No More Learning

There is a state in which the traces of realization are forgotten; and it man-
ifests the traces of forgotten realization for a long, long time.
[87] When people first seek the Dharma, we are far removed from the
borders of Dharma. [But] as soon as the Dharma is authentically transmit-
ted to us, we are a human being in [our] original element. When a man is
sailing along in a boat and he moves his eyes to the shore, he misapprehends
that the shore is moving. If he keeps his eyes fixed on the boat, he knows
that it is the boat that is moving forward. Similarly, when we try to under-
stand the myriad dharmas on the basis of confused assumptions about body
and mind, we misapprehend that our own mind or our own essence may be
permanent. If we become familiar with action and come back to this con-
crete place, the truth is evident that the myriad dharmas are not self. Fire-
wood becomes ash; it can never go back to being firewood. Nevertheless,
we should not take the view that ash is its future and firewood is its past.
Remember, firewood abides in the place of firewood in the Dharma. It has
a past and it has a future. Although it has a past and a future, the past and
the future are cut off. Ash exists in the place of ash in the Dharma. It has a
past and it has a future. The firewood, after becoming ash, does not again
become firewood. Similarly, human beings, after death, do not live again.
At the same time, it is an established custom in the Buddha-Dharma not to
say that life turns into death. This is why we speak of �no appearance. � And
it is the Buddha's preaching established in [the turning of] the Dharma wheel
that death does not turn into life. This is why we speak of �no disappear-
ance. �3 Life is an instantaneous situation, and death is also an instantaneous
situation. It is the same, for example, with winter and spring. We do not think
that winter becomes spring, and we do not say that spring becomes summer.
[89] A person getting realization is like the moon being re? ected4 in
water: the moon does not get wet, and the water is not broken. Though the
light [of the moon] is wide and great, it is re? ected in a foot or an inch of
water. The whole moon and the whole sky are re? ected in a dewdrop on a
blade of grass and are re? ected in a single drop of water. Realization does
not break the individual, just as the moon does not pierce the water. The indi-
vidual does not hinder the state of realization, just as a dewdrop does not
hinder the sky and moon. The depth [of realization] may be as the concrete
height [of the moon]. The length of its moment should be investigated in
large [bodies of] water and small [bodies of] water, and observed in the
breadth of the sky and the moon. 5
[90] When the Dharma has not yet satisfied the body and mind we feel
already replete with Dharma. When the Dharma fills the body and mind we
feel one side to be lacking. For example, sailing out beyond the mountains
and into the ocean, when we look around in the four directions, [the ocean]
appears only to be round; it does not appear to have any other form at all.
Nevertheless, this great ocean is not round, and it is not square. Other qual-
ities of the ocean are inexhaustibly many: [to fishes] it is like a palace and
[to gods] it is like a string of pearls. 6 But as far as our eyes can see, it just
seems to be round. As it is for [the ocean], so it is for the myriad dharmas.
In dust and out of the frame,7 [the myriad dharmas] encompass numerous
situations, but we see and understand only as far as our eyes of learning in
practice are able to reach. If we wish to hear how the myriad dharmas nat-
urally are,8 we should remember that besides their appearance of squareness
or roundness, the qualities of the oceans and qualities of the mountains are
numerous and endless; and that there are worlds in the four directions. Not
only the periphery is like this: remember, the immediate present, and a sin-
gle drop [of water] are also like this.
[91] When fish move through water, however they move, there is no
end to the water. When birds ? y through the sky, however they ? y, there is
no end to the sky. At the same time, fish and birds have never, since antiq-
uity, left the water or the sky. Simply, when activity is great, usage is great,
and when necessity is small, usage is small. Acting in this state, none fails
to realize its limitations at every moment, and none fails to somersault freely
at every place; but if a bird leaves the sky it will die at once, and if a fish
leaves the water it will die at once. So we can understand that water is life
and can understand that sky is life. Birds are life, and fish are life. It may be
that life is birds and that life is fish. And beyond this, there may still be fur-
ther progress. The existence of [their] practice-and-experience, and the exis-
tence of their lifetime and their life, are like this. This being so, a bird or fish
that aimed to move through the water or the sky [only] after getting to the
bottom of water or utterly penetrating the sky, could never find its way or
find its place in the water or in the sky. When we find this place, this action
is inevitably realized as the universe. When we find this way, this action is
inevitably the realized universe [itself]. 9 This way and this place are neither
great nor small; they are neither subjective nor objective; neither have they
existed since the past nor do they appear in the present; and so they are pres-
ent like this. When a human being is practicing and experiencing the Buddha's
truth in this state, to get one dharma is to penetrate one dharma, and to meet
one act is to perform one act. In this state the place exists and the way is
mastered, and therefore the area to be known is not conspicuous. The rea-
son it is so is that this knowing and the perfect realization of the Buddha-
Dharma appear together and are experienced together. Do not assume that
what is attained will inevitably become self-conscious and be recognized by
the intellect. The experience of the ultimate state is realized at once. At the
same time, its mysterious existence is not necessarily a manifest realiza-
tion. 10 Realization is the state of ambiguity itself. 11
[94] Zen Master Hotetsu12 of Mayokuzan is using a fan. A monk comes
by and asks, �The nature of air is to be ever -present, and there is no place
that [air] cannot reach. Why then does the master use a fan? �
The master says, �You have only understood that the nature of air is to
be ever-present, but you do not yet know the truth13 that there is no place
[air] cannot reach. �
The monk says, �What is the truth of there being no place [air] cannot
reach? �
At this, the master just [carries on] using the fan. The monk does pros-
trations. 14 The real experience of the Buddha-Dharma, the vigorous road of
the authentic transmission, is like this. Someone who says that because [the
air] is ever-present we need not use a fan, or that even when we do not use
[a fan] we can still feel the air, does not know ever-presence, and does not
know the nature of air. Because the nature of air is to be ever-present, the
behavior15 of Buddhists has made the earth manifest itself as gold and has
ripened the Long River into curds and whey. 16
Shobogenzo Genjo-koan
This was written in mid-autumn17 in the first
year of Tenpuku,18 and was presented to the lay
disciple Yo Koshu of Chinzei. 19
Edited in [the fourth] year of Kencho. 20


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BDK English Tripitaka
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Books
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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 4
[Chapter Four]
Ikka-no-myoju
One Bright Pearl
Translator's Note: Ikka means �one,� myo means �bright� or �clear,� and
ju means �pearl. � So ikka-no-myoju means one bright pearl. This chapter
is a commentary on Master Gensha Shibi's words that the whole universe in
all directions is as splendid as a bright pearl. Master Dogen loved these
words, so he wrote about them in this chapter.
[97] In [this] saha world,1 in the great kingdom of Song, in Fuzhou province,
at Genshazan, [there lived] Great Master Shuitsu, whose Dharma name [as
a monk] was Shibi and whose secular surname was Sha. 2 While still a lay-
man he loved fishing, and he would ? oat down the Nantai River on his boat,
following the other fishermen. It may have been that he was not waiting even
for the fish with golden scales that lands itself without being fished. 3 At the
beginning of the Kantsu4 era of the Tang dynasty, suddenly he desires to
leave secular society; he leaves his boat and enters the mountains. He is
already thirty years old, [but] he has realized the precariousness of the ? oat-
ing world and has recognized the nobility of the Buddha's Way. At last he
climbs Seppozan, enters the order of Great Master Shinkaku,5 and pursues
the truth6 day and night. One day, in order to explore widely the surround-
ing districts, he leaves the mountain, carrying a [traveling] bag. But as he
does so, he stubs his toe on a stone. Bleeding and in great pain, [Master Gen-
sha] all at once seriously re? ects as follows: �[They say] this body is not real
existence. Where does the pain come from? � He thereupon returns to Seppo.
Seppo asks him, �What is it, Bi of the dhuta? �7 Gensha says, �In the end I
just cannot be deceived by others. �8 Seppo, loving these words very much,
says, �Is there anyone who does not have these words [inside them]? [But]
is there anyone who can speak these words? � Seppo asks further, �Bi of the
dhuta, why do you not go exploring? �9 Master [Gensha] says, �Bodhi dharma
did not come to the Eastern Lands; the Second Patriarch did not go to the
Western Heavens. �10 Seppo praised this very much. In his usual life as a fish-
erman [Master Gensha] had never seen sutras and texts even in a dream.
Nevertheless, profundity of will being foremost, his outstanding resolve
made itself apparent. Seppo himself considered [Gensha] to be outstanding
among the sangha; he praised [Gensha] as the preeminent member of the
order. [Gensha] used vegetable cloth for his one robe, which he never replaced,
but patched hundreds of times. Next to his skin he wore clothes of paper, or
wore moxa. 11 Apart from serving in Seppo's order, he never visited another
[good] counselor. Nevertheless, he definitely realized the power to succeed
to the master's Dharma. After he had attained the truth at last, he taught peo-
ple with the words that the whole universe in ten directions is one bright
pearl. One day a monk asks him, �I have heard the master's words that the
whole universe in ten directions is one bright pearl. How should the student
understand [this]? � The master says, �The whole universe in ten directions
is one bright pearl. What use is understanding? � On a later day the master
asks the question back to the monk, �The whole universe in ten directions
is one bright pearl. How do you understand [this]? � The monk says, �The
whole universe in ten directions is one bright pearl. What use is under-
standing? � The master says, �I see that you are struggling to get inside a
demon's cave in a black mountain. �12
[101] The present expression �the whole universe in ten directions is
one bright pearl� originates with Gensha. The point is that the whole uni-
verse in ten directions is not vast and great, not meager and small, not square
or round, not centered or straight, not in a state of vigorous activity, and not
disclosed in perfect clarity. Because it is utterly beyond living-and-dying,
going-and-coming,13 it is living-and-dying, going-and-coming. And because
it is like this, the past has gone from this place, and the present comes from
this place. When we are pursuing the ultimate, who can see it utterly as sep-
arate moments? And who can hold it up for examination as a state of total
stillness? �The whole of the ten directions� describes the ceaseless [process]
of pursuing things to make them into self, and of pursuing self to make it
into something. The arising of emotion and the distinctions of the intellect,
which we describe as separation, are themselves [as real as] turning the head
and changing the face, or developing things and throwing [oneself] into the
moment. Because we pursue self to make it into something, the whole of the
ten directions is in the ceaseless state. And because [the whole of the ten direc-
tions] is a fact before the moment, it sometimes over? ows beyond [our] reg-
ulating ability which is the pivot of the moment. 14 �The one pearl� is not yet
famous, but it is an expression of the truth. It will be famously recognized.
�The one pearl� goes directly through ten thousand years: the eternal past has
not ended, but the eternal present has arrived. The body exists now, and the
mind exists now. Even so, [the whole universe] is a bright pearl. It is not grass
and trees there and here, it is not mountains and rivers at all points of the com-
pass; it is a bright pearl. �How should the student understand it? � Even though
it seems that the monk is playing with his conditioned intellect15 in speaking
these words, they are the clear manifestation of the great activity, which is
just the great standard itself. Progressing further, we should make it strikingly
obvious that a foot of water is a one-foot wave: in other words, a yard of the
pearl is a yard of brightness. To voice this expression of the truth, Gensha
says, �The whole universe in ten directions is one bright pearl. What use is
understanding? � This expression is the expression of truth to which buddha
succeeds buddha, patriarch succeeds patriarch, and Gensha succeeds Gen-
sha. If he wants to avoid this succession�while it is not true that no oppor-
tunity for avoidance exists�just when he is ardently trying to avoid it, [the
moment] in which he speaks and lives is the total moment, conspicuously
manifest before him. Gensha, on a subsequent day asks the monk, �The whole
universe in ten directions is one bright pearl. How do you understand [this]? �
This says that yesterday [Master Gensha] was preaching the established rule,
but his exhalations today rely upon the second phase: today he is preaching
an exception to the established rule. Having pushed yesterday aside, he is
nodding and laughing. The monk says, �The whole universe in ten directions
is one bright pearl. What use is understanding? � We might tell him: �You are
riding your adversary's horse to chase your adversary. When the eternal
buddha preaches for you, he is going among different kinds of beings. �16 We
should turn [back] light and re? ect17 for a while: How many cases and exam-
ples of �What use is understanding? � are there? We can tentatively say that
while teaching and practice are seven dairy cakes and five vegetable cakes,
they are also �south of the Sho [River]� and �north of the Tan [River]. �18
[105] Gensha says, �I see that you are struggling to get inside a demon's
cave in a black mountain. � Remember, the face of the sun and the face of
the moon have never changed places since the eternal past. The sun's face
appears together with the sun's face, and the moon's face appears together
with the moon's face. For this reason, [Master Yakusan Igen said,] �Even if
I say that the sixth moon19 is a very nice time of year, I should not say that
my surname is Hot. �20 Thus, this bright pearl's possession of reality and lack
of beginning are limitless, and the whole universe in ten directions is one
bright pearl. Without being discussed as two pearls or three pearls, the whole
body21 is one right Dharma-eye, the whole body is real substance, the whole
body is one phrase, the whole body is brightness, and the whole body is the
whole body itself. When it is the whole body it is free of the hindrance of
the whole body; it is perfect roundness,22 and roundly it rolls along. 23 Because
the virtue of the bright pearl exists in realization like this, there are Avalo -
kitesvaras24 and Maitreyas25 in the present, seeing sights and hearing sounds;
and there are old buddhas and new buddhas manifesting their bodies and
preaching the Dharma. 26 Just at the moment of the present, whether sus-
pended in space or hanging inside a garment,27 whether kept under a [dragon's]
chin28 or kept in a topknot,29 [the one bright pearl,] in all cases, is one bright
pearl throughout the whole universe in ten directions. To hang inside a gar-
ment is its situation, so do not say that it will be dangling on the surface. To
hang inside a topknot or under a chin is its situation, so do not expect to play
with it on the surface of the topknot or on the surface of the chin. When we
are intoxicated, there are close friends30 who give us a pearl; and we should
always give a pearl to a close friend. When the pearl is hung upon us we are
always intoxicated. That which �already is like this�31 is the one bright pearl
which is the universe in ten directions. So even though it seems to be con-
tinually changing the outward appearance of its turning and not turning, it
is just the bright pearl. The very recognition that the pearl has been existing
like this is just the bright pearl itself. The bright pearl has sounds and forms
that can be heard like this. Already �having got the state like this,�32 those
who surmise that �I cannot be the bright pearl,� should not doubt that they
are the pearl. Artificial and nonartificial states of surmising and doubting,
attaching and rejecting, are just the small view. They are nothing more than
trying to make [the bright pearl] match the narrow intellect. How could we
not love the bright pearl? Its colors and light, as they are, are endless. Each
color and every ray of light at each moment and in every situation is the
virtue of the whole universe in ten directions; who would want to plunder
it? 33 No one would throw a tile into a street market. Do not worry about
falling or not falling34 into the six states of cause and effect. 35 They are the
original state of being right from head to tail, which is never unclear, and
the bright pearl is its features and the bright pearl is its eyes. Still, neither I
nor you know what the bright pearl is or what the bright pearl is not. Hun-
dreds of thoughts and hundreds of negations of thought have combined to
form a very clear idea. 36 At the same time, by virtue of Gensha's words of
Dharma, we have heard, recognized, and clarified the situation of a body and
mind which has already become the bright pearl. Thereafter, the mind is not
personal; why should we be worried by attachment to whether it is a bright
pearl or is not a bright pearl, as if what arises and passes were some per-
son? 37 Even surmising and worry is not different from the bright pearl. No
action nor any thought has ever been caused by anything other than the bright
pearl. Therefore, forward steps and backward steps in a demon's black-moun-
tain cave are just the one bright pearl itself.
Shobogenzo Ikka-no-myoju
Preached to the assembly at Kannondori kosho-
horinji in the Uji district of Yoshu38 on the
eighteenth day of the fourth lunar month in the
fourth year of Katei. 39
Copied in the prior's quarters of Kippoji in
Shibi county, in the Yoshida district of Esshu,40
on the twenty-third day of the intercalary seventh
lunar month in the first year of Kangen,41
attendant bhik? u Ejo.


---


BDK English Tripitaka
Keyword

C/W Length Limit


Books
Tools

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 5
[Chapter Five]
Ju-undo-shiki
Rules for the Hall of Accumulated Cloud
Translator 's Note: Ju-undo or �hall of accumulated cloud� was the name
of the zazen hall of Kannondorikoshohorinji. Shiki means rules. So Ju-undo-
shiki means �Rules for the Hall of Accumulated Cloud. � Kannon dori kosho -
horinji was the first temple established by Master Dogen. He built it in Kyoto
prefecture in 1233, several years after coming back from China. Ju-undo
was the first zazen hall to be built in Japan. Master Dogen made these rules
for the hall, and titled them. The chapter was not included in the Shobogenzo
when the seventy-five�chapter edition was compiled, but was added when
the ninety-five�chapter edition was compiled at the end of the seventeenth
century. The inclusion of this chapter is very useful in understanding the
Shobogenzo, because what is written here represents in a concrete way Mas-
ter Dogen's sincere attitude in pursuing the truth.
[111] People who have the will to the truth and who discard fame and gain
may enter. We should not randomly admit those who might be insincere. If
someone is admitted by mistake, we should, after consideration, make them
leave. Remember, when the will to the truth has secretly arisen, fame and
gain evaporate at once. Generally, in [all] the great-thousandfold world,1
there are very few examples of the right and traditional transmission. In our
country, this will be seen as the original source. Feeling compassion for future
ages, we should value the present.
[112] The members of the hall should harmonize like milk and water,
and should wholeheartedly promote each other's practice of the truth. Now
we are for the present [as] guests and hosts,2 but in future we will forever be
Buddhist patriarchs. So now that each of us is meeting what is hard to meet,
and is practicing what is hard to practice, we must not lose our sincerity. This
[sincerity] is called �the body and mind of the Buddhist patriarchs�; it
inevitably becomes buddha and becomes a patriarch. We have already left
our families and left our hometowns; we rely on clouds and rely on waters. 3
The benevolence of [the members of] this sangha, in promoting [each other's]
health and in promoting [each other's] practice, surpasses even that of a
father and mother. A father and mother are only parents for the short span
between life and death, but [the members of] this sangha will be friends in
the Buddha's truth forever.
[113] We should not be fond of going out. If absolutely necessary, once
in one month is permissible. People of old lived in distant mountains or prac-
ticed in remote forests. They not only had few human dealings but also totally
discarded myriad involvements. We should learn their state of mind in shroud-
ing their light and covering their tracks. Now is just the time to [practice as
if to] put out a fire on our head. How could we not regret idly devoting this
time to worldly involvements? How could we not regret this? It is hard to rely
on what has no constancy, and we never know where, on the grass by the path,
our dewdrop life will fall. [To waste this time] would be truly pitiful.
[114] While we are in the hall we should not read the words of even Zen
texts. In the hall we should realize the principles and pursue the state of truth.
When we are before a bright window,4 we can enlighten the mind with the
teachings of the ancients. Do not waste a moment of time. Singlemindedly
make effort. 5
[115] We should make it a general rule to inform the leader of the hall6
where we are going, whether it is night or day. Do not ramble around at will.
That might infringe the discipline of the sangha. We never know when this
life will finish. If life were to end during an idle excursion, that would cer-
tainly be something to regret afterward.
[115] We should not strike other people for their mistakes. We should
not look on people's mistakes with hatred. In the words of an ancient,7 �When
we do not see others' wrongness or our own rightness, we are naturally
respected by seniors and admired by juniors. � At the same time, we should
not imitate the wrongs of others. We should practice our own virtue. The
Buddha prevented wrongdoing, but not out of hatred.
[116] Any task, big or small, we should do only after informing the
leader of the hall. People who do things without informing the leader of the
hall should be expelled from the hall. When formalities between members
and leaders are disrupted, it is hard to tell right from wrong.
[116] In and around the hall, we should not raise the voice or gather
heads to converse. The leader of the hall should stop this.
[117] In the hall we should not practice ceremonial walking. 8
[117] In the hall we should not hold counting beads. 9 And we should
not come and go with the hands hanging down. 10
[118] In the hall we should not chant, or read sutras. If a donor11 requests
the reading of sutras by the whole order, then it is permissible.
[118] In the hall we should not loudly blow the nose, or loudly hack and
spit. We should regret the fact that our moral behavior is still [so] imperfect.
And we should begrudge the fact that time is stealing away, robbing us of
life with which to practice the truth. It might be natural for us to have minds
like fish in a dwindling stream.
[119] Members of the hall should not wear brocade. We should wear
[clothes of] paper, cotton, and so forth. Since ancient times, all the people
who clarified the truth have been like this.
[119] Do not come into the hall drunk. If someone forgetfully [enters]
by mistake, they should do prostrations and confess. Also, alcohol should
not be brought into [the hall]. Do not enter the hall ? ushed and inebriated. 12
[120] If two people quarrel, both should be sent back to their quarters,
because they not only hinder their own practice of the truth but also hinder
others. Those who see the quarrel coming but do not prevent it are equally
at fault.
[120] Anyone who is indifferent toward the instructions for [life] in the
hall should be expelled by the common consent of all members. Anyone
whose mind is in sympathy with the transgression is [also] at fault.
[121] Do not disturb the other members by inviting guests, whether monks
or laypeople, into the hall. When talking with guests in the vicinity [of the
hall], do not raise the voice. Do not deliberately boast about your own train-
ing, greedily hoping for offerings. [A guest] who has long had the will to par-
ticipate in practice, and who is determined to tour the hall and do prostra-
tions,13 may enter. In this case also, the leader of the hall must be informed.
[121] Zazen should be practiced as in the monks' halls [of China]. 14
Never be even slightly lazy in attending and requesting [formal and infor-
mal teaching], morning and evening.
[122] During the midday meal and morning gruel, a person who drops
the accessories for the patra15 on the ground should be penalized16 accord-
ing to the monastery rules.
[122] In general, we should staunchly guard the prohibitions and pre-
cepts of the Buddhist patriarchs. The pure criteria of monasteries should be
engraved on our bones, and should be engraved on our minds.
[123] We should pray that our whole life will be peaceful, and that our
pursuit of the truth will abide in the state without intent.
[123] These few rules [listed] above are the body and mind of eternal
buddhas. We should revere them and follow them.
The twenty-fifth day of the fourth lunar month
in the second year of Rekinin. 17 Set forth by the
founder of Kannondori kosho gokokuji, srama? a
Dogen.

---


BDK English Tripitaka
Keyword

C/W Length Limit


Books
Tools

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 6
[Chapter Six]
Soku-shin-ze-butsu
Mind Here and Now Is Buddha
Translator 's Note: Soku means �here and now. � Shin means �mind. � Ze
means �is. � Butsu means �buddha. � The principle of soku-shin-ze-butsu, or
�mind here and now is buddha� is very famous in Buddhism, but many peo-
ple have interpreted the principle to support the beliefs of naturalism. They
say if our mind here and now is just buddha, our conduct must always be
right, and, in that case, we need not make any effort to understand or to real-
ize Buddhism. However, this interpretation is a serious mistake. The princi-
ple soku-shin-ze-butsu, �mind here and now is buddha,� must be understood
not from the standpoint of the intellect but from the standpoint of practice. In
other words, the principle does not mean belief in something spiritual called
�mind� but it affirms the time �now� and the place �here� as reality itself.
This time and place must always be absolute and right, and so we can call
them the truth or �buddha. � In this chapter, Master Dogen explained this
meaning of soku-shin-ze-butsu, �mind here and now is buddha. �
[125] What every buddha and every patriarch has maintained and relied upon,
without exception, is just �mind here and now is buddha. � Many students,
however, misunderstand that �mind here and now is buddha� did not exist in
India but was first heard in China. As a result, they do not recognize their mis-
take as a mistake. Because they do not recognize the mistake as a mistake,
many fall down into non-Buddhism. When stupid people hear talk of �mind
here and now is buddha,� they interpret that ordinary beings' intellect and
sense perception, which have never established the bodhi-mind, are just buddha.
This derives from never having met a true teacher. The reason I say that they
become non-Buddhists is that there was a non-Buddhist in India, called Senika,
whose viewpoint is expressed as follows:
The great truth exists in our own body now, so we can easily recog-
nize its situation. In other words, [a spiritual intelligence] distinguishes
between pain and pleasure, naturally senses cold and warmth, and rec-
ognizes discomfort and irritation. [The spiritual intelligence] is nei-
ther restricted by myriad things nor connected with circumstances:
things come and go and circumstances arise and pass, but the spiritual
intelligence always remains, unchanging. This spiritual intelligence is
all around, pervading all souls�common and sacred�without dis-
tinction. In its midst, illusory ? owers in space exist for the time being,
but when momentary insight has appeared, and things have vanished
and circumstances have disappeared, then the spiritual intelligence,
the original essence, alone is clearly recognizable, peaceful, and eter-
nal. Though the physical form may be broken, the spiritual intelligence
departs unbroken; just as, when a house burns down in a fire, the mas-
ter of the house leaves. This perfectly clear and truly spiritual pres-
ence is called �the essence of perception and intelligence. � It is also
described as �buddha,� and called �enlightenment. � It includes both
the subject and the object, and it permeates both delusion and enlight-
enment. [So] let the myriad dharmas and all circumstances be as they
are. The spiritual intelligence does not coexist with circumstances and
it is not the same as things. It abides constantly through passing kalpas.
We might also call the circumstances that exist in the present �real,�
insofar as they derive from the existence of the spiritual intelligence:
because they are conditions arising from the original essence, they are
real things. Even so, they are not eternal as the spiritual intelligence
is, for they exist and then vanish. [The spiritual intelligence] is unre-
lated to brightness and darkness, because it knows spiritually. We call
this �the spiritual intelligence,� we also call it �the true self,� we call
it �the basis of awakening,� we call it �original essence,� and we call
it �original substance. � Someone who realizes this original essence is
said to have returned to eternity and is called a great man who has
come back to the truth. After this, he no longer wanders through the
cycle of life and death; he experiences and enters the essential ocean1
where there is neither appearance nor disappearance. There is no real-
ity other than this, but as long as this essence has not emerged, the
three worlds2 and the six states3 are said to arise in competition.
This then is the view of the non-Buddhist Senika.
[129] Master Echu, National Master Daisho,4 of the great kingdom of
Tang, asks a monk, �From which direction have you come? �
The monk says, �I have come from the south. �
The master says, �What [good] counselors are there in the south? �
The monk says, �[Good] counselors are very numerous. �
The master says, �How do they teach people? �
The monk says, �The [good] counselors of that quarter teach students
directly that mind here and now is buddha. Buddha means consciousness
itself. You now are fully endowed with the essence of seeing, hearing, aware-
ness, and recognition. This essence is able to raise the eyebrows and to wink,
to come and go, and to move and act. It pervades the body, so that when
[something] touches the head, the head knows it, and when something touches
the foot, the foot knows it. Therefore it is called �the true all-pervading intel-
ligence. ' Apart from this there is no buddha at all. This body must appear
and disappear, but the mental essence has never appeared or disappeared
since the limitless past. The appearance and disappearance of the body is
like a dragon changing its bones, a snake shedding its skin, or a person mov-
ing out of an old house. This body is inconstant; the essence is constant.
What they teach in the south is, for the most part, like this. �
The master says, �If it is so, they are no different from the non-Buddhist
Senika. He said, �In our body there is a single spiritual essence. This essence
can recognize pain and irritation. When the body decays the spirit departs;
just as when a house is burning the master of the house departs. The house
is inconstant; the master of the house is constant. ' When I examine people
like this, they do not know the false from the true. How can they decide what
is right? When I was on my travels, I often saw this kind. Recently they are
very popular. They gather assemblies of three or five hundred people and,
eyes gazing toward the heavens, they say �This is the fundamental teaching
of the south. '5 They take the Platform Sutra6 and change it, mixing in folk
stories, and erasing its sacred meaning. They delude and disturb recent stu-
dents. How could [theirs] be called the oral teaching? 7 How painful it is, that
our religion is being lost. If seeing, hearing, awareness, and recognition could
be equated with the buddha-nature, Vimalakirti8 would not have said, �The
Dharma is transcendent over seeing, hearing, awareness, and recognition.
When we use seeing, hearing, awareness, and recognition, it is only seeing,
hearing, awareness, and recognition; it is not pursuit of the Dharma. '�
[131] National Master Daisho is an excellent disciple of the eternal
buddha of Sokei. 9 He is a great good counselor in heaven above and in the
human world. We should clarify the fundamental teaching set forth by the
National Master, and regard it as a criterion10 for learning in practice. Do not
follow what you know to be the viewpoint of the non-Buddhist Senika.
Among those of recent generations who subsist as masters of mountains in
the great kingdom of Song, there may be no one like the National Master.
From the ancient past, no counselors to equal the National Master have ever
manifested themselves in the world. Nevertheless, people of the world mis-
takenly think that even Rinzai11 and Tokusan12 might equal the National Mas-
ter. Only people [who think] like this are great in number. It is a pity that
there are no teachers with clear eyes. This �mind here and now is buddha�
that the Buddhist patriarchs maintain and rely upon is not seen by non-Bud-
dhists and [people of] the two vehicles, even in their dreams. Buddhist patri-
archs alone, together with Buddhist patriarchs,13 possess hearing, action, and
experience that have enacted and that have perfectly realized �mind here and
now is buddha. � Buddhas14 have continued to pick up and to throw away
hundreds of weeds, but they have never represented themselves as a sixteen-
foot golden body. 15 �The immediate�16 universe17 exists; it is not awaiting
realization,18 and it is not avoiding destruction. �This concrete�19 triple world20
exists; it is neither receding nor appearing, and it is not just mind. 21 �Mind�22
exists as fences and walls; it never gets muddy or wet, and it is never artifi-
cially constructed. We realize in practice that �mind here and now is buddha,�23
we realize in practice that �the mind which is buddha is this,�24 we realize
in practice that �buddha actually is just the mind,�25 we realize in practice
that �mind-and-buddha here and now is right,�26 and we realize in practice
that �this buddha-mind is here and now. �27
[134] Realization in practice like this is just �mind here and now is
buddha� picking itself up and authentically transmitting itself to �mind here
and now is buddha.