Sounds like we have a little competition this morning, but not for long. I think they just dropped a dumpster, in case you were wondering. This morning I want to talk about Dogen's Fukan Zazengi. We've started to recite it on Friday mornings, so I thought I would talk a bit about it. Fukan Zazengi is

[01:04]

one of the first things that Dogen wrote when he came back from China, where he talks about Zazen. talks about why we sit in zazen and the meaning of zazen and how you do it. It's kind of a simple text, actually. It's not one of Dogen's more philosophical writings, but very more practical. But still, there are a lot of obscurities and references which you may not understand or not be aware of. So this is Dr. Abe's translation and he calls it the universal promotion of the principles of Zazen.

[02:25]

That's the way he translates it. Fu is like universal. Khan is like promotion or something like that. And Zazen, Zen is Zazen. And Gi is like principles. So universal promotion of the principles of Zazen. When Dogen came back from China, He didn't start to teach right away, but he wanted to inform people of what he'd learned, and he wanted to get people interested in Zazen. So that's why he wrote this. So the first paragraph, so to speak, although he didn't write in paragraphs, as we translate it, we translate it in sentences and paragraphs,

[03:29]

And the first paragraph is the main idea, is the presentation of what the whole thing is about. This is usually true of anything that Dogen writes, and it's usually true of a sutra. First you state the question, and then you talk about, systematically talk about break it down and discuss the various parts. So he starts out by saying, the way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? The Dharma vehicle is free and untrammeled. What need is there for concentrated effort?

[04:31]

Indeed, the whole body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from one, right where one is. So what is the use of going off here and there to practice? Dogen, you know, had an original doubt, even though he was a monk at the age of 13, I believe, and studied very hard and was very astute at understanding Buddhism, still he had some doubt, and his doubt took the form of the kind of question that a lot of people have. his understanding, because he understood Buddhism pretty well, was if everyone is basically enlightened, if everything is basically perfect as it is, why do we have to practice?

[05:42]

If we all have Buddha nature, everything is Buddha nature, and the universe unfolds itself in a kind of perfect way, what need is there to practice? So that was his question, and I think it's a question that comes up for everyone. So he says, the way is basically perfect and all-pervading. That's the first statement. And the way here means the perfect way. The way of enlightenment. Dao, the path. There's no place where the way doesn't exist, actually. If there's no place that the way doesn't exist,

[06:49]

Why do we have to do something? How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? The dharma vehicle is free and untrammeled, without cages. What need is there for concentrated effort? Indeed, The whole body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe, in a sense, in a means to brush it clean?" This is a reference to the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. I think Mark talked a little bit about the Platform Sutra last week, and I've talked about it before. gathas by Hsuan Hsu and Hui Nung, or Daikan Ino, as we call them in the lineage.

[08:00]

Hsuan Hsu wrote a poem for the Fifth Patriarch that goes something like, the body is the Bodhi tree, the mind is a mirror, a bright mirror, hour by hour wipe the dust clean. wipe the dust so that, to keep the mirror clean. That was his understanding. That kind of understanding is a little bit like traditional practice. You know, in traditional practice we take very careful, good care of things. And we take care that our body and mind stay pure, don't get soiled by the dusts of the world.

[09:02]

This is usual understanding, very good understanding, in the usual way. But Hui Nang, when he wrote his gatha, he said, Originally there is no Bodhi tree or a bright mirror. If everything is completely void, what need is there to wipe the dust? Or what is there to keep clean? And so this is supposed to be a more advanced understanding. Originally everything is without substance. But these two poems, you know, rather than being opposed to each other, they actually complement each other. There's a lot of controversy about the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch.

[10:12]

We seem we know pretty much that a monk named Shen Xu, who was a very late disciple of the Sixth Patriarch, pretty much put that sutra together and biased it toward Hui Neng, or Daikan Eno. pretty much slandered the Shin Hui, who was the older disciple of the Fifth Patriarch. And, you know, when Sekito, in his Sandokai, talks about there is no patriarch of North or South in the Sandokai, he's talking about this same thing. And he's saying more like these two patriarchs complement each other rather than being opposed to each other.

[11:16]

And this kind of understanding, you know, dust wiping school and school of perfect wisdom, of non-duality, where there is no Bodhi tree, there is no bright mirror originally. Since all is void, where can the dust alight? That kind of understanding is more pure wisdom. And Hsuan Hui's understanding is more from the side of pure practice. Even though there is no, originally there is no Bodhi tree or bright mirror and everything is void. Yet, at the same time, there is something that has to be taken care of in order to understand or in order to manifest our void nature, our non-existent nature.

[12:32]

we have to practice with our non-existent body and with our non-existent mind. Wiping the dust, actually. So I'm going to go on and read a little bit more about what Dogen says. So he says, so what is the use? He said, who could believe in it? Indeed, the whole body is far beyond the world's dust. That's Wei Nung's understanding. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from one, right where one is. So what is the use of going off here and there to practice? And he says, but yet, this is the second paragraph, but yet, if there is the slightest discrepancy, the way is as distant as heaven is from earth. This slight discrepancy means that if you see these two as being different, you set up a duality in your mind.

[13:54]

So whenever anything is talked about in Buddhist terms, whenever we talk about one side, the other side is always implied. So if, when Hsuan Hsu talks about keeping the mirror clean, it doesn't mean that the mirror is not, originally is not void, or that the Bodhi tree is originally not void. And when Huineng is talking about originally there is no Bodhi tree or mirror, he's not excluding the fact that there is a mirror or Bodhi tree. If you only If you can only see what each one says from one point of view, then this is dualistic understanding.

[15:05]

So if you study Buddhism, you may intellectually get the understanding that nothing exists and think that you have wisdom. And it's very easy to fall into that kind of understanding. So people feel that Buddhism is sometimes a very skeptical or kind of negative kind of religion, that they don't pay attention to existence. But this kind of statement is talking about existence and non-existence. And we have to always understand that, otherwise our understanding will be dualistic.

[16:11]

And we think we understand, but we don't. So he says, if there is the slightest discrepancy Meaning, if you don't understand that, you fall into dualistic thinking. You fall into the realm of duality. If there is the slightest discrepancy, the way is as distant as heaven from earth. If the least like or dislike arises, the mind is lost in confusion. Suppose one gains pride of understanding and inflates one's own enlightenment. glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things, attaining the way and clarifying the mind, and raising an aspiration to escalate the very sky. One is making the initial partial excursions about the frontiers, but is still somewhat deficient in the vital way of total emancipation. If you only have good understanding of emptiness, it's not really enough.

[17:21]

That's what he's saying. Even though you understand all the wisdom of Buddhism, it's not enough. It's still just getting there, just skirting around the frontier. And then he talks about the practice of Buddha and the practice of Bodhidharma. He says, need I mention the Buddha, who was possessed of inborn knowledge, That's an interesting statement, actually, the various stories about Buddha. I guess he was possessed of inborn knowledge. The influence of his six years of upright sitting is noticeable still. It means even though he was possessed of inborn knowledge, he had to practice zazen. or Bodhidharma's transmission of the mind seal. The fame of his nine years of wall sitting is celebrated to this day.

[18:23]

Since this was the case with the saints of old, how can people of today dispense with negotiation of the way?" So even though your understanding is as good as Buddha's or Bodhidharma's, it's not enough. No matter how good your understanding is, it's no substitute for Zazen. That's what he's saying. So he really likes Zazen a lot. You should therefore cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate yourself. His language is kind of clumsy here, but we have to bear with it. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest. If you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay.

[19:30]

Of course, body and mind dropping away is Dogen's turning word for enlightenment, for realization. We know about Dogen's realization experience with his master Ruijing, Tendo Nyojo, in China. When Dogen was practicing in Nyojo's monastery, there was a monk who was sleeping next to Dogen, and Nyojo came up to the monk and he hit him with his slipper, I think. We have walked barefoot on our nice floors, but in a lot of monasteries the floors are made of mud.

[20:38]

Not wet mud, but polished dirt floors. And if you look at a photograph of the floor, you think, well, gee, that's like a marble floor or some very hard surface, which it is, but it's just dirt. Actually, at AHE, the Zendo floor is dirt, mud, and it's polished very hard. And they wear their slippers to the Zendo. So, sometimes if the teacher was walking around, he'd take off his slipper and hit one of the monks who was sleeping. That's not unusual. So, when he hit the monk, he said something about, wasting, why are you wasting your time here?

[21:45]

Acting like that, your body and mind will never drop off. And at that point, Dogen's body and mind dropped off. He was sitting next to the guy. So he went to see Nyojo in his room, and Nyojo confirmed his realization. So body and mind dropped off, which was a big point of realization for Dogen. Turning word, so to speak. So he says, If you learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate yourself, body and mind in themselves will drop away and your original face will be manifest. Original face is something that was an expression of the Sixth Patriarch, to manifest original face.

[22:51]

So original face, of course, is enlightenment. beyond personality, beyond the veil of our ego or our ideas or thoughts or feelings or anything. That which is behind everything, but which is everything at the same time. Buddha nature, original face, many names for this original pure nature. So, in a way, this is an answer to the first paragraph. If original nature or original face is always present, actually, why do we need to... how can we make it manifest?

[23:56]

That's what he's talking about. We all have this original nature, is what he's saying. How do we make it manifest? That's the big question. So then he says, if you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay. Suchness is another word for things as they are, the reality of things. It's another word for reality or truth. Things the way they really are. So if you want to attain suchness, if you want to attain to the way it is, you have to practice the way it is. Or if you want to attain to it, you have to practice it.

[24:59]

If you want to attain it, you have to be it. So there's no separation between you and it. It is you and you are it. For sanzen, he calls here, sanzen usually means meeting with the teacher. But he uses it here to mean zazen, actually. For sanzen, or zazen, he tells us how to do it. A quiet room is suitable. He's not saying that you should sit with other monks or other people. He's just saying how to do it. Eat and drink moderately. Cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Do not think good or bad. Do not administer pros and cons.

[26:02]

Cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Have no designs on becoming a Buddha. Sanzen has nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down. At the site of your regular sitting, spread out thick matting and place a cushion above it. sit either in the full lotus or half lotus position. In the full lotus position, you first place your right foot on your left thigh and your left foot on your right thigh. In the half lotus, you simply place your left foot against your right thigh. He only talks about these two positions, but actually we sit in many different positions. You should have your robes and belt loosely bound and arranged in order. Then place your right hand on your left leg and your left palm facing upwards on your right palm, with the thumb tips touching. Thus, sit upright in correct bodily posture, neither inclining to the left nor the right. neither leaning forward nor backward.

[27:05]

Be sure your ears are on a plane with your shoulders, and your nose in line with your navel. Place your tongue against the front roof of your mouth, with teeth and lips both shut. Your eyes should always remain open, and you should breathe gently through your nose. Once you have adjusted your posture, take a deep breath, inhale and exhale, rock your body right and left, and settle into a steady and mobile sitting position. Think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen. This non-thinking is a kind of interesting koan for us. The art of zazen is to think not thinking. doesn't really mean to stop thinking. If so, you just say, well, stop thinking.

[28:06]

But it's think, not thinking. How do you think, not thinking? Non-thinking. It's not not thinking, it's non-thinking. It's a little subtle difference. to suppress thoughts is also a kind of act or thinking. So, suppressing thoughts is not non-thinking in this sense, but to go beyond thinking and not thinking. If you just suppress thoughts, that's dualistic, actually. And if you Just allow yourself to be carried away by thinking or to try to make an effort to think.

[29:10]

That's the other side. So, non-thinking is neither thinking or not thinking. Whether or not there are thoughts present or not is not the point. There are times in zazen we have very few thoughts, very few extraneous thoughts. Basically, when we sit, you know, we cease all affairs, as he says, and leave everything behind. We don't take our laundry list to zazen, or our daily affairs to zazen. When we sit zazen, we just sit zazen. But still, the laundry list is there, you know, and your affairs are still somewhere in your subconscious mind.

[30:14]

And everything is coming up and passes through consciousness. All the thoughts come and pass through consciousness. but the fact that the thoughts come and pass through consciousness is not what we call thinking. Because our attention is really on sitting and our attention is on not thinking, non-thinking. So thoughts which come and go are somewhat in the same category as breathing. Breath comes and goes. Blood runs. The mind, or the conscious mind is thinking, blinking, like a light maybe blinking.

[31:20]

But that blinking doesn't have any particular significance. The thoughts that we have in zazen aren't really significant for us at that time. Later, when we're active in the world, our thoughts are more significant for us. But the thoughts that come up in zazen are not so significant for us. They may be significant for us later, or they may have been significant for us earlier, but they're not significant for us right now. You may think, oh, I have to get gas in the car. My car is very low on gas. That's a significant thought. But when you're sitting in zazen, it's not significant. It's only significant for some other time. But it's hard to forget thoughts that seem significant.

[32:26]

Something significant seems to be always coming up. That's why in Sashin, when we sit for seven days, you know that the thoughts that you think are significant, you're not going to take up at all. So less and less significant thoughts come up, and you can just be with a clean slate, so to speak. But when we sit in Zazen, even for one period, we should still have that clean slate. It's not like wiping the dust from the mind, you know, trying to keep the mind clear of thoughts. You know, there's a phrase, the hazy moon of enlightenment. You know, enlightenment, we may think of as some very clear moon, but actually, you know, I don't want to explain it, but it's very, it's more like there's, it's a hazy moon.

[33:31]

There's always something, there's always some kind of cloud, you know, to keep your mind completely clear. without any thoughts, that would be remarkable. You can try it. Please. But the fact of this world is that it's a hazy moon. And to stay, you know, with the clear moon, To always try and stay with a clear moon is important in some way, but the reality of our life is more like a hazy moon. The moon is there, and the clouds, or the haze, or the fog, is also there.

[34:36]

So without trying to get rid of the fog or the haze, just to realize the moon in its various phases, various, you know, one day we come out and we see a beautiful, clear, bright moon. The next day we come out and it's raining. Well, just let it rain. You can't stop it from raining. And the next day, it's maybe cloudy. The next day, it's something else. The next moment, you know, the next moment, it's like this, and then it's like this, and then it's like this. But if we try to keep wiping it all the time to make it clean, completely clean, it's kind of futile. So the moon, Huy Nhung says, the moon is always there.

[35:55]

Whether you see it or not, it's always there. Someone said, if we have a bright mirror, what should we do with it? Someone else said, you should shatter it in a thousand pieces. And then the other person said, but what will happen when it's in a thousand pieces? And the other one said, Each piece reflects everything. So when we sit zazen, we shouldn't dwell on our thoughts.

[37:10]

But on the other hand, We shouldn't try to make our mind completely blank. We should have some composure no matter what is happening. This is the point of Zazen, you know, to have complete composure no matter what's going on in your mind or your body. think, not thinking, non-thinking. So then he says, the zazen that I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the dharmagate of repose and bliss, the practice realization It has practice, hyphen, realization.

[38:17]

Not practice and realization, but practice realization as one term of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon entering the water, like the tiger entering the mountain. for you know that just there in zazen the right dharma is manifesting itself and that from the first dullness and distraction are set aside. In Buddhism there are many meditation practices but he says this zazen I speak of is not one of the meditation practices of Buddhism. He's trying to express that zazen is not just another meditation practice, but it's the whole culmination of Buddhist practice.

[39:22]

It's simply the dharmagate of repose and bliss. It's not meditation to further or advance your understanding. or to gain some insight into things. But Zazen itself is it, is what he's saying. It's the manifestation of ultimate reality. So he says, once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon entering the water, or like the tiger entering the mountain. In other words, you're in your element. for you know that just there, in zazen, the right dharma is manifesting itself, and that from the first dullness and distraction are set aside. When we really have real zazen, our mind is very clear. And then he tells you how to get up from sitting. When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately.

[40:28]

Do not rise suddenly or abruptly. In surveying the past, we find that transcendence of both unenlightenment and enlightenment and dying while either sitting or standing have all depended entirely on the strength of zazen. Transcending enlightenment and unenlightenment, unenlightenment and enlightenment, is a pretty important subject here. We usually think, the usual way of thinking is that we go from unenlightenment to enlightenment. But this is a dualistic way of understanding anything, to go from unenlightenment to enlightenment. So, as we said before, we don't start from unenlightenment to get to enlightenment.

[41:34]

Actually, in our practice, we start from enlightenment. And we go from enlightenment to practice to realization. But it's all within each moment of practice. So each moment of practice is a moment of practice realization. We don't make a dualism out of practice and realization. So whenever we talk about practice, or whenever we think about practice, or enlightenment, we're always very careful how we say something, what kind of terms we use, and how we use our language. That's why our language is very carefully presented. so that we don't fall into thinking or speaking dualistically. And usually in Buddhism, it's why we use negative statements rather than positive statements, because positive statements are always falling into duality.

[42:49]

And a negative statement is helps to keep you from falling into the duality, the dualism. So he says, so enlightenment itself, you know, is not enlightenment. Enlightenment has to include unenlightenment as well as enlightenment. what we think of as enlightenment. Delusion and enlightenment are both factors of enlightenment. So when we see ourselves sitting here like this, are we sitting in delusion or are we sitting in enlightenment? We can just as easily say, I'm sitting in delusion. That's actually quite good. If you understand what enlightenment is, you say, I'm sitting here in delusion.

[43:59]

If you don't understand, then you're sitting here in delusion doesn't mean the same thing. So when we really have realization, unenlightenment or enlightenment are not two parts of a duality. Delusion and enlightenment are no longer two parts of a duality. Enlightenment is to be enlightened about our delusion, within our delusion. So our delusion is very important for us. don't get rid of your delusion. If you see someone who is enlightened without delusion, you should suspect that person's enlightened.

[45:07]

So that's why we always put emphasis on ordinary life. Our ordinary life is the way. The life of delusion is where we find our enlightenment. So then he talks about various people's ways of enlightening. He says, in addition, The bringing about of enlightenment by the opportunity provided by a finger, a banner, a needle, or a mallet, and the effecting of realization with the aid of a husu, which is a whisk, a fist, a staff, or a shout, cannot be fully understood by one's discriminated thinking. These are all means, you know, of famous means or turning means that have enlightened various people. A finger is like, he's referring to Gutei's one finger.

[46:20]

And a banner, he's referring to how Ananda was enlightened by Mahakasyapa. And a needle, he's talking about Nagarjuna and Kanadeva's relationship. He's just hinting at, he's just saying, these means, which people who have a good background in Buddhism know about these various incidents. If you've read the Blue Cliff Record, you know about some of these incidents. And if you've studied various means of various teachers in the past, you know about these incidents. and their various... I don't like to say techniques. They're not techniques. They're just spontaneous means.

[47:24]

Rinzai's shout. Tokusan's big stick. and so forth. These means cannot be fully understood by one's discriminated thinking. They're like koans. They're used as koans. They can't be understood by your discriminated mind. That's why they're koans. Indeed, it cannot be fully known by the practicing or realizing of supernatural powers either. You can't understand them through supernatural powers either. It must be deportment beyond hearing and seeing. Is it not a principle that is prior to knowledge and perception? This being the case, intelligence or lack of it does not matter. Between the dull and the sharp-witted, there is no distinction. If you concentrate your efforts single-mindedly, that in itself is negotiating the way." That sounds like a simple statement, but he's saying this is how you practice. If you concentrate your effort single-mindedly, that in itself is negotiating away.

[48:32]

Practice realization is naturally undefiled. Going forward in practice is a matter of everydayness. To concentrate your effort single-mindedly means that everything you do should be considered your practice. You should be one with practice, one with whatever you do. And going forward in practice is a matter of everydayness, not just some special thing that you do, but everything you do should be considered from this point of view. And then he says, in general, this world and other worlds as well, both in India and China, equally hold the Buddha seal and overall prevails the character of this school.

[49:41]

This is written, of course, in the 13th century. So, you know, he's just come back from China to Japan and he's talking about the authentic Dharma being also in China and India. In general, this world and other worlds as well, both in India and China, equally hold the Buddha seal and overall prevails the character of this school, which is simply devotion to sitting, total engagement in immobile sitting. Although it is said that there are as many minds as there are people, still they all negotiate the way solely in zazen. This seems like a rather broad statement to make. Why leave behind the seat that exists in your home and go aimlessly off to the dusty realms of other lands?

[50:44]

If you make one misstep, you'll go astray from the way directly before you. The important thing here is Why go somewhere else looking for what you're looking for when it's right in front of you? And by practicing what's right in front of you, you can find what it is that you're looking for. You have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form. Do not use your time in vain. You are maintaining the essential working of the Buddha way. Who would take wasteful delight in a spark from the Flintstone, meaning human life? Besides, form and substance are like the dew on the grass, destiny like the dart of lightning, emptied at an instant, banished in a flash. Please, honored followers of Zen, long accustomed to groping for the elephant, do not be suspicious of the true dragon. There are two stories that go along with that, but I don't have time to talk about them.

[51:47]

Devote your energies to a way that directly indicates the absolute. devote your energies to a way that directly indicates the Absolute. This statement is very important because devote yourself to a way Devote your energies to a way that directly indicates the Absolute. He's talking about zazen. But he's saying in such a way that in all of your activities you can realize the Absolute within your relative existence. You can recognize your relative existence as an expression of Absolute Being beyond form and emptiness. Revere the person of attainment who is beyond all human agency.

[52:53]

Gain accord with the enlightenment of the Buddhas. Succeed to the legitimate lineage of the ancestors' samadhi. Constantly perform in such a manner and you are assured of being a person such as they. Your treasure store, which is your Buddha nature, will open of itself and you will use it at will." Or you can use your understanding to help other people and yourself. So that's a rough, short commentary. So Dogen is saying, devote your energy to this high pursuit.

[53:58]

And if you devote your energy wholeheartedly, you will realize the fruit of your devotion, which is true of anything you do. That's why we always say, or I always say, find out what you really want to do and do it. Find out what you really want to do and do that. If you devote yourself to what you really want to do, then you won't have any problem. If you devote yourself to various things wholeheartedly, you will receive the fruit result of that devotion. And if you devote yourself to Zazen, Zen practice, single-mindedly, you will receive the fruit of that devotion, he says, without a doubt.

[55:01]

But it all depends on your single-minded devotion, on your sincere activity. So everything is up to us. Whatever it is that we do is completely up to us. Do you have a question? Yes. Who is that person who's the person of attainment beyond human agency, if that person is also deluded within enlightenment. You could say Buddha to anything.

[56:25]

That's right, you should. Okay, you know, there's this story of Buddha's attaining enlightenment. And so when Buddha attained enlightenment, he said, I, along with all sentient beings, have attained enlightenment. All sentient beings haven't attained enlightenment, just Buddha did. How can he say that? How can Buddha say, I along with all sentient beings have attained enlightenment? I'll leave you with that one. Thank you.

[57:10]

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