nyorai-zenshin
The Whole Body of the Tathagata
Nyorai represents the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word tathagata, which means a person who has arrived at the truth. Sometimes, as in this case, nyorai means Gautama Buddha himself. Zenshin means “the whole body.” In this chapter, Master Dogen teaches that Buddhist sutras are Gautama Buddha’s whole body, using the word “sutras” to express the real form of the Universe. Thus Master Dogen insists that the Universe is Gautama Buddha’s whole body.