Shobogenzo Shoaku-Makusa 10: Child's Play for Grown Ups.

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 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.

This is an interesting case even from an obvious point of view - an idea like 'don't do wrong, do right' is very easy to grasp intellectually, but not so easy to put into practice, even for an old codger like me, because we have all these ingrained habits and urges and presdispositions that sometimes seem so dominant and insurmountable, as if they are unchangeable elements that make up 'us' or the self... zazen practice, 'dropping off body and mind', undermines this fixed idea of self, and can offer a much broader perspective on it, even as we have to continue encountering those domineering tendencies and urges that seem to define our individual character or personalities.

More on Master Dogen's commentary on this koan next time.