Archives: Shobogenzo

即心是佛

soku-shin-ze-butsu

Mind Here and Now Is Buddha

Soku means “here and now.” Shin means “mind.” Ze means “is.” Butsu means “buddha.” The principle of soku-shin-ze-butsu, or “mind here and now is buddha” is very famous in Buddhism, but many people have interpreted the principle to support the beliefs of naturalism. They say if our mind here and now is just buddha, our conduct must always be right, and in that case, we need not make any effort to understand or to realize Buddhism. However, this interpretation is a serious mistake. The principle soku-shin-ze-butsu, “mind here and now is buddha,” must be understood not from the standpoint of the intellect, but from the standpoint of practice. In other words, the principle does not mean belief in something spiritual called “mind” but it affirms the time “now” and the place “here” as reality itself. This time and place must always be absolute and right, and so we can call them the truth or “buddha.” In this chapter, Master Dogen explained this meaning of soku-shin-ze-butsu, or “mind here and now is buddha.”

身心學道

shinjin-gakudo

Learing the Truth with Body and Mind

Shinjin means “body and mind,” and gakudo means “learning the truth,” so shinjin-gakudo means “Learning the Truth with Body and Mind.” Generally speaking, people usually think that they can arrive at the truth through intellectual reasoning. In Buddhism, however, it is taught that the truth can be attained not by the intellect alone, but through action. Therefore learning the truth in Buddhism includes both physical pursuit of the truth and mental pursuit of the truth. This is why Master Dogen called the Buddhist pursuit of the truth “learning the truth with body and mind.” In this chapter he explained learning the truth with body and learning the truth with mind, and at the same time, he explained that the two ways of pursuing the truth are always combined in the oneness of action. So we can say that the division of learning the truth into two ways is only a method of explaining the Buddhist pursuit of the truth through action.

佛性

bussho

The Buddha-nature

Butsu means Buddha and sho means nature, so bussho means Buddha-nature. The Chinese characters read in Japanese as bussho represent the meaning of the Sanskrit word buddhata, or Buddha-nature; this was usually understood as the potential we have to attain the truth, or as something which we have inherently and which grows naturally day by day. But Master Dogen was not satisfied by such interpretations. In his view, the Buddha-nature is neither a potential nor a natural attribute, but a state or condition of body and mind at a present moment. Therefore, he saw the Buddha-nature neither as something that we might realize in the future, nor as something that we have inherently in our body and mind. From this standpoint, Master Dogen affirmed and at the same time denied the proposition “We all have the Buddha-nature.” He also affirmed and at the same time denied the proposition “We all don’t have the Buddha-nature.” At first sight, these views appear contradictory, but through his dialectic explanation of the Buddha-nature in this chapter, Master Dogen succeeded in interpreting the concept of the Buddha-nature from the standpoint of action or reality.

摩訶般若波羅蜜

maka-hannya-haramitsu

Maha-prajna-paramita

Maka is a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit word maha, which means “great.” Hannya is a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit word prajna which can be translated as “real wisdom” or “intuitive reflection.” Haramitsu is a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit word paramita which literally means “to have arrived at the opposite shore,” that is, to have accomplished the truth. So maka-hannya-haramitsu means the accomplishment which is great real wisdom. In this chapter, Master Dogen wrote his interpretation of the Maha-prajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra. Hrdaya means heart. This short sutra, usually called “the Heart Sutra,” represents the heart of the six hundred volumes of the Maha-prajna-paramita-sutra. Even though it is very short, the Heart Sutra contains the most fundamental principle of Buddhism. What is the most fundamental principle? Prajna. What is prajna? Prajna, or real wisdom, is a kind of intuitive ability that occurs in our body and mind, when our body and mind are in the state of balance and harmony. We normally think that wisdom is something based on the intellect, but Buddhists believe that wisdom, on which our decisions are based, is not intellectual but intuitive. The right decision comes from the right state of body and mind, and the right state of body and mind comes when our body and mind are balanced and harmonized. So maha-prajna-paramita is wisdom that we have when our body and mind are balanced and harmonized. And Zazen is the practice by which our body and mind enter the state of balance and harmony. Maha-prajna-paramita, then, is the essence of Zazen.

現成公案

genjo-koan

The Realized Universe

Genjo means “realized,” and koan is an abbreviation of kofu-no-antoku, which was a notice board on which a new law was announced to the public in ancient China. So koan expresses a law, or a universal principle. In Shobogenzo, genjo koan means the realized law of the Universe, that is Dharma, or the real Universe itself. The fundamental basis of Buddhism is belief in this real Universe, and in Genjo Koan Master Dogen preaches to us the realized Dharma, or the real Universe itself. When the seventy-five chapter edition of Shobogenzo was compiled, this chapter was placed first, and from this fact we can recognize its importance.

弁道話

bendowa

A Talk about Pursuing the Truth

Ben means “to make an effort” or “to pursue,” do means “the truth,” and wa means “a talk” or “story.” Master Dogen usually used the word bendo to indicate the practice of Zazen, so Bendowa means a talk about pursuing the truth, or a talk about the practice of Zazen. This volume was not included in the first edition of Shobogenzo. It was found in Kyoto in the Kanbun era (1661-1673), and added to Shobogenzo when the 95-volume edition was edited by Master Hangyo Kozen in the Genroku era (1688-1704).