Hello, my last post was removed for being off topic, despite the numerous posts about Dogen from his detractors somehow being on topic. So here is an obligatory relevant Ch'an quote to kick things off.
Master Jiashan said to an assembly,
Not cognizant of the dawn in the sky, enlightenment doesn't come from a teacher. The fish leaping at the Dragon Gate do not fall into the hands of fishermen. As long as the intellect doesn't rest on subjective relations, and the tongue doesn't associate with mysterious doctrines, you are a truly good connoisseur. This is called talk that can produce both good and bad. If you focus on mysterious doctrines and go on wondering, they'll cheat you completely. Exhausted fish stay in the shallows, weakened birds roost in the reeds. Clouds and water are not you, you are not clouds and water. I have gotten freedom amidst the clouds and water; what about you?
There's talk here about Dogen. People talk about his lineage, about his zazen, and about everything that came after. It's character assassination and propaganda. I don't see anyone talking about any other Zen master like this. We just talk about what they said. So let's talk about what Dogen said.
Going into the ocean to count the grains of sand is a vain waste of energy; polishing a tile to make a mirror is useless effort. Do you not see—the clouds on the highest mountain gather and disperse of themselves; what “far” or “near” is there? The flowing water at the bottom of the canyon follows the curves and the straits, without “this” or “that.” The everyday life of people is like clouds and water, but clouds and water are free while people are not. If they would get to be as free as clouds and water, where would people’s compulsive mundane routines arise?
He recognized the futility of tile polishing. He wanted people to realize their own freedom.
To study the way of enlightenment is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.
When no trace of enlightenment remains, what is left? What continues?
To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening. Those who have great realization of delusion are buddhas; those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings. Further, there are those who continue realizing beyond realization and those who are in delusion throughout delusion. When buddhas are truly buddhas, they do not necessarily notice that they are buddhas. However, they are actualized buddhas who go on actualizing buddha.
What Ch'an masters talked like this? What's refreshing about Dogen is his different presentation of wisdom. He broke from the formulaic Ch'an speech and elucidated things in a different way for a different generation in a different culture. Is there a wrong word spoken here?
Those who study the way seek to be immersed in the way. For those who are immersed in the way, all traces of enlightenment perish. Those who practice the buddha way should first of all trust in the buddha way. Those who trust in the buddha way should trust that they are in essence within the buddha way, where there is no delusion, no false thinking, no confusion, no increase or decrease, and no mistake. Arousing such trust and illuminating the way in this manner, and practicing accordingly, are fundamental in studying the way.
Who can contradict this? I think Dogen gets a bad rap by some here only because of their aversion to the schools that came after him and made zazen into ritualized performance. He is blamed for what became of Zen as it was later formalized and standardized into a religious practice. This was already happening in China before he came along; with state-sanctioned Ch'an and the commercialization of teachings. Books were published and it became mainstream and tailored for mass application. That was inevitable and continues today. I understand the desire to reject that and find a narrative and a scapegoat. Dogen became the scapegoat because of his popularity within those schools and their focus on zazen. He is a convenient way to deligitimize the modern schools these people find so offensive. Yet if you'll notice, those who use him for that purpose never quote his teaching or sayings. They only focus on pedantic minutiae about his lineage and travels to China. This is because they can't refute the things he said, he only serves as a tool for their agenda.
Submitted February 26, 2023 at 01:23AM by patchrobe https://ift.tt/kXCm1h2
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