Tag: Shobogenzo

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 bring up a heavy topic which is the concentration camps of WWII.  I went to the concentration camps of Auschwitz/Birkenau in 1998 on a retreat … Continue reading In and Out, Talking and Listening #12

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 my 5 skandhas and my sense gates are the vehicle for the teaching to come through in this present moment, in this lecture hall, and … Continue reading Twining Vines #11

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 beyond buddha” would begin with emptiness – isn’t that what going beyond buddha might mean?  But quite to the contrary, Dogen’s insistent point is  “Going … Continue reading When I’m not talking I can hear it. #7

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 say he’s a thirteenth century cubist. Just like Picasso or in the writing world, Gertrude Stein, he tries to show all sides of the story … Continue reading Dogen and Nagarjuna’s Tetralemma #6

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 that interested in stages! He does not believe in what he sometimes calls “stepladder Zen”. This is because of his understanding of time and his … Continue reading 52 stages to Buddhahood #5

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 a sentence in this fascicle, which refers to this phrase. It is a non-buddha simply because it goes beyond Buddha. We call it a ‘non-buddha’ … Continue reading Dropping off Body and Mind #4

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 beyond a Buddha means. We need to go beyond our concepts, our language and the name of “Buddha”. In order to go beyond our “idea” … Continue reading The Three Simultaneous Buddhas #3

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 are all made up of molecules, moving parts and space. When the physicists look into an atom with their most subtle microscopes, they don’t find … Continue reading Buddhas and non-buddhas #2

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 lectures on it at this last sesshin, our Zen meditation retreat, and now I am going to try to gather my thoughts in writing for … Continue reading When you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him #1