Recently, I've been commenting on Dogen Zenji's Gakudo Yojinshu, translated as Guidelines for Studying the Way, which is divided into ten sections. And today, I want to talk about section number nine, which is translated as you should practice throughout the way. So Dogen says, courageous people or determined students who study the way should first know what is correct and what is incorrect in practicing throughout the way. The great tamer of beings, Shakyamuni, sat under the Bodhi tree and was immediately awakened to the way.

[01:01]

The unsurpassed vehicle, I'm sorry, was immediately awakened to the way, which is the unsurpassed vehicle, when he saw the morning star. This way of enlightenment cannot be reached by Shravakas, Pracheka Buddhas, or beings such as this. Buddha alone can be enlightened, and Buddhas have transmitted to Buddhas ceaselessly. To practice throughout the way is to actualize the limitless realm of the Buddha way and to illuminate all aspects of the Buddha way. The Buddha way is under everyone's foot, feet. He says heel, but feet is okay. And then he says, immersed in the way, clearly understand right on the spot. Immersed in enlightenment, you yourself are complete. Therefore, even though you arrive at full understanding, still, this is only a part of enlightenment.

[02:05]

This is how it is with practice throughout the way. I want to talk about this last paragraph. Dogen says, to practice throughout the way is to actualize the limitless realm of the Buddha way and to eliminate all aspects of the Buddha way which suggests total practice and total understanding. And then he says, the Buddha way is under everyone's heel or under everyone's foot. It's right here. And then he says, immersed in the way, clearly understand right on the spot. This immersed in the way is actually the same as being obstructed by the way. So literally it means, literally it's obstructed by the way.

[03:08]

But obstructed by the way is equated with being immersed by the way. So you kind of choose the language you want to use. You can either say obstructed by the way or immersed in the way. But obstructed by the way has more vitality to it and is a more meaningful way of talking about practice. You can say, oh yes, I am immersed in the way. But to be immersed in the way is to be obstructed by the way. And he says also, immersed in enlightenment or obstructed by enlightenment, you yourself are complete. So to be obstructed by enlightenment is to be immersed in enlightenment. This is another way of talking about practice realization, or dogen.

[04:26]

Realization or enlightenment is, manifests as practice. Enlightenment doesn't manifest as some object, but it manifests as enlightenment, or as practice. So he talks about the way and about enlightenment. The way means practice, and enlightenment we usually think of as a result. But enlightenment is the essence of practice. It is a result, but it's not a result in the future. Not a future result for a present activity. So it is real practice.

[05:30]

is real enlightenment. And true enlightenment is real practice. And if you try to see enlightenment without practice, you have to separate the two. And as soon as you separate the two, then one looks across at the other, but it's not real. then you just have an idea. This is an idea about practice, or this is an idea. From the point of view of enlightenment, this is an idea about practice. And from the point of view of practice, this is an idea about enlightenment. So people are always looking at enlightenment as an idea. So in Buddhism, in Zen, we have no quarrel with ideas. But idea stands in between the actual realization and practice.

[06:47]

Very different than most other disciplines. So you have to set aside your idea and just engage in practice. And this brings about obstruction. Because as soon as we engage in practice, we have obstruction. And obstruction is proof of practice. If you don't have a problem with practice, then you're not really engaged in practice. And this obstruction, or this problem, contains enlightenment. The enlightenment is right within this problem, or this obstruction. So we may have various problems, and we may count our problems. And so we may have large problems or small problems.

[07:52]

We may have problems with others, or with things, or with procedures, or so forth. But the root of all problems of course lies within ourself. So whenever we have some problem, of course there are circumstances which cause, which are causes for problem. But the root of problems lies within ourself. So when we say obstruct, Obstruction is not out there, but obstruction is here. But we always project obstruction out there. And there are contributing causes to our problems. Wherever we are, there are contributing causes.

[08:55]

Without these contributing causes, there's no problem, and of course, there's no life. So life is myself engaged in various activities which are contributing causes to various problems. But the biggest problem that we have with practice enlightenment is self-centeredness. So practice brings up awareness of self-centeredness, brings up awareness of ego, so-called, and the basic problem of, who is this? So, when we have that problem, we know that we have engagement, and we know that even though

[10:00]

We feel deluded. It's delusion within enlightened practice. So you may want to wait until you become enlightened before you start to practice, but it doesn't work. No one would be here. Sometimes people say, I'm not ready. But actually, we're always ready, because practice has no beginning and no end. There's just, at some point, we step into practice enlightenment, where we open the door to practice enlightenment. But the door is always there. So this obstruction The vitality of our practice is in the midst of obstruction.

[11:12]

If you read Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, Suzuki Roshi always talks about our problem as being our treasure. We want to get rid of problems. We want to solve our problems. But actually, our problem can be our treasure if we know how to use it. When we know how to use our problem, then we have some freedom from ourself. It doesn't mean that our problem is solved, but instead of being turned by the problem, In other words, we can actually use the problem. And the problem becomes a tool, becomes a wedge to lift up our practice. So trying to get rid of problems is okay.

[12:29]

You know, we always want to resolve something. But at the same time, the more we try to get rid of something, the more it hangs on, the more tenacious it becomes. Because the problem is only ourself. It's very hard to shake ourself. If the problem was something external, it wouldn't be so hard. But, maybe. But since the problem is the problem of ourself, When we try to shake it, it's pretty hard because we have to get rid of ourself if we get rid of the problem. So maybe that's not so bad either. So that's what we call dropping self, right? Practice means dropping self, which is also not so easy. So anyway,

[13:34]

The way is resistance, and enlightenment is resistance, and Buddha is resistance. So I'll read that again. He says, to practice throughout the way is to actualize the limitless realm of the Buddha way and to illuminate all aspects of the Buddha way. The Buddha way is under everyone's foot. Being immersed or being obstructed by the way, clearly understand right on the spot. Being immersed or obstructed by enlightenment, you yourself are complete. Therefore, even though you arrive at full understanding, still this is only a part of enlightenment. This is how it is with practice throughout the way. You know, it's said that even Shakyamuni Buddha, even though he has complete enlightenment, is still only halfway there.

[14:48]

What that means is even though each one of us actually is complete enlightenment, we haven't yet realized it. Because each one of us is complete enlightenment, we can have complete enlightenment. If we weren't complete enlightenment, we couldn't have it. We can't have something that we don't have. This is a very fundamental understanding. So we can't really acquire enlightenment, although sometimes we talk about innate enlightenment, inherent enlightenment, and acquired enlightenment. Inherent or innate enlightenment is the light that we already have, but which we don't necessarily realize.

[16:01]

Acquired enlightenment is step by step, you work towards something. But in the end, enlightenment is just enlightenment. And our practice is not step by step to acquire something, but just to realize our true treasure. which is very important in our practice, very important for Dogen. So then Dogen talks about faith. People nowadays who study the way do not understand where the way leads or where it ends. So they strongly desire to gain visible results or rewards. Who would not make this mistake?

[17:03]

It is like someone who runs away from his father, leaving a treasure behind and wandering about. Though he is only the child of a wealthy family, he endlessly wanders as a medial in foreign lands. Indeed, it's just like this. This is, of course, referring to the story in the Lotus Sutra of the prodigal son, which is very similar to the story in the Bible of the prodigal son. away from home to seek his fortune and doesn't realize that everything he has is at home. Some fulfillment. But actually our fulfillment is right under our feet. So the prodigal son returns back home. His father recognizes him, but he doesn't recognize where he is.

[18:12]

The father sends some servants to And he's a kind of pauper when he comes back. And the servants give him a job in the stable. And little by little, he works his way up to being the treasurer or prime minister or something, some office of the king. but the son had actually earned his way back in through his diligent practice. So Dogen uses this as an example, this big example in Buddhism.

[19:19]

He says, people nowadays who study the way do not understand where the way leads or where it ends. Those who study the way seek to be obstructed in the way or immersed in the way. For those who are immersed or obstructed in the way, all traces of enlightenment perish. Those who practice the Buddha way should first of all trust in the Buddha way or have faith in the Buddha way. Those who have faith or trust in the Buddha way should have faith that they are in essence within the Buddha way from the very beginning. So Buddha way is not something that you decide that you will try out. Buddha way is just your way from the very beginning. It always has been. But we don't always realize it.

[20:25]

Buddha way is just you yourself, the truth about yourself, the reality of yourself. This is enlightenment. Enlightenment is just understanding the truth about yourself and about others and about the law of reality. So There's nothing special, even though sometimes it seems special. But what we realize through our practice is where our true home is. When we practice Zazen, what we realize is where our true home is, where our real self abides. And this is something that is

[21:30]

So this is like the prodigal son returning to find our true home. And he says, for those who are obstructed or immersed in the way, all traces of enlightenment perish. Parish means that you can't, when you are immersed in practice or obstructed by practice, you don't see enlightenment. But you are enlightened. You are enlightened. When you do, then you are. But you can't see it because it's not something separate from you. It's like the eyes can't see the eyes. But we're always looking through the eyes in order to see.

[22:35]

But if the eye tries to see the eye, it can't see itself because it's too integral. So if you try to separate out enlightenment from practice, as soon as you do so, it's no longer enlightenment and you no longer can see it. But we can see our eye in the mirror. and in the same way we can think about what enlightenment is. We can look in the mirror of our mind to see what enlightenment is and think about it and have some idea, but the idea is not the thing. But if there's no separation, then the idea can also be the thing. And also, the mirror can also be the thing.

[23:38]

Not the object in the mirror, but the mirror itself. So he says, those who trust in the Buddha way should have faith that they are, in essence, in the Buddha way, free from delusion, false thinking, confusion, or increase or decrease, and mistakes. To arouse such faith or trust and illuminate the way in this manner and to practice accordingly are fundamental in studying the way. The Avatamsaka Sutra says, faith is the foundation of the way and the mother of all merit.

[24:45]

Excuse the expression. But faith means confidence and trust. In order to just enter practice, there has to be some kind of faith. Otherwise, you wouldn't even think about it. Why does it stay in place? Glimmer of faith. But faith should come through and should not be just taken because someone says you should do it.

[25:47]

This is not the kind of faith that we have in Buddhadharma. It's faith that comes through confidence and knowing that this is true practice. So faith and enlightenment are really two aspects of the same thing. Enlightenment manifests faith and faith manifests enlightenment. But to just have blind faith, there are two kinds of blind faith. One is to just have faith without discernment. Which is okay, but there's no checking in that kind of faith.

[26:58]

And it could be wrong. Because faith is like desire. desire can easily be misled. Faith can easily be misled. We put our faith in many different things. And, matter of fact, there are many ways that say, have faith in this, have faith in this. And so, faith is very naive and attaches to almost anything, if it feels good. And they're kind of saying these days, if it feels good, do it. This is kind of the seduction of faith, actually. So faith is very easily seduced. But the other aspect of faith is through trial and error and engagement, you pick up confidence.

[28:07]

And your confidence and your trust is tested. or the activity is tested and confidence and trust grows and then faith is established and then through that faith you have loyalty to yourself and to the way and commitment. And through that foundation, your practice will grow and your understanding will grow and enlightenment will manifest. So he says, you do this by sitting, which severs the root of discriminative thinking.

[29:08]

and blocks access to the road of intellectual understanding. This is an excellent means to arouse true beginner's mind. Then you let body and mind drop away, let go of delusion and enlightenment, and this is the second aspect of studying the way. You do this by sitting, which severs the root of discriminative thinking and blocks access to the road of intellectual understanding. You know, sometimes people say, Zen people are anti-intellectual. Maybe so, but in order to get to the essence, we have to go beyond intellect. But we don't disparage intellect. Matter of fact, if you study Buddhism, Buddhism is actually a very intellectual, extremely intellectual discipline. Most of us don't engage in the intellectual discipline of Buddhism.

[30:15]

And Zen is a discipline that in which we have to leap over or go through the intellectual discipline to get to the essence. But there's always a place for intellect. Intellect has its place alongside of intuition. But intuition is the dominant factor in Zen practice, and intellection is its handmade or butler. It takes a secondary position, but it's certainly respective and necessary. But intellect leads you to the door and opens the door, and then you have to walk through with nothing.

[31:24]

So, in every discipline, it's like there are different kinds of cakes. There's strawberry shortcake, and chocolate cake, and upside-down cake. Maybe Zen is like upside-down cake. And each cake is made with different ingredients and has a different flavor. There's the science cake, and the Buddhist cake, and the Zen cake, and the scholarly cake. And they're all made, they all have the same ingredients, actually, but a different proportion. In order to accomplish the cake you want, in order to have the flavor and the texture, of the cake that you want, you mix the ingredients in different proportions.

[32:33]

So, Zen, I don't want to, I can't, it would be very much fun to think about what the proportions are. But the Zen cake has its proportions. because what it is. And the science cake, it has its proportions. So science cake tastes wonderful and it's full of intellect and tasty intellect and discrimination and all wonderful ingredients. And the Zen cave is full of non-duality and emptiness, and practice enlightenment, and intellect is really a powerful ingredient, but a very powerful ingredient, but in a smaller proportion.

[33:44]

So the flavor is not the flavor of intellect, but the intellect modifies that flavor and perfumes it. So you can eat both cakes and enjoy each one, but to say, oh, this cake isn't as good as that one, We may have a taste for the flavor. We may like one better than the other, but they're just two different approaches to making cake. So if you practice Zen, you don't have to give up your intellect. Actually, in Zen practice, if you study, the intellect becomes very refined. And In the end, Buddhist philosophy and science agree.

[35:05]

There is now a book called Fuzzy Thinking. Fuzzy Thinking is the latest scientific understanding about this different from Aristotelian logic, because Aristotelian logic divides things into either this or that. Fuzzy thinking is more accurate in that it says things are not either this or that. They are what they are on this moment. And so it's revolutionizing the computer industry to be more accurate. In America, people who, you know, in the West, there's a lot of just some doubt about it, but in the East, there's no doubt about it. So, the computer makers are really using, making good use of this fuzzy thinking.

[36:15]

It's, in Buddhism, no problem at all. It's very close to Buddhist or Taoist because it focuses on what actually is, instead of dividing things and saying it's either this or that. So it tends more toward non-dualistic thinking. And it's actually very accurate, and it helps computer accuracy because it bends to conform to reality more closely. Anyway, generally speaking, those who trust that they are within the Buddha way are most rare.

[37:25]

If you have correct trust that you are within the Way, you understand where the Great Way leads or ends, and you know the original source of delusion and enlightenment. If once, in sitting, you sever the root of discriminative thinking, in eight or nine cases out of ten, you will immediately attain understanding of the Way. have faith that whatever is happening, you are in the way. Even though you make big mistakes, and even though you transgress the precepts, you do it within the way, within the dharma way, so that

[38:30]

no matter how good or bad you are or how well you do something or how badly you do it, it's done within the way so that all of our problems are seen from this perspective. Otherwise, we take our life a little too seriously. And we don't know when something goes wrong, we fall into despair. But when we're in the way, the way means there's always a way. To be within the way means there's always a way to be within the way. And then when we make some mistake or fall off, we climb back up. We fall off. We do this constantly. Falling off, climbing back up. Falling off, getting back up. But, and this is to always know that we're in the way.

[39:36]

There's always an opportunity for forgiveness, and there's always an opportunity for renewal. Otherwise, it's too easy for life to become a victim of life, a victim of birth and death. Actually, to be within the way means to not be a victim of birth and death, or life and death. So, we actually create our own destiny. We create our life. as we engage with causes and conditions. We're constantly using this material to create our life.

[40:39]

And if we do that, if we know that we're within the way, then it means we have some perspective on the unreality of reality and the reality of unreality. And we're not just on one side. So hopefully we have an opportunity to be within fundamental sanity. And we can always return to that fundamental sanity. Do you have a question? I was very interested in what you said about obstruction and immersion.

[41:46]

I've been thinking about this a lot since your last talk, and I was thinking about arousing the thought of enlightenment and what else comes up. with the thought of enlightenment and impermanence, and kind of how often we arouse what we think is the thought of enlightenment, but with it comes this thought of sort of being very powerful. And that catches us. And being immersed in the way sounds very kind of limitless, like the ocean. But being obstructed, by the way, sounds more like limitations, sounds more like, you know, sitting in front of the bell rings and going to the bell calls and stuff like that. That's good. Immersion, in a way, means to be unlimited. And obstruction means to find your limitation.

[42:46]

So that's exactly the crossroads of space and time and the Absolute and the Relative. That's where the koan exists, moment after moment. All koans are about the place where the Absolute and the Relative meet, the vitality of that moment. that immersion is non-duality, just oneness. And obstruction is moment-to-moment separateness, feeling of independence. So how do you reconcile these two? How do you... How do you live your life of duality on the basis of immersion in non-duality?

[43:52]

And that's to have faith that you're in the way. You know that this is the ocean of the Absolute. Living this relative life in the ocean of the Absolute But the ocean of the absolute is like our mother. And there we are out in the bumpy waves. But we know that we're contained within this. So where does absolute and relative appear in Dogen's teachings? It seems almost like acquiescing to Western thought to talk about Buddhist theology in that way.

[45:00]

Well, there's no theology in Buddhism. Well, excuse me. I know it. The teachings of Dogen. Exactly. Give me an example. Well, I can't give you an example of where absolute and relative or infinite and finite appear in Dogen's teachings. That's my point. Can you? That's all he talks about. But not in those terms. Well, maybe not in those terms exactly. Everything is translated. Is that what Buddhism in America means? Translating it in that way? Yeah. That's what Dogen is always talking about. About duality of non-duality and the non-duality of duality. And, you know, we talk about nirvana and samsara, right? The Absolute and the Relative. Right? Well, I see it that way.

[46:01]

Everybody does. You think that he sees things more clearly than the Absolute? Is that what you're saying? No, I don't think he differentiates. I don't think that's what you're saying. He doesn't differentiate. He doesn't put it in terms like young, for instance. At all. Although, young... seems to completely honor the way the Buddha taught. And so for me, I have my prejudices based on my experience. And I have trouble sometimes not hearing the words infinite or finite. And then I hear other words, but they're not those words, and those are my basis. So a point of reference. So, I mean, I appreciate hearing it like that. I appreciate hearing that there's the three ways to enlighten, for instance. It's a middle way, which I appreciate, but it seems like I've gotten in arguments with other teachers when I've spoken in that way.

[47:13]

Well, there are many metaphors, you know, and so literature is full of metaphors. And there... Infinite ways. As a matter of fact, you know, Dogen has 95 fascicles of Shobo Genzo, and each one is talking about the same thing, using different metaphors and different perspectives to talk about the same thing. And all the koans, the 500, 800 koans, are all about the same thing, but in a different way, in a different aspect. And so, absolute and relative are just also terms. They're just certain terms, but because they're not descriptive, they're a little more abstract. or at least it wasn't a goal.

[48:44]

And it seems to me that enlightenment, as you were talking about today, is more a sort of description, one that we can't use in any meaningful way about our own lives. Perhaps we can look at other people and describe them in that way, but it's, whereas realization is something that there is a mission, Well, I understand what you're saying, but I think that they're both good terms, and they're both bad terms. You know, realization means to make real, right? To realize, to see what's real. And enlightenment means to bring forth light.

[49:50]

So it's a beautiful term. Enlightenment is really a beautiful term, a beautiful poetic term. And I would hate to toss it out. But we should be careful about how we use something that's so beautiful, because then it becomes too commonplace. And so in that sense, I think we should just be careful how we use our terms. As a matter of fact, Suzuki Roshi didn't like to use the word enlightenment very much, but he appreciated it a lot. And some people say, well, Suzuki Roshi never talked about enlightenment, you know, and so his practice is not enlightened and blah, blah, blah. But he appreciated the word enlightenment very much, but he saved it for special occasions. And he talked about practice.

[50:53]

He didn't have to talk about enlightenment because he put the emphasis on practice because realization arises as practice. But if you talk about enlightenment the whole time, then you start to It's a result, a reward or something. So he always put the emphasis on just practice, you know, shucks. Well, if someone tells me I'm arrogant.

[52:10]

Someone says, you're arrogant. Usually people don't tell me that. Thank goodness. Or someone tells me I'm lazy. I'm not lazy. I have to go through this whole thing. Am I lazy? Maybe I am. Why am I lazy? And then I have to, it's like, what is move? but it becomes a koan. Lazy? I'm lazy? I mean, I don't do things I should do, or I don't respond, or something like that? And then I maybe try to get rid of my laziness, but then I find out I really am lazy. I just can't get rid of my laziness. The alarm when it rings in the morning, And I turn it off and I go back to sleep. And then I begin to realize more and more that I am like this.

[53:15]

But I can't do anything about it. But it's there with me and I begin to know myself better. And the more I know myself, at some point, my life turns by itself. the more I realize who I am and what I do, and then at some point it just turns, and then I can do something else. So this is just an example. I'm a little bit lazy. But I managed to get to Zazen almost every morning. That's just kind of an example of how a problem, a personal problem, can be something that really helps us.

[54:20]

And it helps us to examine our whole self. But there are problems that we can never get rid of. But we're always working with that problem. And the working with that problem is the point. Not the getting rid of it, but how we engage, how we really see ourself, how we see reality. So problem helps us to see reality. And it's time to quit. The problem itself is karma. So it's not just the problem I have, but it's also shared by the world. And when I realized that, even though it's my problem,

[55:22]

to see reality, to see myself in a real way.

[55:54]

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