Dogen Zen Belfast

Image of a red kite by Thomas Kraft: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en Master Dogen's view is that if we don't do wrong then right is already happening. This is why he takes the practical position of emphasising 'do not commit wrongs'. Jumping ahead in the text a bit: When it becomes the preaching of the supreme state of bodhi, and when we are changed by hearing it, we hope not to commit wrongs, we continue enacting not to commit wrongs, and wrongs go on not being committed; in this situation the power of practice is instantly realised. Through sitting zazen, sitting 'dropping off body and mind', we can learn intuitively that many of our actions based on our thoughts and feelings are taking us a wrong direction, and that we needn't follow them. This is a key point to Buddhist ethics that distinguishes it from a theoretical or intellectual position: we have to practice and realise it directly in dropping off theories and positions. A litt...