To Our Dear Sangha

This month’s newsletter introduces some passages from Dogen Zenji (“Zenji” means “Zen master.”) Dogen Zenji was the founder of the Soto school of Zen. His writings have been translated into modern Japanese, English, and other languages.

There are several passages that I have found very confusing, both in English and Japanese. I requested Matsumoto-san to address one passage that is often translated along the lines of: “Think of not-thinking. How does one think of not-thinking? Non-thinking.” His teisho this month is in response to that request.

Announcements

Upcoming Zazenkai Schedule (Japan time):

Online Zazenkai with Matsumoto-san:
June 7 (Sun) 19:00-23:00
June 29 (Mon) 8:00a.m.-12:00 noon
July 5 (Sun) 18:00-22:00 (note 18:00 start time)
July 27 (Mon) 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon

**Weekend times are generally more convenient for Europe, Africa, and Asia. Monday times are Sunday in N/S America.

Online Zazenkai with Madoka (1 hour and free):
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In-Person Zazenkai with Madoka (in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan)
See this site for details: https://zazenkai.weebly.com/
June 19 (Fri) 10:00-16:10 (Inoue Kando Roshi will come to teach!)
July 25 (Sat) 10:00-16:10

Very Useful Time Converter to calculate zazenkai in your local time
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

(Translated by Madoka)

“The Way” & “That Which is Not Conceptual”

Zen Master Dogen began his well-known work, Fukanzazengi, with the sentence, “Dō moto enzu.” What this essentially means is, “There is only the Way.”  And what is “the Way” referring to? “The Way” is also called “Dharma.” To know what “The Way” or “Dharma” means, let’s look at some other words that Dogen Zenji left us.

First, let’s look a little at Dogen Zenji’s history. When he was young, Dogen trained at Mount Hiei, and there he encountered the teaching that all humans are buddhas from birth (all beings possess buddha nature). This led him to question, “if humans are already buddhas from birth, why is practice necessary?”

He wanted to resolve this doubt and visited the highly regarded teachers in Japan to ask about it, but their responses never satisfied him. So he embarked on the perilous journey across the sea to China and traveled the country until he finally met Zen Master Nyojo, who became his teacher. He learned correct zazen from Master Nyojo, continued his zazen practice, and attained enlightenment.

What happened when Master Dogen attained enlightenment? There was whack! The whack was the sound of Master Nyojo hitting a dozing disciple’s shoulder with a slipper. (I say “sound of,” but what I want to convey is the actual whack itself.) After returning to Japan, Dogen pointed out Truth by saying, “eyes are horizontal, nose is vertical.” (Eihei Koroku). The Way, Dharma, is whack! It’s “eyes horizontal, nose vertical.”

Also in Fukanzazengi, there is this passage:

“Know that which is not conceptual.
How can that which is not conceptual be known?
What is actually real itself.
This is zazen.”
 [Translator’s note: This is our own English translation. It is more commonly translated using the terms, “think,” “not-thinking,” and “non-thinking.”]

Let’s confirm what this is about.

Please turn your face forward. Facing forward, there is inevitably the actual way it is as you see it. This is “knowing that which is not conceptual,” or confirming the actual way it is now. And “what is actually real itself” is the actual way it is itself. In this example, it’s the way it is in your field of vision facing forward.

The actual taste of coffee is what is actually real itself. When taking a sip of coffee, there is the taste of coffee, just as it is itself. That is Dharma; that is the Way.

 In Japan, we have kadō (the way of flowers, or Japanese flower arrangement), sadō (the way of tea, or Japanese tea ceremony), kendō (the way of the sword), and judō (“the way of gentleness”). All of these use “dō,” the Chinese character for which is “the Way”: 道

So kadō is not just arranging flowers. The word kadō refers to the way is actually is when arranging flowers, with a nuance suggesting to, if possible, awaken to the way it actually is.

Yamaoka Tesshu (1836-1888) was known as a master of “the blade, Zen, and calligraphy,” and he was active in the Bakumatsu and early Meiji Era. He practiced zazen to master swordsmanship—the way of the blade. In earnest combat, one is instantly defeated the moment one acknowledges the opponent, tries to concentrate, or does any other such unnecessary things. That is why he did zazen to realize the Truth in which there is no self or other.

When drinking coffee, there is the actual taste, just as it is. (What is important is not the idea of the taste, but the actual taste itself.)  Please confirm this for yourself in your own daily life.

Why not “think about not-thinking”?

In preparing this month’s newsletter, we decided to introduce Dogen’s well-known “Think about not-thinking,” in Fukanzazengi. This passage has created a lot of confusion among those who have read it, whether in English or Japanese.  

The passage has been translated most commonly using the words thinking, not-thinking and non-thinking. I initially thought it meant developing an understanding of the difference between what is real and what is conceptual, because a degree of understanding does help to stop doing unnecessary things in zazen. So when I consulted Matsumoto-san about what translation to use for this newsletter, I was a bit surprised when he said not to use “think” at all. He was sure it was not Dogen’s intention to make people contemplate that which cannot be known through contemplation.

So we chose the word “know.” When sipping coffee, no contemplation is needed to know the taste. Hence the word, “know.”

Then, we chose “that which is not conceptual” (rather than “not-thinking”), because Dogen is not saying that one should try to stop thinking or that thoughts should not arise. He is referring to knowing what is real, and the answer to that is what is actually real itself. And that is zazen.

If all this is giving you a headache, all I can say is that I apologize for this month’s newsletter, and please do zazen rather than try to get your head around it.

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Love and Gassho _/\_