This morning I talked about two different teachings or traditions about enlightenment or satori. One is Rinzai, another is Soto. And this kind of dispute started in the 12th century, so it continues for 800 years. And it's still, you know, envied. There's no conclusion, and that is fine. But in the end, I introduced the In the Soto tradition, our practice is really just sitting without expectation to attain enlightenment or something, which we want.

[01:01]

And yet there is another part of the Soto Zen to say Dogen Zen to attain enlightenment, So I'd like to talk about this point and start to talk about the text. there is a story about Dogen Zenji's enlightenment. And the famous story appeared in one of the Dogen Zenji's biographies entitled Kenzeiki. This was written in the 15th century. so about 200 years after Dogen Zen's death. And this biography was revised by one of the most greatest Soto Zen scholars, whose name was Menzan, who lived in the 18th century, 17th to 18th.

[02:12]

And until recently, recently means about 50 years ago, in Soto tradition, we studied about Dogen Zenji's life in Menzan's version of Kenzeki. And two years ago, we studied Dogen Zenji's life, used Menzan's biography. And we found there are many made-up stories in order to make Dogen Zenji almost like a superhuman person. And the story of Dogen Zenji the Enlightenment appeared part of this biography. This is kind of interesting, that biography with illustrations In this illustration, this is Dogen Zenji. And the person sitting next to him is sleeping during the Zen.

[03:23]

And Nyojo Zenji was walking behind them. It's kind of funny, you know, Dogen Zenji was looking at the person who is sitting next to him during his zazen. It's not the right thing to do. Anyway, according to this story, During the Zen, the person who was sitting next to Dogen was sleeping. It often happens to everyone. And unfortunately, the abbot was walking behind those people. So, about Nyojo Zenji, Dogen Zenji's teacher, has called the monk who was sleeping, and what he said was, the Zen is dropping of body and mind. Right? And you should really just sitting, or shikan taza.

[04:29]

Why do you just sleep? according to the story it said at that moment Dogen Zenji attained a great enlightenment that is and right after that Dogen Zenji visited Nyojo Zenji's room and they had some conversation and part of the conversation there are more than one version of the story. I think the story in Keizan Zenji's Denkoroku, or The Record of Transmitting the Light, Denkoroku, in this book, Keizan Zenji was a third

[05:33]

generation from Dogen Zenji and he was a founder of Sojiji and he was considered the founder of Sotoshu together with Dogen Zenji. And in this text, Keizan Zenji introduced 52 ancestors from Shakyamuni to Ejo Zenji, Dogen Zenji's disciple. Maybe, that is not true, maybe. Until his own teacher. No, until Koun Ejo. And he introduced the story or episode of each ancestor's enlightenment. And Keizan Zenji introduced this same story of Dogen Zenji's about dropping off body and mind in this text.

[06:48]

And Keizan Zenji lived I think he was born about 20 or 30 years after Dogen Zenji's death. And this Deng Koroku was made or written about 50 years after Dogen Zenji's death. So Keizan was much closer than this person, this biography. So I think Keizan's story is the origin of this story. And there is a real difference, especially in the beginning. This is a translation by Francis Cook. The story is as follows. The 51st patriarch or ancestor was priest . He studied with priest .

[07:54]

or ruzhin, is a Chinese pronunciation of Dogen's teacher, Nyojo. Nyojo is Japanese pronunciation. Ruzhin or juchin is a Chinese translation, I mean pronunciation. And during late night zazen, According to Dogen Zenji's informal talk in Zuimonki, it said, at Tenton Monastery, Juchin practiced the Zen until almost like 10 or 11 in the night. So during late night Zen, Ryujin or Nyojo told the monks, Studying Zen is the dropping off of body and mind. So that's it. It doesn't say someone is sleeping.

[09:03]

So that's the difference. So I'm pretty sure that this story is kind of a new, revised version. the story becomes more and more interesting and meaningful. Stories grow. So here, Keizan just said, five monks are sitting in the late night. Juchin just said, studying Zen is Sanzen. Sanzen. Sanzen. These days, sanzen is used, especially in the Rinzai tradition, as the same as dokusan, private interview with teacher. But san means to meet and also to practice.

[10:06]

And in Shobogenzo Zazengi, Dogenzen said, Sanzen is Zazen. So in Dogenzen's writings, Sanzen doesn't mean to have a private interview with the teacher. But sitting zazen practice is sanzen. Anyway, Nyojo said studying zen or sanzen is dropping of body and mind. Dropping of body and mind is, as you know, shin-jin, that's rack. Shin is body. And the next sin or jinn is mind. And that means to take off, to take off our clothing. And luck is to fall down. And usually this sin jinn, that's luck, is translated as body and mind dropping off.

[11:12]

So Nyojo Zen said, practice Zen is dropping off body and mind. That's all he said. This version doesn't say someone is sleeping or not. And the story says, hearing this, the master was suddenly greatly awakened. This greatly awakened is Daigo, the title of this chapter of Shobo Genzo. So when, you know, no one is sleeping next to him, but when he heard, you know, the Zen is, or practice Zen is dropping of body and mind, somehow he suddenly greatly awakened. Then he went at once to the abbot's room and burned incense.

[12:22]

He offered the incense to the abbot, to Nyojo. Then Nyojo asked him, why are you burning incense? Why do you offer incense to me? The master answered, Dogen Zenji said, body and mind have dropped off. He said, in this case, his body and mind. His body and mind has dropped off. Then Nyojo said, body and mind have dropped off. The dropped off body and mind, the dropped off body and mind is just changing the order of the word. That's rakushin jin. So Dogen then said, first Nyojo then said zazen, Practice Zen is shinjin datsuraku. Then somehow Dogen Zen attained great enlightenment and he visited his room and he said, I came with, you know, body and mind dropped off.

[13:36]

Then, Nyojo, his teacher, said, body and mind have dropped off shinjin, that's raku, and he repeated, that's raku shinjin, without opposite order. That means he accepted Dogen's enlightenment. Then Master Dogen said, this is a temporary ability. You must not approve me without reason. So Dogen then said, don't approve me. Then Nyojo Zenji replied, I am not approving you without reason. Then Dogen said, Why are you not approving me without reason? Then Nyojo said, You dropped off body and mind.

[14:41]

Then Dogen Zenji bowed. Dogen Zenji made prostrations. Nyojo said, you have dropped off, dropping off. You have dropped off, dropping off. This is, he just repeated, that's raku, that's raku twice. That means dropping off is dropped off. That is the end of their conversation. Then, Nyojo's attendant, Hwang Ping of Fuchu, there was a jisha or attendant by the abbot, said, it is no small thing for a foreigner to experience this realm. And Nyojo said, How many here have gotten it?

[15:45]

That means Dogen gotten it. And how many monks in his assembly gotten it? Liberated, he is mild and peaceful and the thunder roars. He was liberated. I mean, according, he's talking about Dogen. He is liberated, Dogen is liberated. And he is mild and peaceful, he's calm. And yet he has the thunder roars. This is the story from the . And it's kind of interesting, you know. Until about 50 years ago, all Soto Zen practitioners thought this is historically true. This has really happened. But these days mean after I graduated from Komazawa University, when I was a Komazawa student, almost all people believed this was what happened.

[17:00]

But that was almost 40 years ago. But after I finished the university, today's scholars are very skeptical. They doubt everything. That was their job. And today, even this version of Dogen's story of Dogen's enlightenment is made up story, probably made up by Keizan. One of the reasons today's scholars think in that way is scholars recently have been researching almost all the Sotozen temples and tried to find all the versions of Shobo, Genzo, and other texts. And they found many from the storehouse or treasury of old temples.

[18:02]

And one of the older texts they found recently, recently means 20 years ago or so, was another version of Shobo Genzo Daigo. And because that manuscript was found at a temple named Shinpukuji, another version is called Shinpukuji-bon or Shinpukuji version. And scholars think this version of Shobo Genzo Daigo was a draft, original draft of the Daigo today we have within Shobo Genzo. You know, when we see the chloroform of Shobo Genzo Daigo, the text we are going to read, this chapter of Shobo Genzo was, the word is jishu, means to give or to present it to the assembly twice.

[19:25]

And the first time was 1242, and the second time is 1244. Between 1242 and 1244, there is a big change in Dogen Zenji's life. That was in the year 1242, he was still in Kyoto. living, staying at Koshoji, where he founded in the year 1243. But next year, 1243, somehow we don't really know why, but Dogen Zenji and his assembly, you know, left the monastery, Koshoji, and Kyoto, and moved into deep in the mountains. in order to establish new monastery. That was the summer of 1243.

[20:31]

And Dogen Zenji probably rewrite Daigo in the first month of 1244. So this was done about half year late after they moved to Echizen. That means at that time, they didn't have a monastery yet. They stayed in a very small, tiny, old temple, almost abandoned, named Yoshiminedera. So it is clear there are two versions. One is the original draft version and another is the final version. And probably, this is a guess, we don't know, but not my guess, but scholars' guess, probably this Shinpukuji version was the original version written in 1242.

[21:34]

And Dogen Zenji revised, he write the same chapter in the year 1244. And in the older or original version of Shobo Genzo Daigo, Dogen Zenji quote Nojo Zenji's saying of practice Zen is dropping of body and mind. In the version we studied this time, it is dropped off. I mean, disappeared. But in the older version, he wrote, he quote this saying of Nyojo Zenji, and in his comment on this Nyojo Zenji's saying, he says something like, Shinjin Datsuraku is Datsuraku Shinjin. Shinjin Datsuraku is dropping of body and mind.

[22:41]

And he said Shinjin Datsuraku is Datsuraku Shinjin, dropped of body and mind. And because dropping of is dropped of, This is called body and mind dropping off. So the expression used in the conversation between Dogen and Nyojo in this story appeared in Dogen Zenji's writing. And scholars guess, you know, probably people or persons who made this story used this sentence, these two sentences from the original or older version of Daigo. I think that is true. I agree with those modern scholars. So I think this story about Dogen Zenji's enlightenment

[23:47]

And Nyojo Zen, Dogen and Nyojo's conversation after that experience was a made-up story because Dogen Zenji himself didn't record that story, that experience. Instead, Dogen Zenji himself recorded his conversation with his own teacher, Nyojo Zenji, about dropping of body and mind. In the text named Houkyouki, I don't have enough time to talk about what is recorded, but within Houkyouki, this is Dogen Zenji's own record about his conversation with his teacher. At least three times, Dogen and Nyojo had discussions.

[24:52]

about dropping of body and mind. It said, Nyojo said, the Zen or dropping practice Zen or San Zen is dropping of body and mind. Then Dogen Renji asked, what is dropping of body and mind? And Nyojo Renji said, dropping of body and mind is the Zen. Usually when we think practice and enlightenment as cause and result, zazen is a cause or a method or a means, and dropping of body and mind is enlightenment. So this is... cause and result, the Zen and dropping of body and mind. But the important point in this conversation is, Nyojo Zenji said, dropping of body and mind is the Zen. So it's not the result of the Zen, but the Zen is itself dropping of body and mind.

[26:01]

Within those three conversations, Dogen Zenji really appreciated Nyojo Zen's teaching, and he accepted, he thoroughly understood and accepted, and made six vows. So that was the time Dogen Zenji understood the meaning of Nojo Zenji's saying, dropping of body and mind. So his own record of discussion about dropping of body and mind, and this story doesn't get along. According to this story, when he heard Nyojo said to someone sleeping, dropping of body and mind, he attained enlightenment. Was that before this conversation or not? If it before this conversation, when they had discussed about dropping of body and mind, he was already attained enlightenment.

[27:19]

That means he attained enlightenment without understanding what this means. So that's strange. And if we think he had that experience after these conversations, that is also strange, doesn't make sense. Because during these conversations, Dogen Renji fully understood and made six vows. So he doesn't need to attain enlightenment after these conversations. That is why I agree with those scholars, and I'm pretty sure this is a made-up story. So even though traditionally it is said Dogen Zenji had the experience of great realization or daigo but the story is fiction i think and yet that doesn't mean he didn't have the you know enlightenment experience and yet we don't know because he didn't you know talk about his own enlightenment experience we couldn't say he had no such experience

[28:36]

but we don't know. There must be something. He was looking for some dharma, That's why he went to China. And when he went back to Japan, he said, in Bendowa, he said, the Japanese expression is, Daiji's great matter, great matter of studying and practicing sangaku of one entire lifetime is done. is completed. And he transmitted Dharma, that means he received Dharma transmission from Nyojo Zenji and went back to Japan and started to teach.

[29:44]

So there must be something happened, but we don't know what happened. And in the case of Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment, that is the same. We don't know what happened to him. Of course, there are many texts in many sutras, but those are all written after Shakyamuni Buddha's death. And there are tons of that kind of enlightenment stories, but if we study it carefully, many of them are made-up stories by their students. It's kind of very rare. that the person himself recorded or talked about his own enlightenment experience. You know, the story of Mugakusogen I introduced this morning was very rare exceptions. He really wrote, according to D.T.

[30:49]

Suzuki, he really wrote, recorded what he experienced. You know, I think this has something to do with the precepts. I mean, you know, one of the major precepts we receive and also in the Vinaya precept, you know, especially in the Vinaya precept about false speech. in the precept in Vinaya, false speech is not any kind of false speech, but one special kind of false speech. That is, even you don't have enlightenment, the person said, I have enlightenment. I am enlightened. And there is such a story within Buddha's lifetime when someone, when they had some kind of natural disaster and the monks couldn't receive enough food from lay society.

[32:07]

At that time, thirteen monks, thirteen Buddhist monks, went to a rich person's house and said, I'm enlightened. and I have a supernatural power, so if you make offering to me, you will really receive some benefit." At that time Buddha said, you should never make a full speech whether you attain enlightenment or not. Probably that is why not many people said, I had enlightenment. or I had such and such enlightenment experience. So I think Buddha never spoke about his own experience of enlightenment. But we have to guess from what he taught after he became Buddha, after he became teacher. So in the case of Dogen Zenji, we have to guess what happened, or at least what was the meaning of that experience.

[33:15]

We don't know from his own teaching. he gave after he became a teacher. That was the only thing we can do. That's why we are studying this chapter of Shobo Genzo, Daigo, Great and Light Realization, what he taught. And what he wrote in this chapter is really different from our kind of a common understanding of so-called enlightenment experience or great enlightenment. That is an introduction of studying this chapter of Shobo Genzo, Daigo. And now I'd like to start to talk on the text. I already talked about the meaning of this title, Daigo, or Great Realization.

[34:17]

So I start to read the text. The great way of the Buddhas has been transmitted intimately without interruption. The diligent activities of the ancestors have been manifested extensively in ordinary lives. Therefore, the great realization is manifested. The way is reached through no realization. Reflecting realization and free utilize the realization. Losing realization and letting the practice go. This is the day-to-day activities in the households of the Buddha ancestors.

[35:21]

There are 12 hours that Buddha ancestors hold up and utilize, and there are 12 hours Buddha ancestors let go and are utilized. Furthermore, there are praying with mud bowls and praying with spirit that jumps over this pivotal point. From their great realization onward, without fail, Buddhas and ancestors have been completing the practice and study in which thusness is manifesting itself. And yet, here is a missing word. Here, and yet, they do not, please add do not, they do not consider the entire realization of the great realization as the Buddha's ancestors.

[36:40]

They do not consider that the entire Buddhas and ancestors of the Buddhas and ancestors to be the entirety of the Great Realization. The true faith of Buddhas and ancestors goes beyond the boundary of the Great Realization. And the true face of the Great Realization is jumping upward beyond Buddhas and ancestors. This is the first section. And of course, this is the introduction of this writing, Dogen Zenji's insight about Great Realization or Daigo. And I think not many people can understand what this means.

[37:43]

This seems, especially in English translation, this doesn't make sense. So I think I need to explain each expressions, what it means. So I'll go sentence by sentence. Usually Dogen Zenji wrote the most important thing in the beginning of each chapter. Unless we understand what he wrote in the introduction, we don't really understand what he wants to say. So to understand the introduction is really important when we study Dogen Zenji. The first sentence, the great way of the Buddhas have been transmitted intimately without interruption.

[38:51]

So in the first half of the first sentence, Dogen talks about Buddhas' way, or great way of Buddhas. That is, butsu butsu no dai doho. Butsu, butsu, so he repeats Buddha twice. That means this is not singular, this is plural. Butsu butsu, no is of. Dai is great. Do is way. So great way of Buddha's. When Dogenzen uses this expression, Dai is big, large, or great. This means absolute.

[39:52]

This doesn't mean relatively larger than something. Dogen Zenji used this dai or great in Tenzoku Kyokun as daishin. I translate this as a magnanimous mind. And he said about this dai or magnanimous or great as a mind of a mountain, great mountain, and mind of great ocean. and both mountains and oceans have no, making no discrimination. The mountains allow all plants, larger or small, very large plants, like, you know, trees, and small plants, or large animals and small animals, or not even tiny, you know,

[41:00]

living beings. Just mountains allow all those living beings to stay existing there, support them all, without making any discrimination. And mountains don't move. That is what dai means. And also he said, this daishin is like a great ocean. great ocean accept any water from any different rivers and make all different kind of waters from different various rivers into one ocean without any discrimination. So this day means beyond discrimination or beyond comparison. or separation. And this 道, as you know, 道 or Dao in Chinese is a very important word, not only in Buddhism, but also in almost all aspects of Chinese culture.

[42:22]

Dao is really important. In Buddhism, this Dao is used with different connotations. But basically, this Dao is used as a translation of Sanskrit or Indian word, body. It means awakening. So great way of Buddha means great awakening of Buddha. That is anuttara samyaksa, body. And that is, of course, this great realization or daigo means. That difficult, not difficult, but complicated point is this do is also used with other connotations.

[43:24]

In the Four Noble Truths, the third is marga. In English, we translate this marga as past. first word, the cessation of suffering. That is a third of the Four Noble Truths. And this marga is also translated as dao or way. And another Sanskrit word that was translated into using this word way is gate. This gate is a name for six realms. Six realms of samsara is also called the way. So way has many different connotations.

[44:30]

You know, awakening, and maruga means path of practice, actually eightfold correct path as Buddhist practice that allow us to reach the session of suffering. It's called the way. And also the realms we transmigrate within six within our life is also called the way, Rokudo, or six ways. So these are kind of, this is the way we are, the way we are as a deluded human beings. And awakening Buddha's awakening and also the path from samsara to awakening or nirvana is also called the way. So way has many different meanings.

[45:37]

And once Sanskrit words, Indian words, were translated into Chinese, Chinese people are kind of interesting people. They forget about original Sanskrit. They only read Chinese translations. I think American people are kind of similar. They don't study Sanskrit, but when Buddhist texts were translated into Chinese, they just read Chinese translation and make their own interpretation. interpretation or understanding of Buddhism through the translations. So unless they are the scholars, they don't care about the original Sanskrit meaning. So the way is way, or dao is dao. So now this word becomes kind of very vague. It could mean any of those three.

[46:41]

So we must be very careful. You know, in the four novel, not novel, but four Bodhisattva vows, we say, Buddha's way is unsurpassable. We vow to realize it. That way is also butsu, do. What is this Tao or Buddha way? Is that Buddha's awakening or the marga or gate? Of course, there's no possibility that we refer to gate And I don't think it's a marga. So Buddha's way is unsurpassable. That means Buddha's awakening is unsurpassable. So I think here it is the same. This great way of Buddha means great awakening of Buddha's.

[47:44]

So what is great awakening of Buddha's means is the issue Dogen Zenji discuss in this writing of Daigo. But he says this great way or Daido, has been transmitted intimately without interruption. This intimately without interruption is a translation of Chinese expression . Literally, means cotton. Cotton? Cotton. And can mean secret, secret or intimacy. And when Dogen Zenji used this word, mitsu, in his writings, he usually used this bit as intimacy.

[48:50]

And the fact this men means is, you know, cotton ball. When we try to make it into two pieces, it's difficult because the fabric of cotton is very, how can I say, dense and like vines, intermingled. We cannot cut it into two easily. All different parts are connected with all other different parts. That is what this men or cotton means. And that is an expression or example of this intimacy. That means this great way or great awakening has been transmitted from Buddha to Mahakasyapa and Mahakasyapa to Ananda, like cotton balls.

[50:09]

So we cannot say Buddha's enlightenment is this, Mahakasyapa's enlightenment is this, and Ananda's enlightenment is this, as like a separate thing. But, you know, enlightenment continues like a cotton. And he used another kind of analogy. It's not cotton, but it's vines or kattos, Maybe I don't need to write this word. Kato has two words, names of two plants. Kats is kuzu. Do you know kuzu? Kuzu has a bad name in this country, in the south. you know, it's very strong vines. And tō is also, tō is wisteria.

[51:16]

So kat and tō, both are vines. And this expression katto is usually used in a negative meaning. That means within the human relationships. like parents and children. They have many different experiences. And some are very lovely, but some might be painful. So all different parts are entwined each other. And sometimes they want to separate, but it's not possible to separate because even if they live separately, they are entwined. And they have some, you know, love and hatred all together within this complicated relationship.

[52:24]

Not only, you know, parents and children, but also, you know, the couples or friends and also teachers and students have, you know, this complicated relationship. That is called katoa. And so one of the Zen expressions, kattō, the kattō, is one of the meanings of attaining liberation or freedom. So this word kattō has negative meaning, but Dogen Zenji wrote one chapter of Shōbō Genzo entitled kattō, or entanglement. And he used this image of vines. The roots are different, but all the vines are entangled with each other and we don't see, we don't tell which is which.

[53:26]

And Dogen Zenji used this image as a transmission of dharma. In the beginning, Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment and taught using his words, and people from other roots entwined. to Shakyamuni's enlightenment. And so we cannot tell if this is Shakyamuni's enlightenment or Mahakasyapa's enlightenment. It's all connected. And this is how Buddha's awakening or great way has been transmitted. So it's not like a teacher has something called enlightenment, and the teacher can give this enlightenment to the next person.

[54:38]

Or the next person thinks, I don't like my teacher's enlightenment, so I can create my own. So my enlightenment is different from my teacher's. We cannot say in such a way. Enlightenment is really entanglement. So there's no individuality. This comes from Shakyamuni through many generations to Dogen. And through Dogen, it continues to us. So this is the image of transmission of great awakening. This is the first thing Dogen Denji said. So this Daido and Daigo is the same thing.

[55:43]

That means for him this great Daigo, great enlightenment or great realization is not a personal thing. From Shakyamuni it has been intimately transmitted without interruption, so there's no cutting off. And the second part of this sentence is, the diligent activities of the ancestors have been manifested extensively in ordinary lives. So this is about ancestors. That means from Mahakasyapa to Dogen, or Dogen's teacher. And this expression, extensively in ordinary lives, is heiten.

[56:56]

Hei is the same Chinese character used in the expression ordinary mind. Ordinary mind is hei zhou xin. That hei. This hei also means peaceful and also means even or flat. That means nothing special. And ten means ten is like unfold, unfold, or evolve. Unfold, like a roll of carpet is unfold. that kind of image. So this great way, our ancestors' diligent activity means their practice, including their activity of teaching, is ordinary and extensive.

[58:14]

That means nothing special. So what he wants to say is, you know, the great way, great daigo, great awakening, has been transmitted from Buddha to going through each and every generation of ancestors, and it's not something special. And it extensively means not only in certain particular activities, not only sitting in the Zen door, but all the activities all those ancestors did were expression or manifestation of this great way or great awakening. That is the very first sentence of Dogen's writings about great enlightenment or great realization.

[59:17]

So this great doesn't mean something special, but this great means absolute. Absolute means include everything. Nothing is excluded. And next sentence, this is a kind of strange, I think, for many of us. who has a common understanding of enlightenment or realization. He said, therefore, the great realization is manifested. This great realization is manifested in the translation of Daigo, Genjo, daigo, and genjo in same as genjo in genjo koan.

[60:21]

So daigo is manifesting. In this case, it seems Dogen Zenji used this daigo as an equivalent of koan. Koan manifest and daigo manifest is the same thing. So daigo is manifesting through our activities. And the way is reached through no realization. This is a strange, I think, expression. But this is fu-go, shido. Fu is not. Go is same go, realization or awakening. And shi is to reach. And do is a way, of course. So not or no realization, reach the way.

[61:30]

kind of a strange expression. But this is the main point of Dogen's discussion about great realization. And this fu is the same fu in like a In Fukanzazengi, Dogenzenji, quote, Yaksan's saying, you know, in the, what do you think in the immovable sitting? And that is a question from a monk. Yaksan said, I think of not thinking. Think is shiryo and not thinking is fushiryo, sem-fu. And so this fugo, no realization or no enlightenment, is not a negative word.

[62:38]

So we have to think what this no realization means. And also the next expression, reflecting realization and freely utilize the realization. Oh, another thing is this si-do, I said reach to the way, reach the way, but another possible way of reading this si-do is is Supreme Way. Supreme Way, you know, in the very beginning of Shinjinmei or Shinshinmin. This is a Zen poem, long poem, attributed to the third ancestor, Sosan. It said the supreme way has no difficulty.

[63:42]

That supreme way is si-do. So I am not sure whether this is reaching the way or a supreme way. Either is possible, I think. That means no enlightenment or no realization is supreme way It's kind of a strange thing to say. And our next expression is shōgo, rōgo. I translate this shō as reflect, to reflect. Reflect, to reflect, go, realization. And rō means to play with, with go. or realization. So I translate, reflecting realization and freely utilize the realization.

[64:50]

Because this word has some meaning of play with to have a fun. I put the word freely, freely utilize this realization. But another possible way of leading this show is to abbreviate, abbreviate, shorten, or eliminate. So by eliminating our realization, we really utilize realization. And fourth phrase is shitsu-go. Shitsu-go-ho-gyo. Shitsu literally means to lose, lose something.

[65:55]

So losing enlightenment or losing realization. And ho-gyo is let go. This whole is used in Uchiyama Roshi's expression of letting go of thought, atama no tebanashi, letting go. And gyo is practice. So let go of practice. Losing realization and let go of practice. Practice or activities. So these four The first one is not strange. You know, the great realization manifests itself, or great realization is manifested. But other three are kind of a strange phrase.

[66:59]

very kind of paradoxical. So we need to understand this kind of a negative expression, who and who sits, no realization or not realization, and losing realization. And this can be also negative, eliminating realization. Unless we understand those four phrases, what Dogen Zenji discusses in this entire writing doesn't make sense at all. That means Dogen Zenji doesn't think attaining great realization is the goal of our practice. That is the difference.

[68:00]

At least Dogen's insight and also teaching about great realization is different from this word is used in Rinzai Zen tradition as something we need to attain it. He said, you know, when great realization is manifested, he said, we have to lose the realization. So realization or satori or awakening or enlightenment is not something we can or we need to, we should get. And if we get that thing, our practice is over or completed. But what Dogen Zenji is saying is we have to lose our enlightenment.

[69:04]

and let go of our practice. To present my understanding of these strange phrases, I think it's helpful to something we studied in the Diamond Sutra. This year we have been studying Diamond Sutra since April, And in the 18th chapter of the Diamond Sutra, this sutra mentions five eyes. I think people living in Bloomington remember those five eyes. Those five eyes are fresh light.

[70:10]

E-Y-E, fresh I. And divine I. And wisdom I. And Dharma I. And Buddha I. One, two, three, four, five. Fresh eye is our eyes of human beings. And divine eye is tengen. Tengen literally means heavenly eye or eye of heavenly beings. And wisdom I is a-gen.

[71:16]

And this a or wisdom refers to prajna. And dharma I is ho-gen. Ho-gen is the middle of the title shobo-genzo. Shobo-genzo. So that is the title of Dogen's collection of Dogen's writings. So Shobo Genzo referred to this Dharma eye. And Buddha eye is, of course, Buddha's eye. And in the Diamond Sutra, there is a question, does Tathagata have this eye? And Buddha Shakyamuni said, yes. And the same question repeated five times. And it said, Buddha or Tathagata have all those five eyes.

[72:22]

And When we study this part of the Diamond Sutra, I introduce Nagarjuna's comments on each of the eyes. Well, let me start. About the fresh eye, Nagarjuna said, the physical eye, fresh eye is physical eye, The physical eye, our eyes, sees the near, sees things close to us, but not the far. We can see things near from us, but we cannot see things far away. The front, but not the back. We can see the front side, and we cannot see the back side.

[73:28]

And the outside, but not the inside. When there is something outside and inside, we can see only the outside. We cannot see the inside until we open it. The light, but not the dark. We can see things when we have light. We cannot see anything when it's dark. And the top, but not the bottom, it's like a pond. We can see from outside, we can see only the shadow, only the surface of the pond. And we cannot see the bottom, deep places. Because it is obstructed, a bodhisattva seeks the divine eye.

[74:37]

So this flesh eye or physical eye can only see certain parts and it has limitations. So Nagarjuna says, bodhisattva needs to seek a divine eye. and divine eye can see better. Nagarjuna said, the divine eye sees both the near and the far, the front and the back, the outside and the inside, the light and the dark, the top and the bottom, all without obstructions. So this divine eye can see everything. So there are no such limitations as our physical eyes have.

[75:40]

But the divine eye sees only those provisionally named things. Provisionally named things mean conditioned things. that result from the combination of causes and conditions, and not their true appearances, true appearances same as true reality. Divine eye can see everything and yet it can only see the conditioned form. It cannot see the true reality of all beings, that means emptiness. and not their true appearance, and not their emptiness or their formlessness. This divine eye cannot see emptiness or formlessness, no form.

[76:49]

And their non-existence. Non-existence is same as emptiness. their birthlessness or their deathlessness. Birthlessness or deathlessness means no coming and no going, no arising and no perishing. This divine eye can see arising and perishing, arising and stay for a while and perishing. That means this divine eye can see the phenomena, the way things are, appear, stay away, and disappear, but cannot see the true essence of each and every being that is empty and formless or no form, and no arising and no perishing. The same holds for their past, their present, or their future.

[77:56]

And this eye doesn't see the past, present, and future. I think it sees the present, but doesn't see the past or the future. Hence, a bodhisattva seeks the prajna eye. That's why a bodhisattva needs a prajna eye. And prajna eye is the eye which sees emptiness of all beings. Nagarjuna said, The prajna eye does not see beings, for all common and differentiating characteristics are extinguished. So prajna eye doesn't see the difference of each and every beings, only sees emptiness and equality of all beings. It is free of all attachments and immune to all dharmas, including prajna itself.

[79:04]

So this wisdom eye is free from self-clinging. But because it does not distinguish things, it does not distinguish anything, So this wisdom eye sees emptiness and equality of all beings, but because it only sees emptiness and equality, the prajna eye cannot liberate other beings. The prajna eye is liberated, but with only this eye, you know, the person cannot liberate others because there's no discrimination, no distinction. In order to help others, we need to understand what is the problem of this person.

[80:08]

To do so, we need discrimination. So, a bodhisattva gives rise to the dharma eye. And about the dharma eye, Nagarjuna said, The dharma eye enables a bodhisattva to cultivate a dharma and to realize a path, as well as to know the expedient means by which other beings can do so. The Dharma eye and wisdom eye are different. Dharma eye can see the difference of each and every being. The Dharma eye, however, is not omniscient. in its awareness of the expedient means for liberating beings.

[81:13]

Hence, Bodhisattva seeks the Buddha eye. And the Buddha eye is the final perfect eye. Nagarjuna said, there is nothing unknown to the Buddha eye. Though it might be completely obstructed, it can see everything. But to others, is distant, to a Buddha is near. What to others is dark, to a Buddha is bright. What to others is confused, to a Buddha is distinct. What to others is fine, to a Buddha is coarse. What to others is profound, to a Buddha is shallow. There is nothing of which the Buddha eye does not learn, nothing it does not see, nothing it does not know, nothing that is difficult, and yet nothing that is perceived.

[82:24]

The Buddha eye shines forever upon all dharmas. Those are explanations of those five eyes by Nagarjuna. Well, it's time, so I continue from here. My understanding of these five eyes and connection with Dogen's teaching about great realization. Any question? Please. This is a translation and commentary by Red Pine. on the Diamond Sutra. This comment by Nagarjuna is from Daichidolam, or the Mahaprajnaparamita Shastra.

[83:33]

And conventionally, this text is a commentary on the large Mahaprajina Paramita Sutras that has 600 volumes. It's considered written by Nagarjuna. But of course, there's no evidence. As I always say, to understand the beginning of each chapter of Shobo Genzo is really important. That's why I take so much time to explain what this means. Of course, that is my understanding. But in order to understand what he's writing, it seems we need to... understand entire system of Buddhist teaching.

[84:38]

If we have, you know, overall understanding of Buddhist teachings and how, you know, in the history of Buddhist philosophy, how, you know, various masters interpret certain teachings, then Dogen is talking becomes make sense. Otherwise, just reading this translation doesn't make sense, even in Japanese, not only in English. That's why I try to explain as much as possible, especially in the beginning. If we understand the introduction, the rest of the writing is I cannot say easy, but understandable. OK, thank you.

[85:43]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_91.95