Today is Earth Day, a weekend of religious holiday, and April 22, 2011. Of this much I am certain.
As far as the rest, I recognize that I'm am often desperately trying to connect dots to make sense of a life that probably can't be made sense of. I go in circles. I misunderstand what people are trying to tell me, so that in spite of my best intentions, I make mistakes. A fun analogy might be the game of Twister I sometimes played as a little girl. I end up being so contorted I fall over. In Twister we used fall over, giggle and/or laugh. In life, it is typically frustrating.
All of a sudden kinhin makes sense to me in a way it has not made sense before. We are walking in circles, just like Muho-san said. In kinhin, walking in a circle is accepted, appropriate and, in fact, required. During kinhin, we are mindful of our posture, each step and the movement of fellow practioners. There is a quiet peacefulness or stillness during kinhin given that we accept that we are not going anywhere.
These are the Four Vows:
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it.
Look again and dig way down into the ground of them.
It's real simple when I get down into them. I look at these vows and just accept they are impossible, just accept that I am going fail. That I am not going to get anywhere, just like during kinhin. That I am going to fall over just like in Twister.
What remains when I accept that I am going to fall and fail? I realize my truth, and that truth is I am still going to try anyway. That I have committed myself and that, for me, there's is no way of backing out of the commitment. This is what a vow is. And out of the acceptance of failure and the recognition of that truth, unconditional confidence arises, blooms, and shines forth like the sun.
From this state, all things are possible — even success. Then I take another step.....
And another circle or cycle begins. But today, April 22, 2011, I am out finding Kwon Homun:
Two Poems On Fishing - Kwon Homun
Should I go drinking and wenching?
Oh, no. It isn't proper for the poet that I am.
Shall I go hunting wealth and honor?
I am not inclined that way either.
Well, let me be a fisherman or shepherd
and enjoy myself on the reedy shore.
When it stops raining at the fishing site
I will use green-moss for bait.
With no idea of catching the fish
I will enjoy watching them at play.
A slice of moon passes as it casts a silver line
onto the green stream below.
(This today's poetry selection on the Knopf website.)
Green Tara Mantra:
Friday, April 22, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Shobogenzo Ch17 (III) Hokke-ten-hokke - The One Great Matter
Does the One Great Matter matter? Yes — the one great matter is the most important matter of all: The matter is the one and only matter that really matters. The matter is great.
So exactly what is the One Great Matter? Hokke-ten-hokke is the chapter of the Shobogenzo in which Dogen refers to the one great matter most frequently. Dogen says:
This is why [the Buddha] has “manifested himself in reality,” calling “sole reliance” on the “One Vehicle” “the one great matter.” Because this manifestation in reality is itself “the one great matter,” there are [the words] “buddhas alone, together with buddhas, just can perfectly realize that all dharmas are real form.” The method for that is inevitably “the One Buddha Vehicle,” and “buddhas alone” necessarily teach its “perfect realization” to “buddhas alone.” “The many buddhas” and “the Seven Buddhas” teach its “perfect realization” to each individual buddha, buddha-to-buddha, and they cause Śākyamuni Buddha to “accomplish” it.
It is “the One Buddha Vehicle” in which “sole reliance” is decisively “the one great matter.” Now it is “manifesting itself in the world.” It is manifesting itself at this place.
(Referring to the Lotus Sutra:) The fundamental point of this sutra is the purpose of [the buddhas’] appearance in the world. Although it expounds many metaphors, [the sutra] does not go beyond this. What is that purpose? Only the one great matter. The one great matter is just the Buddha’s wisdom itself; it is to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter [the Buddha’s wisdom]. [The one great matter] is naturally the wisdom of the Buddha and someone who is equipped with the wisdom is already a buddha.
Because [the Flower of Dharma turning] is the “sole existence of the One Buddha Vehicle,” and because it is the Flower of Dharma with “form as it is,” whether it is the turner or the turned, it is “the One Buddha Vehicle,” and “the one great matter.”
When I read Hokke-ten-hokke I sense two subtlety different interpretations of what the one great matter is:
(1) The one great matter is the Buddha's wisdom and sitting meditation (zazen) is the one vehicle — the white ox cart and the best, most reliable vehicle — with which we can realize the wisdom of a Buddha. As per the preceding post, 'riding' is applying the wisdom we experience during sitting in real life.
(2) The one great matter is sitting. In this case, "perfect realization" is something we only ever experience during zazen. The only time we can be free of our own delusion and the delusion of others is during zazen.
That zazen is the Buddha's wisdom and an expression of the one great matter is definitely something I sense is true. For me, the question is whether we can only ever enter, experience and express the Buddha's wisdom by sitting.
I can find quotes and evidence in the Shobogenzo and elsewhere to support either answer to that question. At the moment, I think maybe allowing the ambiguity is more important than answering the question.
***
The one great matter —
True wisdom of the buddha
Realized through zazen.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Shobogenzo Ch17 (II) Hokke-ten-hokke - Riding the One Vehicle
When the mind is in delusion, the Flower of Dharma turns.
When the mind is in realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.
...Without intention the mind is right.
With intention the mind becomes wrong.
When we transcend both with and without,
We ride eternally in the white ox cart.
When the mind is in the state of delusion, the Flower of Dharma turns.
When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.
If perfect realization can be like this,
The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.
The above quotes come from near the beginning and at the conclusion of Hokke-ten-hokke. A major focus of the chapter is on delusion. The 'white ox cart' is a metaphor for the one vehicle and is taken from the Parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sutra. 'Riding the white ox cart' represents perfect realization. Recalling that the 'Flower of Dharma' is 'the enlightened Universe', what is Dogen telling us about delusion?
Dogen recognizes that within our world just as it is — the world in which we act — there is no freedom from delusion:
There is mental delusion in the burning house, there is mental delusion just at the gate itself, there is mental delusion outside the gate, there is mental delusion just in front of the gate, and there is mental delusion within the gate. Mental delusion has created “within the gate” and “outside the gate” and even “the gate itself,” “the burning house,” and so on..
Once we have insight or realization into no-self and emptiness, we can step back and see that our intentions and actions are bound to be based on assumptions and delusion no matter what. We can't reach a place and time or perspective that is free from delusion. How are we then supposed to incorporate this insight or realization into our daily lives? Dogen recognizes this conundrum:
When we think of entry as “adornment” on this carriage, should we hope for “open ground” as the place to enter, or should we recognize “the burning house” as the place to leave? Should we reach the conclusion that the gate itself is merely a place of momentary passing? Remember, inside the carriage, there is turning [of the Flower of Dharma] which causes us to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the burning house; and on the open ground there is turning which causes us to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the burning house. There are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering through the whole gate as the gate here and now; and there are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering through a single gate which is [an instance of] the universal gate. There is turning which discloses, displays, realizes, and enters the universal gate in each instance of disclosure, display, realization, and entering. There are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering within the gate, and there are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering outside the gate. There are cases of disclosing, displaying, realizing, and entering open ground in the burning house.
Dogen goes on to ask:
Who could make the turning of the wheel of the triple world into a carriage and ride it as “the One Vehicle”?
The 'triple world' is the world just as it is and, to me, the similarity in the phrases: 'turning of the wheel of the triple world' and turning of the 'Flower of Dharma,' suggests the triple world and the Flower of Dharma are one and the same. To me, the question is not so much who as how.. It helped me to look at the passage at the top of this post:
...Without intention the mind is right.
(This seems to refer to the no-self and emptiness we realize in sitting zen.)
With intention the mind becomes wrong.
(This seems to refer to actions in the 'triple world.')
When we transcend both with and without,
We ride eternally in the white ox cart.
How do we transcend both with and without? We practice "disclosure, display, realization, and entering" having recognized the reality of delusion. Dogen says:
..do not worry about the mind being deluded. Your actions are the bodhisattva way itself; they are to serve the buddhas which is original practice of the bodhisattva way. What you disclose, display, realize, and enter is, in every case, an instance of the Flower of Dharma turning.
When we practice having recognized the reality of delusion it seems to me, at first, to create a space from which we can step back and question our views, intentions, and actions from the perspective of the Precepts and the Noble Eight-fold Path. When we are whole-heartedly committed to taking this step and committed to the path then we are the 'Flower of Dharma', and the following is true:
The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.
To conclude:
Who knows that [even] within the burning house,
Originally we are kings in the Dharma.
When the mind is in realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.
...Without intention the mind is right.
With intention the mind becomes wrong.
When we transcend both with and without,
We ride eternally in the white ox cart.
When the mind is in the state of delusion, the Flower of Dharma turns.
When the mind is in the state of realization, we turn the Flower of Dharma.
If perfect realization can be like this,
The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.
The above quotes come from near the beginning and at the conclusion of Hokke-ten-hokke. A major focus of the chapter is on delusion. The 'white ox cart' is a metaphor for the one vehicle and is taken from the Parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sutra. 'Riding the white ox cart' represents perfect realization. Recalling that the 'Flower of Dharma' is 'the enlightened Universe', what is Dogen telling us about delusion?
Dogen recognizes that within our world just as it is — the world in which we act — there is no freedom from delusion:
There is mental delusion in the burning house, there is mental delusion just at the gate itself, there is mental delusion outside the gate, there is mental delusion just in front of the gate, and there is mental delusion within the gate. Mental delusion has created “within the gate” and “outside the gate” and even “the gate itself,” “the burning house,” and so on..
Once we have insight or realization into no-self and emptiness, we can step back and see that our intentions and actions are bound to be based on assumptions and delusion no matter what. We can't reach a place and time or perspective that is free from delusion. How are we then supposed to incorporate this insight or realization into our daily lives? Dogen recognizes this conundrum:
When we think of entry as “adornment” on this carriage, should we hope for “open ground” as the place to enter, or should we recognize “the burning house” as the place to leave? Should we reach the conclusion that the gate itself is merely a place of momentary passing? Remember, inside the carriage, there is turning [of the Flower of Dharma] which causes us to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the burning house; and on the open ground there is turning which causes us to disclose, to display, to realize, and to enter the burning house. There are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering through the whole gate as the gate here and now; and there are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering through a single gate which is [an instance of] the universal gate. There is turning which discloses, displays, realizes, and enters the universal gate in each instance of disclosure, display, realization, and entering. There are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering within the gate, and there are cases in which the turning activates disclosure, display, realization, and entering outside the gate. There are cases of disclosing, displaying, realizing, and entering open ground in the burning house.
Dogen goes on to ask:
Who could make the turning of the wheel of the triple world into a carriage and ride it as “the One Vehicle”?
The 'triple world' is the world just as it is and, to me, the similarity in the phrases: 'turning of the wheel of the triple world' and turning of the 'Flower of Dharma,' suggests the triple world and the Flower of Dharma are one and the same. To me, the question is not so much who as how.. It helped me to look at the passage at the top of this post:
...Without intention the mind is right.
(This seems to refer to the no-self and emptiness we realize in sitting zen.)
With intention the mind becomes wrong.
(This seems to refer to actions in the 'triple world.')
When we transcend both with and without,
We ride eternally in the white ox cart.
How do we transcend both with and without? We practice "disclosure, display, realization, and entering" having recognized the reality of delusion. Dogen says:
..do not worry about the mind being deluded. Your actions are the bodhisattva way itself; they are to serve the buddhas which is original practice of the bodhisattva way. What you disclose, display, realize, and enter is, in every case, an instance of the Flower of Dharma turning.
When we practice having recognized the reality of delusion it seems to me, at first, to create a space from which we can step back and question our views, intentions, and actions from the perspective of the Precepts and the Noble Eight-fold Path. When we are whole-heartedly committed to taking this step and committed to the path then we are the 'Flower of Dharma', and the following is true:
The Flower of Dharma turns the Flower of Dharma.
To conclude:
Who knows that [even] within the burning house,
Originally we are kings in the Dharma.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
