Genjokoan 4: What Buddhas Do (not Woo-Woo).


Driving ourselves to practice and experience the myriad dharmas is delusion. When the myriad dharmas actively practice and experience ourselves, that is the state of realization. Those who greatly realize delusion are buddhas. Those who are greatly deluded about realization are ordinary beings. There are people who further attain realization on the basis of realization. There are people who increase their delusion in the midst of delusion. When buddhas are really buddhas, they do not need to recognize themselves as buddhas. Nevertheless, they are buddhas in the state of experience, and they go on experiencing the state of buddha. 


After contextualising the general nature of Buddhist practice by employing a fourfold scheme of viewpoints, Master Dogen continues Genjokoan with some remarkably direct statements about the actual practice-realisation of the state of buddhahood:


Driving ourselves to practice and experience the myriad dharmas is delusion. When the myriad dharmas actively practice and experience ourselves, that is the state of realization. 


Master Dogen's very direct mode of zazen practice involves 'dropping off body and mind,' including any intentionality. The experiential content of zazen (thoughts, feelings, perceived objects...) are the real stuff of realisation when we have gotten any notion of 'self' and 'other' out of the way. At such time who's practicing who...?


Those who greatly realize delusion are buddhas. Those who are greatly deluded about realization are ordinary beings.


With this remarkably frank and direct statement Master Dogen points out what may be the tendency to view buddhahood as some very hard to obtain, remote spiritual state. Noticing this sort of ideation in ourselves, and just dropping it off in zazen, we can see it for what it really is -- just our own thinking. Buddhas only really happen here, now. Anything outside of that may as well be idle speculation.


There are people who further attain realization on the basis of realization. There are people who increase their delusion in the midst of delusion.


Although Master Dogen has said that buddhahood is a matter or 'realising delusion', an holistic or non-dualistic observation, he also affirms that realisation and delusion are two distinct forms of conduct which arise from whether or not we realise our own deluded thinking for what it really is (i.e. not some exterior reality, but just our own brain-faff).


 

When buddhas are really buddhas, they do not need to recognize themselves as buddhas. Nevertheless, they are buddhas in the state of experience, and they go on experiencing the state of buddha. 


When a person is fully engaged in an activity, such as sitting zazen, but also any other activity where their mind and body act in unison, they don't need to be conscious of what they're doing, like an outside observer. That's the state of being a buddha, whether we mentally note the fact or not.


From certain points of view this may all be quite challenging. Master Dogen is presenting buddhahood as a very accessible and achievable form of conduct -- not the remote, mystical state that gurus and spiritual hucksters might like us to believe it is (and they're waiting to put us right on the matter, for a small or not-so-small fee!) Master Dogen appears to indicate that such assumptions and notions may constitute the biggest barrier to our manifesting buddhahood right here in the quick of our own messy, un-buddhisty lives.


I think it fair to say that he wasn't one for spiritual jive talk and Zen "woo-woo".

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