Before continuing with our study of the 13th century text, “Mountain and Rivers Sutra” written by Zen Master Eihei Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan, I want to talk about the main reason Dogen’s essay seems so difficult and obscure.
We in the West have been educated in a particular way and because of that when we look at Dogen’s writing we naturally try to understand it as we would any other text that we have read in high school or college. But Dogen is not writing this essay so we can say what it means on an exam or employ it in conversation or apply it in activity and work. This is how we usually think about spiritual writings. Dogen’s way is not like that. Reading and studying Dogen’s writing has a very different purpose than what we usually meet when reading most spiritual writings. To understand Dogen, we have to enter into a bigger mind and Dogen’s main purpose is to give us access to this greater mind.
This is very difficult — difficult to enter, and difficult to sustain. If you are doing the mind-expanding practices that I have been suggesting over the last few months, you have probably caught yourself many times as you notice that your thinking has returned to the same mindset that you have always had. We all do this. I’ve often come up against a phrase like “the green mountains are always walking” with my usual mindset. It’s at those times that I believe that I’ll never be able to appreciate Dogen’s writing. He just doesn’t make sense. “Mountains don’t walk!” I say. “What is he talking about?”
But of course I can’t understand what Dogen means by “green mountains are always walking” from my usual mindset, because Dogen’s essay is all about undoing. Unlike much of the writing I’m accustomed to, it is not about doing. It’s about undoing the teaching that has resulted in my ordinary western-trained mind. Dogen’s purpose here is to undo everything that I have learned that ties me up in the knots that have caused me to live in ways that are harmful to me, to my close relations and even to this planet. His purpose is to undo all that and show me how to live just as I am — a sacred awesome presence in this moment of time. In other words, he is trying to show me how to stop confusing myself with my thoughts. That’s why his writing can be so perplexing.
Suggested practice: Before you head out into your day, take some time to meditate deeply on the miracle of the simple fact that you are here, in this place, at this time. Making a gratitude list can help evoke this state of mind. When you have established a sense of appreciation for your life, begin your day’s activity. Then, as you go through the day, notice, without judging, how often you lose that appreciation.
Kuya Minogue is the resident teacher at Sakura-ji, Creston’s zendo. This column is part of a long essay on an essay by 13th century Zen master Eihei Dogen and is inspired by the teaching of Norman Fishcher. For more information, Minogue can be reached at 250-428-6500, and previous columns are available at www.zenwords.net.
