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Mindfulness of Buddha is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] reflection of [the state of] Buddha is pure. 念佛是法明門、觀佛淨故. This week we move into a new section of the 108 gates: the six kinds of mindfulness, according to the Dīrghâgama, one of the four Āgamas, or divisions of the early Indian scriptures. The first of these is mindfulness of meritorious virtues of the Buddha. The Buddha was said to have nine virtues:
We can consider how Shakyamuni moved through the world and interacted with others, and take that as a model or inspiration for our own practice. To be free from defilements is to liberate ourselves from the things that cause suffering, beginning with the three poisons. Discovering and thoroughly understanding the four noble truths shows us the nature of suffering and how we can avoid it. Practicing our understanding and understanding our practice, as Sawaki Roshi used to say, means we know why we’re doing what we’re doing. Focusing our effort on liberation without distraction and paying attention to what we do with the information that comes in through the senses keeps us on the path. When our own practice and our own wisdom and compassion are well-grounded, we’re good teachers and leaders. Arising at the same time are the paramitas, things like generosity, truthfulness, loving kindness and equanimity. Who wouldn’t be inspired by meeting and practicing with someone who exhibited all of these virtues? Shakyamuni isn’t the only kind of Buddha we include in our tradition, and we ought to look at the nature of all three aspects of Buddha and see what else we can learn. As we know, the root of the word Buddha is “awake” and a Buddha is an awakened being. One is Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical figure that lived and taught in India 2500 years ago. However, once Shakyamuni died, his students had a problem. He was their only teacher, and they thought no one could become a second Buddha—but they remembered that he had taught them that whoever sees the dharma sees the Buddha. In the Vakkali Sutra, the Buddha has gone to visit a sick monk who says “For a long time I have wanted to come and set eyes on the Blessed One, but I had not the strength in this body.” Buddha says, “Enough, Vakkali! What is there to see in this vile body? He who sees the Dharma, Vakkali, sees me; he who sees me sees the Dharma. Truly seeing the Dharma, one sees me; seeing me one sees the Dharma.” (1) The Buddha would still be there as the teachings and as this one unified reality. After Shakyamuni’s death, his relics were enshrined in eight different sites in India. Eventually, figures and statues were made to represent him, and people made pilgrimages to important Buddhist sites to pay homage. Now the Buddha had three bodies: the physical body of Shakyamuni who died, the ongoing body of teachings and reality, and a continuing body as represented by statues and relics. Ultimately, however, the conclusion is that these three treasures can’t be separated—they’re all one reality. We call that view of the three treasures itai sanbou (一体三寳 one body, three treasures or absolute three treasures). Thus there’s an absolute Buddha that has no boundary and can’t be separated from anything else, but there’s also a historical or real-world manifestation (genzen sanbou 現前三寳; manifesting three treasures). This gen is the same as the character in genjokoan, meaning something that appears. In the case of Buddha, the manifesting treasure is Shakyamuni as a physical person that appeared in the world. Then there are the maintaining three treasures (juuji sanbou 住持三寶); again, in the case of Buddha, the images, statues or relics that symbolize him and that we can see and touch and practice with today—a maintained presence in this world.
If you’ve taken precepts or attended a precepts ceremony or the monthly ryaku fusatsu ceremony at Sanshin, you’ve heard Okumura Roshi or me read the Kyojukaimon, Dogen’s instructions on the precepts. Because we take refuge in the three treasures as part of those ceremonies, Dogen says a bit about them.
Let’s consider each of these kinds of Buddha. Shakyamuni, the person who lived in the world, was born a prince in the Shakya tribe about 2,500 years ago in a town called Lumbini, which is located in present-day Nepal. His family name was Gautama, and his given name was Siddhartha. He lived a rich and luxurious life as a prince, but was deeply troubled by the problem of suffering. Leaving home at the age of twenty-nine to become a monk, after six years of various ascetic practices with various teachers, he experienced awakening at the age of thirty-five. At that time, he became the “Buddha” (Awakened One). From that time on, he expounded various teachings, including the law of causality, or dependent origination, the impermanence of all things and, by extension, that all things are without fixed self-nature, and the four noble truths. The Buddha traveled and taught for the rest of his life, and it’s because he manifested his meritorious virtues, showed others how to practice, and taught the dharma that we’re still able to encounter these things today. That’s the manifesting Buddha treasure. Buddha’s relics and images are the maintaining Buddha treasure, things we can physically encounter in this world today. Relics are typically bones, hair or flesh, but when Shakyamuni died and was cremated, there were reportedly jewels among the remains. These were to go to the Shakya clan, but eight different kings demanded relics; they were then divided into portions and enshrined in stupas around India. There are many tales about how relics were dug up, moved around and enshrined in new places, about supernatural powers, and how when its time for the future Buddha, Maitreya, to appear, all the relics will gather under the bodhi tree and form themselves into his body. When that body disappears, then Maitreya will arrive. We’re more likely to encounter images or statues of Buddha than relics, but these didn’t exist until the 1st century CE. Artists didn’t want to show Buddha, someone who had completely crossed over to nirvana, in anthropomorphic form, so they used symbols like feet, a wheel, or a tree of life. Under Greek influence, artists started to make sculptures in the style of Greek portrayals of their gods: draped robes, wavy hair, sandals, leaf patterns, etc. mixed with Indian styles. These were realistic depictions in terms of form and proportion, and showed Buddha as divine human. Thereafter Buddha sculptures, as well as paintings and carvings, were subject to all the influences of the Silk Road and Asian cultures as Buddhism spread. We can include important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in this maintaining Buddha treasure. People go on pilgrimage to these places because they want to feel some physical proximity or contact with the Buddha. Venerating relics, viewing art, and visiting important places are all ways of maintaining contact. The absolute Buddha treasure is unsurpassible awakening. In the Heart Sutra we chant: With nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on prajna paramita and attains unsurpassed complete perfect enlightenment. Dogen Zenji called it shinjin datsuraku, dropping off body and mind. Suffice it to say here that unsurpassable awakening might be clearly seeing and understanding how things really are in this one unified reality. and at the same time not actually being a separate entity having some separate experience of that reality. We drop off body and mind in that we are no longer bound, constricted or cut off by our karmic conditioning and yet our karmic conditions don’t go away. We’re still humans with bodies and minds, but we see through our delusions and concepts and really get what that means. This is liberating all beings, or liberating self and others. Now that we know what Buddha is, what about this mindfulness of Buddha? The sense of this word mindfulness goes all the way back to the Pali smrti and makes its way through to the Japanese nen 念, “something that is remembered.” Mindfulness is not about focusing on one thing to the exclusion of all else and therefore somehow suppressing or blocking things we don’t want to think about. It’s about bearing something in mind—in this case, Buddha and his virtues—and not forgetting what Buddha is. There are many practices from around the Buddhist tradition for doing this, particularly related to the maintaining Buddha treasure. However, starting with the manifesting Buddha treasure, or Shakyamuni who lived in the world, there are stories of his life and written accounts of his teachings that we can read today and from which we can learn. What’s important is not only his explanation of the dharma, but the example of his life: how he lived, what he did, and how he interacted with others. He didn’t invent the dharma, because reality already existed and would have even if he hadn’t awakened to it, but he’s the one who made it possible for us to encounter the dharma today because he taught others who carried it on. We have three particular opportunities in a year to remember Shakyamuni. One is his birthday, which we celebrate at Sanshin on the Sunday closest to April 8. The second is his enlightenment day, on the Sunday closest to December 8 and which we lead up to with a weeklong sesshin. The third is the day he died, Nirvana Day, the Sunday closest to February 8. As for the maintaining Buddha treasure, the relics and figures, for example we chant the Shariraimon, the verse of homage to Buddha’s relics, at funerals. In Japan we did it when when we went to a person’s house right after he or she died and the family was doing the vigil, and we also did it at the gravesite, either when ashes were being interred or when we were holding memorial services later on. Verse of Homage to Buddha’s Relics (Shariraimon 舍利禮文) With wholehearted reverence we bow to the relics of the true body of the Tathagata, who is fully endowed with myriad virtues; to the dharma body which is the fundamental ground; and to his stupa, which is the whole universe. With deep respect we venerate the one who manifested a body for our sake. Through the sustaining power of the Buddha, which enters us even as we enter it, we verify awakening. By means of the Buddha’s spiritual power, we benefit living beings, arouse the thought of awakening, cultivate bodhisattva practice, and together enter perfect peace, the knowledge of the equality of all things. Now let us reverently bow. It’s interesting that while this is about the Buddha’s relics, we chant it for ordinary people. Ejo, Dogen’s main disciple and second abbot of Eiheiji, chanted it at Dogen’s funeral. There are supposed relics of Buddha all over the world. Here, we’re more likely to encounter statues or figures, particularly on altars. We make offerings and bow to these things, and it can look worshipful—and it can be, if that’s your practice. In North America, it’s more likely that these figures represent our aspiration and inspiration. When we have them around in our temples, Zen centers or homes, we remember to practice. We’re reminded that we’ve chosen and vowed to be on this path and to emulate the qualities of the Buddha. We’re reminded to set aside the small self and manifest our Buddha-nature. For some people, the creation of Buddha images is in itself a practice, but caring for them can also be a practice; we carry them with two hands, we don’t stack things on top of them, and we clean and dust them regularly with cloths dedicated to the purpose. We also recognize sutras as relics of Buddha—something he left behind when he died—and to treat them the same way by not putting them on the floor, for instance. In this way, we remain mindful of Buddha This eighth gate is telling us that if we bear in mind what buddha really is, we can more clearly reflect our own buddha nature, and we can maintain our aspiration to practice, to manifest awakening and not be sidetracked by the hindrances and delusions of our everyday samsaric life. It also helps us to remember that our zazen and our practice is not all about us, not purely for our own enjoyment or benefit. We can have a little gratitude for Shakyamuni and for all of the teachers and practitioners who came before us and made it possible for us to move towards awakening. It’s also not for our short-term gain or solely to help us get rid of pesky problems in our lives. Those things may happen, but this practice is about awakening to the same reality as Buddha and realizing (making real) our buddha nature as we move through the world, just as he did. Mindfulness of Buddha and what he awakened to can help keep us on the path. Our zazen is a reenactment of what Buddha did and the conditions into which he put himself in order to enable awakening. We sit this way because Buddha sat this way. We’re putting ourselves directly into the middle of Buddha’s awakening and carrying on Buddha’s practice, and in that way, zazen is the ultimate mindfulness of Buddha. Questions for reflection and discussion
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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
September 2024
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