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Shobogenzo Maka-hannya-haramitsu 1: A Radical Heart Sutra Remix.

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  Twelve instances of prajna paramita are the twelve entrances [of sense-perception]. There are also eighteen instances of prajna. They are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind; sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, and properties; plus the consciousnesses of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. There are a further four instances of prajna. They are suffering, accumulation, cessation, and the Way. There are a further six in stances of prajna. They are giving, pure [observance of] precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and prajna [itself]. One further instance of prajna-paramita is realized as the present moment. It is the state of anuttara-samyak-sa bodhi. There are three further instances of prajna-paramita. They are past, present, and future. There are six further instances of prajna. They are earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. And there are a further four instances of prajna that are constantly practiced in everyday life: th...
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On Not Having To Be A Zen Class Act.

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Image by Frettie: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en I was very lucky to fall in with a Zen grouping that emphasises lay practice - our teacher Nishijima Roshi and his students were/ are largely lay people living and working in the world and practicing and studying zazen mostly at home and at occasional retreats. There wasn't a big emphasis on all the cultural trappings of Japanese Zen, although it was there for people to go into if they wanted to - the robe and the rakusu were considered important, as tangible expressions of the transmission of the practice-realisation of zazen, but you didn't have to dress like a Japanese monk if it didn't seem right. You can just wear the kesa or rakusu over everyday western clothes. Some people will be more drawn to the rich forms and trappings of monastic or temple Zen of course, and that's fine, but in our lineage at least you don't have to be into that. The practice is essentially about meeting our life direc...
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Buddhism's Dynamic Theory of 'Self'.

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Master Dogen famously said that 'to study the buddha-way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualised by every single thing'. So what constitutes 'self' is very important in his teachings, as it is in other perspectives and philosophies. The Buddhist theory of self is called paṭicca-samuppāda in Pali, which is generally translated as 'dependent origination'. Dependent origination presents a twelve-fold chain of stages whereby things come into being interdependent with everything else. The theory itself is quite detailed, but the Buddha summed it up like this: When there is this, that is.  With the arising of this, that arises.  When this is not, neither is that.  With the cessation of this, that ceases . Basically, dependent origination points to the fact that our sense of self arises (or doesn't!) with every single thing in our experience - what we are perceiving here and now, and what we are thinking...
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Shobogenzo Shoaku-Makusa 13: Children Babbling Dharma.

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Kyo-i asks, “What is the Great Intention of the Buddha-Dharma?” Dorin says, “Not to commit wrongs. To practice the many kinds of right.” Kyo-i says, “If it is so, even a child of three can express it!” Dorin says, “A child of three can speak the truth, but an old man of eighty cannot practice it.” Thus informed, Kyo-i makes at once a prostration of thanks, and then leaves . Master Dogen concludes his discussion of this koan and his talk on 'not doing wrongs, doing right'... A master of the past says, “Just at the time of your birth you had your share of the lion’s roar.” “A share of the lion’s roar” means the virtue of the Tathagata to turn the Dharma-wheel, or the turning of the Dharma-wheel itself. Another master of the past says, “Living-and dying, coming-and-going, are the real human body.” So to clarify the real body and to have the virtue of the lion’s roar may truly be the one great matter, which can never be easy. We are born and die with a body with which to clarify th...
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Shobogenzo Shoaku-Makusa 12: Masters of Our Own Fate.

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Master Dogen continues his discussion of 'doing good, not committing wrongs' by looking at the koan case of Master Dorin... In general, the Buddha-Dharma is [always] the same, whether it is being heard for the first time under a [good] counselor, or whether it is being experienced in the state which is the ultimate effect. This is called 'correct in the beginning, correct at the end', called 'the wonderful cause and the wonderful effect', and called 'the Buddhist cause and the Buddhist effect'. Some Zen teachers considered that the Buddhist teachings were just a direction to the truth, 'a finger pointing at the moon', and of secondary importance to the the 'moon' (practice-realisation) itself. But Master Dogen looks at this holistically here - the cause and the effect cannot be separated out in our real experience, so correct teaching about practice is essential to correct understanding and correct practice itself. The cause and effect ar...
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Shobogenzo Shoaku-Makusa 11: Right is Not a Theory in the Head.

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Master Dogen is concluding his discussion of 'not doing wrong, doing right' by looking at this koan... Kyo-i asks, “What is the Great Intention of the Buddha-Dharma?” Dorin says, “Not to commit wrongs. To practice the many kinds of right.” Kyo-i says, “If it is so, even a child of three can express it!” Dorin says, “A child of three can speak the truth, but an old man of eighty cannot practice it.” Thus informed, Kyo-i makes at once a prostration of thanks, and then leaves. His commentary begins: Kyo-i, though descended from Haku Shogun, is truly a wizard of the verse who is rare through the ages. People call him one of the twenty-four [great] men of letters. He bears the name of Manjushri or bears the name of Maitreya. Nowhere do his poetical sentiments go unheard and no-one could fail to pay homage to his authority in the literary world.  Master Dogen praises Kyo-i for his great reputation and his talent in writing, but he's going to open a can of whip-ass on him for his ...
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Shobogenzo Shoaku-Makusa 10: Child's Play for Grown Ups.

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In his talk about 'not committing wrongs' Master Dogen has explored the practical point that when we don't do wrong then the 'many kinds of right' are already happening - the fundamentally positive Buddhist view that we can practice zazen and align ourselves with the good and balanced 'not committing' nature of our existence. He draws the chapter to a close on a further practical note with discussion of this koan case, but as we might expect by now he looks at it from non-obvious viewpoints... Haku Kyo-i of Tang China is a lay disciple of Zen Master Bukko Nyoman, and a second-generation disciple of Zen Master Kozei Daijaku. When he was the governor of Hangzhou district he practiced in the order of Zen Master Choka Dorin. In the story, Kyo-i asks, “What is the Great Intention of the Buddha-Dharma?” Dorin says, “Not to commit wrongs. To practice the many kinds of right.” Kyo-i says, “If it is so, even a child of three can express it!” Dorin says, “A child of t...
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