This morning I want to introduce you to a new book that was recently published, which is three Japanese commentaries, Japanese, three commentaries, but each one by a Japanese teacher on Dogen Zenji's Genjo Koan. So I think I have to talk a little bit about Dogen Zenji. Most of you know something about Dogen Zenji, but I'm going to pretend that you don't in order to explain.

[01:10]

So, Dogen Zenji was born in the year 1200, and he was the Zen master who propagated the so-called Soto school in Japan. Soto's practice comes from the fountainhead of Zen master Dogen. And Dogen was a very unusual teacher. He wrote a lot. He wrote essays, what we would now call essays, which were put into a volume called Shobo Genzo, The True Dharma Eye.

[02:12]

And Dogen's writings are very difficult, very difficult to penetrate because they're all based on the non-duality of enlightenment and delusion. So all of his way of expressing himself is in this non-dualistic manner. So it usually boggles our mind because we are always thinking dualistically and it's hard for us to get our mind around the oneness of our dualistic understanding. So, Shobo Genzo, which was recently republished, I'll explain that a little bit later, was a collection of maybe 95 fascicles,

[03:18]

But there are different collections. But the biggest collection is 95 fascicles, or maybe 96 or 97. And the keystone of those fascicles, most scholars think, is a fascicle called Ginjo Kōan. And if you study Ginjo Koan, you can see how each aspect of Ginjo Koan is expressed in a more detailed way in each of these fascicles. So, recently, well, some years ago, Kazutani Hashi, who recently completed his translation, along with a good many students from Zen Center helping him, just published the whole Shobo Genzo, which is a tremendous undertaking, really hard undertaking.

[04:43]

Kaz was one of the people who started translating Dogen from archaic Japanese into modern Japanese, which is a big undertaking in itself. And then I was one of the first people to start helping him translate, to have an English-speaking student translate, helping a Japanese translator but put it into understandable English. So I worked with him for 20 years or so. And one time he suggested that we translate. So a commentary by Bokusan Nishiyari.

[06:06]

Bokusan Nishiyari was a priest who lived around the time of the American Civil War. in the beginning of the Meiji period, and his commentary is considered very essential to understanding Dogen. And so Kaws suggested we translate that, and we did. we wanted to publish it, but I thought it was not enough of a book to publish by itself. And then at the same time, I'm having trouble remembering names.

[07:09]

So Shohaku Okamura translated Kosho Uchiyama's translation, Uchiyama's commentary. And so I suggested we put the two together to publish a book. And then Michael Wenger said, well, let's add Suzuki Roshi. So he collected, collated many of Suzuki Roshi's comments on Ginjo Kohan, although he had never given a thorough commentary. So we put all these three together and published this book. called Dogen's Genjo Koan Three Commentaries. So I'm very pleased about that.

[08:13]

It was just recently published. And although I would like to do is just read some. because to pick out parts because it's difficult anyway. So I'm going to bore you with this. If you don't mind. First of all, let me find my place. The meaning of genjo koan is, genjo means right now.

[09:22]

And koan, ko is like even or flat or sameness. An means the place of a dharma, a dharma position. Each thing has its dharma position. So basically something like the dharma position of each thing right now is absolute. The relative thing is absolute. The absolute thing is relative. This is what Milton is talking about. Koan has various meanings, but Gensho Koan means, Suzuki Roshi said, for him, Gensho Koan means your daily life as it extends from Zazen.

[10:29]

So when we sit Zazen in the morning, in emptiness, your life of form flows out. And this is the koan of your daily life. So genjokoans usually means, loosely, the koan of your daily life as it unfolds from zazen. So every moment is our koan. What Dogen did is took the essence of all the koans, collections, all the koans, and formed them into one koan, which is called Genjo Koan, the koan of your life, as it extends from Zazen, from emptiness into form, and form into emptiness.

[11:32]

That's not a very good way of explaining it, but it does make sense. moment to moment. So it's not like you're thinking about Mu all the time, although Mu is your life. What comes up for you in each moment is delusion within enlightenment and enlightenment within delusion. Dogon addresses the problem of enlightenment and the problem of delusion and of the reconciliation of delusion and enlightenment. The two are not separate. Without delusion there is no enlightenment and without enlightenment there is no delusion. So, we live our life of delusion An enlightened life is a life of total delusion.

[12:40]

So, I'm going to read you a little bit of this section. But first of all, I'm going to read you the first four propositions that Doge presents, because then it's a good introduction. He says, when all dharmas are Buddhadharma, There are delusion, realization, practice, birth and death, buddhas, and sentient beings. When the myriad dharmas are without a self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no non-sentient being, no birth and death. I'm going to have to explain what I mean by, what he means by dharmas. There are two meanings of the word Dharma. There are many meanings, but the two that we're concerned with are Dharma with a capital D and Dharmas with a small d. Dharma with a capital D means Buddha.

[13:49]

Buddha's teaching. Buddha's practice. Dharma with a small d means things. phenomena. There is a list of dharmas, lists of dharmas in the Buddhist understanding, which are the psychophysical constituents of a human being. That's technical, but in a broad sense, it means everything. Every dependent entity is a dharma. Every dependent entity is a dharma. So, all dharmas are things. So, when all dharmas are buddhadharma, in other words, when all entities, everything that we see, hear, feel, and taste and touch in the realm of the world, are buddhadharma,

[15:02]

Buddha's Dharma, then there are delusion, realization, practice, birth and death, Buddhas and sentient beings. When the myriad dharmas are without a self, there is no delusion, no realization, no Buddha, no sentient being, no birth and no death. The Buddha way is basically leaping clear of abundance and lack. Abundance and lack means birth and death, basically. Thus there are birth and death, delusion and realization, sentient beings and Buddhas. Yet in attachment, blooms fall, blossoms just fall, and in aversions, weeds just spring up. In other words, that which we like, goodbye. That which we don't like, hello. Too bad. So, then he says, to carry the self forward and illuminate the myriad dharmas is delusion.

[16:12]

That myriad dharmas come forth and illuminate the self is enlightenment. So, I'm going to talk, I'm going to read Nishyari's, books on Nishyari's commentary on that line. To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad dharmas is delusion. And the myriad dharmas come forth and illuminate the self is enlightenment. So this is a very dualistic way of thinking. But the way Dogen presents it and his language is different than our usual way of thinking. So he presents this as two two ways of looking at enlightenment and delusion. We tend to think of delusion as bad and enlightenment as good, or delusion as wrong and enlightenment as right.

[17:17]

This is not wrong, but it's also not complete or correct. So, the need to focus on says, this needs to be seen thoroughly through practice. First, you need to see the outline. This is where Dogen Zenji tentatively presents a picture of delusion and enlightenment as the Genjo Koan of the entire Dharman Tattu. Dharmadhatu means the realm of the dharmas, the realm of phenomena, comparative values, one thing as opposed to another. And one thing opposed to another means self and other, so subject and object.

[18:22]

I am the subject over against all of you as objects. for myself. And so Dogen reconciles this and Nishidari comments on it. So this needs to be seen thoroughly through practice. First you need to see the outline, which is what he's going to present. in the outline as the Ginjo Koan of the entire Dharma Dhatu. What is called delusion and enlightenment here is different from the delusion and enlightenment that are commonly spoken about. The distinction between delusion and enlightenment is shown for the time being in the interaction between self and myriad dharmas.

[19:24]

So, to carry the self forward, right? and illuminate the myriad dharmas is delusion. Self here does not mean the human self. The myriad dharmas here are not objects opposed to self. The myriad dharmas are the myriad dharmas of the self. This self is the self of myriad dharmas. For this reason, dropping off self is called myriad dharmas. and myriad dharmas without self are called self. I'll explain that a little bit. Here, the principle, here meaning in this talk, the principle of the one-thusness of self and others and the equality of delusion and enlightenment is demonstrated. So, you know, this is basic Buddhism.

[20:28]

Because Shakyamuni, there's this famous statement of Shakyamuni, dharmas keep rolling along. There are only dharmas. There is no self in the dharmas. The dharmas just keep rolling along, but there's no self within the dharmas. That is an actual, inherent self. And the way it's sometimes explained is I think a banyan, not a banyan tree, but one of those trees in the tropics that you keep peeling off the trunk. And then there's nothing there. But when you look at the tree, it's a tree. But those things which you peel off are the dharmas.

[21:38]

We're made up of dharmas. Form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. So why does he present delusion and enlightenment in this way while the entire world is outlined as Genjo Koan. If you say, cheeks are soft, therefore soft things are cheeks, implying that all things are one and the same, it will be a bad equation that has no meaning. In other words, if you say, oh, it's all one, it's all emptiness, that's not right. That's to say that all things are the same. All things are not the same. And at the same time, there is a sameness in all things. So if you say, cheeks are soft, therefore soft things are cheeks, implying that all things are one and the same, it will be a bad equation that has no meaning.

[22:45]

So Dogen Zenji is making this statement in order to explain that there are clearly delusion and enlightenment even in the realm of Genjokoan. So there can't be oneness without duality. Of course. It's the myriad things that are one. So if you just say everything is just oneness, you're missing the point. Because oneness can only be the oneness of the myriad things. So now, to carry the self forward and illuminate myriad dharmas is delusion, is a very difficult point. The old commentators broke their bones in their great effort. They took hold of the essential vehicle freely with their grappling hook. I like that one. I attribute that to myself. And presented their teaching. Their commentaries are not accessible to those who do not have understanding and are not ready to grasp it.

[23:52]

So he's saying that these old commentators really tried hard to get it, and they did, but their explanations are so difficult to understand that they're almost useless, unless you really understand yourself. So the authors, the old authors were like this, and they made excellent presentations, but it's very hard to understand them from the very beginning. So, quote, to carry the self forward and illuminate the myriad dharmas of delusion, and that myriad dharmas come forth with ultimate and illuminate the self is enlightenment, within these two sentences there are the words delusion and enlightenment. But it is not good to jump from here to one-vustness of delusion and enlightenment. In other words, you have to get there by going through all the steps. If you just simply say, oh yeah, the one-vustness of delusion and enlightenment, without understanding it, that's not right.

[24:53]

You should understand it before you say that. You understand what I mean? That's what he's saying. So it's not good to jump from here to one thusness of delusion and enlightenment or equality of practice and enlightenment, even though that's true. The words delusion and enlightenment of self and other is used by Dogen Jinji as used by Dogen Jinji are different from the way we usually use them. I would like us to first follow the text intimately and then say whatever you want to say later. This sometimes happens when you have a class, you're teaching a class, and somebody jumps way ahead and says, well, what about that? They have to wait until we get there before you ask that question. So, now, what is it to carry the Self forward and illuminate Marya Dharmas?

[25:55]

cutting you in the chase. This is to look for the dharmas outside of the mind. In other words, to see things as if they are outside of your own mind. Or to see things as if they are outside of Big Mind. The self stays on one side while you let your mind run about in the myriad dharmas somewhere else. saying that you want to be enlightened, you want to be a scholar, and so forth. Saying the self is looking outside. And this is the domain of delusion. In other words, looking outside for reality. Groping around in the illusory world for something real. Just to carry the self forward. in the usual sense. So he says, this is a common way to understand.

[26:59]

It's not the real way. Totally, it's the common way. So he's explaining that. But this is the common way. A novice thinks of becoming an elder. An elder thinks of becoming head priest. This is his world. Head priest wants to be the head of the council. A council member thinks of becoming the head of the sect. Because of the many legs of the self, We are not really settled. We carry ourselves forward and then run after the myriad dharmas. And this is delusion. This is also the case when we discuss the dharma gate. Intellectual interpretations such as Buddha's view, dharma's view, equality and distinction, the duality of this and that, the hierarchy of Mahayana and Hinayana, are all deluded ways of looking for the dharma outside the mind. Buddha talks about not having any views. When you no longer have views which are based on self-centeredness or searching outside, then you can have a settled mind.

[28:10]

When you let go of all views, then you can have a settled mind. So this is also the So, if we only read the text literally, this is how you may see it, but you should go beyond this. It's not that this is wrong, but you have to get beyond this. To carry the self forward does not mean that self and dharmas are in opposition. The self here means the self of the entire world. At this point, each of the myriad dharmas is the Self. And there are no myriad dharmas outside the Self. To practice, realize the Self of the entire world is to carry the Self forward and practice, realize the myriad dharmas. Therefore, delusion here does not mean to be at a loss, since it is delusion in the midst of all Buddhadharma.

[29:19]

There is no enlightenment outside of delusion. You know, when the delusionary or illusionary life means the life of opposition, a-position, opposition, everything in relation to each other. And it's not a bad word. Probably a different word would be good. I don't know what that is. So, as for the myriad dharmas come forth, you should understand these two sentences in reference to what is said in Vendoa. Vendoa was another classical dogma. Can stillness, mind and object, merge in realization and go beyond enlightenment?

[30:22]

Enlightenment and delusion is a duality. That is the problem. People want enlightenment, but they want enlightenment... View of enlightenment means having something, as opposed to not having something, or in opposition to delusion. But that's... not enlightenment. Enlightenment is leaping beyond enlightenment and delusion. So it's so far beyond anything that we think. If you have an idea of what is enlightenment, it's not enlightenment. It can't be, because enlightenment is beyond thinking, beyond imagery. mind and object merge in realization and go beyond enlightenment.

[31:27]

Nevertheless, because you are in the state of self-fulfilling samadhi, without disturbing its quality or moving a particle, you extend the Buddha's great activity, the incomparably profound and subtle teaching. So, however, one thusness of delusion and enlightenment and the non-duality of self and other can be discussed later. Here, we should see, just as in the text, that to carry the self forward is delusion, and that myriad dharmas coming forth is enlightenment. Now look at it from this angle. Any one of you may understand how the self is carried forward toward the myriad dharmas, but how do you understand the myriad dharmas advancing to illuminate the self? If we see that the myriad dharmas travel toward us, Would it be like a grand exhibition? I think, did you ever see Fantasia?

[32:35]

The brooms are sweeping and he's advancing forward. So anyway, to marry the dharmas come forth is practice. People who don't practice don't understand it. This is not something that is known to those who don't practice. How about that? The self is carried forward in the self. Are there delusion and enlightenment in this realm? At what point can you distinguish delusion and enlightenment? Whether the self carries forward or the myriad dharmas come forth, it appears to be the same. To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad dharmas is delusion. Myriad dharmas come forth and illuminate the self could also be delusion. Or the myriad dharmas come forth and illuminate the self is enlightenment. Then carrying the self forward and illuminating the myriad dharmas could be enlightenment. So he's just taking all of this, turning everything around, and going beyond discrimination.

[33:43]

Nevertheless, That delusion is delusion and enlightenment is enlightenment is clearly stated here. Enlightenment is enlightenment. Delusion is delusion. Delusion is enlightenment. Enlightenment is delusion. This is Nagarjuna. Simply speaking, there is a distinction between effort and not effort. I'm sorry, I want to go back. You should investigate this thoroughly. It means that there are clearly delusion and enlightenment within one sitting. In other words, Zazen includes delusion and enlightenment. I remember Bill Kong once sent me a photograph of himself sitting Zazen. And the caption was, Sitting in Delusion. Simply speaking, there is a mistake. We don't need many words.

[34:48]

It is the realm of non-effort where the entire Dharmadhatu becomes the Buddha's seal. In other words, letting go. Non-effort means letting go. By means of thinking and discriminating, the self and illumination are lost. This point cannot be understood without actually practicing and investigating. But in the beginning, he says, if in the beginning, if you jump to say that delusion and enlightenment are thusness, or that self and others are not two, this would be a poisonous view, and would not be of any help to practice. Some teachers of old made this mistake. In other words, If you get ahead of yourself and don't quite understand the true meaning of form and emptiness, then your understanding can be a poisonous view.

[35:51]

This is why often in practices such as this, not everything is explained to people. Because you didn't want people to misunderstand. Because if you misunderstand, medicine can become poison. So I'm going to say that again. In the beginning, if you jump to saying that delusion and enlightenment are thusness, or as it is, or that self and others are not two, this would be a poisonous view. It's true. But if you don't understand it correctly, it can be a poisonous view and would not be of any help to practice. marriage and say to him, my property will someday be all yours, these acres and fields and buildings for income. He might feel free to squander it.

[36:53]

That happens. Likewise, the oneness of self and others will naturally be understood without explanation when you penetrate where the border lies between delusion and enlightenment. If you clearly understand the border between delusion and enlightenment, you will naturally understand the genjo koan of delusion and enlightenment. You will also understand delusion and enlightenment within the buddhadharma of all dharmas. That's interesting, the border between delusion and enlightenment. Where does one stop in the other? Is there a border? If you look at past and future, Where is the border between past and future? Where does the past meet the future? You say in the present. But then, where is the present? Which present do you mean? As soon as you say the present, it's also a different past and future.

[37:56]

The present is Buddha. The past and future is dharmas. Practice is not just limited to one form. Sometimes we need to go onto high peaks. Sometimes we need to go into the deep ocean. It's no use to say, originally there's no one thing, or not obtainable, jumping before your feet are settled. On the one hand, it is also foolish to be stuck under a ladder for a lifetime by being bound by cause and effect. and not knowing how to get through it. So in practice, we need to go to that place, we need to go to that place, look back at this place, go to the absolute, look back at the relative, and continue taking years and years to examine by saying, what? What? That's a koan, what? That's really the koan of practice, what? What?

[39:06]

Now each of these pursuits in your practice will become integral to the Self. There is no way to practice without the Self. This is the guidepost for practice in our school, and this is the point. What is the actual taste of myriad dharmas coming forth and illuminating the Self? When the Self does not have a speck of contrivance, Myriad dharmas go into the self without hindrance. In other words, when you let go of the self, the self becomes the self. When the self is completely itself, there is no self. When there is no self, there is no other. Because it takes a self to have an other. In this way, myriad dharmas come forth and realize the self. When we see from this realm, it is not at all different from the Self comes forward and illuminates myriad dharmas.

[40:16]

When the Self is completely the Self, the myriad dharmas are in the realm of the Self. When you get to this place, whether you like it or not, delusion and enlightenment are one thusness. So this is the meaning of when Tsukiroshi always said, when you are you, Zen is Zen. This is the meaning of when you are really you. Although self and others, delusion and enlightenment are distinguished in the text, they are, after all, one. Self and others are ultimately not two. The discrimination between delusion and enlightenment is just an interaction between self and myriad dharmas. Originally, there are no solid blocks called delusion or enlightenment. There's nothing fixed. Now at this point, it is possible to say that delusion and enlightenment are one-thusness.

[41:21]

When you get to this place, then you can say that. There is inevitably delusion and enlightenment within Genjoko-on. However, they are originally one-thusness. If we carry the self forward and move toward the myriad dharmas, it is delusion. That's fine. There is no dharma that should be excluded as delusion. If the myriad dharmas come forward and pour into the self, it is enlightenment. That's also good. Fine. There is nothing to take up or grasp as enlightenment. There is nothing to get rid of as enlightenment. In this way, the principle that the self and myriad dharmas are one body and not two is naturally understood. Because they are one body and not two, nothing comes forward from the other side, and neither does the self come forward. In other words, nothing is moving around. So, the self is nothing more than the myriad dharmas, and the dharmas

[42:27]

myriad dharmas are the self. When we say myriad dharmas, it's not that the self is outside of them. It is the self of the myriad dharmas. When we say the self, it is the realm of the entire self, the myriad dharmas of the self. Therefore, if the myriad dharmas come forward, the self comes forward. If the self moves forward, the myriad dharmas move forward. It is known in this way that the myriad dharmas and the self are not two. In this way, it is not that there is no delusion and enlightenment, but that delusion and enlightenment are one thusness, which is kinjogoan. Look at this closely. When we say the self or myriad dharmas, they are never two separate dharmas. It is the self within all dharmas of Buddhadharma. It is also the myriad dharmas within all dharmas of Buddhadharma. Practice always requires two separate dharmas, which are subject and object.

[43:31]

So it's the subject and object which are not subject and object. When the subject and object disappear and have no affairs to attend to, the self is the self, and myriad dharmas are myriad dharmas, and nothing gets in the way. and have freedom within the self. Whether we meet people who are disturbing or attractive, it doesn't matter. When this is not practiced, it is difficult to enter the paths of various beings and save them. In other words, we can't discriminate. Although there are two names, self and myriad dharmas, the self is not to retain the self. The myriad dharmas do not stay at the place of the myriad dharmas. How the self and myriad dharmas become one is described as carrying forward, or coming forth, one side or the other.

[44:39]

It's the same. Delusion and enlightenment are mentioned independently here, but both are genjokulam. This corresponds to the self turning the dharma wheel. In Kakadongyo Jinchu, Vassago's Dogon, he talks about practice. He says, the dharma turns the self When the self is capable of turning the dharma, the self is strong and the dharma is weak. When the dharma, on the other hand, turns the self, the dharma is strong and the self is weak. The Buddha dharma has these two aspects. Turning and being turned is the practice, basically. Turning the dharmas and allowing the dharmas to turn you is the practice. And knowing when to do which. Knowing when to step forward and when to yield. when to turn and when to be turned. It's like riding the wave and driving the wave. When you're on top of the wave, you're riding the wave, but you're also driving the wave.

[45:47]

And if you get out of balance, the wave goes ahead of you, or you get pushed under. So to carry the self forward, the self of, to carry the self forward, that self means, is not the self of the ego. This is the important part. It's not the self of the ego. It's the self of the world. But it's a self that turns the dharma wheel. The myriad dharmas that advance in this case are not the myriad dharmas of attachment, but the dharma the dharmas that turn the self. When this is not a single, when there is not a single hair of Buddhadharma, I'm almost finished. When there is not a single hair of the Buddhadharma, the self is strong. When turned around by practice on top of realization, the dharma is strong.

[46:49]

Also, when we thoroughly go beyond going beyond through practice, simply passing the crown of the head of Vairochana, That's a kind of Dogon-esque way of speaking. The self is strong. When we do not take the self for the dharma body, the dharma is strong. In the end, what is called the self and what is called the dharma are one body. This section of Genjo Koan illustrates that there are two modes of dharma, and it is not discussing what is normally called ego or human self. This being so, To carry the self forward and illuminate the myriad dharmas means that the self completely becomes the myriad dharmas. That the myriad dharmas come forth and illuminate the self means that the myriad dharmas thoroughly become the self. When we get here, we understand that the explanation of Sanchu, Sanchu is our commentator, is thorough. Now, this is the principle.

[47:51]

About the actual aspect of this, each of you needs to investigate When you only hear lectures and stop here, you are merely looking for a shadow that does not become your own. Shikantaza is our practice of Kendro-Koan. Just this. It's time to stop. So I hope that this was meaningful for you. Not an easy thing to talk about. So, I highly recommend that you, you know, if you're interested in doging these three commentaries. I only did one commentary. The others are wonderful, too. I only had so much time.

[48:56]

I just want to say how much I always enjoyed translating with Kaz Tanahashi for more than 20 years, and this was really the last thing we did. And I have great affection for him because we always had great time doing all this.

[49:26]

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