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.
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