Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hōkan
Please forgive my ignorance but what is the "dignified behavior of a Buddha"?
Hi Hokan,
Off the cushion, Dogen prescribed an attitude toward daily behavior for his monks where ordinary actions are known as sacred doings, done with balance and grace, free of greed, anger and ignorance. His Tenzo Kyokun on cooking is an excellent example, but he wrote likewise about little rituals and attitudes for waking and going to sleep, washing and going to the toilet, and really all a monk's day. Zazen does not end on the cushion. I summarize this as "the dignified behavior of a Buddha" from his essay Gyöbutsu-ligi (The Dignified Deeds of the Buddhas). Dogen scholar Yuho Yokoi summarizes it like this:
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The gyöbutsu mean the practising Buddhas. They are true men who practise the Way with the whole body and mind. True men are enlightened persons who behave themselves freely in the realm beyond enlightenment and practice. In this sense, the butus (Buddhas) are the gyö (practice) and vice versa. The iigi mean the dignified behaviors. However, behaviors are deeds. Therefore, the gyöbutsu-iigi mean the dignified gyöbutsu. It is because they practise the Way endlessly in their daily life, that they maintain their dignity ... in the eternal 'now' this function penetrates not only the whole universe but also our daily deed, such as a sound of breaking wind or a smell of excrement. But the whole universe includes all things, so the meditation hall, the Buddha hall, the temple kitchen and the main gate are all the glorious light of the gyöbutsu ... .
Examples are this statement from Tenzo Kyokun on cooking ...
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Acts of reverence, in each such instance of serving offerings, are polite and sincere. Beings in the heavens above and in the human world, by employing the most respectful courtesies and by showing their reverence with the most honorific words, are well able to make preparations for the service of meals and other offerings. This has profound meaning. Now, even though we are deep in remote mountains, we should directly receive the authentic transmission of the polite manners and words of a temple kitchen. This, in the heavens above or in the human world, is to learn the Buddha-Dharma.
...
When the midday meal or morning gruel has been properly prepared and placed on the table, the cook dons his kesa [formal Buddhist robe], spreads his sitting cloth, faces the sangha hall [where the monks eat], burns incense and makes nine prostrations. Upon finishing his prostrations, he sends the food [to the monks’ hall].
... or this on going to the toilet, washing the face and brushing the teeth [they used a willow twig back then]:
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In the place of truth of a Buddhist patriarch, this dignified behavior is always done, and people in the place of truth of a Buddhist patriarch are always equipped with this dignified behavior. It is not our own intentional effort; it is the natural expression of dignified behavior itself. It is the usual behavior of the buddhas and the everyday life of the patriarchs. It is [buddha-behavior] not only of buddhas in this world: it is buddha-behavior throughout the ten directions; it is buddha-behavior in the Pure Land and in impure lands. People of scant knowledge do not think that buddhas have dignified behavior in the toilet, and they do not think that the dignified behavior of buddhas in the sahā world is like that of buddhas in the Pure Land. This is not learning of the Buddha’s truth. … The buddhas have toilets, and this we should remember.
...
[ ] use the willow twig [as your toothbrush to scrub the teeth]. … Taking up a willow twig in the right hand, make a vow. The “Pure Conduct” chapter of the Flower Garland Sutra says:
Holding this willow twig in hand, I vow
That all living beings
Shall attain True Dharma,
And experience Original Purity.
...
So, chewing the willow twig and washing the face are the True Dharma of timeless buddhas and all people who are devoted to practicing the Way should practice and experience so.
I'm writing a sequel to my earlier book on this ('The Zen Master Dances On ... '). Of course, we do not live in monasteries, so it is difficult to turn every action of our day into a ritual like this, or to always remember how special it is to just take out the trash or cook dinner. However, we can bring our practice off the cushion by doing that some during our days at various times, a little bit. It reminds us that, in Dogen's vision, when we cook dinner or wash the face, it is really the whole universe cooking the whole universe, Buddha washing Buddha. Like that.
Gassho, J
STLah