Blog posts

The answer to the last question in Shitou’s koan is extremely poignant and beautiful to me. Daowu asked again, “Can you say anything further?” Shitou answered, “The expansive sky does … Continue reading Great Sky and White Clouds #20 of 21

The pivotal point is the second part of the koan of Shitou’s. Daowu said, “Going beyond, is there a further pivotal expression?” Dogen answers: “This means that when a pivotal … Continue reading The Pivotal Point #19 of 21

The last three blogs on the fascicle “Going Beyond Buddha” will be working with this koan from Great Teacher Shitou: In the assembly of Great Master Shitou Wuji, Zen Master … Continue reading Not gaining, Not knowing #18 of 21

Dogen writes in the fascicle “Going Beyond Buddha”: Zen Master Panshan Baoji said, “The single path of ‘going beyond’ is never transmitted by any one of the thousands of ancestors.”  … Continue reading The Sun and Moon #17 of 21

The next section in the text is about naming.  What happens when we name something?  What happens when language tries to describe experience?  Is the name the thing?  Most of … Continue reading What Is Your Name? #16 of 21

Monks should be like this child whose 7th consciousness or Manas consciousness doesn’t fully function.  Monks should be interrupting at every moment the instinctual tendency to circulate experience around a … Continue reading A Bubble in a Stream #15 of 21

“‘This child is not fully endowed with the six-sense organs’ means that her eyeballs have been replaced with soapberries by someone, her nostrils have been replaced with bamboo tubes, and … Continue reading Eyeballs, Nostrils, Skull Replacements #14 of 21

“Zen Master Jingyin Kumu in Dongjing, who is a Dharma heir of Furong, and whose Dharma name was Facheng, said to his assembly, “If you know the matter of going … Continue reading A Child of a Certain Family #13 of 21

I wanted to share an experience I had that helped me understand the simultaneity of inside and outside or in and out or talking and listening.  Unfortunately I have to … Continue reading In and Out, Talking and Listening #12 of 21

The entire network of co-origination is talking and listening all the time.  Lately, when I am giving a lecture, I don’t feel like “I’m” giving the lecture.  I feel like … Continue reading Twining Vines #11 of 21

It’s very interesting to me that Dogen began this fascicle of “Going Beyond Buddha” with a koan and discussion of “what is talking and hearing?”  One would think that “Going … Continue reading When I’m not talking I can hear it. #7 of 21

Dogen can be very difficult to read or understand. That’s why we often need a commentary or teacher to introduce his way of writing and the underlying teaching. I often … Continue reading Dogen and Nagarjuna’s Tetralemma #6 of 21

In the classical Buddhist teaching, there are 52 stages in the development of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. That’s a lot of stages! Dogen in his subtle analysis however isn’t … Continue reading 52 stages to Buddhahood #5 of 21

Dogen has a famous phrase: shinjin datsuraku, which is translated “dropping off body and mind.” This famous phrase needs to be understood in order to appreciate Dogen’s writing. There is … Continue reading Dropping off Body and Mind #4 of 21

This fascicle Going beyond Buddha explores and refines our idea of what a Buddha is. It explains that in order to understand a Buddha, we have to understand what going … Continue reading The Three Simultaneous Buddhas #3 of 21

Is there such a thing as a “buddha” or a “self”? Our teaching says, and the physicists concur, that there is nothing solid, neither a person, nor a thing. We … Continue reading Buddhas and non-buddhas #2 of 21

The next series of blogs will be on the fascicle of Dogen’s Shobogenzo called “Going Beyond Buddha.” I have listened to Shohaku Okumura’s lectures on this fascicle and have given … Continue reading When you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him #1 of 21