With the Buddha's wisdom, this [fear] is only the
difference
between
looking at atoms and sitting in atoms.
looking at atoms and sitting in atoms.
Shobogenzo
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. This is because we
have �perfectly realized� the �body� and the �energy� of the Flower of
Dharma. So should we think that our own �form� and �nature� now are �orig-
inally practicing� in this world of Dharma, or should we think that they are
�originally practicing� in atoms? They are without alarm and doubt, and
without fear; they are simply the profound and eternal state which is origi-
nal practice as the Flower of Dharma turning. This seeing atoms and seeing
the world of Dharma is beyond conscious action and conscious considera-
tion. Conscious consideration, and conscious action too, should learn Flower
of Dharma consideration, and should learn Flower of Dharma action. When
we hear of �disclosure, display, realization, and entering,� we should under-
stand them in terms of [the Buddha's] �desire to cause living beings. �136 In
other words, that which, as the Flower of Dharma turning, discloses the
Buddha's wisdom, we should learn by displaying the Buddha's wisdom.
That which, as the Flower of Dharma turning, realizes the Buddha's wis-
dom, we should learn by entering the Buddha's wisdom. That which, as the
Flower of Dharma turning, displays the Buddha's wisdom, we should learn
by realizing the Buddha's wisdom. For each such instance of the Flower of
Dharma turning, as disclosure, display, realizing, and entering, we can have
ways of perfect realization. In sum, this wisdom-paramita137 of the buddha-
tathagatas is the Dharma Flower's turning, which is wide, great, profound,
and eternal. �Affirmation�138 is just our own disclosure of the Buddha's wis-
dom; it is the Flower of Dharma's turning which is never imparted by oth-
ers. This, then, is [the reality of] �When the mind is in the state of delusion,
the Flower of Dharma turns. �
[62] �When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower
of Dharma� describes turning the Flower of Dharma. That is to say, when
the Flower of Dharma has �perfectly exhausted�139 the energy with which it
turns us, the �energy as it is�140 with which we turn ourselves will, in turn,
be realized. This realization is to turn the Flower of Dharma. Though the
former turning is, even now, without cease, we, reversely, are naturally turn-
ing the Flower of Dharma. Though we have not finished donkey business,
horse business will still come in. 141 [Here] there exists �sole reliance on the
one great purpose� as �real appearance at this place. �142 The multitudes of
the thousandfold world that �spring out of the earth�143 have long been great
honored saints of the Flower of Dharma144 but they spring out of the earth
being turned by themselves and they spring out of the earth being turned by
circumstances. 145 In turning the Flower of Dharma we should not only real-
ize springing out of the earth; in turning the Flower of Dharma we should
also realize springing out of space. 146 We should know with the Buddha's
wisdom not only earth and space but also springing out of the Flower of
Dharma itself. In general, in the time of the Flower of Dharma, inevitably,
�the father is young and the son old. �147 It is neither that the son is not the
son, nor that the father is not the father; we should just learn that the son is
old and the father young. Do not imitate �the disbelief of the world�148 and
be surprised. [Even] the disbelief of the world is the time of the Flower of
Dharma. This being so, in turning the Flower of Dharma we should realize
the �one time� in which �the Buddha is living. �149 Turned by disclosure, dis-
play, realization, and entering, we spring out of the earth; and turned by the
Buddha's wisdom, we spring out of the earth. At the time of this turning the
Flower of Dharma, �mental realization�150 exists as the Flower of Dharma,
and the Flower of Dharma exists as mental realization. 151 For another exam-
ple, the meaning of �the downward direction� is just �the inside of space. �152
This �downward,� and this �space,� are just the turning of the Flower of
Dharma, and are just the lifetime of the Buddha. We should realize, in turn-
ing the Flower of Dharma, that the Buddha's lifetime, the Flower of Dharma,
the world of Dharma, and the wholehearted state, are realized as �down-
ward,� and realized also as �space. � Thus, �downward space� describes just
the realization of turning the Flower of Dharma. In sum, at this moment, by
turning the Flower of Dharma we can cause the three kinds of grass to exist,
and by turning the Flower of Dharma we can cause the two kinds of trees to
exist. We should not expect [this] to be a state of awareness, and we should
not wonder whether it is a state without awareness. When we turn ourselves
and �initiate bodhi,�153 that is just �the southern quarter. �154 This realization
of the truth is originally present on Vulture Peak, which convenes as an order
in the southern quarter. Vulture Peak is always present in our turning the
Flower of Dharma. There are buddha lands of the ten directions that con-
vene as an order in space, and this is an individual body155 turning the Flower
of Dharma. When we realize it, in turning the Flower of Dharma, as already
the buddha lands of the ten directions, there is no place into which an atom
could enter. There is turning the Flower of Dharma as �matter just being the
immaterial,�156 which is beyond �either disappearance or appearance. �157
There is turning the Flower of Dharma as �the immaterial just being mat-
ter,�158 which may be �absence of life and death. �159 We cannot call it �being
in the world�;160 and how could it only be in a process of �extinction�? 161
When [a person] is a �close friend�162 to us, we are also a �close friend� to
that person. We must not forget to bow to and to work for a �close friend�;
therefore, we must take care to perfectly realize moments of giving �the pearl
in the topknot�163 and of giving �the pearl in the clothes. �164 There is turn-
ing the Flower of Dharma in the presence �before the Buddha� of a �trea-
sure stupa,�165 whose �height is five hundred yojanas. �166 There is turning
the Flower of Dharma in the �Buddha sitting inside the stupa,�167 whose
extent is �two hundred and fifty yojanas. � There is turning the Flower of
Dharma in springing out from the earth and abiding in the earth, [in which
state] mind is without restriction and matter is without restriction. There is
turning the Flower of Dharma in springing out from the sky and abiding in
the earth, which is restricted by the eyes and restricted by the body. 168 Vul-
ture Peak exists inside the stupa, and the treasure stupa exists on Vulture
Peak. The treasure stupa is a treasure stupa in space, and space makes space
for the treasure stupa. 169 The eternal buddha inside the stupa takes his seat
alongside the buddha of Vulture Peak, and the buddha of Vulture Peak expe-
riences the state of experience as the buddha inside the stupa. 170 When the
buddha of Vulture Peak enters the state of experience inside the stupa, while
object and subject on Vulture Peak [remain] just as they are, he enters into
the turning of the Flower of Dharma. When the buddha inside the stupa
springs out on Vulture Peak, while still of the land of eternal buddhas, while
still �long extinct,�171 he springs out. �Springing out,� and �entering into the
turning,� are not to be learned under common people and the two vehicles,
[but] should follow turning of the Flower of Dharma. �Eternal extinction�
is an ornament of real experience that adorns the state of buddha. �Inside the
stupa,� �before the Buddha,� �the treasure stupa,� and �space� are not of
Vulture Peak; they are not of the world of Dharma; they are not a halfway
stage; and they are not of the whole world. Nor are they concerned with only
a �concrete place in the Dharma. �172 They are simply �different from think-
ing. �173 There is turning the Flower of Dharma either in �manifesting the
body of Buddha and preaching the Dharma for others�174 or in manifesting
this body and preaching the Dharma for others. Or turning the Flower of
Dharma is the manifestation of Devadatta. 175 Or there is turning the Flower
of Dharma in the manifestation of �to retreat also is fine. �176 Do not always
measure �the waiting, with palms held together and [faces] looking up,�177
as �sixty minor kalpas. �178 Even if the length of �wholehearted waiting�179
is condensed into just a few countless kalpas, still it will be impossible to
fathom the �buddha-wisdom. �180 As how much buddha-wisdom should we
see a wholehearted mind that is waiting? Do not see this turning the Flower
of Dharma only as �the bodhisattva way practiced in the past. �181 Wherever
the Flower of Dharma is a total order the virtue is that of turning the Flower
of Dharma, [and it is expressed] as, �The Tathagata preaches the Great Vehi-
cle today. �182 [When] the Flower of Dharma just now is the Flower of Dharma,
it is �neither sensed nor recognized,�183 and at the same time it is �beyond
knowing� and �beyond understanding. �184 This being so, �five hundred
[ink]drop [kalpas]�185 are a brief thousandth [of an instant] of turning the
Flower of Dharma; they are the Buddha's lifetime being proclaimed by each
moment of red mind.
[70] In conclusion, in the hundreds of years since this sutra was trans-
mitted into China, to be turned as the Flower of Dharma, very many people,
here and there, have produced their commentaries and interpretations. Some,
moreover, have attained the Dharma state of an eminent person by relying
on this sutra. But no one has grasped the point of �the Flower of Dharma
turning,� or mastered the point of �turning the Flower of Dharma,� in the
manner of our Founding Patriarch, the eternal buddha of Sokei. Now that
we have heard these [points] and now that we have met it, we have experi-
enced the meeting of eternal buddha with eternal buddha; how could [this]
not be the land of eternal buddhas? How joyful it is! From kalpa to kalpa is
the Flower of Dharma, and from noon to night is the Flower of Dharma.
Because the Flower of Dharma is from kalpa to kalpa, and because the Flower
of Dharma is from noon to night, even though our own body and mind grows
strong and grows weak, it is just the Flower of Dharma itself. The reality
that exists �as it is� is �a treasure,�186 is �brightness,�187 is �a seat of truth,�188
is �wide, great, profound, and eternal,�189 is �profound, great, and everlast-
ing,�190 is �mind in delusion, the Flower of Dharma turning,� and is �mind
in realization, turning the Flower of Dharma,� which is really just the Flower
of Dharma turning the Flower of Dharma.
[72] When the mind is in the state of delusion, the Flower of Dharma
turns.
When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower of
Dharma.
If perfect realization can be like this,
The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.
When we �serve offerings to it, venerate, honor, and praise it�191 like
this, the Flower of Dharma is the Flower of Dharma.
Shobogenzo Hokke-ten-hokke
On a day of the summer retreat in the second year of Ninji192 I have written
this and presented it to Zen person Etatsu. I am profoundly glad that he is
going to leave home to practice the truth. Just to shave the head is a lovely
fact in itself. To shave the head and to shave the head again: this is to be a
true child of transcending family life. 193 Leaving home today is the �effects
and results as they are� of the �energy as it is,� which has turned the Flower
of Dharma hitherto. The Flower of Dharma today will inevitably bear the
Flower of Dharma's Flower of Dharma fruits. It is not Sakyamuni's Flower
of Dharma and it is not the buddhas' Flower of Dharma; it is the Flower of
Dharma of the Flower of Dharma. Though �form� is �as it is,� our habitual
turning of the Flower of Dharma has been suspended in the state of �neither
sensing nor recognizing. � But the Flower of Dharma now is manifesting
itself afresh in the state �beyond knowing and beyond understanding. � The
past was exhalation and inhalation, and the present is exhalation and inhala-
tion. This we should maintain and rely upon, as the Flower of Dharma that
is �too fine to think about. �194
Written by the founder of Kannondoriko sho-
horinji, a srama? a who entered Song [China]
and received the transmission of Dharma,
Dogen (his written seal).
The copying was completed at Hogyoji at
the beginning of spring195 in the third year
of Kagen. 196
---
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 18
[Chapter Eighteen]
Shin-fukatoku
Mind Cannot Be Grasped
(The Former)
Translator's Note: Shin means �mind,� fu expresses negation, ka expresses
possibility, and toku means �to grasp. � Shin-fukatoku, or �mind cannot be
grasped,� is a quotation from the Diamond Sutra. On the basis of our com-
mon sense, we usually think that our mind can be grasped by our intellect,
and we are prone to think that our mind must exist somewhere substantially.
This belief also extends into the sphere of philosophy; Ren� Descartes, for
example, started his philosophical thinking with the premise �Cogito ergo
sum� or �I think therefore I am. � The German idealists, for example, Kant,
Fichte, von Schelling, and Hegel, also based their philosophies on the exis-
tence of mind. But in Buddhism we do not have confidence in the existence
of mind. Buddhism is a philosophy of action, or a philosophy of the here and
now; in that philosophy, mind cannot exist independently of the external
world. In other words, Buddhism says that all existence is the instantaneous
contact between mind and the external world. Therefore it is difficult for us
to grasp our mind independently of the external world. In short, Buddhist
theory cannot support belief in the independent existence of mind. In this
chapter, Master Dogen preached that mind cannot be grasped, explaining a
famous Buddhist story about a conversation between Master Tokusan Senkan
and an old woman selling rice cakes.
[75] Sakyamuni Buddha says, �Past mind cannot be grasped, present mind
cannot be grasped, and future mind cannot be grasped. �1
This is what the Buddhist Patriarch has mastered in practice. Inside can-
not be grasped, it has scooped out and brought here the caves2 of the past,
present, and future. At the same time it has utilized the cave of [the Buddhist
Patriarch] himself, and the meaning of �self� here is �mind cannot be grasped. �
The present thinking and discrimination is �mind cannot be grasped. � The
whole body utilizing the twelve hours is just �mind cannot be grasped. �
[76] After entering the room of a Buddhist patriarch, we understand
�mind cannot be grasped. � Before entering the room of a Buddhist patriarch,
we are without questions about, we are without assertions about, and we do
not see and hear �mind cannot be grasped. � Teachers of sutras and teachers
of commentaries, sravakas and pratyekabuddhas, have never seen it even
in a dream. Evidence of this is close at hand: Zen Master Tokusan Senkan,3
in former days, boasts that he has elucidated the Diamond Praj�a Sutra. 4
Sometimes he calls himself �Shu, King of the Diamond Sutra. �5 He is reputed
to be especially well versed in the Seiryu Commentaries,6 besides which he
[himself] has edited texts weighing twelve tan. 7 It appears that there is no
other lecturer to match him. [In fact,] however, he is the last in a line of lit-
erary Dharma teachers. Once, he hears that there is a supreme Buddha-
Dharma, received by rightful successor from rightful successor, and angered
beyond endurance he crosses mountains and rivers, carrying his sutras and
commentaries with him, until he comes upon the order of Zen Master Shin
of Ryutan. 8 On the way to that order, which he intends to join, he stops for
a rest. Then an old woman comes along, and she [also] stops for a rest by
the side of the road.
Then Lecturer [Sen]kan asks, �What kind of person are you? �
The old woman says , �I am an old woman who sells rice cakes . �
Tokusan says, �Will you sell some rice cakes to me? �
The old woman says, �Why does the master wish to buy rice cakes? �
Tokusan says, �I would like to buy rice cakes to refresh my mind. �9
The old woman says, �What is that great load the master is carrying? �
Tokusan says, �Have you not heard? I am Shu, King of the Diamond
Sutra. I have mastered the Diamond Sutra. There is no part of it that I do not
understand. This [load] I am now carrying is commentaries on the Diamond
Sutra. �
Hearing this insistence, the old woman says, �The old woman has a
question. Will the master permit me [to ask] it, or not? �
Tokusan says, �I give you permission at once. You may ask whatever
you like. �
The old woman says, �I have heard it said in the Diamond Sutra that
past mind cannot be grasped, present mind cannot be grasped, and future
mind cannot be grasped. Which mind do you now intend somehow to refresh
with rice cakes? If the master is able to say something, I will sell the rice
cakes. If the master is unable to say anything, I will not sell the rice cakes. �
Tokusan is dumbfounded at this: he does not know how he might politely
reply. The old woman just swings her sleeves10 and leaves. In the end, she
does not sell her rice cakes to Tokusan. How regrettable it is for a com-
mentator on hundreds of scrolls [of text], a lecturer for tens of years, on
merely receiving one question from a humble old woman, to be defeated at
once and not even to manage a polite reply. Such things are due to the great
difference between [someone] who has met a true teacher and succeeded a
true teacher and heard the right Dharma, and [someone] who has never heard
the right Dharma or met a true teacher. This is when Tokusan first says, �A
rice cake painted in a picture cannot kill hunger. � Now, so they say, he has
received the Dharma from Ryutan.
[81] When we carefully consider this story of the meeting between the
old woman and Tokusan, Tokusan's lack of clarity in the past is audible
[even] now. Even after meeting Ryutan he might still be frightened of the
old woman. He is just a late learner, not an eternal buddha who has tran-
scended enlightenment. The old woman on this occasion shuts Tokusan's
mouth, but it is still difficult to decide that she is really a true person. 11 The
reason is that when she hears the words �mind cannot be grasped,� she thinks
only that mind cannot be got, or that mind cannot exist, and so she asks as
she does. If Tokusan were a stout fellow, he might have the power to exam-
ine and defeat the old woman. If he had examined and defeated her already,
it would also be apparent whether the old woman is in fact a true person.
Tokusan has not yet become Tokusan, and so whether the old woman is a
true person also is not yet apparent.
[82] That the mountain monks of the great kingdom of Song today, with
their patched robes and wide sleeves,12 idly laugh at Tokusan's inability to
answer, and praise the old woman's inspired wit, might be very unreliable
and stupid. For there is no absence of reasons to doubt the old woman: At the
point when Tokusan is unable to say anything, why does the old woman not
say to Tokusan, �Now the master is unable to say something, [so] go ahead
and ask [this] old woman. The old woman will say something for the master
instead. � If she spoke like this, and if what she said to Tokusan after receiv-
ing his question were right in expression, it would be apparent that the old
woman really was a true person. She has questions, but she is without any
assertion. No one since ancient times has ever been called a true person with-
out asserting even a single word. We can see from Tokusan's past [experi-
ence] that idle boasting is useless, from beginning to end. We can know from
the example of the old woman that someone who has never expressed any-
thing cannot be approved. Let us see if we can say something in Tokusan's
place. Just as the old woman is about to question him as she does, Tokusan
should tell her at once, �If you are like this, then do not sell me your rice
cakes! � If Tokusan speaks like this, he might be an inspired practitioner.
Tokusan might ask the old woman, �Present mind cannot be grasped, past
mind cannot be grasped, and future mind cannot be grasped. Which mind
do you now intend to refresh with rice cakes? � If he questions her like this,
the old woman should say at once to Tokusan, �The master knows only that
rice cakes cannot refresh the mind. You do not know that mind refreshes
rice cakes, and you do not know that mind refreshes mind. � If she says this,
Tokusan will surely hesitate. Just at that time, she should take three rice
cakes and hand them over to Tokusan. Just as Tokusan goes to take them,
the old woman should say, �Past mind cannot be grasped! Present mind can-
not be grasped! Future mind cannot be grasped! � Or if Tokusan does not
extend his hands to take them, she should take one of the rice cakes and strike
Tokusan with it, saying, �You spiritless corpse! Do not be so dumb! � When
she speaks like this if Tokusan has something to say [for himself], fine. If
he has nothing to say, the old woman should speak again for Tokusan. [But]
she only swings her sleeves and leaves. We cannot suppose that there is a
bee in her sleeve, either. Tokusan himself does not say, �I cannot say any-
thing. Please, old woman, speak for me. � So not only does he fail to say what
he should say, he also fails to ask what he should ask. It is pitiful that the
old woman and Tokusan, past mind and future mind, questions and asser-
tions, are solely in the state of �future mind cannot be grasped. � Generally,
even after this, Tokusan does not appear to have experienced any great enlight-
enment, but only the odd moment of violent behavior. 13 If he had studied
under Ryutan for a long time, the horns on his head might have touched
something and broken,14 and he might have met the moment in which the
pearl [under the black dragon's] chin15 is authentically transmitted.
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
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 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. This is because we
have �perfectly realized� the �body� and the �energy� of the Flower of
Dharma. So should we think that our own �form� and �nature� now are �orig-
inally practicing� in this world of Dharma, or should we think that they are
�originally practicing� in atoms? They are without alarm and doubt, and
without fear; they are simply the profound and eternal state which is origi-
nal practice as the Flower of Dharma turning. This seeing atoms and seeing
the world of Dharma is beyond conscious action and conscious considera-
tion. Conscious consideration, and conscious action too, should learn Flower
of Dharma consideration, and should learn Flower of Dharma action. When
we hear of �disclosure, display, realization, and entering,� we should under-
stand them in terms of [the Buddha's] �desire to cause living beings. �136 In
other words, that which, as the Flower of Dharma turning, discloses the
Buddha's wisdom, we should learn by displaying the Buddha's wisdom.
That which, as the Flower of Dharma turning, realizes the Buddha's wis-
dom, we should learn by entering the Buddha's wisdom. That which, as the
Flower of Dharma turning, displays the Buddha's wisdom, we should learn
by realizing the Buddha's wisdom. For each such instance of the Flower of
Dharma turning, as disclosure, display, realizing, and entering, we can have
ways of perfect realization. In sum, this wisdom-paramita137 of the buddha-
tathagatas is the Dharma Flower's turning, which is wide, great, profound,
and eternal. �Affirmation�138 is just our own disclosure of the Buddha's wis-
dom; it is the Flower of Dharma's turning which is never imparted by oth-
ers. This, then, is [the reality of] �When the mind is in the state of delusion,
the Flower of Dharma turns. �
[62] �When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower
of Dharma� describes turning the Flower of Dharma. That is to say, when
the Flower of Dharma has �perfectly exhausted�139 the energy with which it
turns us, the �energy as it is�140 with which we turn ourselves will, in turn,
be realized. This realization is to turn the Flower of Dharma. Though the
former turning is, even now, without cease, we, reversely, are naturally turn-
ing the Flower of Dharma. Though we have not finished donkey business,
horse business will still come in. 141 [Here] there exists �sole reliance on the
one great purpose� as �real appearance at this place. �142 The multitudes of
the thousandfold world that �spring out of the earth�143 have long been great
honored saints of the Flower of Dharma144 but they spring out of the earth
being turned by themselves and they spring out of the earth being turned by
circumstances. 145 In turning the Flower of Dharma we should not only real-
ize springing out of the earth; in turning the Flower of Dharma we should
also realize springing out of space. 146 We should know with the Buddha's
wisdom not only earth and space but also springing out of the Flower of
Dharma itself. In general, in the time of the Flower of Dharma, inevitably,
�the father is young and the son old. �147 It is neither that the son is not the
son, nor that the father is not the father; we should just learn that the son is
old and the father young. Do not imitate �the disbelief of the world�148 and
be surprised. [Even] the disbelief of the world is the time of the Flower of
Dharma. This being so, in turning the Flower of Dharma we should realize
the �one time� in which �the Buddha is living. �149 Turned by disclosure, dis-
play, realization, and entering, we spring out of the earth; and turned by the
Buddha's wisdom, we spring out of the earth. At the time of this turning the
Flower of Dharma, �mental realization�150 exists as the Flower of Dharma,
and the Flower of Dharma exists as mental realization. 151 For another exam-
ple, the meaning of �the downward direction� is just �the inside of space. �152
This �downward,� and this �space,� are just the turning of the Flower of
Dharma, and are just the lifetime of the Buddha. We should realize, in turn-
ing the Flower of Dharma, that the Buddha's lifetime, the Flower of Dharma,
the world of Dharma, and the wholehearted state, are realized as �down-
ward,� and realized also as �space. � Thus, �downward space� describes just
the realization of turning the Flower of Dharma. In sum, at this moment, by
turning the Flower of Dharma we can cause the three kinds of grass to exist,
and by turning the Flower of Dharma we can cause the two kinds of trees to
exist. We should not expect [this] to be a state of awareness, and we should
not wonder whether it is a state without awareness. When we turn ourselves
and �initiate bodhi,�153 that is just �the southern quarter. �154 This realization
of the truth is originally present on Vulture Peak, which convenes as an order
in the southern quarter. Vulture Peak is always present in our turning the
Flower of Dharma. There are buddha lands of the ten directions that con-
vene as an order in space, and this is an individual body155 turning the Flower
of Dharma. When we realize it, in turning the Flower of Dharma, as already
the buddha lands of the ten directions, there is no place into which an atom
could enter. There is turning the Flower of Dharma as �matter just being the
immaterial,�156 which is beyond �either disappearance or appearance. �157
There is turning the Flower of Dharma as �the immaterial just being mat-
ter,�158 which may be �absence of life and death. �159 We cannot call it �being
in the world�;160 and how could it only be in a process of �extinction�? 161
When [a person] is a �close friend�162 to us, we are also a �close friend� to
that person. We must not forget to bow to and to work for a �close friend�;
therefore, we must take care to perfectly realize moments of giving �the pearl
in the topknot�163 and of giving �the pearl in the clothes. �164 There is turn-
ing the Flower of Dharma in the presence �before the Buddha� of a �trea-
sure stupa,�165 whose �height is five hundred yojanas. �166 There is turning
the Flower of Dharma in the �Buddha sitting inside the stupa,�167 whose
extent is �two hundred and fifty yojanas. � There is turning the Flower of
Dharma in springing out from the earth and abiding in the earth, [in which
state] mind is without restriction and matter is without restriction. There is
turning the Flower of Dharma in springing out from the sky and abiding in
the earth, which is restricted by the eyes and restricted by the body. 168 Vul-
ture Peak exists inside the stupa, and the treasure stupa exists on Vulture
Peak. The treasure stupa is a treasure stupa in space, and space makes space
for the treasure stupa. 169 The eternal buddha inside the stupa takes his seat
alongside the buddha of Vulture Peak, and the buddha of Vulture Peak expe-
riences the state of experience as the buddha inside the stupa. 170 When the
buddha of Vulture Peak enters the state of experience inside the stupa, while
object and subject on Vulture Peak [remain] just as they are, he enters into
the turning of the Flower of Dharma. When the buddha inside the stupa
springs out on Vulture Peak, while still of the land of eternal buddhas, while
still �long extinct,�171 he springs out. �Springing out,� and �entering into the
turning,� are not to be learned under common people and the two vehicles,
[but] should follow turning of the Flower of Dharma. �Eternal extinction�
is an ornament of real experience that adorns the state of buddha. �Inside the
stupa,� �before the Buddha,� �the treasure stupa,� and �space� are not of
Vulture Peak; they are not of the world of Dharma; they are not a halfway
stage; and they are not of the whole world. Nor are they concerned with only
a �concrete place in the Dharma. �172 They are simply �different from think-
ing. �173 There is turning the Flower of Dharma either in �manifesting the
body of Buddha and preaching the Dharma for others�174 or in manifesting
this body and preaching the Dharma for others. Or turning the Flower of
Dharma is the manifestation of Devadatta. 175 Or there is turning the Flower
of Dharma in the manifestation of �to retreat also is fine. �176 Do not always
measure �the waiting, with palms held together and [faces] looking up,�177
as �sixty minor kalpas. �178 Even if the length of �wholehearted waiting�179
is condensed into just a few countless kalpas, still it will be impossible to
fathom the �buddha-wisdom. �180 As how much buddha-wisdom should we
see a wholehearted mind that is waiting? Do not see this turning the Flower
of Dharma only as �the bodhisattva way practiced in the past. �181 Wherever
the Flower of Dharma is a total order the virtue is that of turning the Flower
of Dharma, [and it is expressed] as, �The Tathagata preaches the Great Vehi-
cle today. �182 [When] the Flower of Dharma just now is the Flower of Dharma,
it is �neither sensed nor recognized,�183 and at the same time it is �beyond
knowing� and �beyond understanding. �184 This being so, �five hundred
[ink]drop [kalpas]�185 are a brief thousandth [of an instant] of turning the
Flower of Dharma; they are the Buddha's lifetime being proclaimed by each
moment of red mind.
[70] In conclusion, in the hundreds of years since this sutra was trans-
mitted into China, to be turned as the Flower of Dharma, very many people,
here and there, have produced their commentaries and interpretations. Some,
moreover, have attained the Dharma state of an eminent person by relying
on this sutra. But no one has grasped the point of �the Flower of Dharma
turning,� or mastered the point of �turning the Flower of Dharma,� in the
manner of our Founding Patriarch, the eternal buddha of Sokei. Now that
we have heard these [points] and now that we have met it, we have experi-
enced the meeting of eternal buddha with eternal buddha; how could [this]
not be the land of eternal buddhas? How joyful it is! From kalpa to kalpa is
the Flower of Dharma, and from noon to night is the Flower of Dharma.
Because the Flower of Dharma is from kalpa to kalpa, and because the Flower
of Dharma is from noon to night, even though our own body and mind grows
strong and grows weak, it is just the Flower of Dharma itself. The reality
that exists �as it is� is �a treasure,�186 is �brightness,�187 is �a seat of truth,�188
is �wide, great, profound, and eternal,�189 is �profound, great, and everlast-
ing,�190 is �mind in delusion, the Flower of Dharma turning,� and is �mind
in realization, turning the Flower of Dharma,� which is really just the Flower
of Dharma turning the Flower of Dharma.
[72] When the mind is in the state of delusion, the Flower of Dharma
turns.
When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower of
Dharma.
If perfect realization can be like this,
The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.
When we �serve offerings to it, venerate, honor, and praise it�191 like
this, the Flower of Dharma is the Flower of Dharma.
Shobogenzo Hokke-ten-hokke
On a day of the summer retreat in the second year of Ninji192 I have written
this and presented it to Zen person Etatsu. I am profoundly glad that he is
going to leave home to practice the truth. Just to shave the head is a lovely
fact in itself. To shave the head and to shave the head again: this is to be a
true child of transcending family life. 193 Leaving home today is the �effects
and results as they are� of the �energy as it is,� which has turned the Flower
of Dharma hitherto. The Flower of Dharma today will inevitably bear the
Flower of Dharma's Flower of Dharma fruits. It is not Sakyamuni's Flower
of Dharma and it is not the buddhas' Flower of Dharma; it is the Flower of
Dharma of the Flower of Dharma. Though �form� is �as it is,� our habitual
turning of the Flower of Dharma has been suspended in the state of �neither
sensing nor recognizing. � But the Flower of Dharma now is manifesting
itself afresh in the state �beyond knowing and beyond understanding. � The
past was exhalation and inhalation, and the present is exhalation and inhala-
tion. This we should maintain and rely upon, as the Flower of Dharma that
is �too fine to think about. �194
Written by the founder of Kannondoriko sho-
horinji, a srama? a who entered Song [China]
and received the transmission of Dharma,
Dogen (his written seal).
The copying was completed at Hogyoji at
the beginning of spring195 in the third year
of Kagen. 196
---
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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 18
[Chapter Eighteen]
Shin-fukatoku
Mind Cannot Be Grasped
(The Former)
Translator's Note: Shin means �mind,� fu expresses negation, ka expresses
possibility, and toku means �to grasp. � Shin-fukatoku, or �mind cannot be
grasped,� is a quotation from the Diamond Sutra. On the basis of our com-
mon sense, we usually think that our mind can be grasped by our intellect,
and we are prone to think that our mind must exist somewhere substantially.
This belief also extends into the sphere of philosophy; Ren� Descartes, for
example, started his philosophical thinking with the premise �Cogito ergo
sum� or �I think therefore I am. � The German idealists, for example, Kant,
Fichte, von Schelling, and Hegel, also based their philosophies on the exis-
tence of mind. But in Buddhism we do not have confidence in the existence
of mind. Buddhism is a philosophy of action, or a philosophy of the here and
now; in that philosophy, mind cannot exist independently of the external
world. In other words, Buddhism says that all existence is the instantaneous
contact between mind and the external world. Therefore it is difficult for us
to grasp our mind independently of the external world. In short, Buddhist
theory cannot support belief in the independent existence of mind. In this
chapter, Master Dogen preached that mind cannot be grasped, explaining a
famous Buddhist story about a conversation between Master Tokusan Senkan
and an old woman selling rice cakes.
[75] Sakyamuni Buddha says, �Past mind cannot be grasped, present mind
cannot be grasped, and future mind cannot be grasped. �1
This is what the Buddhist Patriarch has mastered in practice. Inside can-
not be grasped, it has scooped out and brought here the caves2 of the past,
present, and future. At the same time it has utilized the cave of [the Buddhist
Patriarch] himself, and the meaning of �self� here is �mind cannot be grasped. �
The present thinking and discrimination is �mind cannot be grasped. � The
whole body utilizing the twelve hours is just �mind cannot be grasped. �
[76] After entering the room of a Buddhist patriarch, we understand
�mind cannot be grasped. � Before entering the room of a Buddhist patriarch,
we are without questions about, we are without assertions about, and we do
not see and hear �mind cannot be grasped. � Teachers of sutras and teachers
of commentaries, sravakas and pratyekabuddhas, have never seen it even
in a dream. Evidence of this is close at hand: Zen Master Tokusan Senkan,3
in former days, boasts that he has elucidated the Diamond Praj�a Sutra. 4
Sometimes he calls himself �Shu, King of the Diamond Sutra. �5 He is reputed
to be especially well versed in the Seiryu Commentaries,6 besides which he
[himself] has edited texts weighing twelve tan. 7 It appears that there is no
other lecturer to match him. [In fact,] however, he is the last in a line of lit-
erary Dharma teachers. Once, he hears that there is a supreme Buddha-
Dharma, received by rightful successor from rightful successor, and angered
beyond endurance he crosses mountains and rivers, carrying his sutras and
commentaries with him, until he comes upon the order of Zen Master Shin
of Ryutan. 8 On the way to that order, which he intends to join, he stops for
a rest. Then an old woman comes along, and she [also] stops for a rest by
the side of the road.
Then Lecturer [Sen]kan asks, �What kind of person are you? �
The old woman says , �I am an old woman who sells rice cakes . �
Tokusan says, �Will you sell some rice cakes to me? �
The old woman says, �Why does the master wish to buy rice cakes? �
Tokusan says, �I would like to buy rice cakes to refresh my mind. �9
The old woman says, �What is that great load the master is carrying? �
Tokusan says, �Have you not heard? I am Shu, King of the Diamond
Sutra. I have mastered the Diamond Sutra. There is no part of it that I do not
understand. This [load] I am now carrying is commentaries on the Diamond
Sutra. �
Hearing this insistence, the old woman says, �The old woman has a
question. Will the master permit me [to ask] it, or not? �
Tokusan says, �I give you permission at once. You may ask whatever
you like. �
The old woman says, �I have heard it said in the Diamond Sutra that
past mind cannot be grasped, present mind cannot be grasped, and future
mind cannot be grasped. Which mind do you now intend somehow to refresh
with rice cakes? If the master is able to say something, I will sell the rice
cakes. If the master is unable to say anything, I will not sell the rice cakes. �
Tokusan is dumbfounded at this: he does not know how he might politely
reply. The old woman just swings her sleeves10 and leaves. In the end, she
does not sell her rice cakes to Tokusan. How regrettable it is for a com-
mentator on hundreds of scrolls [of text], a lecturer for tens of years, on
merely receiving one question from a humble old woman, to be defeated at
once and not even to manage a polite reply. Such things are due to the great
difference between [someone] who has met a true teacher and succeeded a
true teacher and heard the right Dharma, and [someone] who has never heard
the right Dharma or met a true teacher. This is when Tokusan first says, �A
rice cake painted in a picture cannot kill hunger. � Now, so they say, he has
received the Dharma from Ryutan.
[81] When we carefully consider this story of the meeting between the
old woman and Tokusan, Tokusan's lack of clarity in the past is audible
[even] now. Even after meeting Ryutan he might still be frightened of the
old woman. He is just a late learner, not an eternal buddha who has tran-
scended enlightenment. The old woman on this occasion shuts Tokusan's
mouth, but it is still difficult to decide that she is really a true person. 11 The
reason is that when she hears the words �mind cannot be grasped,� she thinks
only that mind cannot be got, or that mind cannot exist, and so she asks as
she does. If Tokusan were a stout fellow, he might have the power to exam-
ine and defeat the old woman. If he had examined and defeated her already,
it would also be apparent whether the old woman is in fact a true person.
Tokusan has not yet become Tokusan, and so whether the old woman is a
true person also is not yet apparent.
[82] That the mountain monks of the great kingdom of Song today, with
their patched robes and wide sleeves,12 idly laugh at Tokusan's inability to
answer, and praise the old woman's inspired wit, might be very unreliable
and stupid. For there is no absence of reasons to doubt the old woman: At the
point when Tokusan is unable to say anything, why does the old woman not
say to Tokusan, �Now the master is unable to say something, [so] go ahead
and ask [this] old woman. The old woman will say something for the master
instead. � If she spoke like this, and if what she said to Tokusan after receiv-
ing his question were right in expression, it would be apparent that the old
woman really was a true person. She has questions, but she is without any
assertion. No one since ancient times has ever been called a true person with-
out asserting even a single word. We can see from Tokusan's past [experi-
ence] that idle boasting is useless, from beginning to end. We can know from
the example of the old woman that someone who has never expressed any-
thing cannot be approved. Let us see if we can say something in Tokusan's
place. Just as the old woman is about to question him as she does, Tokusan
should tell her at once, �If you are like this, then do not sell me your rice
cakes! � If Tokusan speaks like this, he might be an inspired practitioner.
Tokusan might ask the old woman, �Present mind cannot be grasped, past
mind cannot be grasped, and future mind cannot be grasped. Which mind
do you now intend to refresh with rice cakes? � If he questions her like this,
the old woman should say at once to Tokusan, �The master knows only that
rice cakes cannot refresh the mind. You do not know that mind refreshes
rice cakes, and you do not know that mind refreshes mind. � If she says this,
Tokusan will surely hesitate. Just at that time, she should take three rice
cakes and hand them over to Tokusan. Just as Tokusan goes to take them,
the old woman should say, �Past mind cannot be grasped! Present mind can-
not be grasped! Future mind cannot be grasped! � Or if Tokusan does not
extend his hands to take them, she should take one of the rice cakes and strike
Tokusan with it, saying, �You spiritless corpse! Do not be so dumb! � When
she speaks like this if Tokusan has something to say [for himself], fine. If
he has nothing to say, the old woman should speak again for Tokusan. [But]
she only swings her sleeves and leaves. We cannot suppose that there is a
bee in her sleeve, either. Tokusan himself does not say, �I cannot say any-
thing. Please, old woman, speak for me. � So not only does he fail to say what
he should say, he also fails to ask what he should ask. It is pitiful that the
old woman and Tokusan, past mind and future mind, questions and asser-
tions, are solely in the state of �future mind cannot be grasped. � Generally,
even after this, Tokusan does not appear to have experienced any great enlight-
enment, but only the odd moment of violent behavior. 13 If he had studied
under Ryutan for a long time, the horns on his head might have touched
something and broken,14 and he might have met the moment in which the
pearl [under the black dragon's] chin15 is authentically transmitted.
