Fukan-zazengi

[APPENDIX]

普勧坐禅儀

FUKAN-ZAZENGI

Universal Guide to the Standard Method of Zazen

[Rufu-bon—The Popular Edition¹]

Now, when we research it, the truth originally is all around: why should we rely upon practice and experience? The real vehicle exists naturally: why should we put forth great effort? Furthermore, the whole body far transcends dust and dirt: who could believe in the means of sweeping and polishing?² In general, we do not stray from the right state: of what use, then, are the tip-toes of training?

However, if there is a thousandth or a hundredth of a gap, the separation is as great as that between heaven and earth;³ and if a trace of disagreement arises, we lose the mind in confusion. Proud of our understanding and richly endowed with realization, we obtain special states of insight; we attain the truth; we clarify the mind; we acquire the zeal that pierces the sky; we ramble through remote intellectual spheres, going in with the head: and yet, we have almost completely lost the vigorous road of getting the body out.

Moreover, we can [still] see the traces of the six years spent sitting up straight by the natural sage of Jetavana park.⁴ We can still hear rumors of the nine years spent facing the wall by the transmitter of the mind-seal of Shaolin [temple].⁵ The ancient saints were like that already: how could people today fail to make effort?

Therefore we should cease the intellectual work of studying sayings and chasing words. We should learn the backward step of turning light and reflecting. Body and mind will naturally fall away, and the original features will manifest themselves before us. If we want to attain the matter of the ineffable, we should practice the matter of the ineffable at once.⁶

In general, a quiet room is good for practicing [Za]zen, and food and drink are taken in moderation. Cast aside all involvements. Give the myriad things a rest. Do not think of good and bad. Do not consider right and wrong. Stop the driving movement of mind, will, consciousness. Cease intellectual consideration through images, thoughts, and reflections. Do not aim to become a buddha. How could [this] be connected with sitting or lying down?⁷

We usually spread a thick mat on the place where we sit, and use a round cushion on top of that. Either sit in the full lotus posture or sit in the half lotus posture. To sit in the full lotus posture, first put the right foot on the left thigh, then put the left foot on the right thigh. To sit in the half lotus posture, just press the left foot onto the right thigh.⁸

Spread the clothing loosely and make it neat.⁹ Then put the right hand above the left foot, and place the left hand on the right palm. The thumbs meet and support each other. Just make the body right and sit up straight. Do not lean to the left, incline to the right, slouch forward, or lean backward. The ears must be aligned with the shoulders, and the nose aligned with the navel. Hold the tongue against the palate, keep the lips and teeth closed, and keep the eyes open. Breathe softly through the nose.

When the physical posture is already settled, make one complete exhalation and sway left and right. Sitting immovably in the mountain-still state, “Think about this concrete state beyond thinking.” “How can the state beyond thinking be thought about?” “It is different from thinking.”¹⁰ This is just the pivot of Zazen.

This sitting in Zazen is not learning Zen concentration.¹¹ It is simply the peaceful and joyful gate of Dharma. It is the practice-and-experience which perfectly realizes the state of bodhi. The Universe is conspicuously realized, and restrictions and hindrances¹² never reach it. To grasp this meaning is to be like a dragon that has found water, or like a tiger in its mountain stronghold. Remember, the right Dharma is naturally manifesting itself before us, and darkness and distraction¹³ have dropped away already.

If we rise from sitting, we should move the body slowly, and stand up calmly. We should not be hurried or violent. We see in the past that those who transcended the common and transcended the sacred, and those who died while sitting or died while standing,¹⁴ relied totally on this power. Moreover, the changing of the moment, through the means of a finger,¹⁵ a pole,¹⁶ a needle, or a wooden clapper;¹⁷ and the experience of the state,¹⁸ through the manifestation of a whisk,¹⁹ a fist, a staff, or a shout,²⁰ can never be understood by thinking and discrimination.²¹ How could they be known through mystical powers or practice and experience? They may be dignified behavior beyond sound and form.²² How could they be anything other than criteria that precede knowing and seeing?

Therefore, we do not discuss intelligence as superior and stupidity as inferior. Do not choose between clever people and dull ones. If we single-mindedly make effort [in Zazen] that truly is pursuit of the truth. Practice-and-experience is naturally untainted.²³ Actions are more balanced and constant.²⁴

In general, [the patriarchs] of this world and of other directions, of the Western Heavens and of the Eastern Lands, all similarly maintain the Buddha's posture, and solely indulge in the custom of our religion. They simply devote themselves to sitting, and are caught by the still state.

Although there are myriad distinctions and thousands of differences, we should just practice [Za]zen and pursue the truth. Why should we abandon our own seat on the floor, to come and go without purpose through the dusty borders of foreign lands?²⁵ If we misplace one step we pass over the moment of the present. We have already received the essential pivot²⁶ which is the human body: we must never pass time in vain.²⁷ We are maintaining and relying upon the pivotal essence²⁸ which is the Buddha's truth: who could wish idly to enjoy sparks [that fly] from flint? What is more, the body is like a dew-drop on a blade of grass. Life passes like a flash of lightning. Suddenly it is gone. In an instant it is lost.

I beseech you, noble friends in learning through experience, do not become so accustomed to images that you are dismayed by the real dragon.²⁹ Devote effort to the truth which is directly accessible and straightforward. Revere people who are beyond study and without intention.³⁰ Accord with the bodhi of the buddhas. Become a rightful successor to the samādhi of the patriarchs. If you practice the state like this for a long time, you will surely become the state like this itself. The treasure-house will open naturally, and you will be free to receive and to use [its contents] as you like.

Fukan-zazengi ends

Notes

1. There are two main versions of Fukan-zazengi; namely, 真筆本 (SHINPITSU-BON), the Original Edition (lit. the edition written in the author's own hand), and 流布本 (RUFU-BON), the Popular Edition. Master Dogen wrote the Shinpitsu-bon shortly after returning from China to Japan in 1227. He later revised this edition before settling upon the Rufu-bon. Whereas Master Dogen wrote Shobogenzo itself in Japanese, he wrote Fukan-zazengi in Chinese characters only. It is originally one long passage; here it has been divided into paragraphs for ease of reading. ↩︎

2. The words “dust and dirt” (塵埃, JINNAI) and “sweeping and polishing” (払拭, HOSSHIKI) allude to a story about Master Daikan Eno and a monk called Jinshu. Jinshu compared Buddhist practice to making a mirror clean. Master Daikan Eno suggested that there is originally no impurity in the first place. (See chap. 22, Kokyo.) Master Dogen picked up the words of the story in these opening lines in which he expresses the fundamentally optimistic idea of Buddhist philosophy. ↩︎

3. Master Dogen picked up these words from Master Kanchi Sosan's poem Shinjinmei. In this part Master Dogen cautions us against falling into the state in which we think too much. ↩︎

4. Jetavana lit. means “Prince Jeta's Park.” This was a park purchased from Prince Jeta, a son of King Prasenajit of Kośala, by a lay disciple of the Buddha called Sudatta or Anāthapiṇḍada, and donated to the Buddha as a place for the rains retreat in Śrāvastī (110km north-east of present-day Lucknow). ↩︎

5. 心印 (SHIN-IN), “mind-seal,” is an abbreviation of 仏心印 (BUTSU-SHIN-IN) “Buddha-mind-seal.” 印 (IN) comes from the Sanskrit word mudrā which means “seal.” In Shobogenzo Master Dogen identifies 仏心印 (BUTSU-SHIN-IN) with the full lotus posture. Shaolin is the name of the temple where Master Bodhidharma introduced Zazen into China. ↩︎

6. “Matter of the ineffable” is 恁麼事 (INMO [no] JI). Master Tozan preached to the assembly, “If you want to attain the matter of the ineffable, you must have become someone ineffable. Now that you are already someone ineffable, why worry about attaining the matter of the ineffable?” See chap. 29, Inmo. ↩︎

7. Sitting and lying down represent the four kinds of behavior: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. Master Dogen suggested that Zazen is transcendent over the ordinary actions of daily life. ↩︎

8. Master Dogen gives the left foot on the right thigh as an example. The right foot placed on the left thigh is also the correct lotus posture. ↩︎

9. Specifically this refers to the custom of not stretching the kaṣāya tightly across the knees. ↩︎

10. These lines come from a conversation between Master Yakusan Igen and a monk. They are discussed at length in chap. 27, Zazenshin. ↩︎

11. Sekimon-rinkanroku relates how historians listed Master Bodhidharma alongside people who were learning Zen concentration (習禅 SHUZEN). See chap. 30, Gyoji, para. [193]. In his commentary, Master Dogen says, “[Master Bodhidharma] sat in stillness facing the wall, but he was not learning Zen concentration.” ↩︎

12. “Restrictions and hindrances” is 羅篭 (RARO), silk nets and bamboo cages used in China to catch birds and fish. ↩︎

13. 昏散 (KONSAN), “darkness and distraction,” are representative examples of unnatural or imbalanced conditions of body and mind. 昏 (KON) represents the Sanskrit styāna and 散 (SAN) represents vikṣepa, two of the many defilements listed in Sanskrit commentaries. ↩︎

14. Master Mahākāśyapa, for example, is said to have died while sitting on Kukkuṭapāda mountain, and Master Kankei Shikan (see chap. 8, Raihai-tokuzui), is said to have died while standing up. ↩︎

15. Master Gutei used to raise one finger to answer a question that could not be answered with words. ↩︎

16. Master Ānanda realized the truth when a temple flagpole fell to the ground. ↩︎

17. 鎚 (TSUI), sometimes written 椎 (TSUI). This is a small wooden block used to beat an octagonal wooden pillar. Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, for example, is said to have preached the truth by using the tsui. ↩︎

18. 証契 (SHOKAI) Lit. “experience-accord,” means to experience the same state as Gautama Buddha. See notes on chap. 16, Shisho. ↩︎

19. 払子 (HOSSU), a ceremonial whisk with a wooden handle and a plume of animal hair or other material. ↩︎

20. Master Baso Do-itsu, for example, was famous for having a very loud yell. ↩︎

21. Alludes to Lotus Sutra Hoben-bon (Expedient Means). See LS 1.88–90. ↩︎

22. 声色之外威儀 (SHOSHIKI no hoka no IIGI). The same characters appear in a poem by Master Kyogen Chikan, quoted in chap. 9, Keisei-sanshiki. ↩︎

23. Alludes to a conversation between Master Daikan Eno and Master Nangaku Ejo about the oneness of practice and experience. See chap. 7, Senjo. ↩︎

24. 平常 (BYOJO). 平 (BYO, HEI) means level or peaceful. 常 (JO) means constant. As a compound 平常 (BYOJO, HEIJO) means normal. It appears in the phrase 平常心 (BYOJOSHIN, HEIJOSHIN), “balanced and constant mind” or “normal mind.” See Butsu-kojo-no-ji (28-chapter edition). ↩︎

25. Alludes to a parable in the Shinge (Belief and Understanding) chapter of the Lotus Sutra about a son who wanders in poverty through foreign lands, unaware that he is the heir to his father's fortune. See LS 1.236. ↩︎

26. 機要 (KIYO). ↩︎

27. 莫虚度光陰 (KOIN munashiku wataru koto nakare). The same characters appear at the end of the verse Sandokai by Master Sekito Kisen. ↩︎

28. 要機 (YOKI). The words 機要 (KIYO) and 要機 (YOKI) feature prominently in chap. 27, Zazenshin. 機 (KI) means mechanism or, sometimes, the state at the moment of the present. 要 (YO) means the main point, important part, pivot. ↩︎

29. Refers to the story of Shoko, who loved images of dragons but who was terrified to meet a real dragon. The real dragon means Zazen. ↩︎

30. 絶学無為人 (ZETSU-GAKU-MU-I [no] HITO). Master Yoka Genkaku's poem Shodoka begins with the words, “Gentlemen, do you not see? A person beyond study and without intention, who is at ease in the truth, does not try to get rid of delusion and does not want to get reality.” ↩︎