Master Dogen upheld Zazen ... not only as one Buddhist Practice among many Buddhist practices ... but as ...
Zazen is what was present when the Buddha held up a flower, and his disciple Mahakasyapa offered a subtle, wordless smile in return.
You see, says Dogen, Zazen is rather different from mere practices of "concentration" or "meditation" as those words are usually used, and misunderstood, in Buddhist philosophy ...
Zazen is so wondrous that, says Dogen, even 'celestial beings' are moved by its power (we will talk a bit about who those 'celestial beings' are said to be).
Question Five:
Q. [Someone]
asks, "Among the three kinds of
training [in the precepts, concentration and wisdom]
there is training in [concentration], and among the six Paramitas [the
Perfections of charity, keeping the precepts, patience, diligence, the
practice
of meditation and wisdom] there is [included meditation], both of which
all
bodhisattvas learn from the outset and all bodhisattvas practice,
regardless of
whether they are clever or stupid. The zazen [that you are discussing]
now is
surely one of these [and already included]. Why do you say that the
Tathagata's
[Buddha's] right Dharma is concentrated in this [one practice of
zazen]?"
A. I say: The question arises because this right
Dharma-eye treasury, the supreme and great method, which is the one great matter
of the Tathagata has been called the "Zen Sect." Remember that this
title"Zen Sect" was established in
That this Buddha-Dharma is the legitimate intention of
the one-to-one transmission has never been concealed through the ages. In the
order on Vulture Peak in ancient times, when the Tathagata gave the Dharma to
Venerable Mahakasyapa, transmitting the right Dharma-eye treasury and the fine
mind of nirvana, the supreme and great method, only to him, the ceremony was
witnessed directly by beings among the celestial throng which are present in
the world above, so it must never be doubted. It is a universal rule that those
celestial beings will guard and maintain the Buddha-Dharma eternally; their
efforts have never faded. Just remember that this [transmission of zazen] is
the whole truth [and complete path] of the Buddha's Dharma; nothing can be
compared with it.
From: Bendowa - A Talk about Pursuing the Truth - Nishijima-Cross [with some amendments according to Uchiyama]
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