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha. When we learn it like this, it
is truly the succession of the Dharma of the buddhas and the patriarchs. �
Then Dogen not only accepted, for the first time, the existence of Buddhist
patriarchs' succession of the Dharma, but also got rid of an old nest. 72
Shobogenzo Shisho
Written at Kannondorikoshohorinji on the
seventh day of the third lunar month in the
second year of Japan's Ninji era,73 by [a
monk] who entered Song [China] and
received the transmission of the Dharma,
srama? a Dogen.
The twenty-fourth day of the ninth lunar
month in [the first year of] Kangen. 74 Hung
our traveling staffs at old Kippoji, a
thatched cottage in Yoshida district of
Echizen. 75 (written seal)76
---
BDK English Tripitaka
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BDK English Tripitaka
A Biography of Sakyamuni
The Lotus Sutra (Second Revised Edition)
The Sutra of Queen Srimala of the Lion's Roar
The Larger Sutra on Amitayus
The Sutra on Contemplation of Amitayus
The Smaller Sutra on Amitayus
The Bequeathed Teaching Sutra
The Vimalakirti Sutra
The Ullambana Sutra
The Sutra of Forty-two Sections
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
The Vairocanabhisa? bodhi Sutra
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 1
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 2
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 3
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 4
Tannisho: Passages Deploring Deviations of Faith
Rennyo Shonin Ofumi: The Letters of Rennyo
The Sutra on the Profundity of Filial Love
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 1 (? ? ? ? (1))
Chapter/Section: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
B2582_1 (biblio info) Chapter/Section 17
[Chapter Seventeen]
Hokke-ten-hokke
The Flower of Dharma
Turns the Flower of Dharma
Translator 's Note: Ho means �Dharma,� �the law of the universe,� or the
universe itself. Ke means �? owers. � So hokke means �the universe that is
like ? owers. � The full title of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho rengekyo (Sutra of the
Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma), is usually abbreviated to Hokkekyo.
So hokke also suggests the wonderful universe as manifested in the Lotus
Sutra. Ten means �to turn,� or �to move. � So hokke-ten-hokke means �the
wonderful universe that is like ? owers is moving the wonderful universe that
is like ? owers itself. � This is the Buddhist view of the universe, and Master
Dogen's view. In this chapter, Master Dogen explains this view of the uni-
verse, quoting many words from the Lotus Sutra. The message of the Lotus
Sutra is �How wonderful is the universe in which we are now living! � So
here Master Dogen unfolds his view of the universe, following the theory of
the Lotus Sutra.
[39] �The content of the buddha lands of the ten directions�1 is the �sole exis-
tence�2 of the �Flower of Dharma. �3 Herein, �all the buddhas of the ten direc-
tions and the three times,�4 and beings of anuttara samyaksa? bodhi,5 have
[times of] turning the Flower of Dharma,6 and have [times of] the Flower of
Dharma turning. 7 This is just the state in which �original practice of the
bodhisattva way�8 neither regresses nor deviates. It is the �wisdom of the
buddhas, profound and unfathomable. �9 It is the �calm and clear state of
samadhi,�10 which is �difficult to understand and difficult to enter. �11 As
Buddha Ma�jusri,12 it has the �form as it is�13 of �buddhas alone, together
with buddhas,�14 which is �the great ocean� or �the buddha land. � Or as
Buddha Sakyamuni,15 it is �appearance in the world�16 in the state of �Only
I know concrete form, and the buddhas of the ten directions are also like
that. �17 It is the �one time�18 in which he �desires to cause living beings�19
to �disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter,�20 [saying] �I and buddhas
of the ten directions are directly able to know these things. �21 Or it is Uni-
versal Virtue,22 �accomplishing� the Dharma Flower's turning whose �virtue
is unthinkable,�23 and �spreading throughout Jambud vipa�24 the �profound
and eternal�25 [truth of] anuttara samyak sa? bodhi, at which time the earth
is able to produce the three kinds of plants, the two kinds of shrubs, and
�large and small trees,�26 and the rain is able to moisten them. In the state in
which �an object cannot be recognized,�27 he is solely �accomplishing the
total practice�28 of the Flower of Dharma turning. While Universal Virtue's
spreading [of the truth] is still unfinished, the �great order on Vulture Peak�29
comes together. Sakyamuni experiences, as the �manifestation of light from
his [circle of] white hair,�30 the coming and going of Universal Virtue. 31 The
Flower of Dharma turns when, before Sakyamuni's �Buddhist assembly is
halfway through,� the �consideration�32 of Ma�jusri �swiftly� gives �affir-
mation�33 to Maitreya. Universal Virtue, the many buddhas, Ma� jusri, and
the great assembly, may all be the �paramita of knowing�34 the Dharma
Flower's turning, which is �good in the beginning, middle, and end. �35 This
is why [the Buddha] has �manifested himself in reality,� calling �sole
reliance�36 on the �One Vehicle�37 �the one great matter. �38 Because this
manifestation in reality is itself �the one great matter,� there are [the words]
�buddhas alone, together with buddhas, just can perfectly realize that all
dharmas are real form. �39 The method40 for that is inevitably �the One Buddha
Vehicle,� and �buddhas alone� necessarily teach its �perfect realization� to
�buddhas alone. � �The many buddhas� and �the Seven Buddhas�41 teach its
�perfect realization� to each individual buddha, buddha-to-buddha, and they
cause Sakyamuni Buddha to �accomplish� it. 42 [Every place from] India in
the west to China in the east is �in the buddha lands of the ten directions. �
[For every patriarch] until the thirty-third patriarch, Zen Master Daikan,43
[this method] is the method which is �the One Vehicle of buddhas alone,�
and which is just �perfect realization� itself. It is �the One Buddha Vehicle�
in which �sole reliance� is decisively �the one great matter. � Now it is �man-
ifesting itself in the world. �44 It is manifesting itself at this place. 45 That the
Buddhist customs of Seigen46 have been transmitted to the present, and that
Nangaku's47 Dharma gate has been opened and preached through the world,
are totally [due to] the �Tathagata's real wisdom. �48 Truly, this [real wisdom]
is the �perfect realization of buddhas alone, together with buddhas. � The
Dharma Flower's turning may be preaching it49 as the �disclosure, display,
realization, and entering� of buddhas who are rightful successors, and of
rightful successors of buddhas. This [real wisdom] is also called the Sutra
of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,50 and it is �the method of
teaching bodhisattvas. �51 Because this [real wisdom] has been called �all
dharmas,� �Vulture Peak� exists, �space�52 exists, the �great ocean�53 exists,
and the �great earth�54 exists, with the Flower of Dharma as their �national
land. �55 This is just �real form�; it is �reality as it is�;56 �it is the wisdom of
the Buddha�; it is �the constancy of the manifestation of the world�;57 it is
�the real�;58 it is �the Tathagata's lifetime�;59 it is �the profound and unfath-
omable�;60 it is �the inconstancy of all actions�;61 it is �samadhi as [the state
of] the Flower of Dharma�;62 it is �Sakyamuni Buddha�; it is �to turn the
Flower of Dharma�;63 it is �the Flower of Dharma turning�;64 it is �the right
Dharma-eye treasury and the fine mind of nirvana�;65 and it is �manifesta-
tion of the body to save living beings. �66 As �affirmation and becoming
buddha,�67 it is maintained and relied upon, and dwelled in and retained.
[47] To the order of Zen Master Daikan68 at Horinji on Sokeizan, in the
Shoshu district of Guangdong,69 in the great kingdom of Tang, there came
a monk called Hotatsu. 70 He boasts, �I have recited the Lotus Sutra three
thousand times already. �
The patriarch says, �Even if [you recite it] ten thousand times, if you
do not understand the sutra, you will not be able even to recognize [your]
errors. �
Hotatsu says, �The student is foolish. Until now, I have only been read-
ing [the sutra] aloud following the characters. How could I have hoped to
clarify the meaning? �
The patriarch says, �Try reciting a round [of the sutra] and I will inter-
pret it for you. �
Hotatsu recites the sutra at once. When he reaches the �Expedient
Means�71 chapter the patriarch says, �Stop! The fundamental point of this
sutra is the purpose of [the buddhas'] appearance in the world. 72 Although
it expounds many metaphors, [the sutra] does not go beyond this. What is
that purpose? Only the one great matter. The one great matter is just the
Buddha's wisdom itself; it is to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter
[the Buddha's wisdom]. [The one great matter] is naturally the wisdom of
the Buddha and someone who is equipped with the wisdom is already a
buddha. You must now believe that the Buddha's wisdom is simply your
own natural state of mind. � He preaches again in the following verse:
When the mind is in delusion, the Flower of Dharma turns.
When the mind is in realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.
Unless we are clear about ourselves, however long we recite [the
sutra],
It will become an enemy because of its meanings.
Without intention the mind is right.
With intention the mind becomes wrong.
When we transcend both with and without,
We ride eternally in the white ox cart. 73
Hotatsu, on hearing this poem, addresses the patriarch again: �The sutra
says that even if all in the great [order], from sravakas to bodhisattvas,
exhausted their intellect to suppose it,74 they could not fathom the Buddha's
wisdom. If you are now saying that the effort to make the common person
realize his own mind is just the Buddha's wisdom, unless we are of excel-
lent makings we can hardly help doubting and denying it. Furthermore, the
sutra explains the three kinds of carts, but what kind of distinction is there
between the great ox cart and the white ox cart? Please, master, bestow your
preaching again. �
The patriarch says, �The intention of the sutra is clear. You are stray-
ing off on your own and going against it. When people of the three vehicles
cannot fathom the Buddha's wisdom, the trouble is in their supposition itself.
Even if together they exhaust their intellects to consider it,75 they will only
get further and further away. 76 The Buddha originally preaches only for the
benefit of the common person; he does not preach for the benefit of buddhas.
Some are not fit to believe this principle and withdraw from their seats;77
they do not know that they are sitting in the white ox cart yet still searching
outside the gate78 for the three kinds of carts. The words of the sutra are
clearly telling you: �There is neither a second nor a third. '79 Why do you not
realize it? The three carts are fictitious, for they belong to the past. The One
Vehicle is real, for it exists in the present. I only [wish to] make you get rid
of the fiction and get back to the reality. When we get back to reality, real-
ity is not a concept. Remember, your possessions are all treasures,80 and they
totally belong to you. How you receive and use them is up to you. [The real-
ity of the sutra] is neither the ideas of the father nor the ideas of the chil-
dren,81 indeed it does not rely upon ideas at all; rather, it is called the Sutra
of the Flower of Dharma. From kalpa to kalpa, from noon to night, [our]
hands do not put down the sutra, and there is no time when we are not read-
ing it. � Hotatsu, enlightened already and jumping for joy,82 presents the fol-
lowing verse of praise:
Three thousand recitations of the sutra
With one phrase from Sokei, forgotten.
Before clarifying the import of [the buddhas'] appearance in the
world,
How can we stop recurring lives of madness?
[The sutra] explains goat, deer, and ox as an expedient,
[But] proclaims that beginning, middle, and end are good.
Who knows that [even] within the burning house,
Originally we are kings in the Dharma.
When he presents this verse, the patriarch says, �From now on, you may
be called the Sutra-reading Monk. �83
[54] The story84 of how Zen Master Hotatsu visited Sokei is like this.
Hereafter the Flower of Dharma began to be expounded as the Flower of
Dharma turning and turning of the Dharma Flower. [Those terms] were not
heard previously. Truly, the clarification of the Buddha's wisdom should
always take place under a Buddhist patriarch who may be the right Dharma-
eye treasury itself. [The Buddha's wisdom] cannot be known by literary
scholars who vainly count sand and pebbles, as we can see again here in
Hotatsu's experience. To clarify the true meaning of the Flower of Dharma,
�perfectly realize,� as �only the one great purpose,� that which the ances-
tral master �disclosed and displayed. � Do not intend to study other vehicles.
The present is the reality85 as it is of the real form, the real nature, the real
body, the real energy, the real causes, and the real effects of the Flower of
Dharma turning. 86 This was never heard in China, and it was never present
[in China], before the time of the ancestral master. �The Flower of Dharma
is turning� means �the mind is in delusion�; the mind being deluded is just
the Flower of Dharma turning. Therefore, when the mind is in delusion, we
are being turned by the Flower of Dharma. This means that even when men-
tal delusion is in myriad phenomena, �form as it is�87 is still being turned by
the Flower of Dharma. This being turned is not to be rejoiced at, and it is
not to be hoped for; it is not gained, and it does not come. Even so, when
the Flower of Dharma is turning �there is neither a second nor a third. �
Because [the Flower of Dharma turning] is the �sole existence of the One
Buddha Vehicle,� and because it is the Flower of Dharma with �form as it
is,� whether it is the turner or the turned, it is �the One Buddha Vehicle,�
and �the one great matter. �
88It is just moment by moment of red mind,89 upon which we rely solely.
So do not worry about the mind being deluded. Your actions are the bodhi-
sattva way itself;90 they are to serve the buddhas,91 which is original prac-
tice of the bodhisattva way. 92 What you disclose, display, realize, and enter
is, in every case, an instance of the Flower of Dharma turning.
93There is mental delusion in the burning house, there is mental delu-
sion just at the gate itself, there is mental delusion outside the gate, there is
mental delusion just in front of the gate, and there is mental delusion within
the gate. 94 Mental delusion has created �within the gate� and �outside the
gate� and even �the gate itself,� �the burning house,� and so on; therefore,
disclosure, display, realization, and entering may take place even on the
white ox-carriage. 95 When we think of entry as �adornment�96 on this car-
riage, should we hope for �open ground�97 as the place to enter, or should
we recognize �the burning house� as the place to leave? 98 Should we reach
the conclusion99 that the gate itself is merely a place of momentary pass-
ing? 100 Remember, inside the carriage, there is turning [of the Flower of
Dharma] which causes us to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the
burning house; and on the open ground there is turning which causes us to
disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the burning house. 101 There are
cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and enter-
ing through the whole gate as the gate here and now;102 and there are cases
in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering
through a single gate which is [an instance of] the universal gate. 103 There
is turning which discloses, displays, realizes, and enters the universal gate
in each instance of disclosure, display, realization, and entering. 104 There are
cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and enter-
ing within the gate,105 and there are cases in which the turning activates dis-
closure, display, realization, and entering outside the gate. 106 There are cases
of disclosing, displaying, realizing, and entering open ground in the burn-
ing house. 107
108Therefore the burning house is �beyond understanding�109 and the
open ground is �beyond knowing. �110 Who could make the turning of the
wheel of the triple world111 into a carriage and ride it as �the One Vehicle�?
Who could leave and enter disclosure, display, realization, and entering as
if they were a gate? If we seek the carriage from the burning house, how
many times the wheel must turn! When we look upon the burning house
from the open ground, how �deep in the distance�112 it is! Should we reach
the conclusion that Vulture Peak existed �in tranquility�113 on open ground?
Or should we study in action that the open ground is �balanced and even�114
on Vulture Peak? �The place where living beings enjoy themselves�115 has
been made into �eternal presence�116 as �my Pure Land which is immor-
tal,�117 and this also we must meticulously perform as �original practice. �118
Do we realize in practice that �wholeheartedly wanting to meet
Buddha�119 is about ourselves, or do we realize in practice that it is about
others? There are times when the truth is realized as an �individual body,�120
and there are times when the truth is realized as the �whole body. �121
�Appearance together on Vulture Peak�122 comes from �not begrudg-
ing one's own body and life. �123 There is disclosure, display, realization, and
entering in �constantly abiding here preaching the Dharma,�124 and there is
disclosure, display, realization, and entering in, �as an expedient method,
manifesting nirvana. �125 In the state of �being close yet still failing to see,�126
who could not believe in understanding of non-understanding by �whole-
heartedness�? 127
The place that is �always filled with gods and human beings�128 is just
the land of Sakyamuni Buddha and of Vairocana,129 �the eternally peaceful
and bright land�130 itself. We who naturally belong in the �four lands�131 are
just living in �the Buddha's land� which is �real oneness. �132 When we look
at �atoms�133 that does not mean we fail to see �the world of Dharma. � When
we are experiencing the world of Dharma,134 that does not mean we fail to
experience atoms. When the buddhas experience the world of Dharma, they
do not exclude us from the experience, which is �good at the beginning, mid-
dle, and end. �
This being so, the present is the �form as it is� of the state of experi-
ence, and even �alarm, doubt, and fear�135 are nothing other than reality as
it is. With the Buddha's wisdom, this [fear] is only the difference between
looking at atoms and sitting in atoms. When we are seated in the world of
Dharma it is not wide, and when we are sitting in atoms, they are not confin-
ing; therefore, without maintaining and relying upon [reality as it is], we
cannot sit, but when we are maintaining and relying upon [reality as it is],
there is no alarm or doubt about width and confinement.
rialistic viewpoint, the certificate is only cloth and ink, and so it cannot hold
religious meaning or be revered as something with religious value. But
Buddhism is a realistic religion, and Buddhists find religious value in many
concrete traditions. The certificate is one such traditional object that is revered
by Buddhists. Therefore Master Dogen found much value in this certificate.
In this chapter he explains why the certificate is revered by Buddhists, and
records his own experiences of seeing such certificates in China.
[3] Buddhas, without exception, receive the Dharma from buddhas, buddha-
to-buddha, and patriarchs, without exception, receive the Dharma from patri-
archs, patriarch-to-patriarch; this is experience of the [Buddha's] state,1 this
is the one-to-one transmission, and for this reason it is �the supreme state of
bodhi. � It is impossible to certify a buddha without being a buddha, and no
one becomes a buddha without receiving the certification of a buddha. Who
but a buddha can esteem this state as the most honored and approve it as the
supreme? When we receive the certification of a buddha, we realize the state
independently, without a master,2 and we realize the state independently,
without our self. 3 For this reason, we speak of buddhas really experiencing
the succession, and of patriarchs really experiencing the same state. The
import of this truth cannot be clarified by anyone other than buddhas. How
could it be the thought of [bodhisattvas in] the ten states or the state of bal-
anced awareness? 4 How much less could it be supposed by teachers of sutras,
teachers of commentaries, and the like? Even if we explain it to them, they
will not be able to hear it, because it is transmitted between buddhas, buddha-
to-buddha.
[5] Remember, the Buddha's state of truth is the perfect realization only
of buddhas, and without buddhas it has no time. The state is like, for exam-
ple, stones succeeding each other as stones, jewels succeeding each other as
jewels, chrysanthemums succeeding each other, and pine trees certifying
each other, at which time the former chrysanthemum and the latter chrysan-
themum are each real as they are, and the former pine and the latter pine are
each real as they are. People who do not clarify the state like this, even if
they encounter the truth authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha,
cannot even suspect what kind of truth is being expressed; they do not pos-
sess the understanding that buddhas succeed each other and that patriarchs
experience the same state. It is pitiful that though they appear to be the
Buddha's progeny, they are not the Buddha's children, and they are not child-
buddhas.
[6] Sokei,5 on one occasion, preaches to the assembly, �From the Seven
Buddhas to Eno there are forty buddhas, and from Eno to the Seven Bud-
dhas there are forty patriarchs. �6 This truth is clearly the fundamental teach-
ing to which the Buddhist patriarchs have authentically succeeded. Among
these �Seven Buddhas,� some have appeared during the past kalpa of resplen-
dence7 and some have appeared in the present kalpa of the wise. 8 At the same
time, to connect in a line the face-to-face transmissions of the forty patri-
archs is the truth of Buddha, and is the succession of Buddha. This being so,
going up from the Sixth Patriarch to the Seven Buddhas, there are forty patri-
archs who are the buddha successors, and going down from the Seven Bud-
dhas to the Sixth Patriarch, the forty buddhas must be the buddha succes-
sors. The truth of buddhas, and the truth of patriarchs, is like this. Without
experience of the state, without being a Buddhist patriarch, we do not have
the wisdom of a buddha and do not have the perfect realization of a patri-
arch. Without a buddha's wisdom, we lack belief in the state of buddha.
Without a patriarch's perfect realization, we do not experience the same state
as a patriarch. To speak of forty patriarchs, for the present, is just to cite
those who are close. Thus, the succession from buddha to buddha is pro-
found and eternal; it is without regression or deviation and without inter-
ruption or cessation. The fundamental point is this: although Sakyamuni
Buddha realizes the truth before the Seven Buddhas, it has taken him a long
time to succeed to the Dharma of Kasyapa Buddha. 9 Although he realizes
the truth on the eighth day of the twelfth month, thirty years after his descent
and birth, [this] is realization of the truth before the Seven Buddhas; it is the
same realization of the truth shoulder-to-shoulder with, and in time with, the
many buddhas; it is realization of the truth before the many buddhas; and it
is realization of the truth after all the many buddhas. There is also the prin-
ciple to be mastered in practice that Kasyapa Buddha succeeds to the Dharma
of Sakyamuni Buddha. Those who do not know this principle do not clarify
the Buddha's state of truth. Without clarifying the Buddha's state of truth,
they are not the Buddha's successors. The Buddha's successors means the
Buddha's children. Sakyamuni Buddha, on one occasion, causes Ananda to
ask,10 �Whose disciples are the buddhas of the past? � Sakyamuni Buddha
says, �The buddhas of the past are the disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha. � The
Buddhist doctrine of all the buddhas is like this.
[9] To serve these buddhas and to accomplish the succession of Buddha
is just the Buddha's truth [practiced by] every buddha. This Buddha's truth
is always transmitted in the succession of the Dharma, at which time there
is inevitably a certificate of succession. Without the succession of Dharma,
we would be non-Buddhists of naturalism. If the Buddha's truth did not dic-
tate the succession of Dharma, how could it have reached the present day?
Therefore, in [the transmission] that is [from] buddha [to] buddha, a certifi-
cate of succession, of buddha succeeding buddha, is inevitably present, and
a certificate of succession, of buddha succeeding buddha, is received. As
regards the concrete situation of the certificate of succession, some succeed
to the Dharma on clarifying the sun, the moon, and the stars, and some suc-
ceed to the Dharma on being made to get the skin, ? esh, bones, and mar-
row;11 some receive a ka? aya; some receive a staff; some receive a sprig of
pine; some receive a whisk;12 some receive an u? umbara ? ower; and some
receive a robe of golden brocade. 13 There have been successions with straw
sandals14 and successions with a bamboo stick. 15 When such successions of
the Dharma are received, some write a certificate of succession with blood
from a finger, some write a certificate of succession with blood from a tongue,
and some perform the succession of Dharma by writing [a certificate] with
oil and milk; these are all certificates of succession. The one who has per-
formed the succession and the one who has received it are both the Buddha's
successors. Truly, whenever [Buddhist patriarchs] are realized as Buddhist
patriarchs, the succession of the Dharma is inevitably realized. When [the
succession] is realized, many Buddhist patriarchs [find that] though they did
not expect it, it has come, and though they did not seek it, they have suc-
ceeded to the Dharma. Those who have the succession of Dharma are, with-
out exception, the buddhas and the patriarchs.
[12] Since the twenty-eighth patriarch16 came from the west, the fun-
damental principle has been rightly heard in the Eastern Lands that there is
in Buddhism the succession of the Dharma. Before that time, we never heard
it at all. [Even] in the Western Heavens, it is neither attained nor known by
teachers of commentaries, Dharma teachers, and the like. It is also beyond
[bodhisattvas of] the ten sacred and the three clever states. Teachers of mantric
techniques who intellectually study the Tripi? aka17 are not able even to sus-
pect that it exists. Deplorably, though they have received the human body
which is a vessel for the state of truth, they have become uselessly entan-
gled in the net of theory, and so they do not know the method of liberation
and they do not hope for the opportunity to spring free. Therefore, we should
learn the state of truth in detail, and we should concentrate our resolve to
realize the state in practice.
[13] Dogen, when in Song [China], had the opportunity to bow before
certificates of succession, and there were many kinds of certificate. One among
them was that of the veteran master Iichi Seido18 who had hung his traveling
staff at Tendo [Temple]. He was a man from the Etsu district, and was the
former abbot of Kofukuji. He was a native of the same area as my late mas-
ter. My late master always used to say, �For familiarity with the state, ask
Iichi Seido! � One day Seido said, �Admirable old [calligraphic] traces are
prized possessions of the human world. How many of them have you seen? �
Dogen said, �I have seen few. � Then Seido said, �I have a scroll of old cal-
ligraphy in my room. It is a roster. I will let you see it, venerable brother. �
So saying, he fetched it, and I saw that it was a certificate of succession. It
was a certificate of the succession of Hogen's19 lineage, and had been obtained
from among the robes and patra20 of an old veteran monk: it was not that of
the venerable Iichi himself. The way it was written is as follows: �The first
patriarch Mahakasyapa realized the truth under Sakyamuni Buddha; Sakya-
muni Buddha realized the truth under Kasyapa Buddha. . . . � It was written
like this. Seeing it, Dogen decisively believed in the succession of the Dharma
from rightful successor to rightful successor. [The certificate] was Dharma
that I had never before seen. It was a moment in which the Buddhist patri-
archs mystically respond to and protect their descendants. The feeling of
gratitude was beyond endurance.
[15] The veteran monk Shugetsu, while he was assigned to the post of
head monk21 on Tendo, showed Dogen a certificate of succession of Unmon's
lineage. The master directly above the person now receiving the certificate,
and the Buddhist patriarchs of the Western Heavens and the Eastern Lands,
were arranged in columns, and under those was the name of the person receiv-
ing the certificate. All the Buddhist patriarchs were directly aligned with the
name of this new ancestral master. Thus, the more than forty generations
from the Tathagata all converged on the name of the new successor. For
example, it was as if each of them had handed down [the Dharma] to the
new patriarch. Mahakasyapa, Ananda, and so on, were aligned as if [they
belonged to] separate lineages. 22 At that time, Dogen asked Head Monk
Shugetsu, �Master, nowadays there are slight differences among the five
sects23 in their alignment [of names]. What is the reason? If the succession
from the Western Heavens has passed from rightful successor to rightful
successor, how could there be differences? � Shugetsu said, �Even if the dif-
ference were great, we should just study that the buddhas of Unmonzan are
like this. Why is Old Master Sakyamuni honored by others? He is an hon-
ored one because he realized the truth. Why is Great Master Unmon hon-
ored by others? He is an honored one because he realized the truth. � Dogen,
hearing these words, had a little [clearer] understanding. Nowadays many
leaders of the great temples24 in Kososho and Setsukosho25 are successors
to the Dharma of Rinzai, Unmon, Tozan, and so on. However, among fel-
lows claiming to be distant descendants of Rinzai a certain wrongness is
sometimes contrived; namely, they attend the order of a good counselor, and
cordially request a hanging portrait and a scroll of Dharma words,26 which
they stash away as standards of their succession to the Dharma. At the same
time, there is a group of dogs who, [prowling] in the vicinity of a venerable
patriarch, cordially request Dharma words, portraits, and so on, which they
hoard away to excess; then, when they become senior in years, they pay
money to government officials and they seek to get a temple, [but] when
they are assigned as abbots they do not receive the Dharma from the master
[who gave them] the Dharma words and the portrait. They receive the Dharma
from fellows of fame and repute of the present generation, or from old vet-
erans who are intimate with kings and ministers, and when they do so they
have no interest in getting the Dharma but are only greedy for fame and rep-
utation. It is deplorable that there are wrong customs like this in the corrupt
age of the latter Dharma. Among people like these, not one person has ever
seen or heard the truth of the Buddhist patriarchs, even in a dream. In gen-
eral, with respect to the granting of Dharma words, portraits, and so forth,
they may be given to lecturers of doctrine and laymen and laywomen, and
they may be granted to temple servants, tradesmen, and the like. This prin-
ciple is clear from the records of many masters. Sometimes, when some
undeserving person, out of a rash desire for evidence of succession to the
Dharma, wants to get a certificate, [a master] will reluctantly take up the
writing brush, though those who possess the truth hate to do so. In such a
case the certificate does not follow the traditional form; [the master] just
writes some brief note saying �succeeded me. � The method of recent times
is simply to succeed to the Dharma as soon as one attains proficiency in the
order of a particular master, with that master as one's master. [That is to say,
there are] people who, although they have not received certification from
their former master, are occupying the long platform [of another temple] that
they have visited only for entry into [the master's] room and formal preach-
ing in the Dharma hall; [but] when they break open the great matter while
staying at [this other] temple, they do not have the time to uphold the trans-
mission of their [original] master; instead they very often take this [new]
master as their master. Another matter: there was a certain Library Chief27
Den, a distant descendant of Zen Master Butsugen, that is, Master Seion of
Ryumon. 28 This Library Chief Den also had a certificate of succession in his
possession. In the early years of the Kajo era,29 when this Library Chief Den
had fallen ill, Venerable Elder30 Ryuzen, though a Japanese, had nursed
Library Chief Den with care; so [Library Chief Den] had taken out the cer-
tificate of succession and let [Ryuzen] bow before it to thank him for his
nursing work, because his labors had been unremitting. [At that time Library
Chief Den] had said, �This is something hardly seen. I will let you bow before
it. � Eight years later, in the autumn of the sixteenth year of Kajo,31 when
Dogen first stopped on Tendozan, Venerable Elder Ryuzen kindly asked
Library Chief Den to let Dogen see the certificate of succession. The form
of the certificate was as follows: the forty-five patriarchs from the Seven
Buddhas to Rinzai were written in columns, while the masters following
Rinzai formed a circle in which were transcribed the masters' original Dharma
names32 and their written seals. 33 The [name of the] new successor was writ-
ten at the end, under the date. We should know that the venerable patriarchs
of Rinzai's lineage have this kind of difference.
[21] My late master, the abbot of Tendo, profoundly cautioned people
against bragging about succeeding to the Dharma. Truly, the order of my
late master was the order of an eternal buddha, it was the revival of the
monastery. 34 He himself did not wear a patterned ka? aya. He had a patched
Dharma robe transmitted from Zen Master Dokai of Fuyozan,35 but he did
not wear it [even] to ascend the seat of formal preaching in the Dharma hall.
In short, he never wore a patterned Dharma robe throughout his life as an
abbot. Those who had the mind and those who did not know things all praised
him and honored him as a true good counselor. My late master, the eternal
buddha, in formal preaching in the Dharma hall would constantly admonish
monks in all directions, saying, �Recently many people who have borrowed
the name of the Patriarch's truth randomly wear the Dharma robe and like
[to have] long hair, and they sign their name with the title of master as a ves-
sel of promotion. They are pitiful. Who will save them? It is lamentable that
the old veterans of all directions have no will to the truth and so they do not
learn the state of truth. There are few who have even seen and heard of the
causes and conditions of the certificate of succession and the succession of
the Dharma. Among a hundred thousand people there is not even one! This
is [due to] the decline of the Patriarch's truth. � He was always admonishing
the old veterans of the whole country like this, but they did not resent him.
In conclusion, wherever [people] are sincerely pursuing the truth they are able
to see and to hear that the certificate of succession exists. �To have seen and
heard� may be �learning the state of truth� itself. On the Rinzai certificate of
succession, first the [master] writes the name [of the successor], then writes
�Disciple So-and-So served under me,� or writes �has attended my order,�
or writes �entered my inner sanctum,� or writes �succeeded me,� and then
lists the former patriarchs in order. [So] it also shows a trace of traditional36
instruction about the Dharma, the point being for the successor simply to
meet a true good counselor, regardless of whether the meeting is in the end
or in the beginning: this is the unassailable fundamental principle. 37 Among
[certificates of] the Rinzai [lineage], there are some written as described
above�I saw them with my own eyes, and so I have written about them.
[24] �Library Chief Ryoha38 is a person of the Ibu39 district, and now
he is my disciple. [I,] Tokko,40 served Ko41 of Kinzan. Kinzan succeeded
Gon42 of Kassan. Gon succeeded En43 of Yogi. En succeeded Tan44 of Kaie.
Tan succeeded E45 of Yogi. E succeeded En46 of Jimyo. En succeeded Sho47
of Fun'yo. Sho succeeded Nen48 of Shuzan. Nen succeeded Sho49 of Fuketsu.
Sho succeeded Gyo of Nan'in. 50 Gyo succeeded Sho51 of Koke. Sho was the
excellent rightful successor of the founding patriarch Rinzai. �52
[27] Zen Master Bussho Tokko of Aikuozan53 wrote this and presented
it to Musai [Ryo]ha. When [Musai Ryoha] was the abbot of Tendo, my
brother monk54 Chiyu secretly brought it to the Dormitory of Quiescence55
to show to Dogen. That was the first time I saw it, the twenty-first day of the
first lunar month of the seventeenth year of the great Song era of Kajo [1224].
How overjoyed I felt! This was just the mystical response of the Buddhist
patriarchs. I burned incense and did prostrations, then opened and read it.
My asking for this certificate of succession to be brought out [happened as
follows]: Around the seventh lunar month of the previous year [1223], in
the Hall of Serene Light, Chief Officer56 Shiko had told Dogen about it in
secret. Dogen had asked the chief in passing, �Nowadays, what person would
have one in their possession? � The chief said, �It seems that the venerable
abbot has one in his room. In future, if you cordially request him to bring it
out, he will surely show it [to you]. � Dogen, after hearing these words, never
stopped hoping, day or night. So in that year (1224), I cordially put my hum-
ble request to brother monk Chiyu. I did so with all my heart, and the request
was granted. The base on which [the certificate] was written was a lining of
white silk, and the cover was red brocade. The rod was precious stone, about
nine inches57 long. [The scroll's] extent was more than seven feet. 58 It was
never shown to an idle person. Dogen thanked Chiyu at once, and then went
straightway to visit the abbot, to burn incense and to bow in thanks to Mas-
ter Musai. At that time Musai said, �This sort of thing is rarely able to be
seen or known. Now, venerable brother, you have been able to know of it.
This is just the real refuge in learning the truth. � At this Dogen's joy was
uncontainable. Later, in the Hogyo era,59 while traveling as a cloud between
Tendaizan,60 Ganzan, and so on, Dogen arrived at Mannenji61 in the Heiden
district. The master of the temple at that time was Master Genshi from Fukushu
province. Master [Gen]shi had been assigned following the retirement of the
veteran patriarch Sokan and he had completely revitalized the temple. While
I was making personal salutations, we had a conversation about the tradi-
tional customs of the Buddhist patriarchs, and while quoting the story of the
succession from Daii62 to Kyozan,63 the veteran master said, �Have you ever
seen the certificate of succession [that I have] in my room? � Dogen said,
�How might I have the chance to see it? � The veteran master himself imme-
diately rose and, holding aloft the certificate of succession,64 he said, �I have
not shown this even to intimates, or even to those who have spent years serv-
ing as attendant monks. That is the Buddhist patriarchs' Dharma instruction.
However, while staying in the city on my usual visit to the city in order to
meet the governor of the district, Genshi had the following dream: An emi-
nent monk, whom I supposed to be Zen Master Hojo of Daibai zan,65 appeared
holding up a branch of plum blossoms and said, �If there is a real person who
has crossed the side of a ship, do not begrudge [these] blossoms. ' Thus say-
ing, he gave the plum blossoms to me. Unconsciously, Genshi dreamed of
chanting, �Even before he has stepped over the side of the ship, I would like
to give him thirty strokes! ' In any event, five days have not passed and I
meet you, venerable brother. What is more, you have crossed over the side
of a ship. And this certificate of succession is written on cloth patterned with
plum blossoms. You must be what Daibai was telling me about. You match
the image in the dream exactly and so I have brought out [the certificate].
Venerable brother, would you like to receive the Dharma from me? If you
desire it, I will not begrudge it. � Dogen could not contain his belief and
excitement. Though he had said that I might request the certificate of suc-
cession, I only venerated and served him, burning incense and performing
prostrations. Present at that time was a [monk] called Honei, an assistant for
the burning of incense; he said that it was the first time he had seen the cer-
tificate of succession. Dogen thought inwardly, �It would be very difficult
indeed to see and to hear this sort of thing without the mystical help of the
Buddhist patriarchs. Why should a stupid fellow from a remote land be so
fortunate as to see it several times? � My sleeves became damp with the tears
of gratitude. At that time the Vimalakirti Room, the Great Hall,66 and the
other rooms were quiet and empty; there was no one about.
This certificate
of succession was written on white silk patterned with plum blossoms fallen
on the ground. It was more than nine inches across, and it extended to a
length of more than a fathom. The rod was of a yellow precious stone and
the cover was brocade. On the way back from Tendaizan to Tendo, Dogen
lodged at the overnight quarters of Goshoji on Daibaizan. [Here] I dreamed
a mystical dream in which the ancestral master Daibai came and gave me a
branch of plum ? owers in bloom. A patriarch's mirror is the most reliable
thing there is. The blossoms on that branch were more than a foot in diam-
eter. How could the plum blossoms not have been the ? owers of the u? um-
bara? 67 It may be that the state in a dream and the state in waking con-
sciousness are equally real. Dogen, while in Song [China] and since returning
to this country, has not before related [the above] to any person.
[33] Today in our lineage from Tozan [the way] the certificate of suc-
cession is written is different from [the way] it is written in the Rinzai and
other [lineages]. The founding patriarch Seigen,68 in front of Sokei's desk,
personally drew pure blood from his finger to copy [the certificate] that the
Buddhist patriarch had kept inside his robe, and [thus] he received the authen-
tic transmission. Legend says that [the certificate] was written and trans-
mitted using a mixture of this finger blood and blood from the finger of Sokei.
Legend says that in the case of the First Patriarch and the Second Patriarch
also, a rite of mixing blood was performed. 69 We do not write such words
as �My disciple� or �Served me. � This is the form of the certificate of suc-
cession written and transmitted by the many buddhas and by the Seven Bud-
dhas. So remember that Sokei graciously mixed his own blood with the pure
blood of Seigen, and Seigen mixed his own pure blood with Sokei's own
blood, and that the founding patriarch, Master Seigen, was thus the only one
to receive the direct certification�it was beyond other patriarchs. People
who know this fact assert that the Buddha-Dharma was authentically trans-
mitted only to Seigen.
[34] My late master, the eternal buddha, the great master and abbot of
Tendo, preached the following: �The buddhas, without exception, have expe-
rienced the succession of the Dharma. That is to say, Sakyamuni Buddha
received the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha, Kasyapa Buddha received the
Dharma from Kanakamuni Buddha, and Kanakamuni Buddha received the
Dharma from Krakucchanda Buddha. 70 We should believe that the succes-
sion has passed like this from buddha to buddha until the present. This is the
way of learning Buddhism. � Then Dogen said, �It was after Kasyapa Buddha
had entered nirvana that Sakyamuni Buddha first appeared in the world and
realized the truth. Furthermore, how could the buddhas of the kalpa of wis-
dom receive the Dharma from the buddhas of the kalpa of resplendence? 71
What [do you think] of this principle? � My late master said, �What you have
just expressed is understanding [based on] listening to theories. It is the way
of [bodhisattvas at] the ten sacred stages or the three clever stages. It is not
the way [transmitted by] the Buddhist patriarchs from rightful successor to
rightful successor. Our way, transmitted from buddha to buddha, is not like
that. We have learned that Sakyamuni Buddha definitely received the Dharma
from Kasyapa Buddha. We learn in practice that Kasyapa Buddha entered
nirvana after Sakyamuni Buddha succeeded to the Dharma. If Sakyamuni
Buddha did not receive the Dharma from Kasyapa Buddha, he might be the
same as a naturalistic non-Buddhist. Who then could believe in Sakyamuni
Buddha? Because the succession has passed like this from buddha to buddha,
and has arrived at the present, the individual buddhas are all authentic suc-
cessors, and they are neither arranged in a line nor gathered in a group. We
just learn that the succession passes from buddha to buddha like this. It need
not be related to the measurements of kalpas and the measurements of life-
times mentioned in the teaching of the Agamas. If we say that [the succes-
sion] was established solely by Sakyamuni Buddha, it has existed for little
over two thousand years, [so] it is not old; and the successions [number] lit-
tle more than forty, [so] they might be called recent. This Buddhist succession
is not to be studied like that. We learn that Sakyamuni Buddha succeeded
to the Dharma of Kasyapa Buddha, and we learn that Kasyapa Buddha suc-
ceeded to the Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha. When we learn it like this, it
is truly the succession of the Dharma of the buddhas and the patriarchs. �
Then Dogen not only accepted, for the first time, the existence of Buddhist
patriarchs' succession of the Dharma, but also got rid of an old nest. 72
Shobogenzo Shisho
Written at Kannondorikoshohorinji on the
seventh day of the third lunar month in the
second year of Japan's Ninji era,73 by [a
monk] who entered Song [China] and
received the transmission of the Dharma,
srama? a Dogen.
The twenty-fourth day of the ninth lunar
month in [the first year of] Kangen. 74 Hung
our traveling staffs at old Kippoji, a
thatched cottage in Yoshida district of
Echizen. 75 (written seal)76
---
BDK English Tripitaka
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BDK English Tripitaka
A Biography of Sakyamuni
The Lotus Sutra (Second Revised Edition)
The Sutra of Queen Srimala of the Lion's Roar
The Larger Sutra on Amitayus
The Sutra on Contemplation of Amitayus
The Smaller Sutra on Amitayus
The Bequeathed Teaching Sutra
The Vimalakirti Sutra
The Ullambana Sutra
The Sutra of Forty-two Sections
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
The Vairocanabhisa? bodhi Sutra
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 1
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 2
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 3
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 4
Tannisho: Passages Deploring Deviations of Faith
Rennyo Shonin Ofumi: The Letters of Rennyo
The Sutra on the Profundity of Filial Love
Shobogenzo: The True Dharma-Eye Treasury vol. 1 (? ? ? ? (1))
Chapter/Section: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
B2582_1 (biblio info) Chapter/Section 17
[Chapter Seventeen]
Hokke-ten-hokke
The Flower of Dharma
Turns the Flower of Dharma
Translator 's Note: Ho means �Dharma,� �the law of the universe,� or the
universe itself. Ke means �? owers. � So hokke means �the universe that is
like ? owers. � The full title of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho rengekyo (Sutra of the
Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma), is usually abbreviated to Hokkekyo.
So hokke also suggests the wonderful universe as manifested in the Lotus
Sutra. Ten means �to turn,� or �to move. � So hokke-ten-hokke means �the
wonderful universe that is like ? owers is moving the wonderful universe that
is like ? owers itself. � This is the Buddhist view of the universe, and Master
Dogen's view. In this chapter, Master Dogen explains this view of the uni-
verse, quoting many words from the Lotus Sutra. The message of the Lotus
Sutra is �How wonderful is the universe in which we are now living! � So
here Master Dogen unfolds his view of the universe, following the theory of
the Lotus Sutra.
[39] �The content of the buddha lands of the ten directions�1 is the �sole exis-
tence�2 of the �Flower of Dharma. �3 Herein, �all the buddhas of the ten direc-
tions and the three times,�4 and beings of anuttara samyaksa? bodhi,5 have
[times of] turning the Flower of Dharma,6 and have [times of] the Flower of
Dharma turning. 7 This is just the state in which �original practice of the
bodhisattva way�8 neither regresses nor deviates. It is the �wisdom of the
buddhas, profound and unfathomable. �9 It is the �calm and clear state of
samadhi,�10 which is �difficult to understand and difficult to enter. �11 As
Buddha Ma�jusri,12 it has the �form as it is�13 of �buddhas alone, together
with buddhas,�14 which is �the great ocean� or �the buddha land. � Or as
Buddha Sakyamuni,15 it is �appearance in the world�16 in the state of �Only
I know concrete form, and the buddhas of the ten directions are also like
that. �17 It is the �one time�18 in which he �desires to cause living beings�19
to �disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter,�20 [saying] �I and buddhas
of the ten directions are directly able to know these things. �21 Or it is Uni-
versal Virtue,22 �accomplishing� the Dharma Flower's turning whose �virtue
is unthinkable,�23 and �spreading throughout Jambud vipa�24 the �profound
and eternal�25 [truth of] anuttara samyak sa? bodhi, at which time the earth
is able to produce the three kinds of plants, the two kinds of shrubs, and
�large and small trees,�26 and the rain is able to moisten them. In the state in
which �an object cannot be recognized,�27 he is solely �accomplishing the
total practice�28 of the Flower of Dharma turning. While Universal Virtue's
spreading [of the truth] is still unfinished, the �great order on Vulture Peak�29
comes together. Sakyamuni experiences, as the �manifestation of light from
his [circle of] white hair,�30 the coming and going of Universal Virtue. 31 The
Flower of Dharma turns when, before Sakyamuni's �Buddhist assembly is
halfway through,� the �consideration�32 of Ma�jusri �swiftly� gives �affir-
mation�33 to Maitreya. Universal Virtue, the many buddhas, Ma� jusri, and
the great assembly, may all be the �paramita of knowing�34 the Dharma
Flower's turning, which is �good in the beginning, middle, and end. �35 This
is why [the Buddha] has �manifested himself in reality,� calling �sole
reliance�36 on the �One Vehicle�37 �the one great matter. �38 Because this
manifestation in reality is itself �the one great matter,� there are [the words]
�buddhas alone, together with buddhas, just can perfectly realize that all
dharmas are real form. �39 The method40 for that is inevitably �the One Buddha
Vehicle,� and �buddhas alone� necessarily teach its �perfect realization� to
�buddhas alone. � �The many buddhas� and �the Seven Buddhas�41 teach its
�perfect realization� to each individual buddha, buddha-to-buddha, and they
cause Sakyamuni Buddha to �accomplish� it. 42 [Every place from] India in
the west to China in the east is �in the buddha lands of the ten directions. �
[For every patriarch] until the thirty-third patriarch, Zen Master Daikan,43
[this method] is the method which is �the One Vehicle of buddhas alone,�
and which is just �perfect realization� itself. It is �the One Buddha Vehicle�
in which �sole reliance� is decisively �the one great matter. � Now it is �man-
ifesting itself in the world. �44 It is manifesting itself at this place. 45 That the
Buddhist customs of Seigen46 have been transmitted to the present, and that
Nangaku's47 Dharma gate has been opened and preached through the world,
are totally [due to] the �Tathagata's real wisdom. �48 Truly, this [real wisdom]
is the �perfect realization of buddhas alone, together with buddhas. � The
Dharma Flower's turning may be preaching it49 as the �disclosure, display,
realization, and entering� of buddhas who are rightful successors, and of
rightful successors of buddhas. This [real wisdom] is also called the Sutra
of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,50 and it is �the method of
teaching bodhisattvas. �51 Because this [real wisdom] has been called �all
dharmas,� �Vulture Peak� exists, �space�52 exists, the �great ocean�53 exists,
and the �great earth�54 exists, with the Flower of Dharma as their �national
land. �55 This is just �real form�; it is �reality as it is�;56 �it is the wisdom of
the Buddha�; it is �the constancy of the manifestation of the world�;57 it is
�the real�;58 it is �the Tathagata's lifetime�;59 it is �the profound and unfath-
omable�;60 it is �the inconstancy of all actions�;61 it is �samadhi as [the state
of] the Flower of Dharma�;62 it is �Sakyamuni Buddha�; it is �to turn the
Flower of Dharma�;63 it is �the Flower of Dharma turning�;64 it is �the right
Dharma-eye treasury and the fine mind of nirvana�;65 and it is �manifesta-
tion of the body to save living beings. �66 As �affirmation and becoming
buddha,�67 it is maintained and relied upon, and dwelled in and retained.
[47] To the order of Zen Master Daikan68 at Horinji on Sokeizan, in the
Shoshu district of Guangdong,69 in the great kingdom of Tang, there came
a monk called Hotatsu. 70 He boasts, �I have recited the Lotus Sutra three
thousand times already. �
The patriarch says, �Even if [you recite it] ten thousand times, if you
do not understand the sutra, you will not be able even to recognize [your]
errors. �
Hotatsu says, �The student is foolish. Until now, I have only been read-
ing [the sutra] aloud following the characters. How could I have hoped to
clarify the meaning? �
The patriarch says, �Try reciting a round [of the sutra] and I will inter-
pret it for you. �
Hotatsu recites the sutra at once. When he reaches the �Expedient
Means�71 chapter the patriarch says, �Stop! The fundamental point of this
sutra is the purpose of [the buddhas'] appearance in the world. 72 Although
it expounds many metaphors, [the sutra] does not go beyond this. What is
that purpose? Only the one great matter. The one great matter is just the
Buddha's wisdom itself; it is to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter
[the Buddha's wisdom]. [The one great matter] is naturally the wisdom of
the Buddha and someone who is equipped with the wisdom is already a
buddha. You must now believe that the Buddha's wisdom is simply your
own natural state of mind. � He preaches again in the following verse:
When the mind is in delusion, the Flower of Dharma turns.
When the mind is in realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.
Unless we are clear about ourselves, however long we recite [the
sutra],
It will become an enemy because of its meanings.
Without intention the mind is right.
With intention the mind becomes wrong.
When we transcend both with and without,
We ride eternally in the white ox cart. 73
Hotatsu, on hearing this poem, addresses the patriarch again: �The sutra
says that even if all in the great [order], from sravakas to bodhisattvas,
exhausted their intellect to suppose it,74 they could not fathom the Buddha's
wisdom. If you are now saying that the effort to make the common person
realize his own mind is just the Buddha's wisdom, unless we are of excel-
lent makings we can hardly help doubting and denying it. Furthermore, the
sutra explains the three kinds of carts, but what kind of distinction is there
between the great ox cart and the white ox cart? Please, master, bestow your
preaching again. �
The patriarch says, �The intention of the sutra is clear. You are stray-
ing off on your own and going against it. When people of the three vehicles
cannot fathom the Buddha's wisdom, the trouble is in their supposition itself.
Even if together they exhaust their intellects to consider it,75 they will only
get further and further away. 76 The Buddha originally preaches only for the
benefit of the common person; he does not preach for the benefit of buddhas.
Some are not fit to believe this principle and withdraw from their seats;77
they do not know that they are sitting in the white ox cart yet still searching
outside the gate78 for the three kinds of carts. The words of the sutra are
clearly telling you: �There is neither a second nor a third. '79 Why do you not
realize it? The three carts are fictitious, for they belong to the past. The One
Vehicle is real, for it exists in the present. I only [wish to] make you get rid
of the fiction and get back to the reality. When we get back to reality, real-
ity is not a concept. Remember, your possessions are all treasures,80 and they
totally belong to you. How you receive and use them is up to you. [The real-
ity of the sutra] is neither the ideas of the father nor the ideas of the chil-
dren,81 indeed it does not rely upon ideas at all; rather, it is called the Sutra
of the Flower of Dharma. From kalpa to kalpa, from noon to night, [our]
hands do not put down the sutra, and there is no time when we are not read-
ing it. � Hotatsu, enlightened already and jumping for joy,82 presents the fol-
lowing verse of praise:
Three thousand recitations of the sutra
With one phrase from Sokei, forgotten.
Before clarifying the import of [the buddhas'] appearance in the
world,
How can we stop recurring lives of madness?
[The sutra] explains goat, deer, and ox as an expedient,
[But] proclaims that beginning, middle, and end are good.
Who knows that [even] within the burning house,
Originally we are kings in the Dharma.
When he presents this verse, the patriarch says, �From now on, you may
be called the Sutra-reading Monk. �83
[54] The story84 of how Zen Master Hotatsu visited Sokei is like this.
Hereafter the Flower of Dharma began to be expounded as the Flower of
Dharma turning and turning of the Dharma Flower. [Those terms] were not
heard previously. Truly, the clarification of the Buddha's wisdom should
always take place under a Buddhist patriarch who may be the right Dharma-
eye treasury itself. [The Buddha's wisdom] cannot be known by literary
scholars who vainly count sand and pebbles, as we can see again here in
Hotatsu's experience. To clarify the true meaning of the Flower of Dharma,
�perfectly realize,� as �only the one great purpose,� that which the ances-
tral master �disclosed and displayed. � Do not intend to study other vehicles.
The present is the reality85 as it is of the real form, the real nature, the real
body, the real energy, the real causes, and the real effects of the Flower of
Dharma turning. 86 This was never heard in China, and it was never present
[in China], before the time of the ancestral master. �The Flower of Dharma
is turning� means �the mind is in delusion�; the mind being deluded is just
the Flower of Dharma turning. Therefore, when the mind is in delusion, we
are being turned by the Flower of Dharma. This means that even when men-
tal delusion is in myriad phenomena, �form as it is�87 is still being turned by
the Flower of Dharma. This being turned is not to be rejoiced at, and it is
not to be hoped for; it is not gained, and it does not come. Even so, when
the Flower of Dharma is turning �there is neither a second nor a third. �
Because [the Flower of Dharma turning] is the �sole existence of the One
Buddha Vehicle,� and because it is the Flower of Dharma with �form as it
is,� whether it is the turner or the turned, it is �the One Buddha Vehicle,�
and �the one great matter. �
88It is just moment by moment of red mind,89 upon which we rely solely.
So do not worry about the mind being deluded. Your actions are the bodhi-
sattva way itself;90 they are to serve the buddhas,91 which is original prac-
tice of the bodhisattva way. 92 What you disclose, display, realize, and enter
is, in every case, an instance of the Flower of Dharma turning.
93There is mental delusion in the burning house, there is mental delu-
sion just at the gate itself, there is mental delusion outside the gate, there is
mental delusion just in front of the gate, and there is mental delusion within
the gate. 94 Mental delusion has created �within the gate� and �outside the
gate� and even �the gate itself,� �the burning house,� and so on; therefore,
disclosure, display, realization, and entering may take place even on the
white ox-carriage. 95 When we think of entry as �adornment�96 on this car-
riage, should we hope for �open ground�97 as the place to enter, or should
we recognize �the burning house� as the place to leave? 98 Should we reach
the conclusion99 that the gate itself is merely a place of momentary pass-
ing? 100 Remember, inside the carriage, there is turning [of the Flower of
Dharma] which causes us to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the
burning house; and on the open ground there is turning which causes us to
disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the burning house. 101 There are
cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and enter-
ing through the whole gate as the gate here and now;102 and there are cases
in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering
through a single gate which is [an instance of] the universal gate. 103 There
is turning which discloses, displays, realizes, and enters the universal gate
in each instance of disclosure, display, realization, and entering. 104 There are
cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and enter-
ing within the gate,105 and there are cases in which the turning activates dis-
closure, display, realization, and entering outside the gate. 106 There are cases
of disclosing, displaying, realizing, and entering open ground in the burn-
ing house. 107
108Therefore the burning house is �beyond understanding�109 and the
open ground is �beyond knowing. �110 Who could make the turning of the
wheel of the triple world111 into a carriage and ride it as �the One Vehicle�?
Who could leave and enter disclosure, display, realization, and entering as
if they were a gate? If we seek the carriage from the burning house, how
many times the wheel must turn! When we look upon the burning house
from the open ground, how �deep in the distance�112 it is! Should we reach
the conclusion that Vulture Peak existed �in tranquility�113 on open ground?
Or should we study in action that the open ground is �balanced and even�114
on Vulture Peak? �The place where living beings enjoy themselves�115 has
been made into �eternal presence�116 as �my Pure Land which is immor-
tal,�117 and this also we must meticulously perform as �original practice. �118
Do we realize in practice that �wholeheartedly wanting to meet
Buddha�119 is about ourselves, or do we realize in practice that it is about
others? There are times when the truth is realized as an �individual body,�120
and there are times when the truth is realized as the �whole body. �121
�Appearance together on Vulture Peak�122 comes from �not begrudg-
ing one's own body and life. �123 There is disclosure, display, realization, and
entering in �constantly abiding here preaching the Dharma,�124 and there is
disclosure, display, realization, and entering in, �as an expedient method,
manifesting nirvana. �125 In the state of �being close yet still failing to see,�126
who could not believe in understanding of non-understanding by �whole-
heartedness�? 127
The place that is �always filled with gods and human beings�128 is just
the land of Sakyamuni Buddha and of Vairocana,129 �the eternally peaceful
and bright land�130 itself. We who naturally belong in the �four lands�131 are
just living in �the Buddha's land� which is �real oneness. �132 When we look
at �atoms�133 that does not mean we fail to see �the world of Dharma. � When
we are experiencing the world of Dharma,134 that does not mean we fail to
experience atoms. When the buddhas experience the world of Dharma, they
do not exclude us from the experience, which is �good at the beginning, mid-
dle, and end. �
This being so, the present is the �form as it is� of the state of experi-
ence, and even �alarm, doubt, and fear�135 are nothing other than reality as
it is. With the Buddha's wisdom, this [fear] is only the difference between
looking at atoms and sitting in atoms. When we are seated in the world of
Dharma it is not wide, and when we are sitting in atoms, they are not confin-
ing; therefore, without maintaining and relying upon [reality as it is], we
cannot sit, but when we are maintaining and relying upon [reality as it is],
there is no alarm or doubt about width and confinement.
