The Meaning of Sh?bogenz?, “True Dharma-eye Treasury”
Sh? means “right” or “true.” H?, “law,” represents the Sanskrit “Dharma.”
All of us belong to something that, prior to our naming it or thinking about it,
is already there. And it already belongs to us. “Dharma” is one name for what
is already there.
H?gen, “Dharma-eye,” represents the direct experience of what is already
there. Because the Dharma is prior to thinking, it must be directly experienced
by a faculty that is other than thinking. Gen, “eye,” represents this direct experience
that is other than thinking.
Sh?b?gen, “true Dharma-eye,” therefore describes the right experience of
what is already there.
Z?, “storehouse” or “treasury,” suggests something that contains and preserves
the right experience of what is already there. Thus, Nishijima Roshi has interpreted
Sh?b?genz?, “true Dharma-eye treasury,” as an expression of zazen itself.