In his essay, “Mountains and Rivers Sutra”, 13th-century Zen master Eihei Dogen says, “When most human beings see water, they only see that it flows unceasingly. This is a limited human view; there are actually many kinds of flowing. Water flows on the Earth, in the sky, upward and downward. It flows around a single curve or into many bottomless abysses.”
Here Dogen is pointing to the enormous varieties of forms that water can take. Not only can we each see water differently, but water itself takes a million forms and engages in a million activities. It flows up and down and around curves and then goes straight. It becomes clouds and when it falls to the ground it becomes rivers. Here Dogen is evoking a passage from a traditional Buddhist text called “The Lotus Sutra”, in which Buddha teaches that the dharma, the compassionate teachings, are like rain that falls from the sky. Rain doesn’t discriminate — it equally nourishes weeds and the food we grow. Everybody and everything is nurtured by the dharma rain, not just the people who are practicing Zen or any other religious path. The dharma is universally given, and in that way, it is like water.
Dogen goes on, “The path of water is not noticed by water but is actualized by water. It is not unnoticed by water but is actualized by water.” Here he is saying that water manifests as water whether it knows it or not. The point is not whether water knows it is water, but that water always manifests as life. The same is true with us. The point is not that we know what we are learning about our spiritual lives. It’s not that important that we know. But it is important that we fully live and embrace our spiritual selves.
To say there are places where water does not reach is the mistaken teaching of the people who think their religious path is the only true path. Water exists everywhere, even inside fire. Water also exists inside the mind, says Dogen. Here he is expanding his contemplation into the realization that water is not only a physical substance but is the spiritual principle that ignites the transformational moment that reveals the luminous truth that shines in everything that exists.
When water falls to the ground, it collects in gardens, rivers, and lakes. Only then does water become useful. Dogen is saying that the compassionate teachings collect in dharma centres and in realized teachers. When it collects in this way, we can make use of it in our spiritual lives. That’s what a Zen centre is — a place where the teachings have been cultivated and nurtured through practice and then pooled in a teacher.
Even this 500-word essay is like a little puddle of rain water.
Suggested practice: Identify the places in our community where the waters of spiritual teachings have pooled and visit those places to taste the nectar of spiritual teachings.
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 Fischer. For more information, Minogue can be reached at 250-428-6500, and previous columns are available at www.zenwords.net.
