Selections from Shikataza
Shikantaza: An Introduction to Zazen, edited and translated by Shohaku Okumura 
Kyoto Soto-Zen Center, 1985.

                          Fukan-zazengi
  
        (The Way of Zazen Recommended to Everyone) 

                          by Eihei Dogen Zenji

Originally, 
The Way is complete and universal.
How can we distinguish practice from enlightenment?
The Vehicle of Reality is the Self.
Why should we waste our efforts trying to attain it?
Still more, the Whole Body is free from dust.
Why should we believe in a means to sweep it away?
The Way is never separated from where we are now.
Why should we wander here and there to practice?

Yet, if there is the slightest deviation, you will be as far from the Way as heaven is from earth.
If adverse or favorable conditions arise to even a small degree, you will lose your mind in confusion.
Even if you are proud of your understanding, are enlightened in abundance, and obtain the power of wisdom to glimpse the ground of buddhahood; even if you gain the Way, clarify the mind, resolve to pierce heaven, that is only strolling on the border of the Buddha Way. 
You are still (almost always) lacking the vivid way of emancipation.
Moreover, consider Sakyamuni-Buddha, who was enlightened from birth; to this day you can see traces of his sitting in straight posture for six years.
And Bodhidharma, who transmitted the mind-seal; even now you can hear of the fame of his facing the wall for nine years.
These ancient sages practiced this way.
How can we people of today refrain from practice!

Therefore, cease studying words and following letters.
Learn to withdraw, turning the light inwards, illuminating the Self. 
(Doing so), your body and mind will drop off naturally, and original-Self will manifest.
If you wish to attain suchness, practice suchness immediately.

Now, for zazen, a quiet room is best.
Eat and drink moderately.
Let go of associations, and put all affairs aside.
Do not think of either good or evil.
Do not be concerned with the operation of your intellect, volition, and consciousness.
Stop considering things with your memory, imagination, and contemplation.
Do not seek to become a Buddha.
(To be Buddha) has nothing to do with the forms of sitting or lying down.

Usually, a thick zaniku is put on the floor where you sit, and a zafu is placed on it.
You may sit in either kekkafuza (the full-lotus position) or hanafuza (the half-lotus position).
In kekkafuza, first put your right foot on your left thigh, and then your left foot on your right thigh.
In hanafuza, just place your left foot on your right thigh.
Your clothing should be loose but neat.
Then put your right hand palm up on your left foot, and your left hand palm up on your right palm.
The tips of your thumbs should be lightly touching.
Sit upright, leaning neither to the left nor right, neither forward nor backward.
Your ears should be in line with your shoulders; your nose should be in line with your navel.
Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
Close your lips and jaw.
Always keep your eyes open.
Breathe quietly through your nose.
Having regulated your posture, exhale completely and take a breath.
Sway your body from left to right a few times.
Sit stably in samadhi.
Think of not-thinking.
How do you think of not-thinking?
Beyond-thinking.
This is the essential way of zazen.

[from the notes: When we are sitting, we do not follow our thoughts, nor do we stop them.  We just let them come and go freely.  We cannot call it thinking because the thoughts are not grasped.  If we simply peruse our thoughts, it is just thinking; it is not zazen.  We cannot call zazen not-thinking either, because thoughts are coming and going like clouds floating in the sky.

When we are sitting, our brain does not stop functioning, just as our stomach is always digesting.  Sometimes our minds are busy; sometimes our minds are calm.  Just sitting, without being concerned with the conditions of our mind, is the most important point in zazen.  When we sit in this way, we are one with Reality, which is beyond thinking.  To say it another way, Reality manifests itself through our body and mind.]

The zazen which I am talking about is not learning (step-by-step)
meditation.
It is simply the dharma-gate of peace and joy (nirvana).
It is the practice-enlightenment of the ultimate Way (bodhi).
In doing zazen, the Koan manifests itself; it cannot be ensnared.
When you grasp this, you are like a dragon with water, or a tiger in the mountains.
You must know that the true dharma manifests itself in zazen, and that, first of all, dullness and distraction are struck down.

When you rise from sitting, move your body slowly and stand up calmly.
Do not move abruptly.

You should see that to transcend both ordinary people and sages, and to die sitting or standing, depends on the power of zazen.
Moreover, your discriminating mind cannot understand how buddhas and patriarchs taught their students with a finger, a pole, a needle, or a mallet, or how they transmitted the Way with a hossu (fly-chasing stick), a fist, a staff, or by shouting.

Needless to say, these actions cannot be understood by practicing to attain superhuman powers.
These actions come from the practice which is prior to discriminating mind.
Therefore, do not consider whether you are clever or stupid, and do not think of whether you are superior or inferior.
When you practice wholeheartedly, it is truly the practice of the Way.
Practice-enlightenment cannot be defiled.
Making the effort to obtain the Way, is itself the manifestation of the Way in your daily life.
The Buddhas and patriarchs, both in this world and other worlds, in India and in China, preserved the Buddha-seal in the same way and expressed the Way freely.
They just practiced sitting and were protected by zazen.
Although their characters were diverse, each of them practiced the Way of zazen wholeheartedly.
There is no reason to leave your own seat at home and take a meaningless trip to the dusty places of other countries.
If you make a false step, then you will miss the Way, even though it is before your eyes.

You have already been given a human body which is vital, so do not spend your time wastefully.
Since you are endowed with the essential functioning of the Buddha Way, why presume worthless pleasures that are like sparks from a flint?
Furthermore, your body is like a drop of dew on a blade of grass; your life is like a flash of lightning.
Your body will disappear soon, your body will be lost in an instant.

You, honored practitioner, after learning in a partial way like blind people who touched various parts of the elephant (to figure out  what it was like), please do not be scared by the real dragon.
Devote yourself to the Way which indicated Reality directly.
Respect those who realize their Self and no longer seek anything outside.
Be in accord with the buddha’s bodhi.
Succeed to the patriarchs’ samadhi.
If you practice suchness continuously, you will be suchness.
The treasure-house will open of itself, and you will be able to use it at will.

                 Selections from Shobogenzo Benodowa 

                   (Talk on the practice of the Way)

                           by Eihei Dogen Zenji

All Buddha-tathagatas alike solely have been transmitting the genuine dharma and actualizing anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (incomparable awareness).  For this, there has been an excellent way, which is supreme and absolute (unfabricated).  This way has been transmitted without deviation only from Buddha to Buddha. 
The criterion of this dharma is jijuyu-zanmai [the samadhi of the Self which is not separated from others]. For dwelling and disporting oneself freely in this samadhi, practicing zazen in the right posture is the true gate.  Although this dharma is abundantly inherent in each person, it is not manifested without practice; it is not attained without realization.

For all the patriarchs and buddhas who have been dwelling in and maintaining the buddha-dharma, practicing proper sitting in jijuyu-zanmai has been the true way to actualize enlightenment.
Both in India and China, those who have attained enlightenment have been following this way of practice.  This is because each teacher and each disciple have been intimately transmitting the genuine Way, receiving and maintaining the true spirit of practice.

According to the unmistakenly handed down tradition, this buddha-dharma, which has been singularly and directly transmitted, is supreme beyond comprehension.  From the time you begin to practice under a teacher, (the special practices of ) incense burning, bowing, nenbutsu, as well as the practices of repentance or of reading sutras are unnecessary.  Simply practice zazen, dropping off body and mind.

When one shows the buddha-seal with one’s whole body and mind, and sits properly in this samadhi even for a short time, everything in the whole world becomes the buddha-seal, and all space in the whole universe becomes enlightenment.  Therefore, all buddha-tathagatas increase the dharma-joy of their own original ground, and revivify the adornments of the way of awareness.

Also all living beings in the dharma-worlds of the ten directions and in the six realms - hell dweller, hungry ghost, animal, asura, human being, and heavenly being - simultaneously become pure and clear in body and mind, become aware of the ground of absolute liberation, and manifest their own original face.  At this time, all things realize their absolute enlightenment and all things together utilize the buddha-body.  They immediately transcend the boundary of enlightenment, and properly sit under the kingly bodhi-tree.  Also, at this same time, they turn the incomparable dharma-wheel, manifesting the profound prajna which is ultimate and unfabricated.

Still more, since there is a way through which anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (ultimate awareness) of all things intimately and imperceptibly helps one another in their turn, this zazen person drops off body and mind without fail, cuts off previous impure and defiled views and thoughts, and being in accord with genuine buddha-dharma, assists the buddha-work in each and every place where buddha-tathagatas practice, which are as infinite as atoms.

In this, they broadly influence the people who have the capacity to go beyond buddhahood, and vigorously exalt the dharma which always goes beyond buddhahood.  At this time, the earth, grass and trees, fences and walls, stones and pebbles; all things in the dharma-worlds in the ten directions carry out the buddha-work.
Consequently, those who receive the benefit of wind and water in those places are all enabled to awaken imperceptibly by buddha’s exceedingly subtle and inconceivable transforming power, and manifest the enlightenment which is at hand.

Since  those who receive and use water and fire, all circulate buddha’s transforming power of original enlightenment, so too, others who live and talk with them, are all mutually endowed with the infinite virtues of buddha.  Together they all extensively disperse this virtue and circulate the inexhaustible, ceaseless, ungraspable, and immeasurable buddha-dharma inside and outside all dharma-worlds.  

Such things, however, do not enter the perceptions of those people because they take place in the quietness of samadhi without any fabrication, and because they are directly enlightened.

If practice and enlightenment are separate, as ordinary people think, each should be perceived apart from the other.  That which is associated with perception cannot be the standard of enlightenment.  This is because deluded human-sentiments cannot reach the standard of enlightenment.

And although both mind (subject) and object appear and disappear within the stillness of samadhi, neither moving the slightest bit of dust nor breaking any form, the great buddha-work and profound skillful teaching is carried out.  This is because it takes place in the realm of self-receiving and self-employing (jijuyu).  The grass, trees, and earth influenced by this transforming function endlessly radiate a great light and express the profound and ungraspable dharma.

The grass and trees, fences and walls, expound and exalt the dharma for all living beings, both ordinary people and sages.
Ordinary people, sages and all living beings, in turn express and exalt the dharma for the grass and trees, fences and walls.  The realm of being aware by oneself and causing others to become aware is endowed with the nature of enlightenment, lacks nothing, and unfailingly allows the standard of enlightenment to be actualized.

Therefore, since this zazen is one with all things and completely permeates all time, even one person sitting in zazen only for a short time, performs in the past, present, and future the everlasting and transforming buddha-work within this inexhaustible dharma universe.

This zazen is one and the same practice and one and the same enlightenment for each and every thing both subject and object.

This is not limited only to sitting practice; it is like the melodious sound made by striking emptiness, continuing endlessly before and after the hammer hits it.  Not only the person doing zazen, but everything else as well, is endowed with original practice based on the original self, and is immeasurable.

You must know that even if with the buddha-wisdom an immeasurable number of buddhas in the ten directions all together try to know the full extent of the virtue of one person’s zazen, they can still never reach its limit.

“There are many gates to enter buddha-dharma.  Why do you solely recommend zazen?”

“Because this is the true gate of the buddha-dharma.”

“Why is this alone the true gate?”

“The great master Sakyamuni truly transmitted the genuine way of attaining the Way.  Also, the buddhas of the past, present, and future, all alike, attained the Way through zazen.  For this reason, zazen has been handed down from one to another as the true gate.
In addition, the patriarchs in India and China all attained the Way through zazen.  Therefore, I now teach the true gate to human and heavenly beings.”

As for the practice of zazen; those who have not yet realized the buddha-dharma must attain enlightenment through practicing the Way of zazen.  What can those who have already clarified the true buddha-dharma expect from doing zazen?

Although it is said that one should not relate dreams to fools, or give oars to woodcutters, I will give you further instruction.

Your view that practice and enlightenment are not one is heretical.  In the teaching of the buddha-dharma, practice and enlightenment are one and equal.  Since this is the practice of enlightenment, the beginner’s practice of the Way itself is the whole of original enlightenment.  Therefore when instruction about the attitude toward practice is given, it is said that you should not expect enlightenment apart from practice.  This is because the practice itself is original enlightenment being directly pointed out.

Since it is the enlightenment of practice, enlightenment is endless; since it is the practice of enlightenment, practice is beginningless.
Therefore both Sakyamuni-Buddha and the venerable Mahakasyapa were received by and used by the practice of enlightenment.  Great master Bodhidharma and Eno the sixth patriarch also were turned around by the practice of enlightenment.  The way of dwelling in and maintaining the buddha-dharma has always been like this.

By nature, practice cannot be separated from enlightenment.  Fortunately, undivided genuine practice has already been transmitted to us.  Our practice of the Way as beginners attains undivided original enlightenment in the ground of absolute Reality.  

You must know that, in order not to defile enlightenment inseparable from practice, buddhas and patriarchs constantly urge us not to let up in our practice.  When we let go of genuine practice, original enlightenment fills our hands; when we become free from original enlightenment, genuine practice is carried on throughout our whole body.

                   Shobogenzo Zanmai-Ozanmai
  
                     (The King of Samadhi)

                          by Eihei Dogen Zenji

That which directly goes beyond the whole world is kekkafuza (sitting in full-lotus).  It is what is most venerable in the house of the buddhas and patriarchs.  That which kicks away the heads of non-buddhists and demons and enables us to be inhabitants of the innermost room of the house of the buddhas and patriarchs is kekkafuza.  Only this practice transcends the pinnacle of the buddhas and patriarchs.  Therefore, the buddhas and patriarchs have been practicing zazen alone, without pursuing anything else.

We must know that the whole world of zazen and the whole world of other things are totally different.  Realizing this, we must clarify and affirm the arousing of bodhi-mind, practice, awareness, and nirvana of the buddhas and patriarchs.  

There is sitting of the mind, which is different from sitting of the body.

Sakyamuni Buddha said to his Assembly:

“If you sit in kekkafuza, samadhi is actualized in your body and mind.
The virtue of zazen if respected by all people.
It is like the sun illuminating the world.
Sleepiness and laziness which obscure the mind are removed.  

If one keeps one’s body upright, one’s mind does not become dull.
The mind is upright, the intention is right, and one is not entangled in thoughts.

One must be aware when one’s mind runs around in distraction, or when one’s body leans or sways, and allow them (body and mind) to return to sitting upright.  

Actualize and enter samadhi, being aware of the various kinds of wandering thoughts and distractions.  Practice in this way and realize and enter the ‘king of samadhis’.”

Now, we must know clearly that kekkafuza itself is the king of samadhis.  Kekkafuza itself is realizing and entering this samadhi.  
All other samadhis are the attendants of this king of samadhis.

Kekkafuza is a straight body, straight mind, straight body and mind, the buddhas and patriarchs themselves, practice-enlightenment itself, the essence of buddha-dharma and Life itself.

Sakyamuni Buddha always upheld and maintained kekkafuza.  He intimately transmitted kekkafuza to his disciples, and taught it to lay people.  

His sitting for twenty-one days, or his occasional sitting in kekkafuza itself turns the wheel of the true-dharma.  This is the essence of the teachings of his whole life.  It lacks nothing.  Kekkafuza is the essence of all of the sutras.  

The first patriarch, Bodhidharma, came to China from India and sat zazen at Shorin temple with crossed legs, facing the wall, for nine years.  Since then, the essence of the buddha-dharma has penetrated throughout China.  The life-blood of Bodhidharma is nothing but kekkafuza.  Before the first patriarch went to China, people in the East did not know kekkafuza.  It was after he came from India that it became known.

Therefore, living in a community of practitioners, sitting in kekkafuza wholeheartedly day and night, without pursuing anything else, for one’s whole life, is the king of samadhis.

                   Selections from Shobogenzo Zuimonki

                      (The Sayings of Dogen Zenji)

                       recorded by Koun Ejo Zenji

The meaning of reciting the Precept-sutra day and night, and of observing the precepts single-mindedly is nothing but doing shikantaza in accord with the practice of the ancient masters.

When we sit zazen, what precepts are not observed?; what merits are not actualized?

For a zen monk, the primary attitude for improving oneself is to practice shikantaza.  Without being concerned about being clever or stupid, you will naturally improve if you practice zazen.

Once, while in China, I was reading a collection of sayings by an ancient master.  At that time, a monk from Shi-chaun, who was a sincere practitioner of the Way, asked me, “What’s the use of reading recorded sayings?”

I replied, “I want to learn the deeds of the ancient masters.”

The monk asked, “What is the use of that?”

I said, “I will teach people after I return home.”

The monk asked, “Ultimately, what’s the use?”

Later, I considered the this and thought, “Learning the deeds of ancient masters by reading recorded sayings or koans or explaining them to deluded people, these are all ultimately of no use for my own practice and for teaching others.  Even if I don’t know a single letter, I will be able to show it to others in inexhaustible ways if I devote myself to just sitting and clarify the Great Matter.  For this reason, the monk said to me, “Ultimately, what’s the use?”  I thought this to be the truth.  Thereupon, I gave up reading the recorded sayings and other texts, concentrating wholeheartedly upon sitting, and was able to clarify the Great Matter.

Sitting itself is the practice of the Buddha.  Sitting itself is not-doing*.  It is nothing but the true form of the Self**.  Apart from this, there is nothing to seek as the buddha-dharma.

[* In Japanese, fui, (also mui), means not-doing, or not-action; being natural without fabricating one’s reality through discriminations and attachments.]

[** Literally, the Japanese expression means the ‘true body of the Self’, that is, the Reality of the Self which is before discrimination.]

When I stayed at the Tendo monastery in China, while the old master Nyojo was the abbot there, we sat zazen until about eleven o’clock at night and got up at about half-past two in the morning to sit zazen.  The abbot sat with the assembly in the monk’s hall, never taking one night off.

During sitting, many monks fell asleep.  The abbot walked around, hit sleeping monks with his fist or his slipper, abused and exhorted them to awaken from their sleep.  If they continued to sleep, he rang a bell, and called the attendants to light the candles.  Suddenly he would give a speech, such as:

“What is the use of sleeping wastefully, for what then do you gather in a monk’s hall?  Why did you become a monk and enter a monastery?

Consider the emperor and officials of the  government; who of them leads an easy life?  The emperor governs with justice.  
The ministers serve with loyalty and, down to the commoners; who leads an easy life without labor?

You have avoided these labors, entered a monastery, and spend your time wastefully; after all, what is the use of this?  Life-and-death is the Great Matter.  Everything is impermanent and changes swiftly.  Both teaching schools and Zen schools emphasize this.  This evening or tomorrow morning we may die or we may become sick.  Yet, we do not know how death may come about or what kind of sickness we may contract.  While you are alive, for the time being, it is most stupid to pass the time meaninglessly, sleeping or lying down, without practicing the buddha-dharma.  Since you are like this, the buddha-dharma is dying.  When people devotedly practiced zazen, the buddha-dharma flourished throughout the country.  As of late, the buddha-dharma is falling into decay because no one will promote zazen.”

With my own eyes I saw him thus encourage the monks in the assembly and make them sit zazen.

In Zen, the Way is attained through both body and mind.

As long as we only think about the buddha-dharma with out minds, the Way will never be grasped, even in a thousand lifetimes or a myriad of eons.  When we let go of our minds and cast aside our views and understanding, the Way will be actualized.

Reiun, for example, clarified the True Mind (the Reality of Life) when he saw peach blossoms, and Kyogen realized the Way when he heard the sound of a piece of tile hitting a bamboo.  They attained the Way through their bodies.  Therefore, when we completely cast aside our thoughts and views and practice shikantaza, we will become intimate with the Way.  For this reason, there is no doubt that the Way is attained through the body.  This is why I encourage you to practice zazen wholeheartedly.

The most vital matter is learning the Way is to practice zazen.  In China, many people attained the Way entirely through the power of zazen.  If one concentrates on practicing zazen continuously, even an ignorant person, who does not understand an single question, can be superior to an intelligent person who has been studying for a long time.  Therefore, practitioners must practice shikantaza wholeheartedly without bothering to concern themselves with other things.  The Way of the buddhas and patriarchs is nothing but zazen.  Do not pursue anything else.

At that time, Ejo asked, “In learning both sitting and reading, when I read the collections of old masters’ sayings or koans, I can understand on thing out of a hundred or a thousand words, yet I have no such experience in zazen.  Should we still prefer to practice zazen?”

Dogen replied, “Even if you may seem to have some understanding while you read koans, such studies will lead you astray from the Way of the buddhas and patriarchs.  To spend your time sitting upright with nothing to be gained and nothing to be realized is the Way of the patriarchs.

Although ancient masters encouraged both reading and shikan zazen, they still promoted sitting wholeheartedly.  Although there are some who have gained enlightenment using stories of the old masters, the attainment of this enlightenment is due to the merit of sitting.  True merit depends on sitting.”

                    Selections from Komyozo-Zanmai 
    
           (Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light), 
  
                            by Koun Ejo Zenji

I have some earnest advice for those who sincerely aspire to practice.  Do not be pulled by a particular state of mind or by an object.  Do not rely upon intellect or wisdom.  Do not carry in your hands what you have learned on the seat in the samgha hall.  Cast your body and mind into the Great Komyozo (the Treasury of Radiant Light) and never look back.

Neither seek to be enlightened nor drive away delusion.  Neither hate the arising of thoughts nor love thoughts and identify with them.  Just sit stably and calmly.  If you do not continue to think, thoughts will not arise by themselves.  Just sit as if you were the boundless empty sky or a ball of fire.  Trust everything to the inhalation and exhalation.  Even if eighty-four thousand idle thoughts arise, each and every one may become the Light of prajna (undiscriminating wisdom) if you do not pay them any attention and simply let them go.

Not only in sitting, but every step you take is the movement of the Light.  Step after step, no discrimination.  Throughout the day be like a dead person, completely without personal views or discrimination.

To inhale or to exhale, to listen or to touch, being without thoughts and discrimination is nothing other than the tranquil illumination of the Light in which body and mind are one.  Therefore, when someone calls, you answer.  This is the Light in which ordinary people and sages, the deluded and the enlightened, are one.

Even in the midst of change, the Light is not hindered by it.  Forests, flowers, grass, and leaves; human beings or animals, big or small, long or short, square or round: all manifest themselves simultaneously, independent of discriminating thoughts or will.  
This is proof that the Light is not obstructed by change.

The Light illuminates of itself; it does not depend on the power of the mind.  From the beginning, the Light does not rest.  

Even when Buddhas appear in this universe, the Light does not appear.  When the buddhas enter nirvana, the Light does not enter nirvana.  When you are born, the Light is not born.  When you die, the Light does not die.  It does not increase in buddhas, it does not decrease in sentient beings.  Neither is it deluded, even if you are; nor enlightened, even if you are.  It has not position, no appearance, no name.  This is the whole-body of phenomena.  You cannot grasp it; you cannot throw it away.  Although it is unattainable, it penetrates the whole body.  From the highest heaven down to the lowest hell, all places are perfectly illumined in this way.  This is the divine, inconceivable, spiritual light.

If you trustfully open yourself to and believe the profound meaning of these words, you will not need to ask someone else what is true or false.  You will be as intimate with the Reality as if you were to come face to face with your grandfather in a town. 

Do not seek from your teacher certification of your enlightenment or a prediction as to when you will attain buddhahood.  Much less should you be attached to clothing, food, or a place to live, or be driven by attachment to sexual desire.

From the beginning, this samadhi is the dojo (the place of practice) which is the ocean of buddhahood.  This is zazen which is the sitting of the Buddha, the practice of the Buddha which has been faithfully transmitted.  

Since you are already a child of the Buddha, sit stably in the manner of the Buddha’s practice.  Never sit in the manner of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting spirits, human beings, heavenly beings, sravakas, or pratyeka-buddhas.  Practice shikantaza in this way.  Do not waste your time.  This is the dojo of straight mind.  This is called komyozo-zanmai, the inconceivable liberation.

                         Selections from Zazen Yojinki
 
       (Things We Should Be Careful About Regarding Zazen)

                          by Keizan Jokin Zenji

Zazen allows a person to clarify the mind-ground and to dwell comfortably in one’s original nature.  This is called revealing the original Self and manifesting the scenery of the original ground.

Both body and mind drop off in zazen.  It is far beyond the form of sitting or lying down.  Therefore, free from considerations of good and evil, it transcends the distinctions of ordinary people and sages, it goes far beyond judgments of deluded or enlightened, it is entirely apart from the boundary between sentient beings and the Buddha.  For this, put aside all affairs, and let go of all associations.  Do nothing at all.  The six senses produce nothing.

Now, zazen is entering directly into the ocean-of-buddha-nature and manifesting the body of the buddha.  The inherent pure and clear mind is actualized in the present moment; the original-light completely illuminates everywhere.  

The water in the ocean neither increases nor decreases, and the waves never cease.  Therefore, buddhas have appeared in this world for the sake of the One-Great-Matter: to show the wisdom and insight of the Buddha to all living beings and to make possible their entry therein.  For this, there is a peaceful and pure way: zazen.  This is nothing but the jijuyu-zanmai of all buddhas.  
[the samadhi of the Self which is not separated from others] 
It is also called zanmai-ozanmai (the King of Samadhis).  

If you dwell in this samadhi for even a short time, the mind-ground will be directly clarified.  You should know that this is the true gate of the Buddha-way.

If you wish to clarify the mind-ground, you should relinquish your various types of limited knowledge and understanding, throw away both worldly affairs and the buddha-dharma, and eliminate all delusive emotions.  When the true mind of the sole Reality is manifest, the clouds of delusion will clear away and the moon of the Mind will shine brightly.

The Buddha said, “Listening and thinking are like being outside of the gate; zazen is returning home and sitting in peace.”  How true this is!  When we are listening and thinking, the various views have not been put to rest and the mind is still clogged up.  Other activities are therefore like being outside of the gate.  Zazen alone brings everything to rest and, flowing freely, reaches everywhere.  Zazen is thus like returning home and sitting in peace.

The delusions of the five-obstructions [greed, anger, indolence, agitation, and doubt] all arise out of basic ignorance.  Being ignorant means not clarifying the Self.  To practice zazen is to clarify the Self.  Even though the five obstructions are eliminated, if basic ignorance is not eliminated, you are not a buddha-patriarch.  If you wish to eliminate basic ignorance, zazen- practice of the Way is the essential key.

An ancient master said, “When delusive thoughts cease, tranquility arises; when tranquility arises, wisdom appears; when wisdom appears, Reality reveals itself.”

If you want to eliminate delusive thoughts, you should cease to discriminate between good and evil.  Give up all affairs with which you are involved; do not occupy your mind with any concerns nor become physically engaged in any activity.  This is the primary point to bear in mind.

When delusive objects disappear, delusive mind dies away.  When delusive mind disappears, the unchanging Reality manifests itself and we are always clearly aware.  It is not extinction; it is not activity.

Therefore, you should avoid engaging in any arts or crafts, medicine or fortune-telling.  Needless to say, you should stay away from music and dancing, arguing and meaningless discussion, fame and personal profit.  While composing poetry can be a way to purify one’s mind, do not be fond of it.  Give up writing and calligraphy.  This is the fine precedent set by practitioners of the Way.  This is essential for harmonizing the mind.

Wear neither luxurious clothing not dirty rags.  Luxurious clothing gives rise to greed and may also arouse fear of theft.  Thus, they are a hindrance for a practitioner of the Way.  Even if someone offers them to you, it is the excellent tradition of the masters to refuse them.  Therefore, if you already own luxurious clothing, do not keep it.  Even if it is stolen, do not chase after or regret its loss.  

Dirty or old clothes should be washed and mended; clean them thoroughly and put them on.  If you do not clean them, they will cause you to become chilled and sick.  This will be a hindrance to your practice.  Although we should not be anxious about bodily life, insufficient clothing, insufficient food, and insufficient sleep are called the three insufficiencies and will cause your practice to suffer.

Do not indulge in fine foods.  It is not only bad for your body and mind, but also shows you are not yet free from greed.  Eat just enough to support your life and do not be fond of its taste.  Moreover, if you sit after eating too much, you will get sick.  Wait for a while before sitting after eating either big or small meals.  Monks must be moderate in eating.

During zazen, your body may feel hot or cold, rough or smooth, stiff or loose, heavy or light, or astonishingly wide-awake.  These sensations are all caused by a disharmony of your mind and breathing.  You should regulate your breathing as follows: open your mouth for a little while, letting long breaths be long and short breaths be short, and harmonize it gradually.

Follow your breath for a while; when awareness comes, your breathing will naturally be harmonized.  After this, breathe naturally through your nose.

Your mind may feel as though it is sinking or floating, dull or sharp, or as though you can see outside the room, the inside of your body, the body of buddhas or bodhisattvas, or sometimes, you may feel as though you have wisdom and can understand the sutras or commentaries thoroughly.  These unusual and strange conditions are all sicknesses that occur when the mind and breath are not in harmony.  

When you have this kind of sickness, place your mind on your feet.  When you feel dull, place your mind on your hairline (three inches above the center of the eyebrows) or between your eyes.  When your mind is distracted, place it on the tip of your nose or on your lower abdomen, one and a half inches below the navel (the tanden).  Usually, place your mind on the left palm during sitting.  When you sit for a long time, even though you do not try to calm your mind, it will, of its own accord, be free of distraction.

Also, although the ancient teachings are the traditional instructions for illuminating the mind, do not read, write, or listen to them too much.  Running to excess scatters the mind.

Do not sit where there are fires, floods, high winds, thieves, or by the ocean, near bars, brothels, or where widows or virgins live, or near places where courtesans play music.

Do not live near kings, ministers, rich and powerful families, or people who have many desires, who seek after fame, or who like to argue meaninglessly.

Although grand Buddhist ceremonies or the construction of large temples are very good things, people who devote themselves to zazen should not be involved.

Do not be delighted by large assemblies; nor covet disciples.

Do not practice and study too many things.

Do not sit where it is too bright or too dark, too cold or too hot; nor should you sit where idle pleasure-seekers and harlots live.
Stay in a monastery where you have a good teacher and fellow practitioners.  Or reside in the deep mountains or glens.  A good place to practice kinhin (walking meditation) is where there is clear water and green mountains.  A good place for purifying the mind is by a stream or under a tree.  Contemplate impermanence; do not forget it.  This will encourage you to seek the Way. 

The zaniku (mat) should be thick for comfortable sitting.  The dojo 
(place for practice) should always be clean.  Always burn incense and offer flowers to the guardians of the dharma, the buddhas and bodhisattvas, who secretly protect your practice.  If you enshrine a statue of a buddha, bodhisattva, or of an arhat, no demons can tempt you.

Remain always compassionate and dedicate the limitless virtue of zazen to all living beings.  Do not be arrogant; do not be proud of yourself and of your understanding of dharma.  Being so is the way of non-buddhist and ignorant people.

Vow to cut off all delusion and realize enlightenment, and just sit without doing anything.  This is the essence of zazen.  

Always wash your eyes and feet, keep your body and mind at ease and tranquil, and maintain a proper demeanor.

Throw away worldly sentiments; and yet do not attach yourself to a sublime feeling of the Way.

Though you should not begrudge the dharma, do not preach it unless you are asked.  Even if someone asks, keep silent three times; if the person still asks you from his or her heart, then teach them.  Out of ten times you desire to speak you should remain silent nine; as if mold were growing around your mouth, or like a fan which is not open in December, or like a wind-bell hanging in the air which is indifferent to the direction of the wind - this is how a person of the Way should be.

Do not use the dharma to profit at the expense of others.  Do not use the Way as a means to make yourself important.  These are the most important points to keep in mind.

                       Selections from Jijuyu-zanmai 

                           (Samadhi of the Self)

                          by Menzan Zuiho Zenji

Although a great many people practice zazen, most practice in the way of ordinary people, Hinayana practitioners, or bodhisattvas within the expedient Mahayana.  Those who understand 
jijuyu-zanmai as the realm of true enlightenment of all buddhas are rare.

That is why some, by wrestling with koans, hurry on their way to gain enlightenment.  Some struggle within themselves, searching for the subject of seeing and hearing.  Some try to rid themselves of their thoughts in order to reach the pleasant place of no-mind, no-thought.  Many methods of practicing zazen were advocated in China’s Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.

Koan practice began in the Song dynasty in China.  There was no such practice during the time of Bodhidharma or Eno (Huineng, the 6th patriarch).  This tradition did not originate with Seigen (Qingyuan) or Nangaku (Nanyoe).  It was established during the Song dynasty.  Although some have said that koan practice was started by Obaku Kiun (Huangbo Xiyun), there is no basis for supporting this to be the case.  It is nonsense to say that Obaku suggested that his students learn the koan of Joshu’s Mu (the story of a dog’s Buddha-nature) since Obaku had already died when Joshu talked about it.  Also, not all koans were created in order to encourage people to practice zazen.

Searching for the subject of seeing and hearing is also useless.  The harder you look for the subject, the more you will become tired of wastefully struggling, since what is seeking and what is being sought cannot be separated.  Understand that your eyes cannot see themselves.  Arousing the mind to eliminate thoughts is rather like pouring oil on a fire to extinguish it.  The  fire will blaze with increasing strength.

There are many other ways to practice zazen, but among these the properly transmitted original way is not to be found.  This is why Dogen Zenji criticized the Zazengi, Zazenshin or Zazenmei in the Keitoku-Dento-roku and the Katai-Futo-roku, etc, saying that none expressed the Way which has been properly transmitted.  The Zazengi in Zennen-Shingi written by Choro Sosaku Zenji (Zhanglu Zongze) is appreciated by many teachers, both in China and Japan.  Nevertheless, Dogen Zenji criticized it, saying it had lost the essential point of the patriarchs’ teaching.  This Zazengi is presently the last part of the Shiburoku.

Why did he criticize his predecessors’ teachings?  The Song dynasty teachers thought that we are all deluded and that if we practiced zazen, we could gain enlightenment.  They also thought that, after gaining enlightenment, there would be no further need to practice zazen.  They compared it to needing a boat to reach the other shore, but, upon arrival, having no further use for the boat. 

Modern man often practices zazen in this manner.  This is the attitude of ordinary people.  Hinayana practitioners, and bodhisattvas within the expedient-Mahayana practice of zazen.
They aspire to rid themselves of delusions and to gain enlightenment; to eliminate illusory thoughts and to obtain the truth.  Such an attitude is just another form of dualism in that one escapes from one thing and chases after another.  If we think this kind of practice is the same as that transmitted by the buddhas and patriarchs, as the Tathagata’s zanmai-o-zanmai, or as Bodhidharma’s sitting facing the  wall for nine years, these also become mere methods to rid oneself of delusions and to obtain enlightenment.  What a pitiful view!

In the last several hundred years, a great many have had this attitude, both in China and Japan.  All mistake a tile for gold, or a fish eye for a jewel, because they do not yet clearly understand the essence of the great dharma.

The true zazen which has been transmitted by the buddhas and patriarchs is the Tathagata’s jijuyu-zanmai; it is the state in which the body and mind (self) of perfect nirvana always peacefully abide.

In the Lotus Sutra, the Tathagata’s zazen is called the samadhi of infinite meanings.  In the Mahaprajna Paramita Sutra, it is called the King of Samadhis.  It is referred to as zanmai-o-zanmai in the Daibon Hannyakyo, and Zen Master Tozan Ryokai called it the samadhi of the precious mirror.

Obviously, we do not practice zazen to get rid of delusion or to gain enlightenment.  When the Buddha transmitted this zazen to the Venerable Mahakashapa, he called it shobogenzo-nehan-myoshin.  Zen Master Sekito Kisen expressed it in Sandokai by saying, ‘The essence of the great master in India has been transmitted intimately from person to person in both East and West.’

Tozan Zenji also said, ‘The dharma of nyoze (suchness, or as-it-is-ness, the Reality of Life) has been transmitted intimately through the buddhas and patriarchs.’  This nehanmyoshin was transmitted for twenty-eight generations, right up to Bodhidharma in India.
This great master came to China and transmitted the same samadhi to the second patriarch Eka (Huiko).  We must learn Bodhidharma’s teaching thoroughly.  What is his teaching? - to live facing the wall without wavering and to see that ordinary people and sages are one and the same.  We must fully penetrate the marvelous saying of the second patriarch, ‘Always be clearly aware.’

The essence of their teaching was transmitted through twenty-three generations, to Nyojo (Rujing) of Mt. Tendo, of the Song dynasty.  Dogen Zenji went to China, practiced under Nyojo Zenji, and received the transmission of this jijuyu-zanmai.  After he returned to Japan, he advocated this samadhi, calling it dropping-off body and mind, body and mind dropped off.  This is another name for anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (ultimate awareness).  This awareness transcends the ranks of ordinary people, Hinayana, and the ten stages of bodhisattvas.  Therefore, it is said, ‘Directly penetrate the  
reality of the Tathagata.  Just be aware of the fundamental reality, and do not worry about trifling things.’

The practice of the six paramitas of bodhisattvas and all of the 84,000 ‘dharma-gates’ of Buddhism are without exception included in this jijuyu-zanmai.  This is why it is said in the Shodoka, ‘As soon as you clarify the Tathagata-Zen, the six paramitas and all other practices are complete within yourself.’

It is said in another sutra, ‘When you sit, be aware of reality.  All evil is like frost or a drop of dew - if you settle in this samadhi, all evil will disappear as promptly as frost or a drop of dew disappears under the sun.’

In Shodoka we find the expression, ‘Being aware of Reality there is neither object nor subject, and we are immediately released from the karma of the hell of incessant suffering.’

When you sit in this samadhi, you will enter directly into the realm of the Tathagata.  Therefore it is endowed with the limitless virtue of the roots of goodness, the limitless obstructions of one’s evil deeds caused by evil karma will disappear without  a trace.  As this samadhi is the truly incomparable, great dharma wheel, and the practice of going beyond buddhahood, it is beyond words and discriminating thoughts.

If you were to encounter such true dharma in the infinite eons of transmigration in the rounds of life and death, even one day of your life would be more precious than millions of years without the true dharma.  Therefore, waste no time; devote yourself diligently to this samadhi, cherishing every second.

Now I will explain in detail the Way to clarify and rely on this samadhi.  This is done simply by not clouding the light of your true Self.  When the light of the Self is clear, do not fall into either dullness or distraction.  The Third Patriarch said in Shinjinmei (Verses on the Believing Mind), ‘When the cloudless light illuminates itself, there is no need to make mental effort.’  
This is the essential principle of the practice and enlightenment of this samadhi.

‘The cloudless light’ means the light of the Self.  ‘Not to make mental effort’ means not to add affective and intellectual thoughts and discriminations.  When you make mental efforts, the brightness becomes the darkness of your own emotion-thoughts.
If you do not make mental effort, the darkness becomes the Self-illumination of the brightness.  This is the meaning of the Third Patriarch’s ‘Light of a jewel illuminates the jewel itself.’

It is like the light of the sun or moon illuminating everything - mountains, rivers, human beings, dogs, et cetera - equally, without differentiation or evaluation.  Also, a mirror reflects everything without bothering to discriminate among the objects.  

In this jijuyu-zanmai, you should just keep the Light (of the Self) unclouded without discriminating among objects.  This is the meaning of Wanshi Zenji’s expression in his Zazenshin; 
(The Acupuncture Needle of Zazen): 

Be-all of the Buddhas and end-all of the patriarchs
Knowing without being attached to things
Illuminating without setting up objects

When, through practice, you learn the reality of zazen thoroughly, the frozen blockage of emotion-thought will naturally melt away.  If you think that you have cut off illusory thoughts, instead of clarifying how emotion-thought melts, the emotion-thought will come up again, as though you had cut the stem of a blade of grass or the trunk of a tree and left the root alive.

For this reason, when you practice the buddha-dharma, you must study the essence of practice-enlightenment of buddhas and patriarchs under the guidance of a true teacher to whom the dharma has been properly transmitted; otherwise, you will be wasting your time, no matter how long or hard you practice.

Fundamental delusion (ignorance of the Reality) is called emotion-thought.  It is the source of the rounds of life and death from the beginningless beginning.  It is our discriminating mind which obstinately clings to body, mind, and all things, as being the way we have perceived and recognized them until now.

Emotion-thought is the root of delusion; that is, a stubborn attachment to a one-sided point of view formed by our own conditioned perception.

Originally, all things are free from emotion-thought and beyond evaluation or differentiation.  You must realize this clearly and without doubt.

Now, because people are blinded with illusory thoughts, they cannot clearly and thoroughly see the Reality of the whole body of all beings.  Consequently, they view things as good or evil, being or non-being, life or death, sentient beings or buddha.  If their eyes were open, however, they could not help but realize that the knowledge or perspective acquired through their personal experience is not the whole of Reality.

Therefore, no one can be free of delusion until emotion-thought has dropped off.  No matter how  diligently one continues to do good deeds, if these deeds are based on a blinded mind, the result will be only a limited happiness in the world of human or heavenly beings, for such good deeds still belong to the defiled causation in the six worlds of samsara.

In the Maha-prajna Paramita Sutra, it is said that even though you may practice the five paramitas (giving, observing the precepts, patience, diligence and dhyana), all of your practices remain within the realm of defiled causation of human or heavenly beings unless you practice prajna-paramita.  Such practices are not that of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (ultimate awareness, enlightenment).

To practice prajna-paramita means that the light of the wisdom of jijuyu-zanmai illuminates and dispels the darkness of the ignorance of emotion-thought.  If the Light of the Self is clear, even a small good deed is the practice of incomparable enlightenment, since the deed was performed prior to discriminating mind.  Therefore, you should not concern yourself with anything but leaving behind emotion-thought, cutting the root of delusion, and emitting the light of jijuyu-zanmai, opening the eye of prajna (wisdom).  This is buddha’s wisdom and it is also the true path of practicing the Buddha-Way.

In the Lotus Sutra, it is said, 

Everything buddhas do is to teach bodhisattvas.
All that they do is for just one purpose, that is, 
to show sentient beings buddha’s wisdom.

Buddha’s wisdom means that buddhas see and know all things free from emotion-thought.  Therefore, buddhas enable sentient beings to leave behind emotion-thought (limited views) and to gain a wisdom equal to that of buddhas.  This is the core of the teachings of all buddhas past, present and future, and is also the essence of the teachings of all patriarchs in each and every generation.

The distinction of the ten worlds (hell dweller, hungry-ghost, animal, asura, human being, heavenly being, sravaka, pratyeka-buddha, bodhisattva and buddha), and judging them as either good or evil, arises from emotion thought.  This is because we are bound by the thought and discrimination of emotion-thought, and fabricate the boundaries between realms, defining one as superior to another, or one as good and another evil.

The Tathagata peacefully abides in the realm of buddha which is beyond thinking and discriminating, radiates the great light of virtue, and illuminates all sentient beings in the ten worlds who are bound by thinking and discriminating.  Therefore, these sentient beings can be released from the limitation of each world and be caused to realize the enlightenment of buddha.  It is like the frozen snow on the high mountains which melts when the spring sun shines upon it.  Therefore, in the Lotus Sutra, it is said that only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom the Reality of the whole dharma.  This means that this dharma cannot be grasped by thinking and discriminating.

Since this samadhi cannot be grasped by thought or discrimination, those commentators on sutras and sastras (commentaries) who try only to interpret the meaning of the words, cannot fathom it, not matter how intelligent they are.  Only when we sit zazen in the present are our eyes opened to the realm which is beyond thought and discrimination.  We simply illuminate our thoughts which, moment by moment, arise and pass away, and refrain from creating attraction or repulsion and hatred or love.  For one who is a Tathagata, what one does in zazen is expressed as radiating the great light, illuminating all the worlds in the ten directions, and releasing all sentient beings from suffering.

Furthermore, our practice-enlightenment of this samadhi is the cause, while the Tathagata’s dwelling in this samadhi is the result.  Within cause, we actualize the result, and within result, the Tathagata completes the cause.  Therefore, cause and result are not two.  They are beyond the argument of whether they are the same or different.  They are outside of logic and reason.  They are called the cause of Buddha and the result of Buddha.  This is also the meaning of the expression ‘head is right, tail is right’.  Therefore, the zazen which we are presently practicing is the Tathagata’s samadhi.  The samadhi of the Tathagata is our zazen.  There is no difference between them at all.  There is not the slightest distinction of superior or inferior.

Expressing this same idea, the Shodoka says:

The dharma-body of the Tathagata enters into my own nature; 
my nature becomes one with the Tathagata.
One level completely contains all levels.  It is 
neither material, mind, nor activity.  In an instant
eighty-thousand dharma-gates are completed; 
in a twinkling the three kalpas pass away.

Just as our zazen is the same as that of the great master Bodhidharma, so it is the same as the sitting of all the patriarchs, and likewise their zazen is no different from the Tathagata’s King of Samadhis.  Wanshi Zenji expressed this in his Zazen-shin (The Acupuncture Needle of Zazen) as ‘(Zazen is) the be-all of the buddhas and the end-all of the patriarchs.  

Dogen Zenji expressed this in the Shobogenzo Zanmai as follows:

That which directly goes beyond the whole world is kekkafuza (sitting in full lotus).  It is what is most venerable in the house of the buddhas and patriarchs.  Only this practice transcends the pinnacle of buddhas and patriarchs.

We must understand that this is the ultimate, unsurpassable samadhi which continually goes beyond everything.  For this reason, all buddhas in all worlds in the ten directions, in the past, present and future, always dwell in zazen.  We must know that there is no other teaching or practice superior to this zazen.  This is the essential meaning of the practice-enlightenment of Zanmai-ozanmai (the King of Samadhis), shobogenzo-nehanmyoshin (the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Wondrous Mind of Nirvana) beyond emotion-thought, which has been properly transmitted by buddhas and patriarchs.

      Selections from The Dharma-words of Homeless Kodo

                   Sawaki Kodo Roshi’s Sayings, 

                recorded by Uchiyama Kosho Roshi

To do zazen is to be intimate with the Self.

Sit immovably beyond the standard of superiority or inferiority of human beings.

Our zazen is seeing the world completely anew after a long winter’s sleep.

The zazen in which you do nothing is best.  When we do something, it is usually a matter of being forced to do it by some demon.

People today always try to create groups and to get by as members of them.  Every one of them are afflicted with nothing but group-stupidity.  Making sub-groups and sects is even more representative of such group-stupidity.  Stopping this kind of group-stupidity and becoming the Self which is yourself alone is zazen.

What is the true Self?  Rather than a blank sheet of paper, I would say it is like the clear blue sky.  The true Self is undivided and one with all.

Religion is living the life of the ever-new Self, never deceived by anything.

To do zazen is to return to mother’s womb - so, zazen is not a task.

True religion is not a philosophy.  It is something to be practiced.

The practice of religion is something real; it is not like a list of the beneficial effects of a medicine.

We do not practice for the sake of gaining satori.  Rather, we practice being pulled around by satori.

Being glared at by zazen, being scolded by zazen, being obstructed by zazen, being pulled around by zazen - weeping our whole life away; this has got to be the happiest way of life.

The more sober we become, the more clearly we see that we are no good.

What is the use of doing zazen?  Zazen is good for nothing.  Unless you hear more than enough of that, and you just do what is good for nothing wholeheartedly, your practice is really good for nothing.

Although each one of us has different karma, it is important to be lead by the Buddha in the same way.  ‘Dropping off body and mind’ is to give up ego-centricity, to believe in the Buddha, and to be led by the Buddha.

To practice the Buddha-Way is not to look aside.  Be one with what you encounter right now.  This is called samadhi or shikan (just doing something wholeheartedly).

In the buddha-dharma, the most important thing is to avoid defilement.  Defilement is when a company president acts proud of his position.  When defilement is cleansed away, that is shikan.

One cannot maintain oneself by oneself.  When the self gives up the self, the self becomes the self which is one with the whole universe.

Sky and earth make offerings.  Air, water, plants, animals, human beings; all make offerings.  Every being makes offerings to each other.  We only live within this relationship of making offerings. 

Offer the attitude of not being greedy to the whole universe.  Nothing can be greater than this offering.

Satori is not going to a lot of trouble to reach some special place.  It is just being natural.

Satori is like a thief entering an empty house.  There is nothing to steal.  There is no need to escape, no one coming running to catch you.  So, there is no inducement.

Unless you re-examine human beings from a point which is beyond humanity, you cannot see what human beings really are.

                                 On Zazen

                    by Uchiyama Kosho Roshi

In short, doing zazen is to stop doing anything, to face the wall, and to sit, just being yourself that is only the Self.  While doing zazen we should refrain from doing anything, yet, being human, we begin to think; we engage in a dialogue with the thoughts in our  mind.  ‘I should have sold it that time; no, I should have bought it’, or ‘I should have waited for a while.’  If you are a stockbroker you will think like this.

If you are a young lover, you may find that your girlfriend inevitably appears all the time.  If you are a mother-in-law who doesn’t get along with your daughter-in-law, you will think only of your son’s wife.  Whatever situation you are involved, thoughts will arise of their own accord while you are doing zazen.  

Once you realize that you are thinking when you are supposed to be doing nothing, and return to zazen, the thoughts which appeared as clearly before as if they were pictures on a TV. screen, disappear as suddenly as if you had switched off the TV.  Only the wall is left in from of you.  For an instant… this is it.  This is zazen.  Yet again thoughts arise by themselves.  Again you return to zazen and they disappear.  We simply repeat this; this is called kakusoku (awareness of Reality).  The most important point is to repeat this kakusoku billions of times.  This is how we should practice zazen.

If we practice in this way we cannot help but realize that our thoughts are really nothing but secretions of the brain.  Just as our salivary glands secrete saliva, or as our stomachs secrete gastric juices, so our thoughts are nothing but secretions of the brain.

Usually, however, people do not understand this.  When we think, ‘I hate him’, we hate the person, forgetting that the thought is merely a secretion.  The hatred occupies our mind, tyrannizing it.  By hating the person, we subordinate ourselves to this tyrant.  When we love someone we are also swept away by our attachment to this person; we become enslaved by this love.  In the end, all of us live as vassals to this lord, thought.  This is the source of all our problems.

For example, our stomachs secrete gastric juices in order to digest food.  More is not better in this case; if too much is secreted, we may develop an ulcer or even stomach cancer.  Our stomachs secrete gastric juices to keep us alive, but an excess is dangerous.  Nowadays, people suffer from an excess of brain secretions; and furthermore, they allow themselves to be tyrannized by these secretions.  This is the cause of all our mistakes.

In Reality, the various thoughts which arise in our minds are nothing but the scenery of the Life of the Self.  This scenery exists upon the ground of our  Life.  As I said earlier, we should not be blind to, or unconscious of, this scenery.  Zazen commands a view of everything as the scenery of the Life of the Self.  In ancient Zen texts, this is referred to as the scenery of original ground.

It is not the case that we become universal Life as a result of our practice.  Each and every one of us receives and lives this universeful-Life.  We are one with the whole universe, yet we do not manifest it as the universe in the real sense.

Since our minds are discriminating, we perceive only the tail of the secretions.  When we do zazen, we let go of the thoughts, and then the thoughts drop off.  That which arises in our minds disappears.  There the universeful-Life manifests itself.

Dogen Zenji called it practice based on enlightenment.  This universeful-Life is enlightenment.  Based upon that, we practice being the whole universe.  This is also called practice and enlightenment are one.

We would all prefer happiness to misery, paradise to hell, survival to immediate death.  We are thus ever bifurcating Reality, dividing it into something good and something bad, something we like and something we don’t.  Similarly, we discriminate between satori and delusion, and strive to attain satori.

But the reality of the universe is far beyond such an attitude of aversion and attachment.  When our attitude is ‘whichever, whatever, whenever’, then we manifest the whole universe.

In the first place, the attitude of trying to gain something is itself unstable.  When you strive to gain satori you are definitely deluded because you desire to escape from a state of delusion.

Dogen Zenji taught that our attitude should be one of practice and diligent work in any situation whatsoever.  If we fall into hell, we go through hell; this is the most important attitude to have.  If we encounter unhappiness, we should work through it sincerely.  Just sit in the Reality of Life seeing hell and paradise, misery and joy, life and death, all with the same eye.  No matter what the situation, we live the life of the Self.  We must sit immovably on that foundation.  This is essential; this is what ‘becoming one with the universe’ means.

If we divide this universe into two, striving to attain satori and to escape delusion, we are not the whole universe.  Happiness and unhappiness, satori and delusion, life and death; see them with the same eye.  In every situation the Self lives the life of the Self - such a self must do itself by itself.  This universal Life is the place to which we return.