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Love and cheerfulness are a gate of Dharma illumination; for they make the mind pure. 愛樂是法明門、令心淨故. While the first two kanji can indeed be translated “love” and “cheerfulness,” respectively, taken together they mean to delight in or enjoy something. Although the kanji translated “delight” in the last gate statement are different ones (歡喜), we can see how this week’s gate carries on the conversation. However, the particular feeling of 愛樂 in a Buddhist context is a love of the good or wholesome, so this gate is not validating our inclination to indulge in anything and everything that takes our fancy. It’s encouraging us to enjoy the things born not from delusion and the three poisons but from wisdom and compassion. For instance, in the Ariyapariyesanā-sutta, Shakyamuni has left his early teachers and continued his search for the truth of suffering when he comes upon a patch of ground that he later describes as delightful, using the same terms as our gate statement. He finds the grove charming and the river clear with smooth banks, and notes that there’s a village nearby where he can collect alms. He decides that this is a place that can support his practice in a good and wholesome way. Thus his very real enjoyment of the spot is not based on clinging and self-indulgence, but on recognizing what’s needed to enable him to cultivate wisdom and compassion. It might be hard to imagine an enjoyment that is not about self-indulgence. So much of our pleasure comes from gratifying our desires. How can we be happy in a way that’s not about chasing and getting what we personally want? How can we take delight in what’s already here rather than pushing all of our hopes of happiness into the future, when this or that will happen or appear or resolve? Certainly, it’s satisfying to work toward a goal and achieve it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But what’s going on in our lives in the meantime? Is there any contentment there, and from where does it come? There is indeed a joy to be had in our day to day samsaric world that recognizes the fulfillment of jijuyu zammai, the totally interpenetrated functioning of the universe as it is. This kind of joy doesn’t discount or negate the pleasure we feel as human beings in getting an award, relaxing with a good cup of coffee, watching an exciting movie with friends or sucessfully finishing a home improvement project. Those feelings and experiences are real and fine. It’s just that that’s not the only kind of enjoyment there is. There is also the stable and ever-present joy that comes from deeply understanding that we and all beings are supported by the entire universe, and that we have something of value to offer in return. This is the selfless sort of enjoyment that goes with the pure mind. This might sound like a lot of Pollyanna, hearts-and-flowers stuff that doesn’t have its feet in the real world. Yeah, sure, everything’s fine. I should be enjoying shoveling snow and missing the bus and having a sore throat. Who are you kidding? Just as this gate doesn’t deny us the fun of pleasant experiences, it doesn’t deny the aggravation and downright unpleasantness of some things we encounter. It does ask us to look underneath those affronts to our expectations and see whether this moment is truly and completely irredeemable. Yes, the human experience is characterized by suffering. Is that all? My dharma grandfather, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, told a story about a Buddhist clergyman who had to have both legs amputated at the knee as a result of several tragedies. Somehow he was ultimately able to see that in reality there was no before and after, no way to compare his situation at that moment with his previous life with two healthy legs or with his future as an amputee. “The pivotal point for him was that he chose to think: ‘Today, at this moment, I am born.’ One could think, ‘I was born with both legs, then I was drafted and forced to go to war. Because we lost the war, I was set to Siberia as a prisoner. On the way, my legs got frostbitten and I had to have both of them amputated.’ If we think of this sequence of events, it’s too painful even to cry. We will be infinitely vexed and miserable. However, Reverend Ozawa chose to think that he was born today, this moment, without legs. That was the the turning point for him, to live with a bright and cheerful attitude. This is not a idealistic story but his own actual experience. Reverend Ozawa’s saying, ‘Today, this moment, I am born,’ carries infinite weight.” (1) Being born moment after moment, can we fully enjoy this moment in its entirety? The past has gone and the future has not yet come. Certainly, our karmic past has shaped this moment, but we can’t reach back and change anything. We can only act in this moment; this is the only position from which we can work. Clinging to regrets about the past or apprehensions about the future can lead to dissatisfaction with present because we can’t see and appreciate it in its entirety. Confronting life-changing circumstances isn’t our only opportunity to consider the nature of real enjoyment. At Sanshin, we sometimes eat breakfast in the formal way used in training temples (senmon sodo) in Japan. The bowl sets we use are called oryoki, which means a container that holds an appropriate amount. We handle the bowls, utensils and food according to a prescribed set of forms while chanting several verses. The food offering verse says, “This morning meal of ten benefits nourishes us in our practice. Its rewards are boundless, filling us with ease and joy.” (Se jiki ge shu yu jiri nyoi an jin kohō buhen kyu kin jo ra. 施食偈 粥有十利 饒益行人 果報生天 究竟常樂.) The tenzo, or cook, has made an effort to serve foods of five colors and six flavors that have been cooked in a variety of ways. In addition to appreciating the visually appealing, delicious and nutritious meal for the enjoyment it gives us, we can also take delight in its ability to enable our practice—even if one of those dishes is something we would not choose to eat elsewhere. This is particularly true during sesshin, or intensive retreats. Sesshin at Sanshin consist only of fourteen 50-minute periods of zazen, three formal silent meals, and a moderate night’s sleep. It’s very easy to turn meals into entertainment when they are one of the few sources of sensory input we encounter in the zendo, but the tenzo’s job is to feed our bodies so we can practice, rather than our imaginations so that we can spend the next few hours of zazen writing stories about our relationship with the food. Meals should certainly be appealing, but they also have to be easy to manage using oryoki and not cause discomfort and distraction for practitioners during zazen. Tenzos need the wisdom and compassion to take care of our practice. This mind of ease and joy continues to permeate our activity as we return to zazen. Zazen seems to be a very simple practice in we do only four things: take the posture, breathe softly and deeply through the nose, keep the eyes open, and open the hand of thought. When you tell your family and friends that you’re off to the zendo for practice, they (and you, for their benefit) may describe that activity as “meditation.” However, in Soto Zen, of course, zazen is not meditation. We are not cogitating on some topic or seeking to remedy a problem, which are the oldest meanings of the word. We’re also not engaged in a mental exercise designed to bring about a special state of spiritual attainment. We’re simply resting in this moment and taking delight in things as they are. As Dogen wrote in the Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen), “The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the Dharma-gate of joyful ease (唯是安樂之法門也), the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment.” Back at Gate 2 we considered the nature of pure mind, and we saw that we cultivate purity when we’re guided by wisdom and let go of our delusions and attachments. In general, defilement is what happens when we don’t see the universe clearly and we take action based on greed, anger and ignorance that creates suffering for ourselves and others. This gate intersects that pure mind with enjoyment of that which is good and wholesome. How are these two things connected? Let’s look again at our examples of formal meals and zazen. Just as we may do with money, alcohol, sex, technology, or power, we can form either healthy or unhealthy attachments to food and our ideas about it, even though the food itself is neither pure nor impure. The tenzo can try to position himself as the culinary hero, providing extravagant impressive meals under the guise of creating a compassionate, wonderful experience for practitioners. Recipients can sniff appealing aromas coming from the kitchen and fantasize about what will be on offer, recall how good Grandma’s version of that dish always was, and begin planning next Thanksgiving’s dinner menu. On the other hand, they may disagree with the tenzo’s notion of what an appealing or appropriate meal is and start criticizing even before the food is served. All of these extra activities take people away from the here and now and perpetuate deluded, habituated thinking. If pure mind is the mind guided by generosity, kindness and wisdom—the flip sides of the three poisons—then the mind attached to food in an unwholesome way is not it, and is not in a position to take delight in that which is healthy and good. Yet this happens all the time, and it’s based on misunderstanding the nature of self and what it really needs. What about zazen? Is it really possible to enjoy long periods of time sitting on a cushion and looking at a wall? If my practice is driven by trying to satisfy the desires of the small self, possibly not, because every period will be taken up with the need to outshine other sangha members, have a peak experience, become someone I like better, or otherwise get some personal reward. If my sitting is driven simply by my aspiration to sit, then there’s no question of meeting or not meeting a goal. I can simply settle down into the ease and joy Dogen describes. “Zazen is good for nothing” is Okumura Roshi’s famous translation of an expression (“beyond gain and beyond satori” mushotoku-mushogo 無所得 – 無所悟]) used frequently by his dharma grandfather, Kodo Sawaki. This simple phrase is a distillation of the essence of shikantaza, and all of our dharma study comes back to “zazen is good for nothing” in some way. Our problems begin when we follow our natural human tendency to look for meaning in our activities. We usually don’t do anything, or enjoy anything, without knowing the point of that action, so it seems counterintuitive to engage in sitting just for its own sake and take delight in it just because it’s wholesome. We can say “Zazen is good for nothing,” but we can also just stop at “Zazen is good.” Good is good enough. It doesn’t need anything else. Questions for reflection and discussion
Further reading and watching
Notes (1) Kosho Uchiyama, “Uchiyama Roshi’s Teisho on Genjo koan,” Dogen’s Genjo Koan: Three Commentaries. Counterpoint, 2013. P. 194 Comments are closed.
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About the text The Ippyakuhachi Homyomon, or 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination, appears as the 11th fascicle of the 12 fascicle version of Dogen Zenji’s Shobogenzo. Dogen didn't compile the list himself; it's mostly a long quote from another text called the Sutra of Collected Past Deeds of the Buddha. Dogen wrote a final paragraph recommending that we investigate these gates thoroughly. Hoko has been talking about the gates one by one since 2016. She provides material here that can be used by weekly dharma discussion groups as well as for individual study. The 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination
[1] Right belief [2] Pure mind [3] Delight [4] Love and cheerfulness The three forms of behavior [5] Right conduct of the actions of the body [6] Pure conduct of the actions of the mouth [7] Pure conduct of the actions of the mind The six kinds of mindfulness [8] Mindfulness of Buddha [9] Mindfulness of Dharma [10] Mindfulness of Sangha [11] Mindfulness of generosity [12] Mindfulness of precepts [13] Mindfulness of the heavens The four Brahmaviharas [14] Benevolence [15] Compassion [16] Joy [17] Abandonment The four dharma seals [18] Reflection on inconstancy [19] Reflection on suffering [20] Reflection on there being no self [21] Reflection on stillness [22] Repentance [23] Humility [24] Veracity [25] Truth [26] Dharma conduct [27] The Three Devotions [28] Recognition of kindness [29] Repayment of kindness [30] No self-deception [31] To work for living beings [32] To work for the Dharma [33] Awareness of time [34] Inhibition of self-conceit [35] The nonarising of ill-will [36] Being without hindrances [37] Belief and understanding [38] Reflection on impurity [39] Not to quarrel [40] Not being foolish [41] Enjoyment of the meaning of the Dharma [42] Love of Dharma illumination [43] Pursuit of abundant knowledge [44] Right means [45] Knowledge of names and forms [46] The view to expiate causes [47] The mind without enmity and intimacy [48] Hidden expedient means [49] Equality of all elements [50] The sense organs [51] Realization of nonappearance The elements of bodhi: The four abodes of mindfulness [52] The body as an abode of mindfulness [53] Feeling as an abode of mindfulness [54] Mind as an abode of mindfulness [55] The Dharma as an abode of mindfulness [56] The four right exertions [57] The four bases of mystical power The five faculties [58] The faculty of belief [59] The faculty of effort [60] The faculty of mindfulness [61] The faculty of balance [62] The faculty of wisdom The five powers [63] The power of belief [64] The power of effort [65] The power of mindfulness [66] The power of balance [67] The power of wisdom [68] Mindfulness, as a part of the state of truth [69] Examination of Dharma, as a part of the state of truth [70] Effort, as a part of the state of truth [71] Enjoyment, as a part of the state of truth [72] Entrustment as a part of the state of truth [73] The balanced state, as a part of the state of truth [74] Abandonment, as a part of the state of truth The Eightfold Path [75] Right view [76] Right discrimination [77] Right speech [78] Right action [79] Right livelihood [80] Right practice [81] Right mindfulness [82] Right balanced state [83] The bodhi-mind [84] Reliance [85] Right belief [86] Development The six paramitas [87] The dāna pāramitā [88] The precepts pāramitā [89] The forbearance pāramitā. [90] The diligence pāramitā [91] The dhyāna pāramitā [92] The wisdom pāramitā [93] Expedient means [94] The four elements of sociability [95] To teach and guide living beings [96] Acceptance of the right Dharma [97] Accretion of happiness [98] The practice of the balanced state of dhyāna [99] Stillness [100] The wisdom view [101] Entry into the state of unrestricted speech [102] Entry into all conduct [103] Accomplishment of the state of dhāraṇī [104] Attainment of the state of unrestricted speech [105] Endurance of obedient following [106] Attainment of realization of the Dharma of nonappearance [107] The state beyond regressing and straying [108] The wisdom that leads us from one state to another state and, somehow, one more: [109] The state in which water is sprinkled on the head Archives
December 2024
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