Do not
mistakenly
suppose
that because these are the habits of priests in a great nation, they might be
right Dharma.
that because these are the habits of priests in a great nation, they might be
right Dharma.
Shobogenzo
[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. � Authentically transmitted like this, it has arrived at the
present day. �The mind that has been authentically transmitted� means one
mind as all dharmas, and all dharmas as one mind. For this reason, a man
of old28 said, �When a person becomes conscious of the mind, there is not
an inch of soil on the earth. � Remember, when we become conscious of the
mind, the whole of heaven falls down and the whole ground is torn apart.
Or in other words, when we become conscious of the mind, the earth grows
three inches thicker. An ancient patriarch said,29 �What is fine, pure, and
bright mind? It is mountains, rivers, and the earth, the sun, the moon, and
the stars. � Clearly, �mind� is mountains, rivers, and the earth, the sun, the
moon, and the stars. But what these words say is, when we are moving for-
ward, not enough, and when we are drawing back, too much. Mind as moun-
tains, rivers, and the earth is nothing other than mountains, rivers, and the
earth. There are no additional waves or surf, no wind or smoke. Mind as the
sun, the moon, and the stars is nothing other than the sun, the moon, and the
stars. There is no additional fog or mist. Mind as living-and-dying, coming-
and-going, is nothing other than living-and-dying, coming-and-going. There
is no additional delusion or realization. Mind as fences, walls, tiles, and peb-
bles is nothing other than fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles. There is no addi-
tional mud or water. Mind as the four elements and five aggregates is noth-
ing other than the four elements and five aggregates. There is no additional
horse or monkey. 30 Mind as a chair or a whisk31 is nothing other than a chair
or a whisk. There is no additional bamboo or wood. Because the state is like
this, �mind here and now is buddha� is untainted �mind here and now is
buddha. � All buddhas are untainted buddhas. This being so, �mind here and
now is buddha� is the buddhas [themselves] who establish the will, undergo
training, [realize] bodhi, and [experience] nirvana. If we have never estab-
lished the will, undergone training, [realized] bodhi, and [experienced] nir-
vana, then [the state] is not �mind here and now is buddha. � If we establish
the mind and do practice-and-experience even in a single k? a? a,32 this is
�mind here and now is buddha. � If we establish the will and do practice-and-
experience in a single molecule, this is �mind here and now is buddha. � If
we establish the will and do practice-and-experience in countless kalpas,
this is �mind here and now is buddha. � If we establish the will and do prac-
tice-and-experience in one instant of consciousness, this is �mind here and
now is buddha. � If we establish the will and do practice-and-experience
inside half a fist, this is mind here and now is buddha. To say, on the con-
trary, that undergoing training to become buddha for long kalpas is not �mind
here and now is buddha� is never to have seen, never to have known, and
never to have learned �mind here and now is buddha. � It is never to have
met a true teacher who proclaims �mind here and now is buddha. � The term
�buddhas� means Sakyamuni Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha is just �mind here
and now is buddha. � When all the buddhas of the past, present, and future
become buddha, they inevitably become Sakyamuni Buddha, that is, �mind
here and now is buddha. �
Shobogenzo Soku-shin-ze-butsu
Preached to the assembly at Kannondori kosho-
horinji in the Uji district of Yoshu,33 on the
twenty-fifth day of the fifth lunar month in the
first year of Eno. 34
---
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 7
[Chapter Seven]
Senjo
Washing
Translator's Note: Sen means �to wash,� and jo means �to purify. � So senjo
means �washing. � Buddhism is neither idealism nor materialism but belief
in reality, which has both a spiritual side and a material side. So Buddhism
insists that to clean our physical body is to purify our mind. Therefore, in
Buddhism, cutting our fingernails, shaving our head, and washing our body
are all very important religious practices. In this chapter Master Dogen
expounds the religious meaning of such daily behavior, and preaches the
importance in Buddhism of cleansing our physical body.
[139] There is practice-and-experience that Buddhist patriarchs have guarded
and maintained; it is called �not being tainted. �
[140] The Sixth Patriarch1 asks Zen Master Daie2 of Kannon-in Temple
on Nangakuzan, �Do you rely on practice and experience or not? �
Daie says, �It is not that there is no practice and experience, but the state
can never be tainted. �
The Sixth Patriarch says, �Just this untainted state is that which buddhas
guard and desire. You are also like this. I am also like this. And the ancestral
masters of India3 were also like this. . . . �4
[140] The Sutra of Three Thousand Dignified Forms for Or dained Monks5
says, �Purifying the body means washing the anus and the urethra,6 and cut-
ting the nails of the ten fingers. � So even though the body and mind is not
tainted, there are Dharma practices of purifying the body and there are Dharma
practices of purifying the mind. Not only do we clean body and mind; we
also clean the nation and clean beneath trees. 7 To clean the nation, even
though it has never become dirty, is �that which buddhas guard and desire�;
and even when they have arrived at the Buddhist fruit, they still do not draw
back or cease. It is hard to fathom this point. To enact the Dharma is the
point. To attain the state of truth is to enact the Dharma.
[141] The �Pure Conduct� chapter of the Garland Sutra8 says, �When
we relieve ourselves, we should pray that living beings will get rid of impu-
rity and will be free of greed, anger, and delusion. Then, having arrived at
the water, we should pray that living beings will progress toward the supreme
state of truth and attain the Dharma that transcends the secular world. While
we are washing away impurity with the water, we should pray that living
beings will have pure endurance, and will ultimately be free of dirt. �
[142] Water is not always originally pure or originally impure. The body
is not always originally pure or originally impure. All dharmas are also like
this. Water is never sentient or nonsentient, the body is never sentient or non-
sentient, and all dharmas are also like this. The preaching of the Buddha,
the World-honored One, is like this. At the same time, [to wash] is not to
use water to clean the body; [rather,] when we are maintaining and relying
upon the Buddha-Dharma in accordance with the Buddha-Dharma, we have
this form of behavior, and we call it �washing. � It is to receive the authen-
tic transmission of a body and mind of the Buddhist Patriarch immediately;
it is to see and to hear a phrase of the Buddhist Patriarch intimately; and it
is to abide in and to retain a state of brightness of the Buddhist Patriarch
clearly. In sum, it is to realize countless and limitless virtues. At just the
moment when we dignify body and mind with training, eternal original prac-
tice is completely and roundly realized. Thus the body and mind of training
manifests itself in the original state.
[144] We should cut the nails of [all] ten fingers. Of [�all] ten fingers�
means the fingernails of both left and right hands. We should also cut the
toenails. A sutra says, �If the nails grow to the length of a grain of wheat,
we acquire demerit. � So we should not let the nails grow long. Long nails
are naturally a precursor of non-Buddhism. We should make a point of cut-
ting the nails. Nevertheless, among the priests of the great kingdom of Song
today, many who are not equipped with eyes of learning in practice grow
their nails long. Some have [nails] one or two inches long, and even three
or four inches long. This goes against the Dharma. It is not the body and
mind of the Buddha-Dharma. People are like this because they are without
reverence for the old traditions9 of Buddhists; venerable patriarchs who pos-
sess the state of truth are never like this. There are others who grow their
hair long. This also goes against the Dharma.
Do not mistakenly suppose
that because these are the habits of priests in a great nation, they might be
right Dharma.
[145] My late master, the eternal buddha, spoke stern words of warn-
ing to priests throughout the country who had long hair or long nails. He
said, �Those who do not understand [the importance of] shaving the head10
are not secular people and are not monks; they are just animals. Since ancient
times, was there any Buddhist patriarch who did not shave the head? Those
today who do not understand [the importance of] shaving the head are truly
animals. � When he preached to the assembly like this, many people who had
not shaved their heads for years shaved their heads. In formal preaching in
the Dharma hall or in his informal preaching, [the master] would click his
fingers loudly as he scolded them. 11 �Not knowing what the truth is, they
randomly grow long hair and long nails; it is pitiful that they devote a body
and mind in the south [continent] of Jambudvipa12 to wrong ways. For the
last two or three hundred years, because the truth of the Founding Patriarch
has died out, there have been many people like these. People like these
become the leaders of temples and, signing their names with the title of �mas-
ter,' they create the appearance of acting for the sake of the many, [but] they
are without benefit to human beings and gods. Nowadays, on all the moun-
tains throughout the country, there is no one at all who has the will to the
truth. The ones who attained the truth are long extinct. Only groups of the
corrupt and the degenerate [remain]. � When he spoke like this in his infor-
mal preaching, people from many districts who had arbitrarily assumed the
title of �veteran master� bore no grudge against him and had nothing to say
for themselves. Remember, growing the hair long is something that Buddhist
patriarchs remonstrate against, and growing the nails long is something that
non-Buddhists do. As the children and grandchildren of Buddhist patriarchs,
we should not be fond of such violations of the Dharma. We should clean
the body and mind, and we should cut the nails and shave the head.
[147] �Wash the anus and the urethra�: Do not neglect this. There was
an episode in which, through this practice, Sariputra13 caused a non-Buddhist
to submit himself. This was neither the original expectation of the non-
Buddhist nor the premeditated hope of Sariputra, but when the dignified
behavior of the Buddhist patriarchs is realized, false teaching naturally suc-
cumbs. When [monks] practice beneath a tree or on open ground,14 they have
no constructed toilets; they rely on conveniently located river valleys, streams,
and so on, and they clean themselves with pieces of soil. This is [when] there
is no ash. They just use two lots of seven balls of soil. The method of using
the two lots of seven balls of soil is as follows: First they take off the Dharma
robe and fold it, then they pick up some soil�not black but yellowish soil�
and divide it into balls, each about the size of a large soy bean. They arrange
these into rows of seven balls, on a stone or some other convenient place,
making two rows of seven balls each. After that they prepare a stone to be
used as a rubstone. And after that they defecate. After defecating they use a
stick, or sometimes they use paper. Then they go to the waterside to clean
themselves, first carrying three balls of soil to clean with. They take each
individual ball of soil in the palm of the hand and add just a little water so
that, when mixed with the water, [the soil] dissolves to a consistency thin-
ner than mud�about the consistency of thin rice gruel. They wash the ure-
thra first. Next, they use one ball of soil, in the same way as before, to wash
the anus. And next, they use one ball of soil, in the same way as before,
brie? y to wash the impure hand. 15
[149] Ever since [monks] started living in temples, they have built toi-
let buildings. These are called tosu (east office), or sometimes sei (toilet),
and sometimes shi (side building). 16 They are buildings that should be pres-
ent wherever monks are living. The rule in going to the toilet is always to
take the long towel. 17 The method is to fold the towel in two, and then place
it over the left elbow so that it hangs down from above the sleeve of your
jacket. Having arrived at the toilet, hang the towel over the clothes pole. 18
The way to hang it is as it has been hanging from your arm. If you have come
wearing a ka? aya of nine stripes, seven stripes, and so on, hang [the ka? aya]
alongside the towel. Arrange [the ka? aya] evenly so that it will not fall down.
Do not throw it over [the pole] hastily. Be careful to remember the mark [on
the pole]. �Remembering the mark� refers to the characters written along
the clothes pole; these are written inside moon-shaped circles on sheets of
white paper, which are then attached in a line along the pole. So remem-
bering the mark means not forgetting by which character you have put your
own gown,19 and not getting [the places] mixed up. When many monks are
present do not confuse your own place on the pole with that of others. Dur-
ing this time, when [other] monks have arrived and are standing in lines,
bow to them with the hands folded. 20 In bowing, it is not necessary to face
each other directly and bend the body; it is just a token bow of salutation
with the folded hands placed in front of the chest. At the toilet, even if you
are not wearing a gown, still bow to and salute [other] monks. If neither hand
has become impure, and neither hand is holding anything, fold both hands
and bow. If one hand is already soiled, or when one hand is holding some-
thing, make the bow with the other hand. To make the bow with one hand,
turn the hand palm upward, curl the fingertips slightly as if preparing to scoop
up water, and bow as if just lowering the head slightly. If someone else [bows]
like this, you should do likewise. And if you [bow] like this, others should
do likewise. When you take off the jacket21 and the gown, hang them next
to the towel. The way to hang them is as follows: Remove the gown and
bring the sleeves together at the back, then bring together the armpits and
lift them up so that the sleeves are one over the other. Then, take the inside
of the back of the collar of the gown with the left hand, pull up the shoul-
ders with the right hand, and fold the sleeves and the left and right lapels
over each other. Having folded the sleeves and lapels over each other, make
another fold, down the middle from top to bottom, and then throw the col-
lar of the gown over the top of the pole. The hem of the gown and the ends
of the sleeves will be hanging on the near side of the pole. For example, the
gown will be hanging from the pole by the join at the waist. Next, cross over
the ends of the towel which are hanging down on the near and far sides of
the pole, and pull them across to the other side of the gown. [There,] on the
side of the gown where the towel is not hanging, cross over [the ends] again
and make a knot. Go round two or three times, crossing over [the ends] and
making a knot, to ensure that the gown does not fall from the pole to the
ground. Facing the gown, join the palms of your hands. 22 Next, take the cord
and use it to tuck in the sleeves. 23 Next, go to the washstand and fill a bucket
with water and then, holding [the bucket] in the right hand, walk up to the
toilet. The way to put water into the bucket is not to fill it completely, but to
make ninety percent the standard. In front of the toilet entrance, change slip-
pers. Changing slippers means taking off your own slippers in front of the
toilet entrance and putting on the straw [toilet] slippers. 24
[153] The Zenenshingi25 says, �When we want to go to the toilet, we
should go there ahead of time. Do not get into a state of anxiety and haste
by arriving just in time. At this time, fold the ka? aya, and place it on the desk
in your quarters, or over the clothes pole. �
[154] Having entered the toilet, close the door with the left hand. Next,
pour just a little water from the bucket into the bowl of the toilet. Then put
the bucket in its place directly in front of the hole. Then, while standing fac-
ing the toilet bowl, click the fingers three times. When clicking the fingers,
make a fist with the left hand and hold it against the left hip. Then put the
hem of your skirt and the edges of your clothes in order, face the entrance,
position the feet either side of the rim of the toilet bowl, squat down, and
defecate. Do not get either side of the bowl dirty, and do not soil the front
or back of the bowl. During this time, keep quiet. Do not chat or joke with
the person on the other side of the wall, and do not sing songs or recite verses
in a loud voice. Do not make a mess by weeping and dribbling, and do not
be angry or hasty. Do not write characters on the walls, and do not draw lines
in the earth with the shit-stick. The stick is to be used after you have relieved
yourself. Another way is to use paper; old paper should not be used, and
paper with characters written on it should not be used. Distinguish between
clean sticks and dirty sticks. The sticks are eight sun26 long, of triangular
section, and the thickness of a thumb. Some are lacquered and some are not
lacquered. Dirty [sticks] are thrown into the stick box. Clean [sticks] origi-
nally belong in the stick rack. The stick rack is placed near the board [that
screens] the front of the toilet bowl. After using the stick or using paper, the
method of washing is as follows: Holding the bucket in the right hand, dip
the left hand well [into the water] and then, making the left hand into a dip-
per, scoop up the water; first rinsing the urethra three times and then wash-
ing the anus. Make yourself pure and clean by washing according to the
method. During this time, do not tip the bucket so suddenly that water spills
out of the hand or splashes down, causing the water to be used up quickly.
After you have finished washing put the bucket in its place, and then, tak-
ing [another] stick, wipe yourself dry. Or you can use paper. Both places, the
urethra and the anus, should be thoroughly wiped dry. Next, with the right
hand, rearrange the hem of your skirt and the corners of your clothes, and
holding the bucket in the right hand, leave the toilet, taking off the straw [toi-
let] slippers and putting on your own slippers as you pass through the entrance.
Next, returning to the washstand, put the bucket back in its original place.
Then wash the hands. Taking the spoon for ash in the right hand, first scoop
[some ash] onto a tile or a stone, sprinkle a few drops of water onto it with
the right hand, and cleanse the soiled hand. Scrub the [fingers] on the tile or
the stone, as if sharpening a rusty sword on a whetstone. Wash like this,
using ash, three times. Then wash another three times, putting soil [on the
stone] and sprinkling it with water. Next, take a honey locust27 in the right
hand, dip it in a small tub of water, and scrub it between the hands. Wash
[the hands] thoroughly, going up to the forearms as well. Wash with care
and effort, dwelling in the mind of sincerity. Three lots of ash, three lots of
soil, and one honey locust, makes seven rounds altogether; that is the stan-
dard. Next, wash [the hands] in the large tub. This time skin cleansers,28 soil,
ash, and so on, are not used. Just wash with water, either cold or hot. After
washing once, pour the [used] water into a small bucket, then pour some
fresh water [into the tub], and wash the hands again.
[157] The Garland Sutra says, �When we wash the hands with water,
we should pray that living beings will get excellent and fine hands, with
which to receive and to retain the Buddha-Dharma. �29
[158] To pick up the water ladle, always use your right hand. While
doing this, do not noisily clatter the ladle and bucket. Do not splash water
about, scatter honey locusts around, get the washstand area wet, or be gen-
erally hasty and messy. Next, wipe the hands on the common towel, or wipe
them on your own towel. After wiping the hands, go under the clothes pole,
in front of your gown, and take off the cord and hang it on the pole. Next,
after joining hands, untie the towel, take down the gown, and put it on. Then,
with the towel hanging over the left arm, apply fragrance. In the common
area there is a fragrance applicator. It is fragrant wood fashioned into the
shape of a treasure pot,30 as thick as a thumb and as long as the width of four
fingers. It is hung from the clothes pole with a piece of string a foot or more
long, which is threaded through a hole bored in each end of the fragrant
[wood]. When this is rubbed between the palms, it naturally spreads its scent
to the hands. When you hang your cord on the pole, do not hang it on top of
another so that cord and cord become confused and entangled. Actions like
these all �purify the Buddha's land, and adorn the Buddha's kingdom,� so
do them carefully, and do not be hasty. Do not be in a hurry to finish, think-
ing that you would like to get back. Privately, you might like to consider the
principle that �we do not explain the Buddha-Dharma while in the toilet. �31
Do not keep looking into the faces of other monks who have come there.
Cold water is considered better for washing when in the toilet itself; it is said
that hot water gives rise to intestinal diseases. [But] there is no restriction
against using warm water to wash the hands. The reason that a cauldron is
provided is so that we can boil water for washing the hands. The Shingi says,
�Late in the evening, boil water and supply oil. 32 Always ensure [a] contin-
uous [supply of] hot and cold water, so that the minds of the monks are not
disturbed. � So we see that we [can] use both hot and cold water. If the inside
of the toilet has become dirty, close the door, and hang up the �dirty� sign.
If a bucket has been dropped [into the toilet bowl] by mistake, close the door,
and hang up the �fallen bucket� sign. Do not enter33 a closet on which one
of these signs is hung. If, when you are already in the toilet, [you hear] some-
one outside clicking the fingers, you should leave presently. The Shingi says,
�Without washing, we must neither sit on the monks' platform, nor bow to
the Three Treasures. Neither must we receive people's prostrations. � The
Sutra of Three Thousand Dignified Forms says, �If we fail to wash the anus
and the urethra, we commit a du? k? ta,34 and we must not sit on a monk's
pure sitting cloth35 or bow to the Three Treasures. Even if we do bow, there
is no happiness or virtue. �
[162] Thus, at a place of the truth where we strive in pursuit of the truth,36
we should consider this behavior to be foremost. How could we not bow to
the Three Treasures? How could we not receive people's prostrations? And
how could we not bow to others? In the place of truth of a Buddhist patri-
arch, this dignified behavior is always done, and people in the place of truth
of a Buddhist patriarch are always equipped with this dignified behavior. It
is not our own intentional effort; it is the natural expression of dignified
behavior itself. It is the usual behavior of the buddhas and the everyday life
of the patriarchs. It is [buddha-behavior] not only of buddhas in this world:
it is buddha-behavior throughout the ten directions; it is buddha-behavior in
the Pure Land and in impure lands. People of scant knowledge do not think
that buddhas have dignified behavior in the toilet, and they do not think that
the dignified behavior of buddhas in the saha world37 is like that of buddhas
in the Pure Land. This is not learning of the Buddha's truth. Remember,
purity and impurity is [exemplified by] blood dripping from a human being.
At one time it is warm, at another time it is disgusting. The buddhas have
toilets, and this we should remember.
[163] Fascicle Fourteen of the Precepts in Ten Parts38 says, �Srama? era
Rahula39 spent the night in the Buddha's toilet. When the Buddha woke up,
the Buddha patted Rahula on the head with his right hand, and preached the
following verse:
You were never stricken by poverty,
Nor have you lost wealth and nobility. 40
Only in order to pursue the truth, you have left home.
You will be able to endure the hardship. �
[164] Thus, there are toilet buildings in the Buddha's places of practic-
ing the truth. And the dignified behavior done in the Buddha's toilet build-
ing is washing. That the Buddha's behavior, having been transmitted from
patriarch to patriarch, still survives is a delight to those who venerate the
ancients. We have been able to meet what is difficult to meet. Furthermore,
the Tathagata graciously preached the Dharma for Rahula inside the toilet
building. The toilet building was one [place of] assembly for the Buddha's
turning of the Dharma wheel. The advancing and stillness41 of that place of
truth has been authentically transmitted by the Buddhist patriarchs.
[165] Fascicle Thirty-four of the Mahasa? ghika Precepts42 says, �The
toilet building should not be located to the east or to the north. It should be
located to the south or to the west. The same applies to the urinal. �
[166] We should follow this [designation of] the favorable directions.
This was the layout of all the monasteries43 in India in the Western Heavens,
and the [method of] construction in the Tathagata's lifetime. Remember, this
is not only the buddha-form followed by one buddha; it describes the places
of truth, the monasteries, of the Seven Buddhas. It was never initiated; it is
the dignified form of the buddhas. Before we have clarified these [dignified
forms], if we hope to establish a temple and to practice the Buddha-Dharma,
we will make many mistakes, we will not be equipped with the Buddha's dig-
nified forms, and the Buddha's state of bodhi will not yet manifest itself before
us. If we hope to build a place of practicing the truth, or to establish a tem-
ple, we should follow the Dharma-form that the Buddhist patriarchs have
authentically transmitted. We should just follow the Dharma-form that has
been authentically transmitted as the right tradition. Because it is the tradi-
tional authentic transmission, its virtue has accumulated again and again.
Those who are not legitimate successors to the authentic transmission of the
Buddhist patriarchs do not know the body and mind of the Buddha-Dharma.
Without knowing the body and mind of the Buddha-Dharma, they never
clarify the buddha-actions of the Buddha's lineage. That the Buddha-Dharma
of Great Master Sakyamuni Buddha has now spread widely through the ten
directions is the realization of the Buddha's body and mind. The realization
of the Buddha's body and mind, just in the moment, is like this.
Shobogenzo Senjo
Preached to the assembly at Kannondorikosho-
horinji in the Uji district of Yoshu,44 on the
twenty-third day of the tenth lunar month in the
winter of the first year of Eno. 45
---
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 (? ?
