tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41604804505423007342024-02-07T18:16:58.630-08:00True and Modern BuddhismYudo J. Seggelke is studying the great work of ZEN-master Dogen, especially Shobogenzo, and Nagarjuna, Middle Way. He is Zen-teacher, author and engaged in environment, psychology and neuro science. He is practicing Buddhism since 50 years and living in Berlin. He received Dharma-Transmission from Nishijima Roshi and wants to continue his work; he is dharma brother of Brad Warner and practicing Zazen. In business he made IT-systems for the protection of the environmentYudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-71937546967092763042020-05-22T13:47:00.004-07:002020-05-22T13:51:46.478-07:00The Magic of Archery in ZEN, video<br />
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<i style="font-family: inherit;">Herrigels Arch Teacher Awa, full excerpt</i></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
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"One day, after a shot, the master </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">bowed deeply and then broke off the
class. ´</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">ES´ (english ´IT´) just fired,</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> he exclaimed when I stared at him
stunned. And when I finally understood what he meant, I could not suppress the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">sudden
joy</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">".[1] This is how Eugen Herrigel formulates his first really
successful shot with the Japanese Zen bow back then in Japan, Kyudo. That was
probably a first enlightenment experience or Kensho, as it is called in
Japanese.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<br />
Master Dogen says in Shobogenzo: "When you experience the highest
awakening directly, one uses (the word) IT". And it could be that this It
would even exceed the imagination of the whole universe. Because IT is the
living wholeness of man, body and mind, IT therefore even exceeds body, psyche
and mind. Whoever is caught in the trap of selfishness will unfortunately not
experience the magical waves of happiness at all.<br />
<br />
And how do you become one with the <i>awakened IT</i>? For example, by letting
the ego come to rest while practicing. The ego then dissolves in action and
disappears. Instead, there is the harmonious interaction of real life, IT, as
it's said in Zen. Buddha calls real life: <i>The arising in mutual interaction</i>.
That is the magic of reality! What else?<br />
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Herrigel experienced and learned this wonderful, magical Es during archery with
a great spiritual master of the bow. In my opinion, he also let the rigidity,
extreme ideology and fanaticism of his own time in the West and Japan evaporate.
Because such extreme ideologies are empty, they are without truth and without
the meaning of a holistic living It, of true Zen. Such cramps of the isolated
but dominant mind are without the life of the IT, like the current<i>
conspiracy theories and fake news about the corona virus</i>. They inevitably
lead to suffering and unnecessary stress.<br />
<br />
Who acts simply, naturally and with increasing precision, be it in archery or
in normal life, can experience the waves of happiness without doubt, like those
from the bow, arrow, movement and the in- and exhalation. He does not need <i>over-the-top
conspiracy theories</i> as <i>infantile media playpens</i> that are not really
a help. They inevitably lead to suffering. But then you hit the real target
like in archery, unexpectedly and miraculously. This is the magic of action,
without a cramped ego. Then waves of happiness occur and leave traces of that
happiness and joy of life.<br />
<br />
<i>The great kyudo master Onuma</i></span></span></div>
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shots have such an effect that it feels as if </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">the day has only just begun</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">
... “This state is extremely delicious". The bow master said with a subtle
smile that one should not be fixated on this condition. Then the delicious
moment would not hesitate to come back. And don't think too much: </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">IT
stretches the bow in the full extension, IT - exactly IT - shoots and relaxes
people, bow and world.</i></span></div>
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Can you understand now why I'm learning Japanese archery?<br />
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This is the magic of happiness in ZEN. This is meditation: <i>nothing but
sitting</i>. This is Kyudo: <i>nothing but shoot!</i> This is how we develop
vitality, satisfaction and happiness in life.<br />
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<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYxJZ58drpE"><b><span style="color: red;">Click to archery</span></b></a></span></span></div>
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<br />Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-48426786910702748452020-05-21T09:53:00.003-07:002020-05-21T09:53:54.613-07:00Awakening and brain research<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">T</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">he awakening in Buddhism is sometimes explained as if you wake up from the
nocturnal "unspiritual" sleep of the night and as only then <i>the
mind can awaken to consciousness</i> and contribute important things. So the
mind was as if passed out or dead when sleeping or would only wake up
afterwards from unreal dreams. The mind could not contribute anything
meaningful in sleep. According to reliable results of <i>brain research, this
is completely wrong</i>!<br />
<br />
For our <i>brain is highly active during sleep and performs great things</i>:
for example, it organizes new information from the day into the existing
knowledge and ability and works to combine non-networked details into a
harmonious whole. To do this, the short-term memory networks with our entire
brain and mind, especially during the sleep phase in a very dynamic way. And we
do not mind <i>voluntary or doctrinal thinking</i> while we sleep! The
unconscious knowledge is often wiser, more sensible and more comprehensive than
the intellectual conscious knowledge. So consciousness can learn from this. In
my opinion, this is a very important contribution to <i>Buddhist emptiness</i>:
<i>to develop well and positively without doctrines, prejudices or other
obstacle</i>s. So sleep is <i>inherently smart</i> and very effective for
awakening. Would you have thought that? But we should wake up from the <i>unnatural</i>
ideologies, prejudices, distortions and illusions that are driven by greed,
hatred, vanity and ego stress.<br />
<br />
The Buddhist wisdom and exercises develop positively and reliably our
conscious, non-conscious and their interaction as a whole. This enables the<i>
true self </i>to liberate itself and we actualize <i>good new</i> areas of life
of joy, peace, balance and new life energies, so probably areas of <i>great
peace. I can confirm this through the experience of my own life.</i><br />
<br />
And we know very well that conscious thinking, planning, remembering, acting,
etc. in the so-called frontal brain is only a very small part of the entire
brain and mind: the ratio of conscious to unconscious is about one in two
hundred thousand. This means that we can only recognize and improve important
relationships, important knowledge and important skills through the interaction
of the conscious and the unconscious. This is the only way we can really
develop healthily. This is the great intuitive spirit of Zen: thinking also
from unconscious thinking. And this clarity can and should be practiced and
trained.<br />
<br />
What does my teacher, the Zen-Master Nishijima say about this? He uses the term
<i>intuition</i> for this important mental and psychological fact. Intuitive
clarity is especially developed in zazen meditation and in stress-free healthy
sleep. So Master Dogen says: <i>"Zazen is thinking out of
non-thinking"</i>. That is our great comprehensive mind. It has a lot more
opportunities and potential than most people think.<br />
<br />
Intellectual thinking and compulsive thoughts prevent clear, intuitive thinking
and understanding of important life relationships - and the mutual interacting causes. Therefore, this
urgent request to our <i>own narrow, doctrinal thinking:</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Please don't bother me on the way to clarity in my life".</i><br />
<br />
But this is not a fundamental rejection of thinking, but a <i>fundamental and
necessary expansion</i> of thinking on the path to awakening and thus happiness
in life.<br />
<br />
We will experience again and again certain problems and the associated
suffering. They can be solved more easily than you think, when you are caught
in the vicious circle of narrowed thinking. You can leave the vicious circle.
Brooding is a waste of time! And Zen is about action. According to Buddha,
intuitive, clear knowledge and skills of practice enable a good life, so that
unnecessary suffering dissolves and comes to rest. Ideologies, prejudices and,
above all, greed and hatred prevent this intuitive, comprehensive ability and
knowledge. These ideologies are unfree and are typical of delusion and thus of
pain and suffering.<br />
<br />
Back to waking up in the morning: At such moments, there are often clear
effective solutions to psychologically knotted and complex problems. You have
probably already experienced this! The same applies to zazen meditation, it
loosens knotted feelings and thoughts. In this way, good solutions for our life
can ripen in <i>the mutual interaction of the conscious and the not-conscious
(pratitya samutpada)</i> and bring new clarity. But please no hectic, no
stress, no sensually exaggerated will, no wanting of evil, no sluggishness and
no compulsive doubt. Together with intellectualism, these are the <i>obstacles</i>
on the way to awakening, as Buddha clearly recognized. [1] Such barriers
prevent a full life and create suffering. They are completely unnecessary.<br />
<br />
Deepening for those interested<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[1] Gäng, Peter: Meditationstexte des Pali-Buddhismus
I, S.39 f <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-18037529896569960232019-06-10T12:56:00.001-07:002020-05-20T08:06:56.628-07:00Buddha-Nature: Mutual Arising and Wholeness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-align: center;">Buddhism is about to the wholeness and the
interaction of our lives and the whole universe, which Dôgen describes as <i>"rail of iron"</i>. This is the
spiritual indivisible wholeness and not duality of subject and object. He used
the same Japanese word for the<i> dropping off of body and mind</i> during the
practice of zazen: the constricted meaning that we “have” or “own” </span><span style="text-align: center;">the Buddha
nature as an object has therefore to be dropped, in order to get to the
encompassing entirety of real life.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKEsw0ff2AKvrmV7TOcqeyGAF5k9Pq4NDi_fZCGt6sfg-yy8aou4IKcubyxvr6eKHF1Hij77qikwDYvo3adGAgHoOfOVHG5ma0eVG2LkF8pSAtLOvjVPMphFmND2781wOSVQFGEtv0Tz5/s1600/P8077795%252C476.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1246" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKEsw0ff2AKvrmV7TOcqeyGAF5k9Pq4NDi_fZCGt6sfg-yy8aou4IKcubyxvr6eKHF1Hij77qikwDYvo3adGAgHoOfOVHG5ma0eVG2LkF8pSAtLOvjVPMphFmND2781wOSVQFGEtv0Tz5/s320/P8077795%252C476.1.jpg" width="249" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-GB">To resolve the rigid meaning of "to
have" and "object", Dôgen called the Buddha nature the "path
of the birds". That sounds strange. What does he mean with that? In
Chinese Buddhism it's central for this example that the birds leave no physical
or even unethical traces when flying in the air. This is a parable that in our
actions and generally in life no bad karma and no harm to other people remains.
Moreover, the sky is a symbol for the space that has no end, that represents a
space-infinity, and it is a parable for the highest state of human beeings. </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddh.%20Buddha%20Blog%20Berlin%20XXXXX/476%20Buddha-Natur%2040/Text%20476.doc#_edn1"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">[i]</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> This
leads to an important correlation with the fourth immersion (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jhana</i>) of meditation and of Samadhi in
early Buddhism. This immersion is described with different terms indicating
infinity, for example, the space-infinity. </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddh.%20Buddha%20Blog%20Berlin%20XXXXX/476%20Buddha-Natur%2040/Text%20476.doc#_edn2"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">[ii]</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen sums with the following sentence,
which is also a revealing reversal: "Therefore, the nature of all Buddhas
possesses all the many living things."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That means, the living beings and we all
are "owned" by the true nature of the Buddhas, so they are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing else</i> than the Buddha nature.
This reversal indicates the</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> direct interaction and not a division into subject
and object. Dogen adds that this statement illuminates the living beings and
the Buddha nature at the same time, so that it denotes the essential of our
lives. Thus an objectifying, simple and insufficient understanding of the
Buddha nature as a thing, object or substance is dissolved.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to Dogen we tend to forget that
we are the truth itself and that at the same time reality is in the actual
moment always present and alive. These include the four elements and the five
components in the world (<i>Skandas</i>), the individual dharmas of truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is crucial that verbal statements on
the Buddha nature are understood through our whole encompassing life and that
all the individual moments of our lives are linked directly and immediately
with such fundamental truths.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddh.%20Buddha%20Blog%20Berlin%20XXXXX/476%20Buddha-Natur%2040/Text%20476.doc#_ednref1"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">[i]</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> see. </span>Chapter 2, ZEN Schatzkammer,
vol. 1, p.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> 36 et seq .: "Die große intuitive
Weisheit, die das Denken überschreitet (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Makahannya
haramitsu</i>)".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddh.%20Buddha%20Blog%20Berlin%20XXXXX/476%20Buddha-Natur%2040/Text%20476.doc#_ednref2"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">[ii]</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> see.
Gäng, Peter: Buddhism, p. 94 et seq.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br />Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-60624135892395473532019-06-10T11:41:00.005-07:002020-05-20T08:07:10.252-07:00Milestones of Buddhism<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1tgMsgH1yILq06JVaTgvtkk9jHPJoizdF3lVI3Md0Gu-LBbUnE_8ndRE5Az7EVSjXOGXGCiUpbOzNQ0LSUmXXnbyz7CAub7bkReGm-1H1rpM9pEiFvBa1GDRpeXFeQnlF0-Jm3kGhIzLW/s1600/4%2529.+Sensei+150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1271" data-original-width="919" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1tgMsgH1yILq06JVaTgvtkk9jHPJoizdF3lVI3Md0Gu-LBbUnE_8ndRE5Az7EVSjXOGXGCiUpbOzNQ0LSUmXXnbyz7CAub7bkReGm-1H1rpM9pEiFvBa1GDRpeXFeQnlF0-Jm3kGhIzLW/s400/4%2529.+Sensei+150.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">When I met my future teacher Nishijima Roshi in
1996 at his center in Tokyo, he worked intensively on its own translation of a
great Buddhist work by the famous Indian master </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Nāgārjuna</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> . It is a didactic poem in verse discussing the </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Middle Way</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (abbreviated MMK - derived
from </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Mūlamadhyamakakārikā</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> , as it
says in Indian language Sanskrit).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1GBtxNpmOANdrBaFjyyR_zvLUkEBSg3BF5tyccxDdP9c_1w3lP5_ELWHzrN87y6Ls9n_24p5RmgKSSX-3Hp3nUKpEDMms6ioROpznoI9927KuUXigO-t4JLOLEMoCr-UdFKKZsQ4W9HW/s1600/2%2529.+Lotos%252C+150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="932" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1GBtxNpmOANdrBaFjyyR_zvLUkEBSg3BF5tyccxDdP9c_1w3lP5_ELWHzrN87y6Ls9n_24p5RmgKSSX-3Hp3nUKpEDMms6ioROpznoI9927KuUXigO-t4JLOLEMoCr-UdFKKZsQ4W9HW/s320/2%2529.+Lotos%252C+150.jpg" width="235" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nishijima Roshi was so fascinated by MMK that
he, being over 60 years old, learned Sanskrit to understand it in the original
language and interpret it from there. He repeatedly emphasized that it he found
significant similarities with the famous fundamental work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shobogenzo</i> of Zen master Dôgen and wanted to find out whether this
approach would bear up against an in-depth analysis. He wondered: Did these
great masters realized the authentic and true Buddhism and brought into words?
They were certainly Buddhist masters and not scientists and therefore have had
their own deep experiences. Because who hasn’t practiced and meditated himself,
cannot authentically report Buddhism through their own reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thus, Nishijima Roshi has been thoroughly
engaged for about 25 years with the MMK, worked on it until his old age and
refined his writings again and again. Together with his student, the famous
Buddhist teacher and his successor <i>Brad Warner</i>, Nishijima has issued a
comprehensive work on Nāgārjuna. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ednref1"></a><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddh.%20Buddha%20Blog%20Berlin%20XXXXX/474%20Meilensteine%20des%20Buddhismus/Text%20474.doc#_edn1" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref1;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></u><!--[endif]--></span>[i]</span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref1;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref1;"></span>In my view that was a milestone into a new
era Buddhism. He has gone completely new ways of understanding and
interpretation. Based on its profound practical and theoretical experience in
Zen Buddhism and, as he says, certainly with this grid of deep understanding,
in my view, he advanced into entirely new areas of significance of the MMK. The
reactions among experts ranged from enthusiastic approval to clear rejection.
That was to be expected. Now, I would like to further develop Nishijima Roshi's
work. I cooperated more than 17 years with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">Prior to his translation of the MMK Nishijima
Roshi had completely reprocessed the fundamental Japanese piece <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shobogenzo</i> ("The Treasury of the
True Dharma Eye") of the great Zen master <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dôgen</i> in over 40 years of painstaking work and transferred it into
English together with his student <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chodo
Cross</i>. This four-volume version has prevailed among experts worldwide and
constitutes now a key foundation for the works on Zen Buddhism and especially
on Master Dogen. <a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddha%20Blog%20englisch%20Core%20of%20Zen-TrasuryXXXXXXX/31%20Milestones/Milestones%20of%20Buddhism.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[i]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a>[ii<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">A few years after the English translation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shobogenzo</i> by Nishijima and Cross, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ritsunen Linnebach</i> produced a German
version for which I cooperated with her for about eight years. <a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddha%20Blog%20englisch%20Core%20of%20Zen-TrasuryXXXXXXX/31%20Milestones/Milestones%20of%20Buddhism.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[ii]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a>[iii] Moreover,
an important volume of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shobogenzo</i>
is published in Spanish <i>(Luis Diaz</i> ).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tanahashi: Powerful Center<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLxriCVtvA7K2BX4H_72hWW8HIeS__ZZhbbLSAyw9bSzNL-nydhkFoC9M3YYFClBuhY1F_yOupEgmjXe7NO_0eCUuAZkV26-Zm8j3u8qYg5KUUL6qYWuK8C9q2AsX6xzFxGRycpI9xgCW/s1600/5%2529+Kas%252C+Mittl.+Weg%252C+180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1579" data-original-width="1117" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLxriCVtvA7K2BX4H_72hWW8HIeS__ZZhbbLSAyw9bSzNL-nydhkFoC9M3YYFClBuhY1F_yOupEgmjXe7NO_0eCUuAZkV26-Zm8j3u8qYg5KUUL6qYWuK8C9q2AsX6xzFxGRycpI9xgCW/s320/5%2529+Kas%252C+Mittl.+Weg%252C+180.jpg" width="226" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">Meanwhile, a second, in my opinion, excellent
English edition of the <i>Shobogenzo </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">was
published<i> </i></span>under the direction of <i>Kazuaki Tanahashi <a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddha%20Blog%20englisch%20Core%20of%20Zen-TrasuryXXXXXXX/31%20Milestones/Milestones%20of%20Buddhism.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[iii]</span></b><!--[endif]--></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">[iv]</b></i>, so that we now have three
truly reliable versions of this basic work of Zen Buddhism available in the
West. Thus, the Dōgen research experienced a sustained recovery, and many
irritating and inaccurate representations of Zen Buddhism have become obsolete.
Particularly the misconception that <i>paradoxical incomprehensible</i>
statements would be the most important element of Zen must be cleared out,
because exactly the opposite is the case. In fact, Zen is trans-intellectual
and follows a broad and profound reason, that analyzes extensively the dynamic
of mind-psyche-body. Philosophically I’d like to describe this method as phenomenology,
which was actually developed earlier in Buddhism than in western philosophy. In
my opinion, Buddha realized the networking of nature and humanity 2500 years
ago. We needed quite some time longer in the west! Zen approaches topics,
questions and problems from different perspectives. That might confuse some
western readers, as it goes out of the simple logic of yes-and-no-statements.
However, only this way the central spheres of the developing and emancipating
human being become visible with the necessary clarity and depth and therefore
can be fostered. Man is not a machine that <i>either </i>works <i>or </i>is
broken.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt;">For me, the two works of Nāgārjuna and Dōgen
mark <i>splendorous moments of Buddhist life and spirit </i>. On them I want to
build my future work. Thereby I follow the fundamental aim of Nishijima Roshi
to relate these two thinkers and buddhist masters to each other, to bring them
into fruitful reciprocal effect and make them available for the west.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br clear="all" /></span>
</span><br />
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<!--[endif]-->
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<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddha%20Blog%20englisch%20Core%20of%20Zen-TrasuryXXXXXXX/31%20Milestones/Milestones%20of%20Buddhism.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[ii]</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Dogen Shobogenzo (translated by Gudo Nishijima and
Chodo Cross)</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, English.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddha%20Blog%20englisch%20Core%20of%20Zen-TrasuryXXXXXXX/31%20Milestones/Milestones%20of%20Buddhism.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[iii]</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Dōgen: Shobogenzo. The Treasury of the True
Dharma-Eye, German.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///D:/Desktop/!Dokumente/Buddha%20Blog%20englisch%20Core%20of%20Zen-TrasuryXXXXXXX/31%20Milestones/Milestones%20of%20Buddhism.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[iv]</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: IT;">Dogen; Tanahashi, Kazuaki (Editor): Shobogenzo. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Treasury of the
True<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Dharma Eye.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-46994288239471020552015-08-26T02:56:00.002-07:002020-05-20T08:07:22.663-07:00The Lion’s Roar of a Child<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUzW2NaPQhlF8PZPPtgDQWfzvololcsZv72ud1XxLl2gcDte56Fz59OiuqhwCrTFilSVha27yY8izGXiW7A9DbDpQD1g5Q6EfUmg1vypXzmeraUtMRjO1PS3Cs2wasmt16HRphflNafwh/s1600/Bild+30+IMG_0849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUzW2NaPQhlF8PZPPtgDQWfzvololcsZv72ud1XxLl2gcDte56Fz59OiuqhwCrTFilSVha27yY8izGXiW7A9DbDpQD1g5Q6EfUmg1vypXzmeraUtMRjO1PS3Cs2wasmt16HRphflNafwh/s400/Bild+30+IMG_0849.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(Shoaku-Makusa)</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Part 3<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In fact, it is
remarkable to see that some people act quite differently than they think they
would. Furthermore, often theoretical moral considerations, which sound good, are
often linked to the fact that
right is not being done.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In general, a thing is often called right which cannot be seen as rightful
acting once it has been examined. In addition, it is usually veiled and serves
an individual's personal advantage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At this point
Dogen highlights the fact that there are many ways to do good, e.g. the
practice of the Pure Land and Zazen practice which he is very fond of.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is important
that while acting rightfully, one acts carefully. Which means, that one should
respect other people and their actions. As Dogen underlines, this is not only
true in the case of friends and relatives, but even more so in the case of
rivals and enemies.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It applies both to
family life, while dealing with friends, and also at the workplace which is
often dominated by envy and a fight for important positions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Doing the right
thing in a respectful manner takes place in the moment itself. As Dogen
mentions, we should not blame outer circumstances or situations as the cause if
we fail to do the right thing – this way we would be naming the wrong causes.
What applies to active action is also true in the case of letting things happen
- because we can realize right by letting things happen.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In such a case one
should not interfere in a disruptive or egoistic way – one would only generate
wrong oneself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a poem it is
said that heart and mind would naturally open up and become pure, if we were
not doing wrong and respectfully doing the right.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Also, this
statement should not be rooted solely in theory and conceptual thinking, but
should be discovered and experienced through acting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While we act we
can learn how Buddhas are meant to be. Then we will not, according to Dogen,
have to act like ordinary people who accept the suffering produced by unjust
actions, resign themselves and will never break through to righteousness. This
is how we can avoid generating wrong in everyday life - and it may even be
possible to do good.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a well-known
Koan-story a famous poet asked a great master: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“What
is the meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?”</span></i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The master
answered: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Not
to generate wrong and to do what is right.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The poet, who was
also a powerful governor, remarked snidely:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“If
that is true, even a three-year-old* can say that.”</span></i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The master
replied:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”A
three-year-old child can already speak the truth, but even a very experienced
man of eighty years cannot realize all.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The poet then
thanked the master with a prostration, but he could not fully capture the
deeper meaning of this statement. He was known for his great poetic qualities
and praised greatly in the circles of writers and poets.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, the
deeper meaning of the words, one should not generate wrong and do good, he was
only able to understand on a conceptual level – that is why it remained on the
level of words and thoughts. That is, according to Dogen, not surprising, as he
was a man of words and not a man of action. Practice and action are crucial and
they often differ from talking and thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Obviously, due to
his great poetic skill, he was still far removed from the Buddhist practice of
Zazen and in everyday life.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In fact, it is
easy to say what would be morally correct and meaningful – namely not to
generate wrong and to do good. It is certainly true that even a child who has
learned to form proper sentences could say that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But the realization
of this moral intent requires a new dimension to life. Often times, the
experience of a long life and the learning acquired along the Dharma path are
not sufficient to realize this completely.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For this
realization an intuitive clarity and the all-encompassing power of acting in
the present are absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You can also call
them, as Dogen does, the “<i>miraculous
causes and effects</i>” or the “<i>Buddha
causes and Buddha effects</i>”.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When people do the
right thing – and this can be done in many ways - their spirit, form, body and
their positive energy are being realized.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dogen questions
why the poet despises the three-year-old child when he says that even it could
phrase such a simple and obvious statement about injustice.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He (Dogen) doubts
that the poet even knows what a three-year-old child really is. If he knew it,
he would also have access to the Buddha Dharma. He says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Whoever
got to know a single particle, knows the whole universe – and he who fully
realized the true Dharma, realized the ten thousand Dharmas.”</span></i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According to
Dogen, one could even say that a child participates in the lion’s roar of the
Buddhist teachings right after it is born and embarks on its way to the
Buddha-Dharma.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Obviously, this
poet does not understand the lion’s roar of a child and dismisses the words of
the child as being unnecessary babble. But even a three-year-old child can
express the truth and we should thoroughly explore and understand it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We should also
explore the question, if and when an experienced man of eighty years has
realized the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
</div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For this, it is
useful not to beinfluenced by interpretations, so that we don’t remove anything
or add anything to true meaning – so that we view only reality and therefore
understand and experience truth the way it is.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-47675004011607406122015-08-10T06:26:00.002-07:002015-08-26T02:53:30.486-07:00This way we avoid becoming contaminated<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilcmDn1lIuSY31HggybxhRjVD70vGjhWlIASRTaKONcjRL3hqqE3n_dFizheeasfOiL-OMt-C3_ZZjTr8vP_wSQBDxEomWljb8QTuqjnKEa84z8J262WG3iaoVISYgh-CwwhHMFbD_iF6/s1600/Bild+29%252C+Indischer+Buddha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilcmDn1lIuSY31HggybxhRjVD70vGjhWlIASRTaKONcjRL3hqqE3n_dFizheeasfOiL-OMt-C3_ZZjTr8vP_wSQBDxEomWljb8QTuqjnKEa84z8J262WG3iaoVISYgh-CwwhHMFbD_iF6/s400/Bild+29%252C+Indischer+Buddha.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(Shoaku-Makusa)</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the first part
of the chapter, Dogen emphasizes active individual action. But he also mentions
that it is of due importance to let rightful action happen and not to tolerate
unjust action. More observant behavior which lets things happen can often be morally
rightful action.</span><br />
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In our lives we
often come into contact with unjust action. This can happen through friends,
relatives, but mostly through our enemies and rivals.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Buddhism teaches
with utmost clarity that it is not correct to allow others to do injustice and
to look on. Such behavior cannot be justified with the misunderstood comment,
“it is how it is” – this is to shirk responsibility in this world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Beneath rightful
and wrongful action, according to Dogen, there is also neutral action – which
is neither just nor unjust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is because
injustice does not exist as a permanent, abstract reality, but is or is not generated
through our own actions which can only happen in the present moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Therefore, the
right or unjust action exists only in the present of the Now, and not
permanently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">From a Buddhist
perspective, the injustice of the past, which we can still remember, is only
roughly comparable to the injustice of the present – it is not identical.
Memories can never be the same as the reality of the present.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The same is true
of the expected and anticipated injustice of the future. According to Dogen, we
gain clarity about that through Buddhist practice, mainly Zazen.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this connection
he mentions that, regarding the question of justice and injustice, people of
the Buddha-Dharma on the one hand and people of the ordinary world on the other
, differ greatly compared to other differ more greatly from each other than in
other areas within Buddhism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As mentioned in
detail in the chapter “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Just for the Time Being, Just for a While, For the Whole of Time is the
Whole of Existence (</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Uji)” in the Shobogenzo, the true time of the present
moment is inseparably connected to rightful and wrongful action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you only hear
the words that you should not commit wrong, this, according to Dogen, already
changes your behavior and actions to some degree. It is important that the
Buddhist practice of Zazen is carried out and that a moral code is not limited
to thinking and talking only, because the power of practice enables us to gain
more clarity and to transform our actions and behavior. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Due to this
practice one gains an intuitive and moral clarity in the present moment, so
that it is almost impossible to do wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As we are always
acting in the present moment, this creates the clarity and power in the Now.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But this moment is
so short that we cannot reflect consciously on justice and injustice and act at
the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While we are
acting rightfully, independent evil cannot evolve – at any place or at any
time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is even true
if we are living in an environment or get into a situation in which a lot of
injustice is perpetrated, and we believe that injustice has won over action.
Then, in fact, the thought or the idea injustice has become stronger and turned
into an essence, which rules the mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dogen speaks about
it as follows:</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“If
we devote our whole mind and our whole body to the practice (of Zazen), eighty
or ninety per cent are being realized (that no injustice is generated) just
before (at) this moment. And there is (also) the fact that after the moment (no
injustice) is generated”.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The practice of
Zazen is realized through physical and mindful action. This way we avoid
becoming contaminated.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As there is a
unity between the universe and the world in Buddhist practice, we can overcome
limitations and duality. According to Dogen, we can also say that mountains,
rivers, the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars practice as well and that we
let them practice.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this sense, the
Buddhas and their predecessors in the Dharma have never contaminated practice
and experience. They are free and have never limited themselves. This means: do
not commit wrong!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">With regard to the
Buddhist teachings, injustice as an independent entity is neither existent nor
non-existent – but it is always generated immediately through the action
itself. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the same way,
it does not have a material or immaterial quality because it is about
generating action in the Now. One should not understand it as being too
abstract, as it refers to a real and concrete act in the Here and Now. All too
easily injustice is minimized and whitewashed. However, these are only
assessments of people, which make things unclear.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While we regret
having done wrong, the strength and the desire for the rightful action develop,
according to Dogen.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If one has gained
the necessary strength and clarity through practice, it is not possible to deliberately
do wrong.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the beginning
of the poem mentioned above it is said that we can practice many kinds of right. This involves concrete
action in the present moment – and the liberty we possess to do good and right
things (by acting in the present moment). </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Discussions as to whether right
exists or not do not lead any further and necessarily become rather inflexible
on a theoretical level, which is far removed from acting in the Here and Now in
our everyday life. For then right is being discussed as a thing, which is not
correct.</span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-16600932139052921292015-07-25T20:20:00.000-07:002015-07-25T20:20:02.182-07:00Liberate yourself by not doing wrong<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(Shoaku-Makusa)</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Part 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLSuTBF72f5olW5U1SGHuTlVFHBtj7sfwGOIqjYGPdLjp6tDqYa8Q3jmwoG0VcKAUfQoS9EdEwmW0WJIQRafTNqJzI8jZY8gjGraS2IUD0c_7Co5P4U6kczTuPiKdKNhWGkpl5p3Ib8zJ/s1600/Buddhakopf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLSuTBF72f5olW5U1SGHuTlVFHBtj7sfwGOIqjYGPdLjp6tDqYa8Q3jmwoG0VcKAUfQoS9EdEwmW0WJIQRafTNqJzI8jZY8gjGraS2IUD0c_7Co5P4U6kczTuPiKdKNhWGkpl5p3Ib8zJ/s400/Buddhakopf.jpg" width="346" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this chapter
Dogen explains that, from a Buddhist perspective, injustice does not naturally
exist in this world and this universe. It is generated and contributed to by
man through unjust actions. This is a remarkable point of view as most
religions teach that evil is a part of man and this world, e.g. in the shape of
the devil. Man needs to fight it with the forces of good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But in Buddhist
reality injustice as a form of evil or everlasting essence does not exist.
There are only evil deeds and actions of man which do not comply with our moral
principles and therefore violate the
laws of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Nevertheless,
wrong, unjust and criminal acts are in fact a part of the reality of mankind, which
one should not rationalize and push aside.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the Shobogenzo,
Dogen warns us repeatedly not to become lost in illusions and not to be
mistaken about reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this chapter
particularly, he emphasizes that moral principles and ethics, i.e. rightful
actions, are inseparably bound up with Buddhist theory and practice.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That is why
Buddhism is not a “value-free” philosophy or theory. It is the unity of body,
mind, action and morality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Rightful or
wrongful actions in the Here and Now of the present moment are essential for
the Buddha Dharma.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If people
discuss the injustice of the world, in
an outraged and abstract way, as one can often witness, this is therefore much
too general and belongs to the realm of theory and philosophy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One can have perfect
discussions about injustice, one can argue about it and, afterwards, feel
superior to others; but in reality often times you have done wrong yourself by
arguing aggressively to hurt others. In this case, you have violated the social
laws of Buddhism through causing conflict and trauma. Sometimes, such
aggressive disputes grow into an open verbal fight involving one ego against
another. This can, in no way, represent the Buddha-Dharma.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dogen quotes an
old Buddha, who taught that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“The
eternal Buddha says,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Not
to to generate wrongs, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To
practice the many kinds of right, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Naturally
purifies the mind; <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This
is the teaching of the Buddha “<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While translating
the German edition of Dogen’s “The Treasury of the T*rue Dharma E*ye” (<i>Shobogenzo</i>),
Mrs. Ritsunen Linnebach and I were considering thoroughly whether to use the
often applied phrase Not doing wrong” or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We came to the
conclusion that the precise translation from Japanese correlates better with
the term “to generate” – and that that was exactly what Dogen meant.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This term shows
very clearly that man generates injustice artificially – and that, naturally,
it would not exist in this universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Would you choose
another translation instead of “to abstain from evil” – one would get the
impression that evil naturally exists as
an essence in our world and we have to watch out for it – to abstain from it.
From our point of view, this is exactly what Dogen does not want to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The proposition
that injustice and evil are only created through action and do not exist
naturally in the harmony of the universe may be surprising at first. But taking
into consideration the fact that in Buddhism action gets most of the credit and therefore acting
is assigned the qualities of reality and truth and not any abstract idea or imaginary essence – then
this is of great importance for our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="notelevel11" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; tab-stops: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is just a
question of not generating wrong – and of committing ourselves in our lives and
in our actions to the many opportunities we have to do meaningful and good
deeds – with care and respect. This is the way to independence and freedom. To
generate wrong creates addiction.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-69316855997995357672015-06-01T05:09:00.002-07:002015-06-01T05:09:09.859-07:00The Valleys and Mountains are real Valleys and Mountains<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext;">(Keisei sanshiki)</span></i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;"> Part 4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9W-Bwv8aDSy050nDqtC8QFDqNHe-Rn-ZY9_U7g-CSiKvA42Kvd_dviq8ouqDGsOcO06vgraZGKvUvwfRSQW0Zoernl1UcSqD7Q0q7DbD5W2fDxjNDaFgws44kkf88PPcfQ2u4PvqdhQOJ/s1600/Buddha+mit+Bodhisattvas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9W-Bwv8aDSy050nDqtC8QFDqNHe-Rn-ZY9_U7g-CSiKvA42Kvd_dviq8ouqDGsOcO06vgraZGKvUvwfRSQW0Zoernl1UcSqD7Q0q7DbD5W2fDxjNDaFgws44kkf88PPcfQ2u4PvqdhQOJ/s400/Buddha+mit+Bodhisattvas.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen suggests studying the old masters profoundly and
taking them as a role model. This would be more important than staying in close
contact with kings, lords, the important figures of public life, the rich and
famous of a country etc. It is better
not to engage with them. If one did
this, one would inevitably depend on them, would be fixated on praise
and criticism and hope for benefits from them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As it is told,
in such an environment, even in monasteries, there is and there was envy and
jealousy – already at the time of
Gautama Buddha.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those who are spiritually constrained cannot recognize a truly wise man
and even develop hostility towards
the saints.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext;">According to<b> </b></span><span style="color: windowtext;">Dogen, even in Buddhism there are cases in
which great masters have been tortured and killed by those who did not
recognize who they really were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen advises insistently never to develop hatred in such
cases but rather to teach the
Dharma with great love and compassion to make a difference in people's lives and guide them onto the
right path.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beginners on the path
to the Buddha-Dharma are still steeped in emotions and ideals which are not consistent with reality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That is why it is important that the strength of the
first learning period does not weaken and fade away, but is<b> </b>transformed into pragmatic perseverance. This
is necessary to attain the
Buddha-way and to continue the practice:<b> </b>It is necessary to continue practising on our journey to the Buddha-way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nishijima Roshi recommends practising Zazen twice a day –
even if, after enthusiastic beginnings, it is not always easy and sometimes can
even be boring. And it is essential to find a true teacher. On this path, one
has to “climb mountains and cross oceans.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen says: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“While we are
seeking a guiding teacher, or hoping to find a [good] counselor, one comes down
from the heavens, or springs out from the earth.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He refers to his own experience, when he was looking for a teacher himself. According to Dogen, the
closer you get to know a real master, the greater he appears to be as a man,
the more you can learn from him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With a false master it is exactly the other way around.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen also shows his
followers<b> </b>how to behave on the Buddha-way if they realize that in everyday life they have gotten tired and lazy. He
advi<b>s</b>es them to confront
the problem openly and not to deceive themselves.
In front of Buddha one should confess one's<b>
</b>inattentiveness and laz<b>i</b>ness wholeheartetly. This will create strength and energy which are needed if one is<b> </b>to redeem and purify oneself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then, the shallow, unsatisfying days of the past are gradually reduced and a change and a new start are possible. This way, the
old Karma can be cleared and the obstacles on our learning path can be set aside. An old master is quoted:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“
If you haven’t reached perfection in your past life, you can do it now.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext;">He continues: “After people have realized the truth, they
will be eternal Buddhas now.”</span><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext;">On this path,
theory and thoughts alone won’t take
you further – as important as<b> </b>they
may be. But one has to act and practice
in the Here and Now. For that, we need genuine trust in our body and mind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“If we practice
like this, none of the eighty-four thousand verses will be withheld from us by
the voice and shape of the valley and the shape and voice of the mountains.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then we will<b> </b>realize
that “the valley</span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">s and mountains are (real) valleys and mountains"</span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-62791075159518724262015-05-19T02:15:00.000-07:002015-05-19T02:15:21.883-07:00I have been searching something sharp like a sword<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;">The Voices of the River Valley</span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;"> </b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;">and the Form of the
Mountains</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;">(Keisei sanshiki)</span></i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;"> Part 3</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrCmHIF5ouaCKoKkKe4Lu0R5GNVSEzm71f1MqEjLZn1v46JcS57182Dd_o5ZqfYz6bJ9PeoN1zx_afQplKb97EappQ3uCjwo2qk3YgIehKyNskedNvEVcQhtMcg63ro2calsjLwN0-wTw/s1600/Tokein%252C+Geamtsicht.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrCmHIF5ouaCKoKkKe4Lu0R5GNVSEzm71f1MqEjLZn1v46JcS57182Dd_o5ZqfYz6bJ9PeoN1zx_afQplKb97EappQ3uCjwo2qk3YgIehKyNskedNvEVcQhtMcg63ro2calsjLwN0-wTw/s400/Tokein%252C+Geamtsicht.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Another well-known story speaks about the Buddhist path of an old master who had already
been practising for more than 30
years of his life. One day he was wandering through the mountains, when<b> </b>he spotted from a hillside
a charming valley in which peach trees were blossoming in spring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">He suddenly realized the great truth and wrote the
following poem:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">“I have been searching something sharp like a sword for
30 years like a traveler.During the time, treeleaves have fallen down many
times, and twigs spread too many times.However, just after looking at the so
gorgeous peach blossoms actually.<b> </b>Having
arrived at the present moment, I have thrown away the whole doubt.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">The sword is a symbol of the clarity of the body-mind. It cuts through confusion and
knots in life, so that<b> </b>one can reach reality. The
symbolic meaning of the sword is similar to that of the diamond. With its sharpness it can also cut through the
thicket of preconceived opinions, validations and lalready made up ideas of the mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">In ancient China, Koan-stories were common in which a
master refused to answer a well-versed and smart question of one of his
students, because he thought the question to be theoretical and made up<i> </i>fictitious.
Sometimes the master just repeated the question in the exact same way. In this way he wanted to push his
student towards direct experienc<b>e</b>
and action and to bring him
closer to reality. At the same time the master wanted to liberate him from a
rigid way of thinking and the use of
meaningless words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: DE;">T</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">he following theoretical questions
of distinctive reasoning, which the masters did not answer with words <b> </b>but with action<b>s, </b>are examples of this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">"How can
we make mountains, rivers, and the Earth part of ourselves?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Or the question
of a wise philosopher:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">"How does
pure essentiality suddenly give rise to mountains, rivers, and the Earth?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">In the following, Master Dogen concentrates on the main contents and basic points of the Buddhist
teachings: perseverance, the strong desire<b>
</b>for truth and the awackening of the Bodhi-spirit<b>, </b>all of which are important premisses
to remember on the Buddha-way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: DE;">H</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">unger for fame, profit and
ego-pride have to be overcome.
Otherwise one blocks oneself on the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Dogen also<b> </b>criticizes
the fact<b> </b>that <b> </b>many contemporaries at that time had in
fact become monks although they did not
really strive for the Buddhist
truth or practise persistently. In China, the great
period of Zen Buddhism was already
in decline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Many monks and abbots were formally Buddhists, but the
strength of the Buddha-Dharma had already become extinct and the pursuit of superficial recognition and
financial gain mostly prevailed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Often times, it was a question of power and influence at
court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Under these conditions, the reality and the truth of the
Buddha-Dharma lost their significance
and faded, leaving only images
and shadows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">This is recounted
in the famous allegory in which a living dragon pays the house of a lover of
dragon pictures and sculptures a visit. But seeing the living dragon
before him, the frightened man flees<b>,
</b>as he loves<b> </b>only
“beautiful and harmless” pictures<b>, </b>not reality itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Dogen describes it as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">“Their body, mind,
bones and their flesh have never lived the real Dharma. That is why they are
not one with the Dharma. They don’t receive and they don’t use the Dharma.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">According to Dogen, such times of decline are full of false teachers and
self-proclaimed masters who are not capable of guiding their students truly onto the Buddha-way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: DE;">For this reason</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;"> Dogen
recommends examining teachers and masters precisely. He also points to the irretrievable damage caused<b> </b>if the teachings are not
<b> </b>transmitted in an authentic way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">In such cases, it would be better not to practi<b>s</b>e
the Buddha-Dharma at all – as this would not only be a waste of time, but would
also do severe damage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Those who cannot rely on their own real experience depend
mostly on others and often need shallow confirmation from others – and then
confuse it with the great truth itself. Naturally, to realize this and to see
through it is not that simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-3342220850051678632015-05-05T12:06:00.003-07:002015-05-05T12:06:39.759-07:00The Master said: at a Single Stroke I lost Recognition<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">The Voices of the River Valley</span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;"> </b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">and the Form of the
Mountains</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">(Keisei sanshiki</span></i><span style="color: windowtext;">) Part 2</span><span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLrbtXs_PepxPwoEdF8G9W1EgMC5qBer2urBpUfhB8YQBZlLCGk9HBT9zxW5m8TQunpZMr9ODZOFJlgguRKSWW7F4f4Gz-UrqiGunyPx-W_mxV_cVfITUNoIu7GghKrzSBIw3xIt7uR_Z/s1600/Bild+25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLrbtXs_PepxPwoEdF8G9W1EgMC5qBer2urBpUfhB8YQBZlLCGk9HBT9zxW5m8TQunpZMr9ODZOFJlgguRKSWW7F4f4Gz-UrqiGunyPx-W_mxV_cVfITUNoIu7GghKrzSBIw3xIt7uR_Z/s400/Bild+25.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">Another famous story speaks about a </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">master, who was later well known</span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">,</b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">
who could not </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">make any progress</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">,
though working intensely with his master on the Buddhist teachings. Being asked
describe the state prior to the birth of his parents, he could not answer. He </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">was expected</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;"> to answer this question </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">from</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;"> his </span><i style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">own experience</i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;"> and not by citing the Buddhist writings, which he
had studied in detail. He was so discouraged that he decided to burn all his
theoretical writings, which he had studied so hard, and to </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;">dedicate himself</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit;"> solely to simple
tasks in the monastery. </span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His realization was<b>,<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 14.2pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>The image of a rice cake cannot satisfy
hunger.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this case the image of the rice cake refers to the
writings and Dharma-teachings of his own master. The teachings remain
theoretical and shallow, if they don’t correlate with experiences and practices in your own life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eventually the disciple asked his master for assistance,
so that<b> </b>he could continue
on his Dharma-Path. But the master saw the extraordinary talent of his student
and refused to grant him this wish. The master was probably convinced that his student would gain
all the necessary experiences on his Buddha-way himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext;">In most cases</span><span style="color: windowtext;"> a verbal
instruction wears itself out in words and thoughts and cannot replace real
practice. Just like the image of the rice cake, which cannot be eaten and
cannot satisfy hunger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story continues by telling us that the monk left for
the mountains to seek solitude. He settled at a place where a famous master had
been practising for years. The monk had set aside to strive for awakening and
enlightenment. Instead he lived harmoniously within nature and with the passing of the seasons. He
practi<b>s</b>ed persistently and intensely and many years went by.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He planted a bamboo tree, which he nourished and cared for. One day, as he was sweeping the path to his shed, a piece of brick hit the bamboo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is said that he <i>reached
enlightenment by hearing this sound</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext;">Grate</span><span style="color: windowtext;">ful and deeply
moved<b>,</b> he bowed in the direction of his master, because he had not
explained hastily and to early what was waiting for him by eperiencing true
enlightenment. He had left it to his own<b>
</b>experiences life. Due to <i>this
fact alone</i>, he had been able to <i>wake
up to the truth</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext;">Finally, he wrote the following verse:</span><span style="color: windowtext;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">“At a single stroke I lost recognition. No
longer need I practice self-discipline.[I am] manifesting behavior in the way
of the ancients. Never falling into despondency.”</span></i><i><span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Later on, his master <i>confirmed
his state of enlightenment</i> and said that this disciple had reached
perfection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-39893171109837581912015-04-23T03:47:00.002-07:002015-04-23T03:47:22.424-07:00The Voices of the River Valley and the Form of the Mountains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z75OwRC-RedXICguxw659-HsPdjpap7v6yrzBRShuYLaS8CLaGOCkoWuPAdrsNeRPz9D4Eke0CNtIAF6H75PEJn9ZTVgNRMB3XweQXy7J70AglhQZZBzhGGmynXwsFRcT1K1WvdTvlcn/s1600/Bild+24,+Brunnen+in+Tokein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z75OwRC-RedXICguxw659-HsPdjpap7v6yrzBRShuYLaS8CLaGOCkoWuPAdrsNeRPz9D4Eke0CNtIAF6H75PEJn9ZTVgNRMB3XweQXy7J70AglhQZZBzhGGmynXwsFRcT1K1WvdTvlcn/s1600/Bild+24,+Brunnen+in+Tokein.jpg" height="400" width="343" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;">(<i>Keisei sanshiki</i>),</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial;">Part 1</span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">In this extraordinary chapter Master Dogen describes the
central meaning and reality of the unity of nature and man. One could view
inanimate nature only from the perspective of matter and form, as is the case with the dimension of
materialism, but this would be one-sided and restricted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Dogen points out that such an external perspective on
form or the elements of matter, such as water, earth, fire and air<b>,</b> only
illustrates the <i>truth partially</i> and
does not reach the core.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">In contrast, with
the highest life philosophy in the Buddha Dharma, the awakening, one opens up to a complete new dimension, an
unexpected depth of focus on an
understanding and an experience of nature’s beauty and power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Dogen calls the rivers and streams flowing in the valleys
tongues of the Buddha<b>; </b>they
teach us compellingly the true
Dharma. In fact, rivers and streams never stand still. The shape of the
mountains resembles Buddha’s body, which is marked by purity and virtue.
Nature, seen in this light, extends
far beyond its substantial and material aspect. In this sense, nature constitutes
a wonderful composition of reality, able to reach and bless man in the core of
his heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">The bond, better, the unity with nature used to be a very important part of a
man’s life in China and Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Life was inextricably bound up<b> </b>with all sentient beings, including<b> </b>animals and non sentient beings, like pine trees,
bamboo, chrysanthemums, i.e. trees, plants and flowers. Within the Buddha
Dharma, all of this is lived, experienced and understood as harmony and a<b>s </b>the natural law of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Dogen refers to a great Chinese poet who listened to the voice of a river in a mountain
valley and found awakening. Afterwards, he wrote the following poem:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">“The voices of the valley are the<b> </b>(Buddha's) wide and long tongue. The shape of
the mountain is nothing else than his pure body."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">The poet presented
his verses to a great Buddhist master who confirmed his awakening. But what had
happened when suddenly a whole new all-embracing dimension of life opened up to
him? Indeed, he had written great poetry before, but had not experienced
Buddhist practice and teachings comprehensively. According to Master Dogen, the
poet had <i>not truly realized</i> and
experienced the natural flow of the seasons: flowers in spring, the fresh pine saplings in summer and the
wonderful chrysanthemums in fall<b>, </b>not until he was allowed
to hear the voices in the river valleys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Shortly before, he had heard a Zen Master<b>'</b>s
lecture on non-sentient beings, like trees, flowers and plants, but it had yet<b> </b>not reached his mind and
heart. Presumably there remained with
him the traces and effects
of the Master<b>'</b>s words, which then led him that night to experience
his own deep realization of the Buddha Dharma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Before, he had not been fully open and ready to receive
and feel so deeply the
all-encompassing meaning of the Buddhist teachings. It did not happen until the great awakening came to him that night in an almost mystical experience
through the voices of the river
valleys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Man as subject and nature as the object had suddenly
merged to form<b> </b>a unity –
actually they had never been separated. But until then<b> </b>the poet had not realized it. Master Dogen asks, in his usual manner, whether the
poet awakened to the truth or whether the mountains and rivers awakened to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: DE;">Is it even possible to separate the two?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-25005625065920084982015-04-02T08:12:00.003-07:002015-04-02T08:12:46.174-07:00Longing for truth will lead us onto the right path<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Mind here and
now is Buddha,</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;"> Part 3</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;">(Soku-shin-ze-butsu</span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;">)</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRmbIKRwhf0losh8LIkOVMTxxrDVs4u5T508-Pq7aFNgvyFWHV0rAjfM3XtOsK1GlDQT9f2m3i8YWAJriBx8GfpqMTmJ332Zi9Q5p0tx6ti9-Gcxrh7BgCpBubTlWSu-D1nLYx0zRxFQ1/s1600/Bild+23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRmbIKRwhf0losh8LIkOVMTxxrDVs4u5T508-Pq7aFNgvyFWHV0rAjfM3XtOsK1GlDQT9f2m3i8YWAJriBx8GfpqMTmJ332Zi9Q5p0tx6ti9-Gcxrh7BgCpBubTlWSu-D1nLYx0zRxFQ1/s1600/Bild+23.jpg" height="400" width="271" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If
one understands the mind only in the sense of idealism, i.e. just as an idea
and therefore in a very restricted dimension, the sentence “Mind Here and Now
is Buddha” cannot be grasped comprehensively.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Here</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> actually means spatially
accurate, at the exact location. And <i>Now</i> means precisely that moment. <i>Mind</i>
and <i>Buddha</i> are not independent of space and time. The Buddha-Dharma
resembles the unity of theory and practice and thus incorporates the level of
action and the<b> </b>practice of Zazen in
the Here and Now. It is inextricably connected to morality and contains all the
conditions of reality and truth – just as they are.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">As a
result nothing is added through dogmatic fantasies or theoretical reasoning.
And at the same time, nothing is taken away<b>
</b>reduced, chosen or selected. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buddhism
uses the analogy of a clear mirror which reflects everything that appears in
front of it without adding or omitting anything. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">It is
no secret that the flight from<b> </b>and
avoidance of reality and truth is the cause of most of our mental and
psychological suffering, which we face in today’s world - just as we did in
previous times.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">But
Gautama Buddha’s teaching leads us directly out of the cycle of suffering and
enables us to grasp reality fully.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
cannot capture the true Buddha mind solely<b>
</b>with the realm of thought. We also need to experience and discover it
through action, while the longing for truth will lead us onto the right path.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Buddha mind is far more than thinking alone, it also<b> </b>contains, according to Dogen<b>,</b>
the reality of the bamboo, the mountains, the rivers, the earth, the sun, the
moon and the stars<b>,</b> normally
understood just as a materialistic point of view and objects. In Buddhism, the
comprehensive mind is life and death themselves, the coming and going, Zazen
practice and everyday life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Zen-Buddhism
teaches clearly that we need to learn to differentiate between<b> </b>our perceptions, our<b> </b>ideas and our way of thinking and
reality itself. We should not mistake one for the other and confuse them. That
is why Dogen says:</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“If we have never awakened the will ( to
the truth ), have never undertaken the practical training, never ( realized )
the Bodhi-mind and have never Nirvana ( experienced ) - then there is no (
state ) `Mind here and now is Buddha´.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is
sufficient if the desire for the truth is manifested in<b> </b>just one single moment or in one atom of our body for the true
Buddha-mind to be realized.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
is why the Buddha-mind is far more extensive than the “spirit-essence” of the
Brahman Srenika and the doctrines of the southern masters.The true spirit is
realized when the desire or the will for truth is aligned with ethical action.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-13286703662948668142015-03-16T10:57:00.001-07:002015-03-16T10:57:11.058-07:00The true Buddha Dharma was lost in the South<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Mind here and
now is Buddha,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1b0431;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;">Part 2</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;">(Soku-shin-ze-butsu</span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;">)</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcVnWFnffF1_SEX-jRH3W8eLCuzsRuhpMH4T4YHuegRXVQBn7VmtAn3FfI0eJcE1_fQvJ8KCbjJw9j6uoOz1LeQpyus7kWnZAB0XtiW4cu_hrpKP9EyKMK6yN79i6UtR3DC7_203NnLi-/s1600/Bild+22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcVnWFnffF1_SEX-jRH3W8eLCuzsRuhpMH4T4YHuegRXVQBn7VmtAn3FfI0eJcE1_fQvJ8KCbjJw9j6uoOz1LeQpyus7kWnZAB0XtiW4cu_hrpKP9EyKMK6yN79i6UtR3DC7_203NnLi-/s1600/Bild+22.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What does the sentence “Mind here and now is Buddha” imply?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the records of Master Daikan Eno the
false or at least improper teachings are
discussed – within the course of a dialogue with a traveling Buddhist
monk. Master Daikan Eno was highly regarded by Dogen and was given the
honorable title Great National Teacher Daisho.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this context the traveller explains to
the National Teacher that Dharma teachers of the South state “Mind here and now is Buddha” only refers to the
consciousness, not to the body.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thus mind and consciousness are being
equated and perceived as being separate from the body.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the teachings in the South,
the core feature of a consciousness of this kind are the representation of the
essence of seeing, hearing, perceiving and knowledge and above all knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It governs all actions - especially the
realm of thought - of a human being and is therefore called “true, all-encompassing
knowledge”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This all-encompassing knowledge represent<b>s</b> the Great Buddha himself and there is
nothing else beside it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For this reason, according to the Srenikan
doctrine, this all-embracing knowledge represents the supreme and the essence
of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By comparison, everything else, such as
matter and the body<b>,</b> are marginal
and less important. The spirit and knowledge are immortal. After death, the
spirit leave<b>s</b> the physical body, just like someone who abandons his burned,
useless house, or like a snake, shedding its old skin and leaving it behind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hearing these explanations, the Great
National Teacher Daisho found his opinion confirmed that<b>,</b> in the South, a false doctrine of the Buddha Dharma was common.
He bemoaned the fact<b> </b>that students
of so-called masters were taught in this way and therefore were headed in the
completely wrong direction on the way to the Buddha Dharma.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For this reason the true Buddha Dharma
was lost in the South.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The true teachings of the Buddha Dharma
transcend knowledge, consciousness<b> </b>and
sensory perception<b> </b>such as seeing,
hearing, feeling etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We cannot go beyond the rigid limitations
of thinking and reasoning relying just on the rational mind itself or on our
sensory organs. We would not have access to the true Buddha Dharma.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That is why the doctrine of the South was
its own dubious wishful thinking and the subjective<b>,</b> one-sided belief of the local masters. The great universal truth,
taught by Gautama Buddha himself and the predecessors of Dharma, simply could
not have been grasped and understood fully by the teachers of the South.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As mentioned, Nishijima Roshi regards the
realm of thought and ideas as idealism and the realm of perception and sensory
stimuli as materialism. Looking at them individually, both philosophies are not
entirely wrong. But they cannot do justice to the wonderful diversity of life
here and now, as they are one-sided and one-dimensional.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He,
who aligns himself with one of the limited philosophies<b>,</b> won’t be able to escape the ongoing cycle of suffering and
superficial pleasures. He will just be holding onto a straw, which is not
reliable once you look at it closely. Therefore, Nishijima Roshi strongly advocates
a third life philosophy, namely the philosophy of acting in the here and now,
in the present moment. The fourth philosophy, in Buddhism regarded as the
highest one, already contains the three philosophies previously mentioned. But
it goes beyond them<b> </b>and is called
awakening, enlightenment or emptiness. On this level, the highest of all, there
is absolute unity and harmony in morality and universal laws.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-53673731312849485912015-03-09T14:31:00.002-07:002015-03-16T10:47:08.230-07:00Mind here and now is Buddha<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431; font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soku-shin-ze-butsu, </span></span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: #1b0431;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Part 1)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_b9IjDBX4g0Axyv9uGCxPyfwpuB26MHUx8LV9D0yZblQv0ij2Ws9FXpEma8flnoThApHrU_nqXDx924lKqxYsHXeAgG03LZIvIYJp30-rJgKPA0d2rWGuQkcDccfLGpG9h2TrTVixq-5P/s1600/Kyoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_b9IjDBX4g0Axyv9uGCxPyfwpuB26MHUx8LV9D0yZblQv0ij2Ws9FXpEma8flnoThApHrU_nqXDx924lKqxYsHXeAgG03LZIvIYJp30-rJgKPA0d2rWGuQkcDccfLGpG9h2TrTVixq-5P/s1600/Kyoto.jpg" height="246" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In this chapter, Dogen distinguishes the
Buddhist teachings from ancient </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">I</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">ndian
philosophy, which was advocated at the time of Gautama Buddha by the Brahman</span><b style="font-family: inherit;">, </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Srenika.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Several disputes between Gautama Buddha
and Srenika took place, which define the essential core values of the new
Buddhist teachings and <i>distinguish</i>
them from the teachings of Brahmanism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brahman<b>, </b>Srenika believed that an eternal and unalterable soul existed and
transmigrated<b> </b>from one body to
another, independent of the particular physical body<b>,</b> through various incarnations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He thought this to be the great
principle, easy to recognize and<b> </b>understand.
Moreover, he believed that<b> </b>the
teachings of the immortal soul would liberate one immediately and effortlessly,
without imposing<b> </b>the burden of
practicing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">According to Srenika, this
spirit-substance distinguishes between suffering and pleasure, warmth and
coldness, pain and </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #29303b;">irritation</span><span lang="EN-US">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It (the spirit substance of the Srenikan
view ) is supposed to be completely independent of the physical body and fully
self-dependent. Above all, it cannot be limited or restricted by any physical
thing or accompanying condition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Such an eternal spirit permeates the<b> </b>souls of normal and saintly humans. Srenika
states<b> </b>that once you have attained
this spiritual intelligence, illusions of body and mind will fade away and disappear.
He believed that one would be immediately and effortlessly freed and would not have
to suffer any longer. Also, it would be a chance to discern one’s innate
spiritual consciousness clearly. According to Srenika, this spiritual
intelligence is eternal and permeates through worlds and eons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In contrast, manifestations of this world
and universe are transient, they arise and perish, they<b> </b>have no<b> </b>persistence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With regard to Srenika, you could call
this spiritual intelligence the spiritual consciousness or the true self.
Following his teachings, those who acquired this great wisdom could leave the
miserable cycles of reincarnation and were able to return to eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The agonizing cycle of life and death has
finally come to an end once the spirit enters eternity. Then the
spirit-substance is absorbed by the<b> </b>everlasting
ocean of the essence.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">These are the main propositions of the Srenikan view</span></i><span lang="EN-US">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How does Master Dogen<b> </b>react to this, and how does he outline the teachings of the Buddha
Dharma? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wouldn’t it be nice if Srenika and his
teachings were correct? A simple realization of the “spirit”<b>, </b>understood in this way<b>,</b> would liberate us and we could escape
suffering and other dreadful experiences in life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By the eighth century AD Buddhism in
China had reached its peak, which was due to the time of Master Daikan Eno, who
was Boddhidharma’s sixth successor in China.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In northern China, cultural life had
reached remarkably high standards and thus differed from the under-developed
South, which<b>,</b> at that time, included
parts of Cambodia and Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen reports that Buddhism wasn’t
practiced as accurate<b>l</b>y in the South
as in the North of China, given the fact that the teachings of the so-called
masters in the South came very close to Srenika’s teachings. Their teachings
equated the spirit or the spiritual-essence with Buddha.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dogen vigorously rejects these teachings
and explains this on the basis of the famous statement<b>,<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Mind here and now is Buddha”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to him, it is not about beliefs, wishful
thinking and abstract ideas – but about the real truth, whether we like it or
not. Fleeing reality into daydreams is one of the main causes of human suffering.
A conclusion Sigmund Freud alread</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">y came to<b>
</b>decades ago.</span>Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-39983190077009282342014-12-04T00:38:00.003-08:002014-12-04T00:38:54.617-08:00The one Pearl goes directly through ten thousand Years<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One Bright Pearl, (</span><i style="font-family: Arial;">Ikka-no-myoju</i><span style="font-family: Arial;">,
Part 5)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioKxES2-ENMjL95H8bD8f6b2QnK_JDTQltQhOeK-_rQaAq40U8m9tBVSRinw2-3iH2QwlZNbhDxkiZn0Xd0AdVJtRDJitEW3qFQvgBXzdZ8IqSXxo2Hf9hHGYnNdv6g9VG4Z0J49Hhm4nk/s1600/Bild+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioKxES2-ENMjL95H8bD8f6b2QnK_JDTQltQhOeK-_rQaAq40U8m9tBVSRinw2-3iH2QwlZNbhDxkiZn0Xd0AdVJtRDJitEW3qFQvgBXzdZ8IqSXxo2Hf9hHGYnNdv6g9VG4Z0J49Hhm4nk/s1600/Bild+20.jpg" height="252" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen appreciates the example of the bright pearl and says, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 39.5pt; margin-top: 0cm;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It is an expression of the truth. It will be famously
recognized. The one pearl goes directly through ten thousand years. The eternal
past has not ended but the eternal present has arrived. The body exists now and
the mind exists now. Even so (the whole universe) is a bright pearl”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this wonderful reality we should free ourselves from the emotions of
liking and disliking or badly wanting to possess something or refusing
something. Considerations like these are not true reality, and the truth of the
bright pearl transcends such thinking, emotions and distinctions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Buddhism there are several very famous stories about pearls. For
example, a rich man gave his very poor
friend a pearl, but he put it in his clothes and it was hidden. The poor friend
became aware of the pearl many years later and was saved by it. Thus it is the
great rhythm of our life to give a pearl and to receive a pearl. The black
dragon of Chinese mythology has a pearl under his chin and in the Lotus Sûtra
it is said that the king gives a precious pearl to a human being who has worked
very hard for him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the end of this chapter Dôgen stresses the fact that we should not
complain about the future and the universe in general. So even when it is hot
in the sixth month of the lunar calendar in China, we should enjoy it and be
happy in this wonderful universe. Because it is like a bright pearl and it is
beyond thinking and intellectual philosophy: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Artificial and non artificial states of surmising and
doubting, attaching and rejecting are just the small view. There is nothing
more then trying to make (the bright pearl) match the narrow intellect. How we
could not love the bright pearl? Its colors and light, as they are, are
endless.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-47198068184250601362014-11-27T02:43:00.003-08:002014-11-27T02:43:54.282-08:00Bright Pearl: What use is understanding?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One Bright Pearl, (</span><i style="font-family: Arial;">Ikka-no-myoju</i><span style="font-family: Arial;">,
Part 4)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFB4C_jeKzXNZwOaPGsB2W5EEp8HnlskcpnLnJAjkwt4d-b52dJUIoEjzCCmXtRPlHNTC7ItDnILEz7gvAM0IFzN7X37Tl0i3dIL6E_fuMcg7m9TNxjb739suPl3TG7xiL9bgvWeoFPKk/s1600/Bild+19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFB4C_jeKzXNZwOaPGsB2W5EEp8HnlskcpnLnJAjkwt4d-b52dJUIoEjzCCmXtRPlHNTC7ItDnILEz7gvAM0IFzN7X37Tl0i3dIL6E_fuMcg7m9TNxjb739suPl3TG7xiL9bgvWeoFPKk/s1600/Bild+19.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is said that Gensa realized the truth after some time and became a
Master and the successor of Seppo. He taught the fundamentals of Buddhism
with the words: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>The whole universe in ten
direction is one bright pearl.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If a student who wanted to know how this sentence could be understood asked
Master Gensa, he answered: “<i>What use is
understanding</i>?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So the whole universe is reality itself. Thinking and understanding might
be important for excellent philosophers and scientists, but for Buddhist truth
intellectual thinking is not the most important thing. And Nishijima adds: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It seems that Master Gensa has been much more clever
then those so many excellent philosophers and so many excellent scientists
saying that `the whole universe in the ten directions is one bright
pearl.`"<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The sentence about the bright pearl and the universe has to be
experienced by everybody in their own life as they travel along the Buddhist
path. Not even such a fundamental sentence can be realized just by thinking and
speaking. And it is not an abstract theory which can be learned by heart and
repeated from memory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once Master Gensa asked a monk who he had taught the day before that the
whole universe is a bright pearl: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“How do you understand (this)?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And when the monk repeated literally just the same sentence, the Master
said: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I see that you are struggling to get inside a demon´s
cave and black mountain.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The meaning is that the student was trapped in a habit of thinking and
speculating and had no experience or practice of his own. Such intellectual
thinking is therefore “<i>a demon´s cave in
a black mountain</i>.” This is idealistic philosophy and not realism or direct
experience. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen is explaining that it is not sufficient to think that the
world is a materialistic formal area because this is just the exterior. Even
though it is a part of reality, it is not the whole. There are two alternative
philosophies for understanding the world. One is idealism and the other is
materialism. But both are not sufficient to enable us to experience reality,
because a true and balanced state is necessary, not only thinking and
calculating. And the balanced state can be experienced by the practice of
Zazen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Words and ideas are important at the beginning of the learning process,
but some time they must be transcended if we are to reach reality itself. And
this is true for the Buddhist sutras and the teaching of a true Master. Words
are like the finger pointing to the moon, but they are not the moon itself,
which is reality and truth. Of course,
languages and ideas are very important for
human civilization and without language it is impossible to have a
dialogue and to understand each other on the level of words. But they are
limited and they are not truth itself. Ideas, in particular, are associated
with strong emotions like greed for fame and money. It is difficult to
transcend them and for that the practice of Zazen is so important and
effective.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">True living and the true experience of reality exist at the present
moment. By that we open ourselves up to them. When we enter reality, we leave
our thought processes about the past and the future. Reality happens exactly at
the present moment and has nothing to do with remembering things from the past
or hoping for things in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the balanced state we transcend the idea of an isolated self and the
distinguishing of subject and object. This is the realized universe which
Master Dôgen explained in this fundamental chapter <i>Genjo kôan</i>. The fundamental error of the concept of an <i>isolated Self like the Atman</i>, found in
India before the time of Gautama Buddha, is the cause of so much suffering and
many misunderstandings in our lives. By practising Zazen we can transcend the
limitations of the <i>isolated ego</i> and
experience unity with other people, and with nature and the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-67036780204914189612014-11-20T03:32:00.003-08:002014-11-20T03:36:06.911-08:00Master Gensa: "In the End I just cannot be deceived by Others"<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One Bright Pearl, (<i>Ikka-no-myoju</i>,
Part 3)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOPVH3Rgm7eYLTIvSYu7s05x290PPE3Ilzwawwlx-8llfNmmmZ3Isjn4SohTslqB3kosrNC5llikCkwyYPZCBTdq7vWMCZFSz5_euyrmg13PzjtpUIctC80DFWP2gUZ75XuHts7d0Cwd0/s1600/Bild+18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOPVH3Rgm7eYLTIvSYu7s05x290PPE3Ilzwawwlx-8llfNmmmZ3Isjn4SohTslqB3kosrNC5llikCkwyYPZCBTdq7vWMCZFSz5_euyrmg13PzjtpUIctC80DFWP2gUZ75XuHts7d0Cwd0/s1600/Bild+18.jpg" height="307" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is fundamental about Master Gensa? He looked at reality very
precisely and distinguished quite clearly between ideas, words and pictures on
the one hand and reality on the other. And his own words strike the very heart
and the essence of the important Buddhist questions; he never lost himself in
romantic phantasies and illusions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The example of the pearl shows us that Master Gensa was not only very
clear about the form and the material side of reality but that he also has
poetic power to speak about the beauty of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gensa practised under his Master Seppo with great intensity and without
any interruption. But one day he wanted to leave the monastery to look for
other Masters. He wanted to broaden his understanding of Buddhism and was
looking for the new strong influences of a good Master. It is said that he had
not left the monastery for a long time when he set out. But on the path not far
from the monastery<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>he stubs his toe on a stone.
Bleeding and in great pain (Master Gensa) all at once seriously reflects as
follows: ´(People say) this body is not real existence. Where does the pain
come from? ´ “<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So in this very moment of pain it was completely clear to him that his
body really existed. At the same time he thought that it was useless to go to
other monasteries and other Masters, if important reality was just here and now
and not far away. So he turned around immediately and went back to his Master
Seppo. He did not leave the monastery again his whole life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Seppo was astonished and asked him why he had come back and Gensa
answered: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“In the end I just cannot be deceived by others.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And Seppo liked these words very much and thought that Gensa was an
outstanding student, so he said:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">”<i>Is there anyone who does not have
these words (inside them)? (But) is there anyone who can speak these words (so
clearly)?” <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So the most important thing in Buddhism is to practise yourself and not
to learn theory from masters or sutras. This does not mean that theory is
useless and not necessary. But the most important thing is to experience and be
clear about yourself. Nishijima Roshi makes the comment: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Everyone should follow the stiff-necked behavior like
Gensa. But in secular society a person like Gensa is so few therefore common
human societies can never arrive the Truth at all.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But we should be very clear about
the situation in history, for example why Master Bodhidharma went from India to
China to teach true Buddhism and the practice of Zazen. He had no egoistic
intentions, he was not looking for fame or money, he just wanted to teach the
people in China and for this reason he went there. On the other hand, the
second Chinese patriarch did not go to India, because it was not necessary for him
to go there. He had learned true living Buddhism from Bodhidharma and practised
intensively and taught his students to do so too.</span></span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-42261662592665724622014-11-13T09:20:00.001-08:002014-11-13T09:21:53.131-08:00Master Gensa has recognized the Nobility of the Buddha Way<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One Bright Pearl, (<i>Ikka-no-myoju</i>,
Part 2)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2rwArp_hyYjQOESf4FyHTnXCDu1lRfC1mPek55HKbNVvA1sEgMUCJPhESpgF6BKu6C5BjvUtsVoL10UUScZO2q3sqOnnDw0ilskeqInuRF-uygBkieq6P-EgIgIGCHS20jo1TmIxnq5S/s1600/Bild+17,.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2rwArp_hyYjQOESf4FyHTnXCDu1lRfC1mPek55HKbNVvA1sEgMUCJPhESpgF6BKu6C5BjvUtsVoL10UUScZO2q3sqOnnDw0ilskeqInuRF-uygBkieq6P-EgIgIGCHS20jo1TmIxnq5S/s400/Bild+17,.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Bright Pearl is round like the disc of the moon or the sun, but it
has three dimensions so it has the ability to roll and move and this, in
particular, is a symbol of the substantial experience of Buddhism. Moving and
changing are examples of action. The universe and everything in nature and in
our lives is changing and moving all the time, so it is similar to the pearl
rolling in a bowl. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 39.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the pearl is reality itself. And indeed the sentence <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>the whole Universe in all
directions is as splendid as a bright pearl”</i>, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">is essential to the Buddha Dharma. Master Dôgen appreciates Master Gensa
so much because he was the first to say these words and to introduce them into
Buddhism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who was this very famous Master Gensa? Master Dôgen says: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Suddenly he desires to leave secular society; he
leaves his boat and enters the mountains. He is already thirty years old (but)
he has realized the precariousness of the floating world and has recognized the
nobility of the Buddha Way"<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Until this decision he was a fisherman on one of the big rivers of China
and lived from fishing. He liked to sit in his boat in the floating water as he
was a layman and had a normal social life. But it seems that he had already
achieved the balanced state of a great person and we can be sure that he was
not striving for fame, power and profit. Floating on the river he had the
opportunity to reflect about life and the limitations we have until death. So
he was asking, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“what is the purpose of our life”?</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These questions became more and more important for him and therefore he
decided to study and practise Buddhism; he left the river and his boat to look
for the Great Truth. It is said that he had not read any sutra and had no
knowledge of the theory and practice of Buddhism before. He was a layman who
suddenly became aware of the fundamental questions of life and who then pursued
the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So he went away into the mountains and eventually entered the monastery
of the famous Master <i>Seppo</i>. There he
practised with intensity and patience and he was fully integrated into the life
and work of the monastary. He had very simple clothing; for example, he had
just one piece of cotton cloth, which he mended all the time when it became
full of holes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the history of Chinese Zen-Buddhism there are many Kôan stories of
the teacher Seppo and the student Gensa, which are of fundamental
significance and which reveal the
thetrue meaning and hitting the target of Buddhism. On several occasions Master
Dôgen quotes these Kôan dialogues of Seppo and Gensa. Gensa became the
successor of Seppo in this well-known monastery in China.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-63275602899173858852014-10-29T14:47:00.002-07:002014-10-29T14:49:37.171-07:00The Pearl reflects Everything which is around Us<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One Bright Pearl, (</span><i style="font-family: Arial;">Ikka-no-myoju</i><span style="font-family: Arial;">,
Part 1)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDyZwQq1VaOReytYsubdpxrK1A73Saoz9s7eumM9b1Nia4-avdRKtRP9e-1hthN47x54hqBdsRDiJ1-wTxSiW5lsRCCgUaJ9UATtynznmdPHuyhbiKGh-B9cBz7o4Lk1_3tt5GJ1G6Rku/s1600/Bild+16..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDyZwQq1VaOReytYsubdpxrK1A73Saoz9s7eumM9b1Nia4-avdRKtRP9e-1hthN47x54hqBdsRDiJ1-wTxSiW5lsRCCgUaJ9UATtynznmdPHuyhbiKGh-B9cBz7o4Lk1_3tt5GJ1G6Rku/s1600/Bild+16..jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Master Dôgen quotes and interprets the words of the great Master <i>Gensa</i>. He appreciated him and his words
very much and wrote a special chapter on this in the <i>Shôbôgenzô</i>. The life, the true being and the universe are said to
be similar to a <i>bright pearl</i>. What
does this mean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These are very important words in ZEN-Buddhism, which were fundamental
in his time and which may be much more essential in our modern time with so
much negativity, fear und depression. We hear a lot of complaining about the
bad and negative situations in this world and many people speak increasingly
about the dark and bad sides of their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The meaning of the bright pearl is the opposite of this. And Master
Dôgen appreciated this idea so much and we understand by it that Buddhism is
not a negative philosophy and life practice as some people claim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The contrary is true. The beauty and the wonderful brightness of the
world, nature, plants and animals and the whole of human life are all essential
to this chapter. This is the true reality of the universe: we should adorn this
Buddha World.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But that does not mean that the negative and criminal sides of the world
are not seen or are suppressed, because Buddhism is not a romantic religion,
but a realistic one. There is a special chapter about ethics and wrongdoing in
the Shôbôgenzô and Master Dôgen explains quite concretely what wrongdoing is in
our world. But these wrongdoings are not part of the nature of the universe
itself. They are just produced by human beings. So it is not useful to close
our eyes to the negative side of life and to try to explain away criminal
activity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If we think about this, it is really strange that some people say Buddhism
is similar to nihilism and a negative religion. Maybe a lot of
missunderstanding is produced by the word <i>of
emptiness</i>, which is rather strange
and difficult to understand for western civilization. But emptiness does not
mean nihilism, it just refers to the fact that we are free of useless words,
ideas and strong emotions and that we can be in a balanced state, as <i>Nishijima Roshi</i> explained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The bright pearl cannot be used as a symbol for a pessimistic
understanding of our life and the world and cannot be used for a sentence like <i>“all life is suffering”</i>, which is the
way some people characterize the Buddhist teaching/philosophy. The contrary is
true. Gautama Buddha developed a philosophy of life to overcome suffering and
to help people. So he is not a theoretical philosopher but rather a therapist
in the real world, helping people directly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The bright pearl has a round form and in the Buddha Dharma this is a
symbol for a balanced life and a universe in harmony. The roundness is praised
because of its beauty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are no corners and edges. The roundness of the moon is a symbol of
beauty and harmony like the round pearl and it explains our beautiful and promising
life. In this way it can be understood as enlightenment. The pearl reflects everything which is around us, so it
is similar to a mirror, which reflects everything in front of it. A mirror is
very often a symbol in Buddhism of a clear and undisturbed view and a correct
understanding of the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The pearl is an object of many nice colors and extreme
beauty that reveal the reality</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-41971911661662304002014-10-22T05:00:00.001-07:002014-10-22T05:02:11.701-07:00Beyond Normal Life, there still may be Further Progress<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Realized Universe (<i>Genjo kôan</i>, Part 6)</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPPzFx8pCI_8zTmx17aOh7FXt5jfhAOSIQobD1vF72WKoyISQ7Xa1XvH6Mt8D1386v5PGxpD_xnACXifVHKtaweFtMI_uTWJgnmTHfAJm_VmhjfS52adK8OMheB1nzxmgKcxtVId9BJr2/s1600/Bild+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPPzFx8pCI_8zTmx17aOh7FXt5jfhAOSIQobD1vF72WKoyISQ7Xa1XvH6Mt8D1386v5PGxpD_xnACXifVHKtaweFtMI_uTWJgnmTHfAJm_VmhjfS52adK8OMheB1nzxmgKcxtVId9BJr2/s1600/Bild+15.jpg" height="325" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many dimensions for seeing reality. We as human beings have to
leave the dust and dirt of the so-called normal life to go the Buddha way. Then
we leave the normal barriers and hindrances of body-and-mind and especially of
our understanding of human beings, social groups and the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“And beyond this, there still may be further progress.
The existence of (their) practice-and-experience and the existence of their
lifetime and their life, are like this."<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is important that we find our place in this world and that we find
our true actions in society and in the realized universe. And these dimensions
cannot be only materialistic and physical, they go beyond the opposition of
subjective and objective. Because reality exists in the <i>present moment,</i> the past and the future are not so important
because they are just processes in our brain. In the state of <i>perfect realization</i> it appears together
with the Buddha Dharma and this is the natural and free situation. It is very
important to remember that mere consciousness is not so important: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Do not assume that what is attained will inevitably
self-conscious and be recognized by the intellect.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And if we are practising: to get a small part of the world, a Dharma,
means to penetrate one Dharma.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the last paragraph of this important chapter Master Dôgen tells a
kôan story about a Master, who is using a fan because it is hot and he wants to
have some refreshing coolness. A monk comes along. He is convinced that he is
very intelligent and knows a lot about the Buddha Dharma. So he tells the
Master: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The nature of air is to be ever-present, and there is
no place that (air) cannot reach. Why then does the Master use the fan?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So he might be intellectually right and have an abstract understanding
of Buddha´s teaching, but in the concrete situation of using a fan such nice
words are not very important and miss the mark. And this truth is exactly what
the Master tells the monk. But at first the monk doesn’t understand what the
Master is trying to explain to him. So he asks the question again about the
truth of the air being everywhere. But it is evident that <i>words cannot convince</i> the monk and help him to experience reality
itself. Because of this, the Master does not continue the conversation, he just
moves the fan to get fresh air. Through this action the monk immediately enters
into reality and understands the Buddhist truth, and so he prostrates himself
before the master:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The real experience of the Buddha-Dharma, the vigorous road of the
authentic transmission, is like this.”</span></span></i></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-69312160798078665222014-10-17T02:49:00.000-07:002014-10-17T02:56:52.213-07:00A Person getting Realization is like the Moon being reflected in the Water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">The Realized Universe (</span><i style="text-align: left;">Genjo kôan</i><span style="text-align: left;">, Part 5)</span></span></b></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetlIrdL7CHVw5w9qdRCzni0cvc9dQ6tFXaPI25bJmBT4S5QpxD6loyWsinH3xq8MbZ_DGJ41nFtPy4eIIa3Z5otZ37Bvj8BpJQ5fU8wjoh1Fzc5XxhAHKd0uWWuig3BGtzkTXliT-3wW7/s1600/Bild+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetlIrdL7CHVw5w9qdRCzni0cvc9dQ6tFXaPI25bJmBT4S5QpxD6loyWsinH3xq8MbZ_DGJ41nFtPy4eIIa3Z5otZ37Bvj8BpJQ5fU8wjoh1Fzc5XxhAHKd0uWWuig3BGtzkTXliT-3wW7/s1600/Bild+14.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Master Dôgen explains a analogy, that the things and phenomena in this
world “</span><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">abide in the place</i><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">” of the
dharma. So firewood becomes ash, if it’s burning, but that should not confuse
us. Firewood has its own position in the world, and ash as well. So everything </span><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">is like it is</i><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"> and we should not mingle
the facts of the world with our thinking and ideas. Firewood and ash are
different situations and are independent of each other, here and now. We
combine them by our way of thinking, but this is not reality as it is. The ash
cannot become firewood again, both have their own place in the world and in the
dharma. And Master Dôgen says that this is true for our whole life.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Life cannot be changed into death and death cannot be changed into life.
Both situations are different and have their own reality. And if we concentrate
on the true moments of our lives, this message of Master Dôgen is very clear.
And this situation is only confusing, if we don’t live in the reality of our
lives and are afraid of death in the future:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Live is an instantaneous situation and death is also
an instantaneous situation.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen speaks about the supreme status of the truth and
enlightenment and uses the simile of the full round moon:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">„A person getting realization is like the moon being
reflected in the water: the moon does not get wet and the water is not broken.
Though the light (of the moon) is wide and great, it is reflected in a foot or
an inch of water. The whole moon and the whole sky are reflected in a dew-drop
on a blade of grass in a single drop of water.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the poetic picture of the moon which is reflected and abiding in
the water, and it shows that in reality there are no obstacles between the moon
and the water. There are no limitations and there is no stress. Nature is
always very calm and this can be experienced in every moment. But it is
important that we are not deluded by strange ideas and strange emotions. So we
should be very clear about the moment itself and its length or shortness should
be investigated. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>The longness and shortness of its moment
should be investigated</i> <i>in large
(bodies of) water and small (bodies of) water.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen tells us about the reality and lives of birds. Fish swim in
the water and birds fly in the air and the sky. They are their places of
living/ the elements they inhabit. If they are in their natural element, there
is no end and there is no limitation. So they are free and living in good
conditions, where they can live and act. But if the fish leaves the water, he
must die. And if the bird falls from the sky to the earth, he will die as well:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“So we can understand that water is life and can
understand that sky is life. Birds are life and fish is life.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> And further: <i>"Simply,
when activity is great, usage is great and when necessity is small, usage is
small."<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-8555536809573433952014-09-29T05:09:00.001-07:002014-09-29T05:09:07.994-07:00To learn the Buddha’s Truth is to learn Ourselves<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Realized Universe (<i>Genjo kôan</i>, Part 4)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IGTzSi-5ZjGsXhX5quomeH3Nlcv8d4HoTGhVqmSSRb_RdRcv9vJzuFmkcOhn7k_mXsCdUOpu429UV_ZmEkMK_irWK3JS2_jawKkpK9BcyLTqm88LbbE_O21xOtM7dpXaZBkpfnT9t6Iu/s1600/Bild+alt+11,+IMG_08351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IGTzSi-5ZjGsXhX5quomeH3Nlcv8d4HoTGhVqmSSRb_RdRcv9vJzuFmkcOhn7k_mXsCdUOpu429UV_ZmEkMK_irWK3JS2_jawKkpK9BcyLTqm88LbbE_O21xOtM7dpXaZBkpfnT9t6Iu/s1600/Bild+alt+11,+IMG_08351.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Dharma way is like this:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“To learn the Buddha’s truth is to learn ourselves. To
learn ourselves is to forget ourselves. To forget ourselves is to be experienced
by the myriad dharmas. To be experienced by the myriad dharmas is to let our
own body and mind, and the body and mind of the external world, fall away.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So we have to transcend our fixations with ideas, our rigid goals for
the future and our stiff emotions, which are controlling us, and we have to
break the connected cycles of our life. In this way we can be open for new
developments and the great truth of Buddhism. It is necessary to be open to the
variety and beauty of the world and to experience people, and the many things
and phenomena of our daily lives. We should leave the fixations of a subjective
body and a subjective mind attached to the ego, and free ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this way “<i>our own body and mind
fall away</i>.” If we want to find our true self, we have to forget the old ego
because <i>Zen mind is beginner´s mind,</i>
to quote Master Shunryu Suzuki. Even the so-called objective external world,
our body and especially our agitated mind, which is constantly looking here and
there, should fall away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Nishijima Roshi tells us, we have to transcend the philosophy and
views of simple idealism and materialism, because these two dimensions are
one-sided and are not the whole truth. The thinking mind will be very narrow,
if it is controlled by these philosophies. In this way it cannot become free.
This means that the world of materialistic pleasure is in reality a narrow and
poor world too. A pleasure seeker cannot find Buddha’s truth which is fine and
profound. If we lose ourselves in such superficial pleasures, we are separated
from the wonderful flower of the Dharma.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many people are convinced that they have an ego, which is more or less
fixed and unchangeable in their lives. They may admit that we change a little
bit and of course we look different when we are young and adult. But many are
convinced that there is something like a central core in us, like a particle or
something similar, even though it’s
difficult to explain whether it is in the body or in the mind. In the religion
of Brahmanism, which existed before the time of Gautama Buddha, they called
this core <i>Atman.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But Gautama Buddha explained very clearly that this is a big
misunderstanding of our self. And he found that because of the <i>delusion of this Atman</i> a lot of <i>suffering</i> would arise during our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen uses the analogy of a man sailing in a boat: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>When a man is sailing along in a boat and he
moves his eyes to the shore, he misapprehends that the shore is moving. If he
keeps his eyes fixed on the boat, he knows that it is the boat which is moving
forward.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So very often we are convinced that we have a fixed ego and that the
surrounding world is moving and changing. But this is wrong. If we observe
ourselves clearly, we can see that there is no unchanging body or mind. Of
course, this is a big opportunity for a learning process: we can develop
ourselves, we can change, we can learn and use the wonderful chances which we
have in our lives. If we have the delusion of there being a static ego which is
constant like a materialistic thing, it is impossible to act freely and to be
open for new developments and new chances. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All the possibilities of life are open in every moment
of existence time, just here and now. This can be experienced in Zazen
practice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-20278123396377995222014-09-23T07:45:00.001-07:002014-09-23T08:02:50.256-07:00There is just the Moment of true Existence<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Realized Universe (<i>Genjo kôan</i>, Part 3)</span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first and the second sentences in the above quotation desribe the
views and philosophies of idealism and materialism. Both are intellectual
philosophies which distinguish between the <i>thinking
I</i> and the <i>objects</i> of the
thinking. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These intellectual views are completely different from the practical
dimension of <i>true reality</i> as
mentioned in the third and fourth sentences of Master Dôgen´s quotation. In the
third sentence he describes the great and whole truth of Gautama Buddha and the
practice of life, which transcends theory, thinking, discrimination and
feeling. This is true reality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the fourth sentence, Master Dôgen tells us that we do not live in an
ideal world like Paradise or Nirvana. Thus, beautiful flowers will eventually
wilt and weeds grow bigger and bigger. Neither effect do we really like, but
they are reality. But Dôgen tells us that we should not become depressive as a
result of these effects, because we are the owners of the great Buddha’s truth
and the practice of Zen meditation, <i>Zazen.</i>
We can all realize our true <i>Buddha Nature</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen doesn’t speak about rigid, separated entities like atoms,
which do not change; that is not the whole real world. He speaks about <i>living processes and situations that</i> we
can see and experience in reality. But even processes are thought of as
developments in linear time, which is not <i>the
true spiritual time</i> of the real moment, so it, too, is part of the <i>area of thinking</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we <i>transcend this dimension of time,</i> there
is just the <i>moment of true existence</i>
and the unlimited experience of great truth and reality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Master Dôgen has written a special chapter about <i>existence time</i>, <i>uji</i>,
which really represents a revolutionary understanding and experience of time.
We assume, that our ideas, and especially discriminations, are normally static,
that they don’t change, but this is completely wrong. May be we know
intuitively what reality is and we stop wasting our time, <i>wasting our moments here and now</i>. If we understand and realize
this, we become enlightened, as Gautama Buddha wanted us to be. And the first
stage of/step to enlightenment is the practice of Zazen, as Nishijima Roshi
told us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the next paragraph Dôgen analyzes the <i>action </i>of human beings, which is so important in Buddhism. If we
are attached to objectives and goals resulting from egoism, it is impossible to transcend
delusions, we dream bad dreams and are not in
reality. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But <i>“when the myriad Dharma’s actively practice
and experience ourselves, that is the state of realization”.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What does that mean? That we must open our Self and transcend egoistic
and egocentric thinking and acting. Important for this acting is that there is
no greed for fame or profit and that we act as in accordance with the situation
as it really is. Such acting is the essence of right Zazen practice, free from
greed for enlightenment, just sitting in the right position, as it is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-82744305401184496842014-09-19T04:44:00.001-07:002014-09-19T05:05:23.836-07:00Idealism and Materialism are not the whole Reality<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
<h3>
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Realized Universe</i> (<i>Genjo kôan</i>, Part 2)</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">The first paragraph of this chapter is as follows</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal;"> </span></span></i><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">“<i>When all
dharmas are (seen as) the Buddha Dharma, then there is delusion and
realization, there is practice, there is life and there is death, there are
Buddhas and there are ordinary beings.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">“<i>When the myriad dharmas are each not of the
self, there is no delusion and no realization, no Buddhas and no ordinary
beings, no life and no death.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal;"> </span></span></i><!--[endif]--><i><span lang="EN-US">“The Buddha’s
truth is originally transcendent over abundance and scarcity. So there is life
and death, there is delusion and realization, there are beings and Buddhas.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">“<i>And though it is like this, it is only that
flowers, while loved, fall; and weeds while hated, flourish.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What does Master Dôgen want to tell us with such important sentences
which are not easy to understand? Without question they are altogether the essence
of Zen Buddhist teaching, but often they are misunderstood and people are not
aware of their true meaning and do not concentrate on it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we read this chapter of the Shôbôgenzô and especially these sentences
very carefully, we understand that there are four different views or, more
precisely, four philosophies of our life and of the world in general. The first
sentence explains that a distinction can be made between delusion and
realization, between practice and acting and life and death and between Buddha
and ordinary beings. This philosophy is based on ideas and thinking, for
example on the basis of theory and teaching. even the sutras in Buddhism. It is
the idealistic method. But normally this philosophy expressed in sentence one
is based on the belief in a <i>separate ego
or I</i>: the thinking I has ideas and theories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The dimension of the second sentence is completely different and
represents another method of thinking:
It is the <i>materialistic view,</i> focused
on the outside of the person. In this case the thinking I is not important. It
can be characterized by <i>“when the myriad
Dharmas are each not of the self</i>.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is not the subject who is thinking ideas and theories; on the
contrary, it is the view and belief that there is an <i>objective world outside </i>us. In this case we cannot speak of
delusion and realization, Buddhas and ordinary human beings, life and death. In
other words the <i>meaning</i> of these
words and ideas cannot be understood because the <i>materialistic philosophy</i> is not aware of the delusion and
realization of Buddhas and ordinary people. The materialistic view has no
understanding of the Buddhist teachings. This view sees only the outside and
form and has no understanding of spiritual or mental contents. It is clear that
this philosophy is very close to the understanding of the natural sciences and
technology in the western world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But as we know, the scholar <i>Albert
Einstein</i>, who might be considered the greatest physicist of the last
century, was a religious and spiritual person and he was quite aware of the
limitations of our scientific understanding of the world. In the same way, the
great physicists <i>Max Planck</i> and <i>Werner Heisenberg</i> are quite clear about
the areas that can be understood by the thinking human brain and what cannot be
understood. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Therefore we can assume that a one-sided materialistic view is not
sufficient for us to understand ourselves and the world; these brilliant
scholars in the natural sciences were already
aware of these limitations, more than one century ago. Another scholar, a
social scientist, <i>Niklas Luhmann</i>,
teaches us very clearly that the world is of infinite complexity. In this way
science tells us to be humble and not to over-estimate what we can understand
with intellectual thinking. A philosophy of life, which is just materialistic,
is indeed naive and superficial.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160480450542300734.post-3444256206427049182014-09-11T13:51:00.000-07:002014-09-14T03:25:26.372-07:00The Realized Universe (Genjo kôan), Part 1)<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 3.6pt;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The literal translation of the Japanese word Genjo kôan is the realized
law of the world or of the universe and our life. That means Buddha´s teaching
or the Dharma, the truth. Through this realization there is a unity of the law
and true life in our world and in this way the whole of reality becomes true.
This chapter is without doubt one of the most important ones in the Shôbôgenzô
and in Zen Buddhism. It was the first in the edition of 75 chapters and this
underlines its great importance. It is short but extremely meaningful.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the Buddha Way it is important that we experience and trust both the
teaching of the Dharma and the many things? objects? and phenomena in the
world. And it is not beneficial, if we are too busy to realize enlightenment,
pushing ourselves and feeling stressed as a result of our own activities and
the goal of having a spiritually egoistical and maybe exotic adventure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But if we do not pursue and practise the Buddha Way, it is impossible to
reach the path of liberation. And we should be aware of our delusions, which
are quoted in the following words of the Shôbôgenzô. We should see our
delusions very clearly and try to refrain from making such errors or worse
ones. If we don’t, it will be rather impossible to overcome these delusions.
And we will distance ourselves more and
more from the Dharma, that means from the true law of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Even if we have a very keen intellect and trained powers of observation
and try hard with all our physical and mental faculties, it will be impossible
to realize the truth of this world. Why? If we rely just on these areas, every
kind of understanding and action will be one-sided and we will be blind to
broader, true dimensions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The following paragraph should be studied very precisely and I will
follow the interpretation that was developed by Dôgen and Nishijima Roshi, the
reliable practice and teaching of Gautama Buddha. This is necessary if we are
not to be trapped by contradictions and
lost in its logical complexity. And Master Dôgen clearly underlines that Zen is
logical and not irrational, but it needs a wholly intuitive mind. Normal
western intelligence is not sufficient. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The teaching of Buddhism, especially in Zen, is never against reading
the Sutras and if somebody claims they are useless, he has really not
understood Zen Bu</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ddhism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Yudo J. Seggelkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794329028195550593noreply@blogger.com