Zazen gi Supplemental
Notes
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1. "Do not figure to make a buddha" alludes to the
famous kôan known as "Nanyue polishes a tile",
on which Dôgen comments at length in the Shôbôgenzô
zazen shin. Here is the version of the story he gives there
(DZZ.1:91-93, passim).
When the Chan master Daji of
Jiangxi was studying with the Chan master Dahui of Nanyue, after
intimately receiving the mind seal, he always practiced zazen.
Once Nanyue went to Daji and said, "Worthy one, what are
you figuring to do, sitting there in meditation?" Jiangxi
said, "I'm figuring to make a buddha." At this point,
Nanyue took up a tile and began to rub it on a stone. At length,
Daji asked, "Master, what are you doing?" Nanyue said,
"I'm polishing this to make a mirror." Daji said, "How
can you produce a mirror by polishing a tile?" Nanyue replied,
"How can you make a buddha by sitting in meditation?"
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2. Dôgen's directions here follow the recommendation of
the Zuochan yi, but there is considerable difference of
opinion within the Buddhist tradition on how to arrange the legs
during meditation. The posture described here, with the left
leg crossed over the right, is sometimes called the gøma
("demon quelling") position; the opposite form, in
which the right leg is crossed over the left (the so-called kichijô,
or "auspicious" posture), is probably the more
common in many traditions. Though Dôgen's style is sometimes
considered standard for the Zen school, both forms can be found
in the school's literature. Similar disagreements over whether
the left or the right should be on top can be found in descriptions
of the half lotus posture and in the placement of the hands.
In the Hôkyô ki (DZZ.2:386), Dôgen
reports that his teacher, Rujing, held that the position of the
legs might be reversed if they become painful after long sitting.
In his Fukan zazen gi, Dôgen
follows the Zuochan yi in recommending at this point that
the practitioner stretch the body up and swing it back and forth
to the left and the right. Keizan's Zazen yôjin ki
[SSZ.Shûgen 2:427a] explains that one should swing
the body from side to side seven or eight times, gradually reducing
the length of the arc, an exercise still widely followed in Sôtô
practice.
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3. In the Hôkyô ki (DZZ.2:386), Rujing
advises Dôgen that one may either press the tongue against
the palate or the front teeth.
The recommendation here to keep
the eyes open during zazen follows the advice of the Zuochan
yi, whose author goes on to argue for this practice, citing
the precedent of past meditation adepts and quoting his own master,
Fayun, who criticized the practice of meditation with the eyes
closed as "the ghost cave of the black mountain". Not
only, he says, does the opening of the eyes ward off drowsiness,
but it can serve to enhance the power of samâdhi. (ZS.279)
Other Buddhist accounts of meditation, however, sometimes favor
closing the eyes completely. In the Hôkyô ki
(DZZ.2:386.), Rujing says that, while experienced meditators,
not susceptible to drowsiness, may sit with eyes closed, beginners
should keep them open. Dôgen reiterates his warning against
closing the eyes in his discussion of night zazen in the Bendô
hô (DZZ.2:314).
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4. This passage is taken from the kôan known as "Yueshan's
not thinking", which appears several times in Dôgen's
writings. Here is the version of the story on which he comments
at the opening of his Shôbôgenzô zazen shin
(DZZ.1:90).
Once, when the Great Master Hongdao
of Yueshan was sitting [in meditation], a monk asked him, "What
are you thinking of (shiryô), [sitting there] so
fixedly (gotsugotsuchi)?" The master answered, "I'm
thinking of not thinking (fu shiryô tei)."
The monk asked, "How do you think of not thinking?"
The Master answered, "Nonthinking (hi shiryô)."
Yueshan's first answer might
also be rendered, "I'm thinking the unthinkable", and
his final remark could be read, "It isn't thinking";
the translation chosen here follows the usual Sôtô
interpretation. The use of Yueshan's words in the Zazen gi
to describe the practice of zazen accords with the vulgate text
of Dôgen's Fukan zazen gi (DZZ.2:165), but
the earlier, autograph text of the Fukan zazen gi uses
instead a quotation from the Zuochan yi (ZS.281):
Whenever a thought occurs, be
aware of it; as soon as you are aware of it, it will vanish.
If you remain for a long period forgetful of objects, you will
naturally become unified. The is the essential of art of zazen.
(DZZ.2:4.)
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5. The famous phrase "undefiled practice and verification
(fuzenna no shushô)" alludes to the conversation
between the Sixth Patriarch and his disciple Nanyue Huairang,
to which Dôgen often makes reference. Here is the version
of the story given in his Shôbôgenzô sanbyaku
soku (DZZ.2:219).
The Zen Master Dahui of Mt. Nanyue
visited the Sixth Patriarch. The Patriarch asked him, "Where
do you come from?" The Master said, "I come from the
National Teacher An on Mt. Song." The Patriarch said, "What
is it that comes like this?" The Master was without means
[to answer]. After attending [the Patriarch] for eight years,
he finally recognized the question. Thereupon, he announced to
the Patriarch, "I've understood what you put to me when
I first came: 'What is it that comes like this?'" The Patriarch
asked, "How do you understand it?" The Master replied,
"To say it's like anything wouldn't hit it." The Patriarch
said, "Then is it contingent on practice and verification?"
The Master answered, "Practice and verification are not
nonexistent; they're not to be defiled." The Patriarch said,
"Just this 'not defiled' is what the buddhas bear in mind.
You're like this, I'm like this, and all the patriarchs of the
Western Heavens [i. e., India] are like this."
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