• TREELEAF SANGHA online 2-DAY ANGO-JUKAI-ROHATSU RETREAT -- 2013 --



    WELCOME ...

    ... to our TREELEAF 'AT HOME' Two Day 'ALL ONLINE' ROHATSU (Buddha's Enlightenment Day) RETREAT, being held by LIVE NETCAST on Saturday/Sunday December 7th and 8th, 2013 (though starting Friday night in some time zones).

    Please 'sit-a-long' with the LIVE NETCAST at the times below ... to be visible "live" on our Treeleaf Google+ Page during those hours:

    LINK TO TREELEAF GOOGLE+ PAGE to SIT LIVE IS HERE!

    HOWEVER, you may still join the Retreat and sit-a-long at ANY AND ALL TIME after, by the real time recorded version at the links below (no different from the original!).

    The full sitting schedule is below, and you may download our CHANT BOOK HERE(LINK to PDF).


    and please review the various RETREAT POINTERS HERE(LINK to PDF).


    Recordings of each segment are posted below in time order ... and if we drop from mind all thought of 'now' 'then' 'here' and 'there' ... we will all be sitting together right when and where you are!

    This Retreat celebrates the 'official' closure of our ANGO (90 day Special Practice Season) at Treeleaf, is a part of current preparations for our JUKAI (Undertaking the Precepts) Ceremony in January, and marks ROHATSU ... the traditional holiday in Japan celebrating the time of the Buddha's Enlightenment.

    Jundo will be guiding the first day of sitting on Saturday, and Taigu on Sunday.

    In case of technical problems, please just go along as best you can with the schedule ... we sit with "what is".. .

    OF COURSE, EVERYTHING IN MODERATION ... if the sitting ever feels too much, be sure to walk lots and lots of Kinhin (even if during a sitting period). And if the whole retreat becomes too much, or you feel ill, you may slow down ... , spread things out, shorten the sittings ... or STOP! Be sure that you have someone close by whom you can call, or who can check on you from time to time. If there is any question about health, do not take any chances!

    Our thanks to Sangha Member William Anderson for presenting a 15-Minute YOGA LESSON TO HELP US STRETCH DURING ANY BREAK TIME (LINK HERE)

    Please write and let us know how it goes. Gassho, Jundo & Taigu

    _____________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 1
    (Live Netcast: Start = FRIDAY NY 4pm London 9pm / End = FRIDAY NY 7:05pm, London 12:05am)
    (ALL TIMES APPROXIMATE)


    DAY 1
    06:00-06:50 AM Entrance by Officiant (Jundo) & Zazen. If you usually wear a Rakusu, DO NOT wear it yet (keep it in its bag) until Takkesage (Kesa Verse) later in morning.
    06:50-07:00 Kinhin* (All Kinhin times can be bathroom break)
    07:00-07:35 Zazen
    07:35-07:45 Kinhin

    07:45-08:25 Zazen + Kesa Verse
    08:25-09:05 "Long" Service.Please follow along in the Sutra Books that will be provided. Floor prostrations when hear ching-ching-ching-ching- ching roll of bell.
    09:05-09:20 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 1-1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFKXU4H3giI
    _____________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 2
    (Live Netcast: Start=FRIDAY NY 7:20pm London SATURDAY 12:20am /End=FRIDAY NY 7:50pm, SATURDAY London 12:50am)


    09:20-09:50 Oryoki Bring you bowls and small table before start.
    09:50-10:30 Samu/Rest Period Mindfully wash and repack Oryoki bowls.


    RECORDING OF ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 1-2 Oryoki
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gojXrRqL0jY#t=59
    ___________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 3
    (Live Netcast: Start=FRIDAY NY 8:30pm London SATURDAY 1:30am /End=FRIDAY NY 10:45pm, SATURDAY London 3:45am)



    10:30-11:10 Zazen
    11:10-11:20 Kinhin
    11:20-12:00 Zazen &Dharma Talk Chant Gatha on Opening & Closing Sutra

    12:00-12:10 Kinhin
    12:10-12:45 Zazen
    12:45-13:10 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 1-3
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCK3aL5xyko

    _____________________________________________


    DAY 1 UNIT 4
    (Live Netcast: Start=FRIDAY NY 11:10pm London SATURDAY 4:10am /End=FRIDAY NY 11:40pm, SATURDAY London 4:40am)


    13:10-13:40 Oryoki Bring you bowls and small table before start.
    13:40-14:30 Samu/Rest Period Mindfully wash and repack Oryoki bowls.


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE
    Unit 1-4 Oryoki
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_17sUfrdkQ

    ____________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 5
    (Live Netcast: Start=SATURDAY NY 12:30am London 5:30am /End=SATURDAY NY 1:30am, London 6:30am)



    14:30-15:00 Samu Work Practice Indoor if night time, Outdoor if daytime and possible
    15:00-16:00 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    1-5 Samu
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYnMZsbyjrI#t=690
    _____________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 6
    (Live Netcast: Start=SATURDAY NY 2:00am London 7:00am /End=SATURDAY NY 4:25am, London 9:25am)


    16:00-16:40 Zazen
    16:40-16:50 Kinhin
    16:50-17:40 Zazen & Dharma Talk Chant Gatha on Opening & Closing Sutra

    17:40-17:50 Kinhin
    17:50-18:25 Zazen
    18:25-19:00 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 1-6
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_uFjPO40dI
    ____________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 7
    (Live Netcast: Start=SATURDAY NY 5:00am London 10:00am /End=SATURDAY NY 5:30am, London 10:30am)


    19:00-19:30 Samu Work Practice Indoor if night time, Outdoor if daytime and possible
    19:30-20:00 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 1-7 Samu
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF8KPnuo_68

    ____________________________________________

    DAY 1 UNIT 8
    (Live Netcast: Start=SATURDAY NY 6:00am London 11:00am /End=SATURDAY NY 8:30am, London 1:30pm)


    20:00-20:50 "Short" Service & Zazen Please follow along in the Sutra Books that will be provided. Floor prostrations when here ching-ching-ching-ching- ching roll of bell.
    20:50-21:00 Kinhin

    21:00-21:40 Zazen &Dharma Talk Chant Gatha on Opening & Closing Sutra
    21:40-21:50 Kinhin
    21:50-22:30 Metta Chant & Zazen Close with Verse of Atonement & Four Vows


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit-1-8
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbNWzr4rkk8

    ______________________________________________


    DAY 1 UNIT 9
    ( No Live Netcast from SATURDAY NY 8:30am London 1:30pm to NY 4:00pm, London 9:00pm)
    PLEASE CATCH UP WITH MISSED OVERNIGHT UNITS!


    (Optional: Waza = Tradition of 'All Night Zazen' ... but we recommend you sleep instead.
    See you in the morning)


    22:30 PM-
    (Day 2)
    05:30 AM
    BATH & SLEEP

    NO RECORDING OF ABOVE

    However, this may be a good time for the 15-Minute YOGA LESSON TO HELP US STRETCH (LINK HERE) presented by our Sangha Member William.



    ____________________________________________
    ____________________________________________


    DAY 2 UNIT 1
    (Live Netcast: Start = SATURDAY NY 4pm London 9pm / End = SATURDAY NY 6:55pm, London 11:55pm)
    (ALL TIMES APPROXIMATE)


    06:00-06:40 AM Zazen Begin sitting without instruction. If you usually wear a Rakusu, DO NOT wear it yet (keep it in its bag) until Takkesage (Kesa Verse) later in morning.
    06:40-07:00 Long (20 minute) Kinhin*
    07:00-07:35 Zazen
    07:35-07:45 Kinhin

    07:45-08:25 Zazen + Kesa Verse When instructed, place on Kesa and recite Kesa Verse. All others, hands in Gassho.
    08:25-08:55 "Long" Service Please follow along in the Sutra Books that will be provided. Floor prostrations when hear ching-ching-ching-ching- ching roll of bell.
    08:55-09:20 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhFSynlYWZI
    _____________________________________________

    DAY 2 UNIT 2
    (Live Netcast:Start=SATURDAY NY 7:20pm London SUNDAY 12:20am/End=SATURDAY NY 7:50pm, SUNDAY London 12:50am)


    09:20-09:50 Oryoki Bring you bowls and small table before start.
    09:50-10:30 Samu/Rest Period Mindfully wash and repack Oryoki bowls.


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-2 Oryoki
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gojXrRqL0jY#t=59
    _____________________________________________

    DAY 2 UNIT 3
    (Live Netcast: Start=SATURDAY NY 8:30pm London SUNDAY 1:30am/End=SATURDAY NY 10:45pm, SUNDAY London 3:45am)



    10:30-11:10 Zazen
    11:10-11:20 Kinhin
    11:20-12:00 Zazen & Dharma Talk Chant Gatha on Opening & Closing Sutra

    12:00-12:10 Kinhin
    12:10-12:45 Zazen
    12:45-13:10 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-3
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdpbeAegh8I

    _____________________________________________

    DAY 2 UNIT 4
    (Live Netcast:Start=SATURDAY NY 11:10pm London SUNDAY 4:10am/End=SATURDAY NY 11:40pm, SUNDAY London 4:40am)


    13:10-13:40 Oryoki Bring you bowls and small table before start.
    13:40-14:30 Samu/Rest Period Mindfully wash and repack Oryoki bowls.


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-4 Oryoki
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEM3Dh5Obk4
    ____________________________________________

    DAY 2 UNIT 5
    (Live Netcast: Start=SUNDAY NY 12:30am London 5:30am /End=SUNDAY NY 1:30am, London 6:30am)


    14:30-15:30 Samu Work Practice Indoor if night time, Outdoor if daytime and possible
    15:30-16:00 REST PERIOD


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-5 Samu
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84hTtYQ5uB4
    _____________________________________________


    DAY 2 UNIT 6
    (Live Netcast: Start=SUNDAY NY 2:00am London 7:00am /End=SUNDAY NY 4:00 am, London 9:00am)


    16:00-16:40 Zazen
    16:40-16:50 Kinhin
    16:50-17:20 Zazen & Dharma Talk Chant Gatha on Opening & Closing Sutra

    17:20-17:30 Kinhin
    17:30-18:00 Zazen
    18:00-19:00 REST PERIOD

    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-6
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=src-PfP85wo#t=48
    _____________________________________________


    DAY 2 UNIT 7
    (Live Netcast: Start=SUNDAY NY 5:00am London 10:00am /End=SUNDAY NY 7:30am, London 12:30pm)


    19:00-19:50 "Short" Service & Zazen Please follow along in the Sutra Books that will be provided. Floor prostrations when here ching-ching-ching-ching- ching roll of bell.
    19:50-20:00 Kinhin
    20:00-20:40 Zazen & Dharma Talk Chant Gatha on Opening & Closing Sutra
    20:40-20:50 Kinhin
    20:50-21:20 Fukanzazengi & Zazen
    21:20-21:30 Verse of Atonement & Four Vows ... Closing Words ...


    RECORDING OF THE ABOVE IS HERE:
    Unit 2-7
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAHK1GBkl-0



    Nine Bows to All Who Sat This Retreat Together ...



    This article was originally published in forum thread: TREELEAF SANGHA online 2-DAY ANGO-JUKAI-ROHATSU RETREAT -- 2013 -- started by Jundo View original post
    Comments 68 Comments
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      ATTENTION: IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SIT PORTIONS OF THIS RETREAT BY LIVE '2-WAY' VIDEO HANGOUT, PLEASE PM JUNDO PRIOR TO THE START OF THE RETREAT. I will add you to our "ROHATSU 2013" Circle, and you should receive email notification or notification for each unit of the Retreat via our Google+ Page allowing you to join the Hangout.

      Also, please look for the reading materials that will be the subject of Dharma Talks by Jundo and Taigu on Saturday and Sunday, to be posted below in this thread soon.

      Let's Get Ready To Rohatsu!

      Gassho, Jundo


      -------------------------------

      Members Confirmed for "Rohastsu 2013" Circle So Far:
      Kyonin
      Yugen
      Dosho
      Hans
      Shohei
      Shingen
      Eric (Ctenny)
      Matt W
      Myozan
      Myoku
      Heisoku
      Taikyo
      Lisa (ZenHarmony)
      Seimyo
      Timo
      Alice/Shinzan
      WilliamD
      Milarepa/Edward
      KidBuda
      Shokai
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      TEXTS FOR ROHATSU DHARMA TALKS:

      Day 1 (Jundo) - Master Dogen's Guidelines for Studying the Way (GAKU DO YO JIN SHU)
      Translation (Sections 1-5) by Ed Brown & Kazuaki Tanahashi; (Section 6-10) by Gudo Wafu Nishijima


      WE WILL NOT COVER ALL OF THIS, ONLY BITS AND PIECES - Jundo


      1 - You should arouse the thought of enlightenment.

      The thought of enlightenment has many names but they all refer to one and the same mind.
      Ancestor Nagarjuna said, "The mind that fully sees into the uncertain world of birth and death is called the thought of enlightenment."
      Thus if we maintain this mind, this mind can become the thought of enlightenment.

      Indeed, when you understand the discontinuity the notion of self does not come into being, ideas of name and gain to not arise. Fearing the swift passage of the sunlight, practice the way as though saving your head from fire. Reflecting on this ephemeral life, make endeavor in the manner of Buddha raising his foot.

      When you hear a song of praise sung by a kinnara god or a kalavinka bird, let it be as the evening breeze brushing against your ears. If you see the beautiful face of Maoqiang or Xishi, let it be like the morning dewdrops coming into your sight. Freedom from the ties of sound and form naturally accords with the essence of the way-seeking mind.

      If in the past or present, you hear about students of small learning or meet people with limited views, often they have fallen into the pit of fame and profit and have forever missed the buddha way in their life. What a pity! How regrettable! You should not ignore this.

      Even if you read the sutras of the expedient or complete teaching, or transmit the scriptures of the exoteric or esoteric schools, without throwing away name and gain it cannot be called arousing the thought of enlightenment.

      Some of these people say, "The thought of enlightenment is the mind of supreme, perfect enlightenment. Do not be concerned with the cultivation of fame or profit."

      Some of them say, "The thought of enlightenment is the insight that each thought contains three thousand realms."

      Some of them say, "The thought of enlightenment is the mind of entering the buddha realm."

      Such people do not yet know and mistakenly slander the thought of enlightenment. They are remote from the buddha way.

      Try to reflect on the mind concerned only with your own gain. Does this one thought blend with the nature and attributes of the three thousand realms? Does this one thought realize the dharma gate of being unborn? There is only the deluded thought of greed for name and love of gain. There is nothing which could be taken as the thought of enlightenment.

      From ancient times sages have attained the way and realized dharma. Although as an expedient teaching they lived ordinary lives, still they had no distorted thought of fame or profit. Not even attached to dharma, how could they have worldly attachment?

      The thought of enlightenment, as was mentioned, is the mind which sees into impermanence. This is most fundamental, and not at all the same as the mind pointed to by confused people. The understanding that each thought is unborn or the insight that each thought contains three thousand realms is excellent practice after arousing the thought of enlightenment. This should not be mistaken.

      Just forget yourself for now and practice inwardly—this is one with the thought of enlightenment. We see that the sixty-two views are based on self. So when a notion of self arises, sit quietly and contemplate it. Is there a real basis inside or outside your body now? Your body with hair and skin is just inherited from your father and mother. From beginning to end a drop of blood or lymph is empty. So none of these are the self. What about mind, thought, awareness, and knowledge? Or the breath going in and out, which ties a lifetime together: what is it after all? None of these are the self either. How could you be attached to any of them? Deluded people are attached to them. Enlightened people are free of them.

      You figure there is self where there is no self. You attache to birth where there is no birth. You do not practice the buddha way, which should be practiced. You do not cut off the worldly mind, which should be cut off. Avoiding the true teaching and pursuing the groundless teaching, how could you not be mistaken?

      2 - Once you see or hear the true teaching, you should practice it without fail.

      One phrase offered by a loyal servant can have the power to alter the course of the nation. One word given by a buddha ancestor cannot fail to turn people’s minds. The unwise ruler does not adopt the servant’s advice. One who does not step forward cannot accept the buddha’s teaching. If you are unbending, you cannot stop floating along in birth and death. If appropriate advice is not heeded, governing with virtue cannot be realized.

      3 - In the buddha way, you should always enter enlightenment through practice.

      A worldly teacher says, "Through study one can gain wealth." Buddha says, "Within practice there is enlightenment."

      It is unheard-of that without studying someone should earn wealth or that without practicing someone should attain enlightenment. Though practice varies—initiated by faith or dharma knowledge, with emphasis on sudden or gradual enlightenment—you always depend on practice to go beyond enlightenment. Though study can be superficial or profound, and students can be sharp or dull, accumulated studying earns wealth. This does not necessarily depend on the king’s excellence or inability, nor should it depend on one’s having good or bad luck. If someone were to get wealth without studying, how could he transmit the way in which ancient kings, in times of either order or disorder, ruled the country? If you were to gain realization without practice, how could you comprehend the Tathagata’s teaching of delusion and enlightenment.

      You should know that arousing practice in the midst of delusion, you attain realization before you recognize it. At this time you first know that the raft of discourse is like yesterday’s dream, and you finally cut off your old understanding bound up in the vines and serpents of words. This is not made to happen by Buddha, but is accomplished by your all-encompassing effort.

      Moreover, what practice calls forth is enlightenment; your treasure house does not come from outside. How enlightenment functions is through practice; how could actions of mind-ground go astray? So if you turn the eye of enlightenment and reflect back on the realm of practice, nothing in particular hits the eye, and you just see white clouds for ten thousand miles. If you arouse practice as thought climbing the steps of enlightenment, not even a speck of dust will support your feet; you will be as far from true practice as heaven is from earth. Now step back and leap beyond the buddha land.

      This portion was written on the night day, third month, second year of Tempuku [1234].

      4 - You should not practice Buddha’s teaching with the idea of gain.

      The practice of Buddha’s teaching is always done by receiving the essential instructions of a master, not by following your own ideas. In fact, Buddha’s teaching cannot be attained by having ideas or not having ideas. Only when the mind of pure practice coincides with the way will body and mind be calm. If body and mind are not yet calm, they will not be at ease. When body and mind are not at ease, thorns grow on the path of realization.

      So that pure practice and the way coincide, how should we proceed? Proceed with the mind which neither grasps nor rejects, the mind unconcerned with name or gain. Do not practice buddha-dharma with the thought that it is to benefit others.

      People in the present world, even those practicing the buddha-dharma, have a mind which is far apart from the way. They practice what others praise and admire, even though they know it does not accord with the way. They reject and do not practice what others fail to honor and praise, even though they know it is the true way. How painful! You should try to quiet your mind and investigate whether these attitudes are buddha-dharma or not. You may be completely ashamed. The eye of the sage illuminates this.

      Clearly, buddha-dharma is not practiced for one’s own sake, and even less for the sake of fame and profit. Just for the sake of buddha-dharma you should practice it.

      All buddhas’ compassion and sympathy for sentient beings are neither for their own sake nor for others. It is just the nature of buddha-dharma. Isn’t it apparent that insects and animals nurture their offspring, exhausting themselves with painful labors, yet in the end have no reward when their offspring are grown? In this way the compassion of small creatures for their offspring naturally resembles the thought of all buddhas for sentient beings.

      The inconceivable dharma of all buddhas is not compassion alone, but compassion is the basis of the various teachings that appear universally. Already we are children of the buddhas. Why not follow their lead?

      Students! Do not practice buddha-dharma for your own sake. Do not practice buddha-dharma for name and gain. Do not practice buddha-dharma to attain miraculous effects. Practice buddha-dharma solely for the sake of buddha-dharma. This is the way.

      5 - You should seek a true teacher to practice Zen and study the way.

      A teacher of old said, "If the beginning is not right, myriad practices will be useless.

      How true these words are! Practice of the way depends on whether the guiding master is a true teacher or not.

      The disciple is like wood, and the teacher resembles a craftsman. Even if the wood is good, without a skilled craftsman its extraordinary beauty is not revealed. Even if the wood is bent, placed in skilled hands its splendid merits immediately appear. By this you should know that realization is genuine or false depending on whether the teacher is true or incompetent.

      But in our country from ancient times, there have not been many true teachers. How do we know this is so? We can guess by studying their sayings, just as we can scoop up stream water and find out about its source. In our country from ancient times, various teachers have written books and instructed their disciples, offering their teaching to human and heavenly beings. Their words are immature, their discourse has not yet ripened. They have not yet reached the peak of study; how could they have come close to the state of realization? They only transmitted words and phrases or taught the changing of Buddha’s name. They count other people’s treasure day and night, not having half a penny themselves.

      Previous teachers are responsible for this. They taught people to seek enlightenment outside mind, or to seek rebirth in another land. Confusion starts from this. Mistaken ideas come from this.

      Though you give good medicine, if you do not teach a method of controlling its use it will make one sicker than taking poison. In our country since ancient times it seems as though no one has given good medicine. There are as yet no masters who can control the poisonous effects of medicine. Because of this, it is difficult to penetrate birth and death. How can old age and death be overcome.

      All this is the teacher’s fault, not at all the fault of the disciples. The reason is that those who are teachers let people neglect the root and go out on the limbs. Before they establish true understanding, they are absorbed only in their own thinking, and they unwittingly cause others to enter a realm of confusion. What a pity! Those who are teachers do not yet understand this confusion. How could students realize what is right and wrong?

      How sad! In this small, remote nation buddha-dharma has not yet spread widely. True masters have not yet appeared here. If you wish to study the unsurpassed buddha way, you have to travel a great distance to call on the masters in Song China, and you have to reflect deeply n the vital road outside thought. Until you have a true teacher, it is better not to study.

      Regardless of his age or experience, a true teacher is simply one who has apprehended the true teaching and attained the authentic teacher’s seal of realization. He does not put texts first or understanding first, but his capacity is outside any framework and his spirit freely penetrates the nodes in bamboo. He is not concerned with self-views and does not stagnate in emotional feelings. Thus, practice and understanding are in mutual accord. This is a true master.

      6. What we should know in practicing Zazen.

      Practicing Zazen and pursuing the truth are great tasks throughout our life – we should not take them lightly. How could we be rash in carrying them out?
      People (who were pursuing the truth) in the past have severed their arms or cut off their fingers; these are excellent examples from China. Long ago
      Gautama Buddha gave up his family and relinquished his kingdom; this is also a precedent for practicing the truth.

      People today say that we should practice the practice which is easy to practice. But these words are completely wrong. They do not conform to
      Buddhism at all. Even if we chose to practice something as easy as lying on a bed, it would eventually become tiresome. And if we allowed ourselves to be
      bored by our one practice, all our work would become tiresome. Needless to say, people who like easy practice do not have the right constitution to pursue the truth.

      Far from being easy, the teachings which have spread through the world today are just the teachings which the Great Master Gautama Buddha
      attained after arduous and painful practices endured in eternal time. The original source was like this. How could the streams be easy? A person who
      loves truth should never intend to do easy practice. If they look for easy practice they can never land on solid ground, and so they may have difficulty
      getting to the treasure house.

      In the past there have been people of very great ability, and even they said that their practice was difficult.
      We should recognise the depth and greatness of the Buddhist truth. If Buddhism were originally easy to practice, people of
      great ability throughout history would not have said that Buddhism is difficult to practice and difficult to understand. Compared with those people in history,
      people today do not amount to so much as one hair from a herd of nine bulls. Even if we summon all our meagre resources and scant knowledge and strive to do difficult practice,
      we can never even arrive at what was easy for these old masters to practice and understand.

      Just what is this thing that people today like to understand easily and practice easily? It is not secular teaching, and not Buddhist teaching either; it cannot
      match the practice of demons in the sky or demons on the ground. It cannot match the practice of non-Buddhists or the practice of intellectual and sensual
      Buddhists. It could only be called the most deluded and the most wrong practice of ordinary people. And even if those who seek it intend to get out of
      secular society, their daily lives will still be caught in an endless cycle of miserable life and death.

      Difficult though it may be to break our bones and crush our marrow, the most difficult thing is to make our mind balanced. Difficult though it may be to keep
      the precepts and maintain pure conduct, the most difficult thing is to make our physical conduct balanced. If it were valuable to grind our bones to powder,
      the many who have endured such austerities since ancient time would have attained Gautama Buddha’s teachings, but few people really have attained
      the teachings. If it were valuable to be a man of pure conduct, many puritans since ancient times would have attained the truth. The reason is that it is very
      difficult for a person to make their mind balanced.

      Perceptiveness is not important. Scholastic understanding is not important. Mind, will, consciousness are not foremost. Mental images, thoughts, and
      reflections are not foremost. Without using these things at all, people in the past have experienced the balanced state of body and mind and entered into
      the Buddhist Truth. That is what Gautama Buddha meant when he said that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara changed direction and lost consciousness of his
      perception. When it is clear that two faces – movement and calmness – do not really appear, that is the state of balance.

      If the Buddhist truth could be entered through perceptiveness and wide knowledge, senior priest Jinshu would have been a man of the truth. If the
      Buddhist truth were averse to vulgarity or low rank, how could the patriarch on Mt. Sokei (Master Daikan Eno) have got the Buddhist truth? It is obvious that
      the transmission and reception of Buddhism is beyond perceptiveness and wide knowledge. If we look for the facts, we can get the facts; and if we reflect
      on the facts, we can experience Buddhism.

      We do not mind being old and withered, and we do not mind being young and in our prime. Master Joshu was in his sixties when he began pursuing the
      truth, but he became an excellent master in the lineage of Master Bodhidharma. A daughter of the Tei family began her study of Buddhism
      when she was only thirteen and she went on to become an excellent member of a Buddhist temple.

      The dignity of the Buddhist teachings only appears if we behave as Buddhists, and we can only distinguish the dignity of the Buddhist teachings if we
      experience the Buddhist teachings. Veteran scholars of theoretical Buddhist teachings and experts in secular teachings can all find Zazen eventually. There have been many examples of
      this: Master Eshi of Mt. Nangaku was a man of many talents, but he still studied under Master Bodhidharma. Master Yoka Gengaku was an eminent
      figure, but he studied Buddhism under Master Daikan Eno.

      It may be said that the realisation of Buddhist teachings and the attainment of the truth rely upon study under a master. When you visit a Buddhist master
      and study under them, listen to what the master says without trying to match it with your own views. If you compare what the master says with your own
      views, you will not be able to get the master’s teachings.

      When you visit a master and listen to their teachings, make your body and
      mind pure, and make your eyes and ears calm. Just hear the master’s teachings and don’t mix in any other images at all. Making your body and
      mind one, be like a jug ready to be filled with waster. Then you will surely be able to get the master’s teachings.

      The stupid people of today memorise sentences from books or get knowledge of Buddhist ancestors, then try to match this with what the master says. At
      that time they only have their own views or the words of past ancestors. They are not ready for the Master’s words at all.

      Another group are those who, giving primacy to their own views, open Buddhist Scriptures, memorize one or two words, and consider that they have
      got the Buddhist teachings. Subsequently, after they have visited teachers of clear understanding and masters of the fundamental teachings, if the
      teachings they hear are the same as the their own views they affirm the teachings, but if the teachings do not conform to their own old opinions they
      deny the teachings. Without knowing how to discard wrong teachings, how can they ever climb back onto the right track? It may be that, even with the
      passing of limitlessly many aeons, they will still be deluded people. This might be a most pitiful thing. Is it not sad?

      Buddhist students should know that the Buddhist truth is beyond thinking,
      discrimination, supposition, reflection, perception, or understanding. We spend our lives dallying around inside of these things, so if the Buddhist truth
      exists within them, why have we not realised the Buddhist truth yet? Students of the truth should not rely on the faculties of thinking, discriminating and so
      on. At the same time, we are always equipped with thinking and other faculties, and if we apply them with our own body and examine our situation,
      then it is like looking into a clear mirror.

      The gate of entry into this Buddhist situation exists solely under the control of masters who have attained the truth and who have realised the gate
      completely. It is totally beyond the reach of those who just teach words.

      Fifteen days after the Spring Equinox (in the lunar calendar), the second year
      of the Tenpuku Era (1234).

      7. Any person who hungers to practice Buddhism and to transcend secular society should, without fail, practice Zazen.

      Buddhism is superior to other teachings. Therefore people want to get it. In the time when Gautama Buddha lived, there were not two teachings at all.
      The Great Master Gautama Buddha guided living beings with only the supreme Truth.

      Since Master Maha-Kasyapa transmitted the essence and treasury of Gautama Buddha’s teachings, twenty-eight generations in India, six
      generations in China, and patriarchs of the five sects, have transmitted the teachings from authentic successor to authentic successor, without any
      breaks in the transmission at all.

      Therefore, since (Master Bodhidharma came to China in) the middle of the
      Futsu Era of the Ryan dynasty (527), among all excellent people, from Buddhist priests to kings and officials, there were none who failed to devote
      themselves to Buddhism. Truly speaking, if you love excellence, love what is really excellent. Don’t be like Shoko, who loved dragons but fainted when he
      saw a real one.

      In China and the east the net of abstract teachings has spread over the ocean and mountains. But even though the net covers their mountains, Buddhist
      priests have no oneness of clouds and mind. And even though the net is spread over the ocean, the oneness of mind and waves has dried up.

      Stupid people like the systematic teachings of letters. They are as stupid as the man who has caught a fish’s eyeball and claims to be holding a pearl.
      Deluded people play around with words. They are as deluded as the man who treasures a pebble in a swallow’s nest as a precious jewel. Most of these
      people fall into demon pits, and they usually damage their bodies as well. It is very regrettable that in this country far from civilisation, people easily slip
      into reverence of wrong customs, and the right teachings of Gautama Buddha have never been able to spread. In China, on the other hand, the whole
      country has already devoted itself to the right teachings of Gautama Buddha. In our country, Korea, and so forth, the true teachings still have not spread.
      Why not? Why haven’t the true teachings spread? Koreans at least have been
      able to hear about the true teachings, but we in Japan have not even been able to hear their name. The reason is that the many teachers who went from
      Japan to China in the past all remained inside the net of abstract teachings. Although they passed on Buddhist Scriptures, it was as if they had completely forgotten about Buddhism itself.
      What was the use of doing that? Their efforts came to nothing, because they were ignorant of the real traditions of pursuing the truth.
      It is very pitiful that in spite of their efforts, they spent their whole lives just wasting their human bodies.

      Generally in studying Buddhism, when we first enter the gate of Buddhism we listen to the teachings of reverend Buddhist priests and we try to practice
      according to their teachings. At that time, there is something that we should know. It is this: the Universe turns us and we turn the Universe. When we can
      turn the Universe, we are strong and the Universe is weak. When the Universe turns us back, the Universe is strong and we are weak.

      The Buddhist teachings have always had these two factors, but no-one other than true successor has ever known it. Hardly anyone other than humble
      patch-robed priests, has even heard of this teaching. Before this old principle is recognised, it is not possible to pursue the truth intuitively, and even less is
      it possible to distinguish between right and wrong.

      Nowadays, however, this old principle has been transmitted naturally to those of us who practice Zazen and pursue the truth. And so we do not make
      mistakes. Other sects are not like this.

      Someone who yearns for and searches for Gautama Buddha’s way can never find the true way unless they practice Zazen.

      8. About the conduct of Buddhist priests and nuns who practice Zazen.

      Since the time of Gautama Buddha, the direct transmission in one line has passed throughout twenty-eight generations in India and six generations in
      China, without so much as a thread of hair being added, and without so much as a grain of dust being destroyed. The ritual robe arrived at Master Daikan
      Eno on Mt. Sokei and the Buddhist teachings spread throughout the Universe. From that time, the essence and treasury of Gautama Buddha’s true
      teachings flourished in great Tang dynasty China. The real situation of these teachings cannot be grasped however we grope, and cannot be attained
      wherever we search. The real situation is that at the place of perception we forget what we recognise, and in the moment of attainment we transcend
      mind.

      Master Daikan Eno transcended his humble figure on Mt. Obai and Master Taiso Eka cut off his arm on Shoshitsu Peak. When they got their master’s
      marrow, they changed their mental situation and enjoyed the excellent style of Buddhist behaviour. After they prostrated themselves they stepped back and
      settled into line unobtrusively. At the same time, they remained at no fixed place and had nothing to attach to, either in mind or in body. They didn’t stop
      and didn’t stay.

      A Buddhist priest asked Master Joshu, “is there Buddha-nature even in a dog, or not?” Master Joshu said, “Nothing”. Should we pause to consider the word
      “Nothing”? Should we linger upon the word “Nothing”? If we look for something concrete to rely upon, there is nothing at all.

      Try this: Let go of your hands. Just release your grasp for a while. How are body and mind? How is real conduct? How are life and death? How is
      Buddhism? How are secular rules? How are mountains, rivers, and the earth; or people and domestic animals, how are these in the end? As we research
      these things again and again, two forms – movement and non-movement – naturally do not appear at all. When this non-appearance occurs, the state is
      not rigid, but few can experience it, and many are deluded by it.

      Someone who is pursuing the truth is already half way to the truth. Don’t give up until you get there. This I pray. This I pray.

      9. Direct yourself at the truth and practice it.

      Someone who is bravely pursuing the truth should first make sure that their aim is true. The true aim is, for example, what Gautama Buddha got when,
      sitting under the Bodhi tree, he saw Venus shining brightly; in that instant he suddenly realised the supreme way to the truth. The truth that he attained is
      beyond the reach of Sravakas, Pratyeka-buddhas and so forth. Gautama Buddha was able to realise the truth by himself. Since then Buddha has
      transmitted the truth to Buddha and the transmission has not been broken, even until today. If someone has attained that same truth, how could they
      themselves not be Buddha? To “direct yourself at the truth” is to recognise the limitations of Buddhist teachings and to make the state of Buddhism clear.

      The Buddhist Truth exists under the foot of every human being. When a person is caught by the Truth, they can clearly realise the moment of the
      present. When a person is caught by enlightenment they can perfectly realise themselves as just a person. So even if they understand the truth perfectly,
      they may still be able to drop down into one concrete enlightenment. Going directly to the truth is something as free and elegant as this.

      Nowadays, people who pursue the truth have not yet recognised what can be understood and what cannot be understood, and so they like to chase after
      concrete effects. Is there anyone who does not make this mistake? They are like the son who has rejected his father and is fleeing his homeland, throwing
      away jewels with every weary step. Even though he is the only son of a wealthy man, he has long been a tramp in a strange land. Truly, it is only
      natural that people should act like this.

      In general, students of the truth want to be caught by the truth. To be caught by the truth is to lose all trace of enlightenment. Practitioners of the Buddhist
      truth should first of all believe in Buddhism. Belief in Buddhism should be the belief that we ourselves originally exist inside the truth, without delusion,
      without wrong images, without disturbances, without anything extra or anything missing, and without mistakes. These are the kind of beliefs we
      should establish, and this is how we should make the truth clear. Then according to these beliefs, we practice. This is our basis for pursuing the truth.

      What these criteria really mean is that we should sit away the roots of intention, and we should keep ourselves off the path that leads to intellectual
      understanding. This is the method by which practitioners should be guided at first. After that, the second step is to transcend body and mind and get rid of
      delusion and enlightenment.

      In general, the most difficult person to find is the person who believes that they already exists in Buddhism itself. If a person genuinely believes that they
      are already in the Truth, they naturally understand the great Truth, and they may even know the origins of delusion and enlightenment.

      Of those who try to sit away the roots of intention, eight or nine out of ten will catch sight of the truth at once.

      10. Taking a direct hit here and now.

      If you want to regulate your body and mind, two ways exist naturally. One is to visit a master and listen to their teaching. The other is to make efforts in
      practicing Zazen.

      When we listen to the teachings, our consciousness is free to roam anywhere. When we practice Zazen, our practice and experience are securely grounded.
      Therefore, if we try to enter the Buddhist Truth by discarding one way or the other, we will never be able to receive a direct hit.

      In general, we all have our own body and mind. Inevitably, we are sometimes strong in practice and sometimes weak. We are sometimes brave and
      sometimes cowardly. But by using these states of body and mind, which are sometimes moving and sometimes stable, we can experience ourselves as
      Buddha directly. That is just a direct hit.

      In other words, if we just follow Gautama Buddha’s experience, without changing this body and mind which we have had from the past, we can say
      that we are in the here and now, and we can call it a direct hit. It is just following Gautama Buddha, so it is not our own old viewpoint. It is just being
      struck by a direct hit, so it is not getting some new state.
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      TEXTS FOR ROHATSU DHARMA TALKS:

      Day 2 (Taigu) - Buddhas Alone, Together with Buddhas (SHOBOGENZO - YUI-BUTSU-YO-BUTSU)
      Translation by Gudo Wafu Nishijima & Chodo Cross


      Translator’s Note: Yui means “only” or “solely,” butsu means “buddha”
      or “buddhas,” and yo means “and” or “together with.” So yui-butsu-yobutsu
      means “buddhas alone, together with buddhas.” Yui-butsu-yo-butsu
      is a phrase from a well-known quotation from the Lotus Sutra. The full quotation
      is: “Buddhas alone, together with buddhas are directly able to perfectly
      realize that all dharmas are real form.” In this chapter, Master Dōgen
      explains what buddhas are.

      [71] The Buddha-Dharma cannot be known by people. For this reason, since
      ancient times, no common person has realized the Buddha-Dharma and no
      one in the two vehicles1 has mastered the Buddha-Dharma. Because it is realized
      only by buddhas, we say that “buddhas alone, together with buddhas,
      are directly able perfectly to realize it.”2When we perfectly realize it, while
      still as we are, we would never have thought previously that realization would
      be like this. Even though we had imagined it, it is not a realization that is
      compatible with that imagining. Realization itself is nothing like we imagined.
      That being so, to imagine it beforehand is not useful. When we have
      attained realization,3 we do not know what the reasons were for our being
      [now] in the state of realization.4 Let us reflect on this. To have thought, prior
      to realization, that it will be like this or like that, was not useful for realization.
      That it was different from how we had supposed it to be, in all our miscellaneous
      prior thoughts, does not mean that our thinking, being very bad,
      had no power in it. Even the thinking of that time was realization itself, but
      because we were then directing it the wrong way round, we thought and said
      that it was powerless. Whenever we feel that [we are] useless, there is something
      that we should know; namely, that we have been afraid of becoming
      small.5 If realization appears through the force of thoughts prior to realization,
      it might be an unreliable realization. Because it does not rely upon [realization],
      and it has come far transcending the time prior to realization, realization
      is assisted solely by the force of realization itself. Delusion, remember,
      is something that does not exist. Realization, remember, is something that
      does not exist.

      [74] When the supreme state of bodhi is a person, we call it “buddha.”
      When buddha is in the supreme state of bodhi, we call it “the supreme state
      of bodhi.” If we failed to recognize the feature of the moment of being in
      this truth, that might be stupid. That feature, namely, is untaintedness. Untaintedness
      does not mean forcibly endeavoring to be aimless and free of attachment
      and detachment; nor does it mean maintaining something other than
      one’s aim. Actually, without being aimed at, or attached to, or detached from,
      untaintedness exists. [But,] for example, when we meet people, we fix in
      mind what their features are like, and [when we see] a flower or the moon,
      we think upon them an extra layer of light and color. Again, we should recognize
      that just as it is inescapable for spring to be simply the spirit of spring
      itself, and for autumn likewise to be the beauty and ugliness of autumn itself,
      even if we try to be other than ourselves, we are ourselves. We should reflect
      also that even if we want to make these sounds of spring and autumn into
      ourself, they are beyond us. Neither have they piled up upon us, nor are they
      thoughts just now existing in us. This means that we cannot see the four elements
      and the five aggregates of the present as ourself and we cannot trace
      them as someone else. Thus, the colors of the mind excited by a flower or
      the moon should not be seen as self at all, but we think of them as ourself.
      If we consider what is not ourself to be ourself, even that can be left as it is,
      but when we illuminate [the state in which] there is no possibility of either
      repellent colors or attractive ones being tainted, then action that naturally
      exists in the truth is the unconcealed original features.

      [76] A man of old6 said that the whole earth is our own Dharma body—
      but it must not be hindered by a “Dharma body.” If it were hindered by a
      “Dharma body,” to move the body even slightly would be impossible. There
      should be a way of getting the body out. What is this way by which people
      get the body out? For those who fail to express this way of getting the body
      out, the life of the Dharma body ceases at once, and they are long sunk in
      the sea of suffering. If asked a question like this, what should we express,
      to let the Dharma body live and so as not to sink into the sea of suffering?
      At such a time we should express, “The whole earth is our own Dharma
      body.” If this truth is present, the moment expressed as “The whole earth is
      our own Dharma body” is beyond expression. Moreover, when it is beyond
      expression we should promptly notice the possibility of not expressing it.
      There is an expression of an eternal buddha who did not express it: [namely,]
      in death there are instances of living;7 in living there are instances of being
      dead;8 there are the dead who will always be dead;9 and there are the living
      who are constantly alive. People do not forcibly cause it to be so: the Dharma
      is like this. Therefore, when [buddhas] turn the wheel of Dharma they have
      light and they have sound like this, and we should recognize that in their
      “manifesting the body to save the living”10 also, they are like this. This state
      is called “the wisdom of non-birth.”11 Their “manifesting the body to save
      the living” is their “saving the living to manifest the body.” When we behold
      their “saving,” we do not see a trace of “manifestation,” and when we watch
      them “manifesting,” they may be free of concern about “salvation.” We
      should understand, should preach, and should experience that in this “saving”
      the Buddha-Dharma is perfectly realized. We hear and we preach that
      both “manifesting” and “the body” are as one with “saving.” Here also, [the
      unity of] “manifesting the body to save the living” makes it so. When
      [buddhas] have substantiated this principle, from the morning of their attaining
      the truth to the evening of their nirvana, even if they have never preached
      a word, words of preaching have been let loose all around.

      [79] An eternal buddha said:12
      The whole earth is the real human body,
      The whole earth is the gate of liberation,
      The whole earth is the one Eye of Vairocana,13
      The whole earth is our own Dharma body.14
      The point here is that “the real” is the real body. We should recognize
      that “the whole earth” is not our imagination; it is the body that is real. If
      someone asks, “Why have I not noticed this so far?” we should say, “Give
      me back my words that ‘the whole earth is the real human body.’”15 Or we
      might say, “That ‘the whole earth is the real human body,’ we know like
      this!” Next, “the whole earth is the gate of liberation” describes there being
      nothing at all to tangle with or to embrace. The words “the whole earth” are
      familiar to time, to the years, to the mind, and to words: they are immediate,
      without any separation. We should call that which is limitless and boundless
      “the whole earth.” If we seek to enter this “gate of liberation,” or seek
      to pass through it, that will be utterly impossible. Why is it so? We should
      reflect on the asking of the question. Even if we hope to visit a place that
      does not exist, that is not feasible. Next, “the whole earth is the one Eye of
      Vairocana”: though buddha is one Eye, do not think that it must necessarily
      be like a person’s eye. In people there are two eyes,16 but when speaking of
      [our] Eye,17 we just say “the human eye”;18 we do not speak of two or three.
      When those who learn the teaching, also speak of the Buddha’s Eye, the
      Dharma Eye, the Supernatural Eye,19 and so on, we are not studying eyes.
      To have understood them as if they were eyes is called unreliable. Now we
      should just be informed that the Buddha’s Eye is one, and in it the whole
      earth exists. There may be a thousand Eyes20 or ten thousand Eyes, but to
      begin with “the whole earth” is one among them. There is no error in saying
      that it is one among so many; at the same time, it is not mistaken to recognize
      that in the state of buddha there is only one Eye. Eyes may be of many
      kinds. There are instances of three being present, there are instances of a
      thousand Eyes being present, and there are instances of eighty-four thousand
      being present; so the ears should not be surprised to hear that the Eye
      is like this. Next, we must hear that “the whole earth is our own Dharma
      body.” To seek to know ourself is the inevitable will of the living. But those
      with Eyes that see themselves are few: buddhas alone know this state. Others,
      non-Buddhists and the like, vainly consider only what does not exist to
      be their self. What buddhas call themselves is just the whole earth. In sum,
      in all instances, whether we know or do not know ourselves, there is no whole
      earth that is other than ourself. The matters of such times we should defer
      to people of yonder times.21

      [82] In ancient times a monk asked a venerable patriarch,22 “When a
      hundred thousand myriad circumstances converge all at once, what should
      I do?” The venerable patriarch said, “Do not try to manage them.”23 The
      meaning is, “Let what is coming come! In any event, do not stir!” This is
      immediate Buddha-Dharma: it is not about circumstances. These words
      should not be understood as an admonition; they should be understood as
      enlightenment in regard to reality. [Even] if we consider how to manage [circumstances],
      they are beyond being managed.

      [83] An ancient buddha said, “Mountains, rivers, the earth, and human
      beings, are born together. The buddhas of the three times and human beings
      have always practiced together.” Thus, if we look at the mountains, rivers,
      and earth while one human being is being born, we do not see this human
      being now appearing through isolated superimposition upon mountains,
      rivers, and earth that existed before [this human being] was born. Having
      said this, still the ancient words may not be devoid of further meaning. How
      should we understand them? Just because we have not understood them, we
      should not disregard them; we should resolve to understand them without
      fail. They are words that were actually preached, and so we should listen to
      them. Having listened to them, then we may be able to understand them. A
      way in which to understand them [is as follows]: Who is the person that has
      clarified, by investigating this birth24 from the side of this human being being
      born, just what is, from beginning to end, this thing called “birth”? We do
      not know the end or the beginning, but we have been born. Neither, indeed,
      do we know the limits of mountains, rivers, and the earth, but we see them
      here; and at this place, it is as if they are walking.25 Do not complain that
      mountains, rivers, and the earth are not comparable with birth. Illuminate
      mountains, rivers, and the earth as they have been described, as utterly the
      same as our being born.

      [85] Again, “the buddhas of the three times” have already through their
      practice accomplished the truth and perfected realization. How, then, are we
      to understand that this state of buddha is the same as us? To begin with, we
      should understand the action of buddha. The action of buddha takes place
      in unison with the whole earth and takes place together with all living beings.
      If it does not include all, it is never the action of buddha. Therefore, from
      the establishment of the mind until the attainment of realization, both realization
      and practice are inevitably done together with the whole earth and
      together with all living beings. Some doubts may arise in regard to this: when
      we seek to clarify that which seems to be mixed into ideas that are unknowable,
      such [doubting] voices are heard; but we should not wonder whether
      [the state of oneness] is the situation of [other] people. This is a teaching to
      be understood, and so we should recognize that when we establish, and practice,
      the mind of the buddhas of the three times, the principle is inevitably
      present that we do not let our own body and mind leak away. To have doubts
      about this is actually to disparage the buddhas of the three times. If we quietly
      reflect on ourselves, the truth exists in the fact that our own body and
      mind has been practicing in the same manner as the buddhas of the three
      times, and the truth is evident also that we have established the mind. If we
      reflect upon and illuminate the moment before and the moment behind this
      body and mind, the human being under investigation is not I and is not
      [another] person; in which case, as what stagnant object can we see it, and
      thereby consider it to be separated from the three times? All such thoughts
      do not belong to us. When the truth is being practiced by the original mind
      of the buddhas of the three times, how is it possible for anything at all to hinder
      that moment? The truth, in short, should be called “beyond knowing and
      not knowing.”

      [87] An ancient person said:26
      Even the crashing down [of illusions] is nothing different;
      Fluency27 is beyond discussion.
      Mountains, rivers, and the earth,
      Are just the total revelation of the Dharma King’s body.
      People today also should learn in accordance with the saying of [this]
      person of ancient times. [Mountains, rivers, and the earth] already are the
      body of a king of Dharma. Therefore there existed a king of Dharma who
      understood that even the crashing down was nothing different. This idea is
      like the mountains being on the earth, and like the earth bearing the mountains.
      When we understand, the time when we did not understand does not
      return to impede understanding. At the same time, there is no case of understanding
      being able to destroy past non-understanding. Still, both in understanding
      and in non-understanding, there is the mind of spring and the voice
      of autumn. The reason we have not understood even them is that, although
      [spring and autumn] have been preaching at the top of their voices, those
      voices have not entered our ears—our ears have been idly wandering inside
      the voices. Understanding will take place when, with the voice already having
      entered the ears, samādhi becomes evident. We should not think, though,
      that this understanding is small whereas the non-understanding was great.
      We should remember that because we are beyond matters we have conceived
      privately, “the Dharma King” is like this. As to the meaning of “the body of
      the Dharma King,” the Eye is like the body and the mind may be equal to
      the body. It may be that both the mind and the body, without the slightest
      separation, are “totally revealed.” We understand that in the brightness of
      light and in the preaching of Dharma, there exists, as described above, the
      body of the Dharma King.

      [89] There is a saying from ancient times that none other than fish knows
      the mind of fish, and none other than birds can follow the traces of birds.
      Few people have been able to know this principle. Those who have interpreted
      only that human beings do not know the mind of fish and that human
      beings do not know the mind of birds, have misconstrued [the saying]. The
      way to understand it is [as follows]: Fish together with fish always know
      each other’s mind. They are never ignorant [of each other] as human beings
      are. When they are going to swim upstream through the Dragon’s Gate,28
      this is known to all, and together they make their mind one. The mind to get
      through the nine [rapids] of Zhekiang,29 also, is communicated in common.
      [But] none other than fish know this [mind]. Again, when birds are flying
      through the sky, walking creatures never imagine even in a dream the knowing
      of these tracks or the seeing and the following of these traces; [walking
      creatures] do not know that such [traces] exist, and so there is no example
      of [walking creatures] imagining [such traces]. Birds, however, can see in
      many ways that hundreds or thousands of small birds have flocked together
      and flown away, or that these are the traces of big birds that have gone south
      or flown north in so many lines. [To birds, those traces] are more evident
      than wheel tracks in a lane, or a horse’s hoofprints visible in the grass. Birds
      see the traces of birds. This principle also applies to buddhas. They suppose
      how many ages buddhas have spent in practice, and they know small buddhas
      and great buddhas, even among those who have gone uncounted. These are
      things that, when we are not buddha we never know at all. There might be
      someone who asks, “Why can I not know it?” Because it is with the Eye of
      Buddha that those traces can be seen; and those who are not buddha are not
      equipped with the Eye of Buddha. Buddhas are counted among those that
      count things; without knowing, [however,] they are totally able to trace the
      tracks of the paths of buddhas. If, with [our own] eyes we can see these traces,
      we may be in the presence of buddhas and we may be able to compare their
      footprints. In the comparing, buddhas’ traces are known, the length and depth
      of buddhas’ traces are known, and, through consideration of buddhas’ traces,
      the illumination of our own traces is realized. To realize these traces may be
      called the Buddha-Dharma.

      Shōbōgenzō Yui-butsu-yo-butsu
      This was copied under the southern eaves of
      the guest quarters of Eiheiji on Kichijōzan, in
      Shibi Manor in the Yoshida district of Esshū,30
      at the end of the last month in spring in the
      eleventh year of Kōan.31

      --------------

      footnotes:

      1 The vehicles of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha.
      2 Lotus Sutra, Hōben. See LS 1.68.
      3 Satori nuru is here used, in the present perfect, as an intransitive verb, literally, “to
      have been enlightened, to have understood.” Used as a transitive verb, it means “to
      realize.” In general, the term “enlightenment” has been avoided because of its idealistic
      connotations. The noun satori, similarly, has been translated as “realization”
      in preference to “enlightenment.” See Chapter Twenty-six (Vol. II), Daigo.
      4 Or “When we have been enlightened, we do not know what the reasons were for our
      being enlightened.”
      5 Because we are worried about becoming small we try to become better, instead of
      realizing ourselves in the present.
      6 Master Chōsha Keishin; see the following paragraph.
      7 For example, a person on a battlefield establishes the will to the truth.
      8 For example, a person wastes time regretting something that has already happened.
      9 People laid to rest in cemeteries, etc.
      10 Genshin-doshō. See LS 3.252.
      11 Mushō no chiken. Mushō, “nonappearance” or “non-birth,” expresses reality, which is
      both instantaneousness (in the moment there is no appearance) and eternal (reality has
      no birth or beginning). Mushō is also used as a synonym for nirvana. Chiken, “knowledge”
      or “knowing,” is used many times in the Lotus Sutra to represent prajñā, or the
      Buddha’s wisdom. See, for example, LS 1.68; LS 1.88–90.
      12 Master Chōsha Keishin (d. 868), a successor of Master Nansen Fugan.
      13 Vairocana is the Sun Buddha, a symbol of universal light.
      14 A slightly different version of Master Chōsha’s words is quoted in the Engozenji -
      goroku, chap. 6.
      15 A person who can only understand the words intellectually does not deserve to have
      the words.
      16 Me means ordinary eyes.
      17 Manako is the Japanese pronunciation of gen, which means not only eyes but also
      Eye, view, experience, etc.—as in Shōbōgenzō, right Dharma-eye treasury.
      18 Ningen. Here gen means not only the concrete eye but also the function of seeing.
      19 Tengen refers to tengenzū, the power of supernatural vision, one of the six mystical
      powers. See Chapter Twenty-five (Vol. II), Jinzū.
      20 Sengen alludes to the thousand eyes of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. See Chapter
      Thirty-three (Vol. II), Kannon.
      21 We should rely on traditional expressions of the truth.
      22 Master Chinshū Hōju (dates unknown), a successor of Master Hōju Enshō, who was
      the successor of Master Rinzai Gigen. Another of Master Chinshū’s conversations
      is quoted in Shinji-shōbōgenzō, pt. 1, no. 40.
      23 Ta [o] kan[suru koto] naka[re], or “Do not care about them.” Keitokudentōroku,
      chap. 12.
      24 Shō means both “birth” and “life.”
      25 Master Fuyō Dōkai said, “The blue mountains are constantly walking.” See Chapter
      Fourteen (Vol. I), Sansuigyō.
      26 Master Kōkyō Shōju, quoted in the Sekimonrinkanroku (Sekimon’s Forest Record),
      vol. 1.
      27 Jū-ō, lit., “vertical and horizontal,” describes the fluency of a buddha’s preaching of
      Dharma. The same words appear in the opening paragraph of Chapter One (Vol. I),
      Bendōwa: “When we speak [of Dharma], it fills the mouth: it has no restriction vertically
      or horizontally.”
      28 Dragon’s Gate is the name of a set of rapids on the Yellow River. It is said that a carp
      that gets through the Dragon’s Gate becomes a dragon.
      29 Kyū-setsu. Kyū, “nine,” means many. Setsu means Sekkō, which is both the name of
      a province (Zhekiang) and of a fast-flowing river in which there are many rapids.
      30 Corresponds to modern-day Fukui prefecture.
      31 1288, thirty-five years after Master Dōgen’s death. The date on which Master Dōgen
      completed the chapter is not recorded.

      ====================

      AVAILABLE AS A PDF (CHAPTER 91) HERE:
      http://www.bdkamerica.org/digital/dB...enzo4_2008.pdf
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      IF YOU WILL SIT THE ONLINE RETREAT ...

      ... PLEASE WATCH this old 'SIT-A-LONG' TALK from a couple of Rohatsu ago:



      Gassho, Jundo
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      Dear All.

      This thread for Rohatsu Retreat is now OPEN!

      WELCOME ALL! A JOYOUS ROHATSU!

      Gassho, Taigu and Jundo
    1. Daijo's Avatar
      Daijo -
    1. Shugen's Avatar
      Shugen -
      Enjoy the Retreat!

      Gassho


      Shugen
    1. MyoHo's Avatar
      MyoHo -
      All set and ready for departure!



      E.
    1. Mp's Avatar
      Mp -
      Wonderful! =)

      Gassho
      Shingen
    1. Manning's Avatar
      Manning -
      I will be here also
      Manning
    1. Myosha's Avatar
      Myosha -
      Hello,

      Participating,


      Gassho,
      Edward
    1. Myosha's Avatar
      Myosha -
      An honor and blessing.

      Thank and gratitude to all.

      Here and now.


      Gassho,
      Edward
    1. pinoybuddhist's Avatar
      pinoybuddhist -
      Thank you for this. Will be making breakfast for the family now. Join you guys later.



      Rafael
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      Thank you for sitting. Lovely!

      Nine Bows, Jundo
    1. Myozan Kodo's Avatar
      Myozan Kodo -
      Thank you all for this Sesshin.
      Gassho
      Myozan
    1. Taikyo's Avatar
      Taikyo -
      This has been a wonderful experience Deep Bows to all those who made the Rohatsu weekend possible and special thank you to Jundo and Taigu for the effort they make and the care and love they show to us all.

      Gassho

      Taikyo
    1. Nindo's Avatar
      Nindo -
      Happy Rohatsu to all!
      I will be sitting the retreat next weekend.
      Gassho,
      Nindo
    1. Mp's Avatar
      Mp -
      A BIG thank you to Jundo and Taigu for making this wonderful Rohatsu possible and to all who have sat and will sit, it has been heartfelt joyous experience! =)

      Deep bows
      Shingen
    1. Genshin's Avatar
      Genshin -
      Thank you Jundo and Taigu, and all who sat and will sit. I'll have to sit day two next weekend or the weekend after, but it has been a wonderful experience. Happy Rohatsu!

      Gassho
      Matt
    1. Yugen's Avatar
      Yugen -
      The remarkable commitment of time and heart by Jundo and Taigu became obvious to me this weekend. Thank you to our teachers and to my brothers and sisters for sitting together.

      I will sit the second half of day two units today and tonight.

      Deep bows
      Yugen