59. Dogen’s Vow: To Hear the True Dharma
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So, what is the point?
No — the point of life, itself?
Hearing the Dharma?
This segment and the next will each take up one of Master Dogen’s briefer teachings, this one known as Dogen’s Vow, the other as Zazenshin, variously translated as an “acupuncture needle” or “lancet” for zazen. These are often chanted together in service, probably owing to their relative brevity. But they also bookend the master’s teaching, so to speak. The vow paints a broad-brush picture of why we pursue this practice, as far as that can be expressed. Notably, it does not mention zazen directly. Whereas the needle poem homes in on the centrality of zazen, as the very transmission of the teaching.
We vow with all beings, from this life on throughout countless lives, to hear the true Dharma; that upon hearing it, no doubt will arise in us, nor will we lack in faith;
that upon meeting it we shall renounce worldly affairs, and maintain the Buddhadharma; and that in doing so, the great earth and all beings together
will attain the buddha way.
That’s quite a vow, and all in one breath. Note that the “true Dharma” implies that there could be “untrue” Dharma, which we are also capable of hearing, one would presume. And we vow to listen for it not just in this lifetime, but, effectively, forever. Which brings up the question, what do you mean “we,” white man? Of course, Master Dogen was not, technically, white. We are all red, under the skin. That “no doubt” whatever will arise in us seems to contradict the old Zen admonition to “Keep your doubt at a keen edge.” That gnawing doubt is the sword of Manjusri, programmed to cut through all delusions, if you but keep it sharp. Zazen is the whetstone.
Not lacking in faith, nor feeling doubt, means our trust in the ancestors’ teaching, and our trust in original Mind, remains unflagging, in the face of the mashup that passes for “worldly affairs” these days. Like one continuous pileup on the expressway, or an unending train wreck, all other inducements and various seductions of modern life are ultimately disappointing, if not dismaying. But actually being able to maintain the essential and ongoing Buddhadharma depends upon our “meeting it.” When and where does this meeting occur? Somehow, if we do so, not only all beings, but the earth itself will benefit. This may be a nod to the ecological stewardship of the environment, not as obvious an issue in those days.
Although our past evil karma has greatly accumulated, indeed being the cause and condition of obstacles in practicing the way, may all Buddhas and Ancestors who have attained the buddha way be compassionate to us and free us from karmic effects, allowing us to practice the way without hindrance.
May they share with us their compassion, which fills the boundless universe with the virtue of their enlightenment and teachings.
We tend to prefer the word “harmful” to “evil,” or perhaps, “counter-productive,” with reference to karma. The contemporary take on evil is laden with unfortunate associations from theism and the culture. Not that there is no evil abroad in the world, just that it consists mainly in the actions of people plagued by ignorance, e.g. of the Buddhadharma, or other compassionate teachings that lobby against their lesser angels. This accumulation of karma, like sludge clogging the kitchen sink drain pipe over time, conjures an image from the Beatles: “Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, carry that weight, a long time.”
Calling on “all Buddhas and Ancestors,” as he is wont to do from time to time, we find a bit cringeworthy. For us sophisticated 21st century humans, it smacks of superstition, or worse, religious belief. Do we actually expect those who have gone before to be able to “free us from karmic effects,” via some spooky action at a distance? I think we can afford to forgive Master Dogen this kind of construction, given that he lived in a time that most people still believed that illness was the consequence of the action of demons. And who are we to disagree?
My Dharma name, Taiun, means “great cloud.” Matsuoka Roshi explained that the aspirational aspect of it means that, like a big cloud floating overhead in the sky, there are no barriers anywhere. However, down here on the ground, I am continually running into one or another kind of barrier, or “hindrance.” Some of which, I am sure, would qualify as karmic in nature, and provenance. Just imagine being able to practice free of all such constrictions. Would that still qualify as legitimate “practice”?
In sharing their compassion, does Dogen mean that they actually take heed of our problems, or, like Job, is this the constant conundrum, or koan, of everyday life? Suffering with us, the literal meaning of compassion, may be taken to imply that the long-suffering saints of Buddhism do suffer fools gladly, we being the fools in question. That the “virtue of their enlightenment and teachings” fills the boundless universe, is tantamount to what is meant by merit, I think. Any merit is already built into this existence. It is up to us to realize it. It seems unfair that we may accumulate karma, but not merit.
Buddhas and Ancestors of old were as we; we in the future shall be Buddhas and Ancestors.
Revering Buddhas and Ancestors, we are one Buddha and one Ancestor.
Awakening Bodhi-mind, we are one Bodhi-mind.
This should be reassuring, that they were like us and we shall — not will — be like them. “Shall” carries the connotation of certainty, with the glaring caveat of “in the future.” Coupling this with the “countless lives” of the first stanza should disabuse us of any expectations of anything significant happening in the present lifetime. Could happen, but not likely. However, if it should come to pass that we gain an insight into this mystery, we will find that we are one with them. Here is another version of the wave and the ocean, only this time the little wave wakes up to the vast ocean, just in time. Needless to say, it is impossible for a wave to drown.
Because they extend their compassion to us freely, and without limit, we are able to attain buddhahood, and let go of the attainment.
So we get no credit for attaining buddhahood. No kudos, no golden ring or free ride on the merry-go-round. It is all up to them and their limitless compassion, remembering that we are, fundamentally, them. Attaining Buddhahood is an interesting construction. It is the attainment of non-attainment. Like the fish swimming in the ocean, and the bird flying in the sky, two of Master Dogen’s favorite analogies, what if one day the fish, or the bird, wakes up to the fact of flying; or the fish realizes that it is swimming, and that there is no end to the air, or the water? That would amount to quite an attainment for a fish, or a bird. But it would not change a thing.
Therefore the Ch’an master Lung-ya said, “Those who in past lives were not enlightened will now be enlightened. In this life save the body — it is the fruit of many lives. Before buddhas were enlightened, they were the same as we; enlightened people of today are exactly as those of old.”
What is the turning point that now enables the enlightenment of those unable to turn the trick in past lives? What changed, and when? Now that what, exactly, has occurred? Lung-ya was a student and dharma successor of Tozan Ryokai, accredited with founding Soto Zen in China. He lived during the 800s and 900s, in which the legacy of Bodhidharma and the first four centuries of Zen in China had been secured. Maybe this is what he meant by “now.” Now that these living buddhas and ancestors had transmitted their compassion to us “freely and without limit,” in the form of their recorded teachings, as well as their transmitted successors. Those living today, who were not enlightened in their past lives, now have a golden opportunity. If they do wake up, they will be “exactly as those of old.”
Quietly explore the farthest reaches of these causes and conditions, as this practice is the exact transmission of a verified Buddha.
Repenting in this way, one never fails to receive profound help from all Buddhas and Ancestors.
By revealing and disclosing our lack of faith and practice before the Buddha, we melt away the root of transgressions, by the power of our repentance.
These “causes and conditions” are not limited to the specific circumstances of existence at Lung-ya’s or Dogen’s time. They are here with us now, and are not separable from the transmission of our own buddha-mind. Repenting our wasteful and self-destructive ways, we too can avail ourselves of this legacy from all Buddhas and Ancestors. Our lack of faith is not in a belief system, but in the process of meditation itself. As Dogen says elsewhere, “In zazen, what precept is not fulfilled?”
This is the true and simple color of true practice of the true mind of faith; of the true body of faith.
The “true and simple color of true practice” is one of my favorite turns-of-a-phrase by Master Dogen. The choice of the term “color” is compelling, whether literally what Dogen said, or a translator’s choice. We speak of our experience being colored by emotion, preconceptions, and misconceptions. Color carries the connotation of emotional overlays, which may or may not be appropriate to the situation at hand. Here, the term denotes accuracy, I think, a true and correct shading of the practice of the “true mind of faith,” one in which repentance is the guiding principle keeping us coloring within the lines. The use of “true body” of faith at the end I think suggests the predominance of the physical over the mental, or the real over the imaginary. The body can make no mistake as to this true practice. It already manifests the truth, in all its homeliness. Only the mind can get it wrong. But, as there is no separation of mind and body, all is well.
Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston
Elliston Roshi is guiding teacher of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and abbot of the Silent Thunder Order. He is also a gallery-represented fine artist expressing his Zen through visual poetry, or “music to the eyes.”
UnMind is a production of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the Silent Thunder Order. You can support these teachings by PayPal to donate@STorder.org. Gassho.
Producer: Kyōsaku Jon Mitchell
