Shobogenzo Shoaku-Makusa 9: Buddhas Aren't Doormats!

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Master Dogen continues his talk on doing good/ not committing wrongs with quite an important point...


If we do not learn how buddhas should be, even if we seem to be fruitlessly enduring hardship, we are only ordinary beings accepting suffering; we are not practicing the Buddha’s truth.


Buddhism has sometimes been misinterpreted intellectually as a passive, even a nihilistic, philosophy, or as a private 'spiritual' experience that happens outside of society. But Master Dogen indicates that it's not about just passively accepting suffering or special states of bliss in mountain top caves...


Not committing and good doing are donkey business not having gone away and horse business coming in.


'Donkey and horse business' is an expression from a Zen koan meaning the ongoing reality of everyday things, from a time when donkeys and horses were the main mode of transporting goods and people. Things tend to have an order, and we contribute to that every day in the world in many simple ways, without having to think about it much. People are social animals, we tend towards social good, and we generally behave socially and respectfully in our dealings with each other in everyday life.


Again, Master Dogen here emphasises the positive view of Buddhism that human nature is good, and that we can align ourselves with our good nature through practice and our conduct in our everyday lives.

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