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1. The reference to “the ancestor who cut off his arm to get the marrow” is the Second Patriarch, Huike; the “the master who will teach you the sloughing off of body and mind” is likely a reference to Dogen’s teacher, Rujing. 2. The source is unidentified. 3. Zhenji is better known as Congshen Zhaozhou, dharma heir of Nanchuan Puyuan. His words appear in the Recorded Sayings and Life of the Chan Master Zhaozhou Zhenji (Zhaozhou Zhenji chanshi yulu bing xingzhuang, fasc. 13 in Guzunsu yulu). 4. Zhixian (died 895) was a dharma-successor of Linji. Moshan, whose ordination name was Liaoran, was a dharma heir of Gaoan Dayu in the lineage of Nanyue. Moshan is the name of the mountain (in Jiangxi province) where she lived. The encounter between Moshan and Zhixian is not mentioned in Chinese sources. Their conversation invokes a famous exhange in the Vimalakirti Sutra, in which Sariputra seeks to persuade a goddess to change herself into a male. 5. Huangbo Yun is a reference to the famous Huangbo Xiyun, who died sometime during the Dazhong era (847-860). 6. Dogen’s source for this story remains unclear. The name Miaoxin does not appear in the Chinese chronicles. Miaoxin’s master, Yangshan, is Yangshan Huiji (803-887), desciple of Weishan Lingyou (771-853). The conversation about the remarks of Caoqi Gaozu (i.e., the Sixth Patriarch) on the wind and the flag deals with the well-known story in which Hui-neng, encountering monks arguing over whether it was the wind or the flag that was moving, told them that it was neither: it was only their mind that was moving. 7. The interpretation of this passage has sparked much controversy in recent years. It is also possible to read the passage, “And there will also certainly be some lay women and nuns who have decided not to pay homage to their dharma-transmitting teachers. Because these [lay women and nuns] know nothing and have not studied, they are close to animals and distant from the buddhas and the ancestors.” 8. A reference to the well-known story in the Lotus Sutra of an eight year old girl, identified only as the daughter of the Dragon King, who, after singing the praises of the Buddha, transforms herself into a man and attains buddhahood. The “four groups” of followers of the Buddha are the monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. More narrowly, the four groups may denote those who have “left home,” namely, monks, nuns, male novices, and female novices. 9. Dogen is paraphrasing one of the Vinayas here, most likely the passage in the Four Part Vinaya (Sifen lu), which says that a monk is guilty of an unpardonable offense if he inserts, with “lustful intent”, his penis into the anus or mouth of a man or into the anus, vagina, or mouth of a woman. 10. The first of the four universal vows taken by bodhisattvas. 11. For this story see the “Shin Fukatoku” chapter of the Shobogenzo. 12. The “group of eight” kinds of protectors of the dharma include various types of gods, demons, dragons, snakes, and fabulous birds. The “group of thirty-six” is less common, and its exact referent here is unclear. The “group of 84,000” likely refers to all dharmas. 13. Doubtless a reference to the Dragon King’s daughter’s buddhahood mentioned above. 14. Wheel-Turning Sage Kings” indicates the ideal ruler who unifies and brings order to the world through moral suasion rather than brute military force. Shakudaikan’in is a reference to the god Indra. 15. The ten evil deeds are (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) wrongful sexual activity, (4) lying, (5) frivolous talk, (6) speaking ill of others, (7) speaking with two tongues so as to sow dissension between people, (8) covetousness, (9) anger, and (10) false views. The ten major precepts are (1) not to kill, (2) not to steal, (3) not to engage in sexual activity, (4) not to lie, (5) not to sell intoxicants, (6) not to speak about the faults of others, (7) not to praise oneself and defame others, (8) not to be grudging in giving, (9) not to become angry, and (10) not to slander the three treasures (the buddhas, the dharma, and the sangha). 16. A standard set of the five heinous deeds lists them as (1) patricide, (2) matricide, (3) killing an arhat, (4) causing a schism within the sangha, and (5) shedding the blood of a buddha. An alternative set lists (1) destroying monasteries, burning scriptures, and looting monastic property, (2) slandering the teachings of the three vehicles, (3) beating, tormenting, forcibly laicizing, or killing members of the sangha, (4) committing the five heinous offenses mentioned in the first set, (5) rejecting the law of cause and effect. |