Understanding Dogen’s Shobogenzo: Connecting Philosophical Thought and Reality

Gudo Wafu Nishijima © Windbell Publications 1992

A Bridge Between the Intellect and Reality

After studying the Shobogenzo for more than 50 years, my confidence is complete: the aim of Buddhism is to realize reality. Gautama Buddha urged us to find reality by practicing Zazen. The traditional interpretation of the sanskrit word dharma is rather vague, referring to some form of teachings. But I think that dharma means not only teachings but points to three areas—principles or teachings, situation or external circumstances, and morals or behavior. These are the components of a philosophy of reality.

Haiku of Kobayashi Issa - Poems on Karma and Death

ISSA and Karma

1804

.花桜一本一本のいさほしや

hana sakura ippon ippon no isaoshi ya

cherry blossoms–
tree after tree
of good karma

Literally, each tree embodies a “meritorious deed” or “exploit” (isaoshi).

T’ang Dynasty Master Kuei-shan Ling-yu - Zen Stories

Introduction

Too often in practice it seems, like Hsiang-yen, we are just after more answers, as if getting the “right” answer to that “big” question will straighten out everything. Yet, staying with a question which has the power to stop the mind can transform a life. Real questioning is like polishing a gem, removing the “extra.” The answer to the question is the polishing, the dropping off of the extra. What about a wordless question whose purpose is simply to reverse the outward flow of the mind? Think about it… and question well.

In Peace,
The Monkess

Doing Philosophy and Doing Zen

By Charles S. Hardwick
Philosophy East and West
Vol. 13, No. 2 (April 1963)
pp. 227-234
Copyright 1971 by University of Hawaii Press
Hawaii, USA

AN INTERESTING CHARACTERISTIC of the method Wittgenstein employs in his later work is the use of queer statements such as: Can a machine have a toothache!”, “What is the color of the number three?” and “How can you hang a thief who doesn’t exist?”

An Elementary Talk on Zen By Zen Master Man-an

A talk on the basics of Zen practise, by Zen master Man-an.

Although the Way of Buddhahood is long and far, ultimately there is not an inch of ground on earth to travel. Although it is cultivated, realized and mastered over a period of three incalculable aeons, the true mind is not remote.

Although there may be five hundred miles of dangers and difficult road, the treasure is nearby. If people who study Zen to learn the Way mistake a single step or stir a single thought, they are ten trillion lands and a billion aeons away.

The Zen Teachings of the Great Ch’an Master Mazu

Translated by Thomas Cleary

- A collection of teachings by the legendary Mazu, by many considered to be the greatest Zen master of all time.

The Normal Mind:

The Way does not require cultivation - just don’t pollute it. What is pollution? As long as you have a fluctuating mind fabricating artificialities and contrivances, all of this is pollution. If you want to understand the Way directly, the normal mind is the Way. What I mean by the normal mind is the mind without artificiality, without subjective judgments, without grasping or rejection.