Tag: Shobogenzo

In many instances, Dogen expresses deep criticism with other teachers.  He often expresses his anger about this and even, might go so low as to call teachers names.  When I first read these paragraphs, I was really astounded.  How could a Zen Teacher share publicly such criticism.  Isn’t that breaking many of the precepts?  My … Continue reading Dogen’s Anger #21 of 21

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 not obstruct the floating white clouds.” The white clouds are the five skandhas and the form world which appears, changes shape and then dies.  The … 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 expression is actualized, ‘going-beyond’ is actualized.  A pivotal expression refers to skillful means; skillful means refers to all buddhas and ancestors.  In expressing this, it … 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 Daowu of Tianhuang temple asked: Daowu – “What is the essential meaning of the Buddha Dharma?” Shitou said – ”Not-gaining, not knowing.” Daowu said, “Going … 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.”  This expression ‘the single path of going beyond’ is coined only by Panshan.  He did not say ‘the matter of going beyond,’ or ‘the person … 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 us understand intellectually that experience is something much broader and deeper then the naming of the experience.  But does this knowing of the limitations 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 solid “I” which in Buddhism, doesn’t exist.  This “I” which is the “Manas consciousness” or the 7th consciousness, twists everything around itself and makes all … 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 her skull has been borrowed and made into a ladle-scoop for human waste.  What is the principle of this replacement?” What unusual images of interrupting … 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 beyond Buddha, you must have the ability to talk about it.  Zen worthies, tell me! What is the matter of going beyond Buddha and ancestors? … 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 of 21