Preface

Preface

Shobogenzo was written by Master Dogen in the thirteenth century. I think that reading Shobogenzo is the best way to come to an exact understanding of Buddhist theory, because Master Dogen was outstanding in his ability to understand and explain Buddhism rationally.

Of course, Master Dogen did not depart from traditional Buddhist thought. But at the same time, his thought as expressed in Shobogenzo follows his own unique method of presentation. If we understand what this method is, Shobogenzo is not so difficult to read. But unless we understand his method of thinking, it is completely impossible for us to understand what Master Dogen is trying to say in Shobogenzo.

Buddhists revere Buddha, Dharma and Samgha. Buddha means Gautama Buddha. Samgha means those people who pursue Gautama Buddha's truth. Dharma means reality. Master Dogen's unique method of thought is his way to explain what Dharma is.

Basically, he looks at a problem from two sides, and then tries to synthesize the two viewpoints into a middle way. This method has similarities with dialectic method in western philosophy, particularly as used by Hegel and Marx.

Hegel's dialectic, however, is based on belief in spirit, and Marx's dialectic is based on belief in matter. Master Dogen, through the Buddhist dialectic, wants to lead us away from thoughts based on belief in spirit and matter.

Master Dogen recognized the existence of something which is different from thought; that is, reality in action. Action is completely different from intellectual thought and completely different from the perceptions of our senses. So Master Dogen's method of thinking is based on action, and because of that, it has some unique characteristics.

First, Master Dogen recognized that things we usually separate in our minds are, in action, one reality. To express this oneness of subject and object Master Dogen says, for example, “If a human being, even for a single moment, manifests the Buddha's posture in the three forms of conduct, while [that person] sits up straight in samādhi, the entire world of Dharma assumes the Buddha's posture and the whole of space becomes the state of realization.” This sentence, taken from the chapter Bendowa, is not illogical, but it reflects a new kind of logic.

Secondly, Master Dogen recognized that in action, the only time that really exists is the moment of the present, and the only place that really exists is this place. So the present moment and this place – the here and now – are very important concepts in Master Dogen's philosophy of action.

The philosophy of action is not unique to Master Dogen; this idea was also the center of Gautama Buddha's thought. All the Buddhist patriarchs of ancient India and China relied upon this theory and realized Buddhism itself. They also recognized the oneness of reality, the importance of the present moment, and the importance of this place.

But explanations of reality are only explanations. In Shobogenzo, after he had explained a problem on the basis of action, Master Dogen wanted to point the reader into the realm of action itself. To do this, he sometimes used poems, he sometimes used old Buddhist stories that suggest reality, and he sometimes used symbolic expressions.

So the chapters of Shobogenzo usually follow a four-phased pattern. First Master Dogen picks up and outlines a Buddhist idea. In the second phase, he examines the idea very objectively or concretely, in order to defeat idealistic or intellectual interpretations of it. In the third phase, Master Dogen's expression becomes even more concrete, practical and realistic, relying on the philosophy of action. And in the fourth phase, Master Dogen tries to suggest reality with words. Ultimately, these trials are only trials. But we can feel something that can be called reality in his sincere trials, when we reach the end of each chapter.

I think this four-phased pattern is related with the Four Noble Truths preached by Gautama Buddha in his first lecture. By realizing Master Dogen's method of thinking, we can come to realize the true meaning of Gautama Buddha's Four Noble Truths. This is why we persevere in studying Shobogenzo.

Gudo Wafu Nishijima
Ida Zazen Dojo
Tokyo
February 1994

Notes on the Translation

Aim

Several months ago, Nishijima Roshi commented “I like the translation from which Master Dogen's Japanese can be guessed.” This describes a good aim for the donkeywork of translation: just stick closely to the original Japanese text. Make it Master Dogen's Shobogenzo.

Source text

The source text for chapters 1 to 21 is contained in the first three volumes of Nishijima Roshi's 12-volume Gendaigo-yaku-shobogenzo (Shobogenzo in Modern Japanese). Gendaigo-yaku-shobogenzo contains Master Dogen's original text, notes on the text, and the text rendered into modern Japanese. Reference numbers enclosed in brackets in the left margin of this translation refer to corresponding page numbers in Gendaigo-yaku-shobogenzo, and much of the material reproduced in the footnotes comes from Gendaigo-yaku-shobogenzo.

Gendaigo-yaku-shobogenzo is based upon the 95-chapter edition of Shobogenzo, which was arranged in chronological order by Master Hangyo Kozen, sometime between 1688 and 1703. The 95-chapter edition is the most comprehensive single edition, including important chapters such as Bendowa and Hokke-ten-hokke which do not appear in other editions. Furthermore, it was the first edition to be printed with woodblocks, in the Bunka era (1804–1818), and so the content was fixed at that time. The original woodblocks are still preserved at Eihei-ji, the temple in Fukui prefecture which Master Dogen founded.

Sanskrit terms

As a rule, Sanskrit words such as samādhi (the balanced state), prajñā (real wisdom), and bhikṣu (monk), which Master Dogen reproduces phonetically with Chinese characters, 三昧 (ZANMAI), 般若 (HANNYA), and 比丘 (BIKU), have been retained in Sanskrit form.

In addition, some Chinese characters representing the meaning of Sanskrit terms which will already be familiar to readers (or which will become familiar in the course of reading Shobogenzo) have been returned to Sanskrit. Examples are 法 (HO; “reality,” “law,” “method,” “things and phenomena”), usually translated as “Dharma” or “dharmas”; 如来 (NYORAI; “Thus-Come”), always translated as “Tathāgata”; and 声聞 (SHOMON; “voice-hearer”), always translated as “śrāvaka.”

There are places in Shobogenzo where Master Dogen himself, relying on his wide familiarity with Chinese sutras, traces the origin of Chinese characters back to Sanskrit words. A prominent example is 道 (DO; “way,” “truth”) which in the opening paragraph of chapter 70, Hotsu-bodaishin, Master Dogen explicitly identifies with the Sanskrit bodhi.

Even in translating Chinese terms whose Sanskrit derivation Master Dogen does not explicitly recognize, knowledge of the Sanskrit can still be very helpful. An early example is the adjective 無為 (MUI) used in the opening sentence of chapter 1, Bendowa, to describe Zazen. Japanese dictionaries define 無為 (MUI) as “idle” or “inactive,” but Nishijima Roshi originally translated it as “natural.” In Buddhist sutras, 無為 (MUI) represents the Sanskrit asaṃskṛta, which is defined in the Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary as follows: not prepared, not consecrated; unadorned; unpolished, rude (as speech). The Sanskrit dictionary definition, while by no means an absolute criterion, supports Nishijima Roshi's interpretation that 無為 (MUI) describes Zazen as natural, or without intention; something as it is.

Another example: The character 漏 (RO), “leakage,” appears in the opening sentences of the Lotus Sutra, where it represents the Sanskrit āsrava. The Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary defines āsrava as: the foam on boiling rice; a door opening into water and allowing the stream to descend through it; (with Jainas) the action of the senses which impels the soul towards external objects; distress, affliction, pain. Thus, in the 2nd paragraph of chapter 10, Shoaku-makusa, the noun 無漏 (MURO), “no leakage,” appears to describe the state without emotional distress, that is, the balanced and satisfied state of body-and-mind. This does not mean that 無漏 (MURO) should be translated as “the state without emotional distress,” or as “the balanced and satisfied state of body-and-mind,” but such meaning will hopefully be conveyed by a literal translation such as “[the state] without excess” or “[the state] without the superfluous,” supported by a footnote and a cross-reference to the Sanskrit Glossary.

Chinese proper nouns

In general Chinese proper nouns have been romanized according to their Japanese pronunciation – as Master Dogen would have pronounced them for a Japanese audience. Thus, we have let the romanization of all names of Chinese masters follow the Japanese pronunciation, while also adding an appendix showing the Chinese romanization of Chinese masters' names. For other Chinese proper names, we have used Chinese romanization only for terms such as the Shaolin temple (in Japanese romanization Shorin-ji) whose Chinese romanization may already be familiar to most readers.

Chinese text

Master Dogen wrote Shobogenzo in Japanese, that is to say, using a combination of Chinese characters (squared ideograms usually consisting of many strokes) and the Japanese phonetic alphabet which is more abbreviated. Chinese of course is written in Chinese characters only. Therefore when Master Dogen quotes a passage, or borrows a phrase, from a Chinese text – as he very often does – it is readily apparent to the eye as a string of Chinese ideograms uninterrupted by Japanese squiggles. We have attempted to mirror this effect, to some degree, by using italics for such passages and phrases.

A pattern which occurs frequently in Shobogenzo is a quotation of Chinese characters from a conversation between Zen Masters, or from a sutra, followed by Master Dogen's commentary in which each Chinese character takes on new meaning. An early example is in the 2nd paragraph of chapter 2, where Master Dogen quotes the Great Wisdom Sutra. The Sutra says 竊作是念, lit. “[the monk] secretly makes this thought.” As a conventional phrase, this just means “[the monk] secretly thinks.” However, individually, the character 竊 (secret) suggests something beyond thinking and sense-perception, that is, something real; the character 作 (make or work) suggests action; the character 是 (this) suggests concrete reality; and the character 念 (thought, idea, mindfulness) suggests not only thought but the monk's real state of mind. So Master Dogen's commentary says that the monk's 竊作是念 (secretly working concrete mind) is real wisdom itself.

In this way, Master Dogen emphasizes that the words of the sutras and masters whom he reveres are not meant to convey only conceptual meaning. Those words are trying to bring us back to the reality which is prior to words. This is particularly true with respect to the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra contains the characters 是 経 (ZEKYO), “this Sutra.” In several chapters of Shobogenzo (specifically chap. 52, Bukkyo, but see also chap. 17, Hokke-ten- hokke) the fact emerges that, in Master Dogen's mind, this Sutra and the real Universe in which we live are identified. That being so, Master Dogen, in his commentaries, seems to treat the characters of the Lotus Sutra not as a stream of concepts but rather as a series of momentary mirrors, or independent blocks, of real form – to be brought in and re-arranged as Master Dogen sees fit.

In such instances, readers will want to refer to the Chinese characters in question. Fortunately, due to the generosity of Mr. Tadashi Nakamae (who provided the computer) and the industriousness of Michael and Yoko Luetchford (who installed the software and created and input unavailable characters), we have been able to reproduce these Chinese characters in the footnotes and in an appendix of Lotus Sutra references.

Meaning of 正法眼蔵 (SHOBOGENZO), “The Right-Dharma-Eye Treasury”

正 (SHO) means “right” or “true.”

法 (HO), “Law,” represents the Sanskrit Dharma.

All of us belong to something which, prior to our naming it or thinking about it, is already there. And it already belongs to us. “Dharma” is one name for what is already there.

法眼 (HOGEN), “the Dharma-eye,” represents the direct experience of what is already there. Because the Dharma is prior to thinking, it must be directly experienced by a faculty which is other than thinking. 眼 (GEN) “eye,” represents this direct experience which is other than thinking.

正法眼 (SHOBOGEN), “the right-Dharma-eye,” therefore describes the right experience of what is already there.

蔵 (ZO), “storehouse” or “treasury,” suggests something that contains and preserves the right experience of what is already there. Thus, Nishijima Roshi has interpreted 正法眼蔵 (SHOBOGENZO), “the right-Dharma-eye treasury,” as an expression of Zazen itself.

All who benefit from this translation, myself included, should be profoundly grateful to Nishijima Roshi for his unceasing effort to clarify the real meaning of Shobogenzo.

Chodo Cross
Saitama
February 1994

Acknowledgments

This translation and its publication have been made possible by the benevolence of the following sponsors:

The Japan Foundation

Mr. Hideo Ida, President of Ida Ryogokudo Co., Ltd.

Mr. Tadashi Nakamae, President of Nakamae International Economic Research

We should like to thank Michael Luetchford for editing and publishing this book, and Jeremy Pearson for his invaluable help at the editing and production stages. Our thanks also go to Yoko Luetchford for her work on inputting and checking the kanji, and to Emma Gibson for her help with proofreading.