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[80] Right practice is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we arrive at the far shore. 正行是法明門、至彼岸故（正行是れ法明門なり、彼岸に至るが故に）。 . You may be more familiar with this topic as right effort. The original Sanskrit word became shogyo in Japanese, which is literally right practice. We can see why, because the Sanskrit term could mean physical exertion, or exercise, so there’s always been a feeling of training or cultivation. We’re not just making effort in order to be active or not be idle. We’re striving toward something—in this case, toward meeting our aspiration as bodhisattvas. Back at Gate 56 we talked about the four right exertions: 1) to prevent unwholesomeness that has not yet occurred, 2) to cause unwholesomeness that has already occurred to be extinguished, 3) to bring about wholesomeness that has not yet occurred, and 4) to promote the wholesomeness that’s already here This is one way to frame right effort, or right practice. There’s also another way to frame it: abandoning the wrong factors of the path. The Maha-cattarisaka Sutta explains: “One tries to abandon wrong view & to enter into right view. This is one’s right effort... “One tries to abandon wrong resolve & to enter into right resolve: This is one’s right effort... “One tries to abandon wrong speech & to enter into right speech: This is one’s right effort... “One tries to abandon wrong action & to enter into right action: This is one’s right effort... “One tries to abandon wrong livelihood & to enter into right livelihood: This is one’s right effort.” This approach is not unrelated to the first one. It puts some specifics on our practice of cultivating wholesomeness and abandoning unwholesomeness. On a day-to-day basis, we probably need to abandon unwholesomeness by paying attention to unhelpful stuff that arises for us and actively choosing to do something else, actively changing direction or reversing course. When we discover there’s something about the dharma that we don’t understand, we can do some study, ask dharma friends or teachers, and do some discernment about the point that’s coming up in our practice. Our view of the world and what we encounter is gradually reshaped by our understanding of what the Buddha or Dogen based on how they saw the world. When we realize that our aspiration has gone a bit off track, we can look carefully at our motivations, attend ryakyu fusatsu, pay attention to effect of our actions and try to shore up our vows. When we’re concerned about our habits of speech, we can notice how we fall into unhelpful habits and decide what we’d rather do instead. Speech reflects our thinking, so we may also have some habits of thinking to deal with. In my younger days I was frequently sarcastic in some unkind ways, which I had some vague sense was because I was unhappy and resentful and wanted others to see that. If the me of today could talk with the me of 45 years ago, I would ask her whether expressing unhappiness in that way was really doing any good, or whether it was not only perpetuating my own unhappiness but spilling it onto others. Thinking and speaking can lead to action, so when we’re concerned about our actions, we might have to look backwards to what leads up to them. Wrong action is often based on habituated thinking and a reflex that kicks in when we’re in certain situations. When I’m under stress, I overeat, or when I’m bored, I stir up trouble to entertain myself, or when I see something I want, I get it any way I can regardless of consequences to others When we’re concerned about how we’re supporting ourselves materially or financially, well, that’s probably the hardest of all. Sometimes there isn’t a lot we can do if we need to support ourselves and our families and job opportunities are limited. As long as we’re not actively breaking precepts with our livelihood, we may have to put up with something that’s not ideal. However, sometimes we can look around and see even small ways to do what we’re doing in a more wholesome way. Maybe that means suggesting to the boss a greener or more ethical way of doing business, and maybe that means small things we can do on our own that adjust our approach to our work. Can I take bus to work instead of driving single-occupant vehicle? Can I personally make best use of company resources and reduce what I put into a landfill by even a small fraction? Can I offer some simple encouragement or support to my coworkers that makes the workplace more wholesome? Things like these are specific actions we can take as we make effort to reverse unwholesomeness, and also, in the larger picture, unwholesomeness doesn’t arise because there is no subject and object, no separate “I” who makes effort, takes action, carries a deluded view or worries about aspiration. In this one unified reality, right effort is simply the total dynamic functioning of the universe. Everything in the universe is 100% engaged in being what it is. In the absolute view, that’s right effort. When we study the dharma by immersing ourselves in this reality without separation or without duality, that’s right effort. By dropping off body and mind, we can’t help but make right effort because we’re acting without delusion and hindrance. I find it helpful, actually, to think that right practice and right effort are the same thing. Practice is not separate from the rest of our lives and daily functioning. Simply living and carrying out our regular activities is practice, without our having to give them some special meaning as sacred. According to this gate, that brings us to the far shore, in other words, nirvana, or the extinguishing of the burning fires of delusion and suffering. In the early Buddhist teachings, this is a linear path: we practice or make effort and then we are rewarded by leaping off of the wheel of samsara and landing in nirvana. In Soto Zen, we would take this gate to mean that right practice and nirvana arise together; as soon as there is right practice or effort, awakening is already there also. Of course, this unity of practice and awakening is one of Dogen’s favorite themes. Prior to him, sila or an ethical life was a prerequisite for samadhi, and samadhi or concentration was a prerequisite for prajna or wisdom. Dogen says prajna is the basis for everything. Without prajna we don’t know how to make right effort and we don’t have any desire to do zazen, because zazen is simply a manifestation of prajna. He says that if we understand this, we’re completely free. In other words, we arrive at the far shore. In the Bendowa he says: Thinking that practice and enlightenment are not one is no more than a view that is outside the Way. In Buddhism, practice and enlightenment are one and the same. Because it is the practice of enlightenment, a beginner’s wholehearted practice of the Way is exactly the totality of original enlightenment. For this reason, in conveying the essential attitude for practice, it is taught not to wait for enlightenment outside practice. In a moment, we’ll see another case of the practice of seniors and beginners coming together. Not surprisingly, Dogen’s comment on this gate comes at it from a non-dual point of view: “Right effort as a branch of the path” is action that gouges out a whole body, and it is the fashioning of a human face in the gouging out of the whole body. It is to ride upside down around the Buddha hall, doing one lap, two laps, three, four, and five laps, so that nine times nine comes to eighty-two. It is repeatedly to repay [the benevolence of] others, thousands and tens of thousands of times; it is to turn the head in any direction of the cross, vertically or horizontally; it is to change the face vertically or horizontally, in any direc tion of the cross; it is to enter the [master’s] room and to go to the Dharma hall. It expresses “having met at Bōshutei Pavilion, having met on Usekirei Peak, having met in front of the monks’ hall,”and having met inside the Buddha hall—there being two mirrors and three kinds of reflection. (1) OK, let’s take this apart. “Right effort as a branch of the path” is action that gouges out a whole body, and it is the fashioning of a human face in the gouging out of the whole body. Gouging out the eyes of Buddhas and ancestors appears in various places in Dogen’s writings. It starts with his own teacher, Tendo Nyojo, as recorded in the Hokyoki: Once, when sitting in his abbot’s quarters, Zen master Tendo Nyojo said, “Gouge out Bodhidharma’s eyeball and use it like a mud ball to hit people!” In the Zanmai-o-Zanmai fascicle, Dogen says: In the last several hundred years, my late teacher alone gouged out the eyes of the buddhas and ancestors and sat therein. Few masters in China have been equal to him. In the Ikka Myoju fascicle, Dogen says: Gouging out Bodhidharma’s eyeballs is thorough investigation. Aha! Gouging out eyeballs as right effort is thoroughly investigating this one unified reality, seeing the way Buddhas and ancestors see. In the case of the Ikka Myoju fascicle, Dogen is actually setting up a contrast in order to make a point. He’s talking about pilgrimage, or traveling around to practice, like Bodhidharma coming to China or Chinese ancestors going back to India. He says that’s not thorough investigation; it’s not necessary to go somewhere else to practice because there’s all of reality to investigate right here. The real thorough investigation is gouging out eyeballs or, as he says in his comment on this gate, gouging out whole body and then fashioning a human face—in other words, manifesting our true nature, the true self in this human form. It is to ride upside down around the Buddha hall, doing one lap, two laps, three, four, and five laps, so that nine times nine comes to eighty-two. There’s another translation of this that says It is to ride an ox or a water buffalo backward right into the Buddha hall, then doing one lap around the hall, two laps, three, four, or five laps, so that nine times nine equals eighty-two. This translator interprets Dogen as creating a nonsensical picture to say that we shouldn’t be worried about keeping track of numbers of things in our practice. We should just do what the moment calls for without having an agenda or checklist. That’s thorough investigation. Of course, he’s making this comment in the midst of all these gates that talk about four types of mindfulness, four kinds of correct effort, four modes of special powers, five faculties, five powers, seven branches of awakening, the eightfold path . . . all these things we encounter in these talks. If we accept the theory that riding backwards or upside down around the Buddha Hall until 9X9 = 82 is nonsense and put it next to Dogen’s insistence on thorough investigation right to the bottom of reality, then he’s telling us to let go of our ideas about how the universe works and see what’s really there. We don’t need to go on pilgrimage and we don’t need to memorize formulas; that’s not where our effort needs to go, and in fact, putting our energy there is somewhat misguided. However, there’s another interpretation of this whole backwards water buffalo 9x9=82 thing that says it means we should be ready to undertake what cannot actually be done. We shouldn’t be restricting our effort only to those things we think we can achieve; that would be attachment to outcome and again we have an agenda. Thorough investigation is to let go of our ideas about our own limitations as vessels of the dharma. You can decide whether either of these explanations makes sense to you! It is repeatedly to repay [the benevolence of] others, thousands and tens of thousands of times; Now we’re moving into a series of illustrations of nonseparation. Repaying the benevolence of others is completely interpenetrated functioning. Others are supporting us at the same time we’re supporting them within the network of interdependent origination, so it happens tens of thousands of times, not just when I think you’ve done something nice for me. This repaying of blessings is the complete functioning of reality. We’re making this kind of right effort without even having some intention about it. it is to turn the head in any direction of the cross, vertically or horizontally; it is to change the face vertically or horizontally, in any direction of the cross; I have to admit that this bit is somewhat obscure to me. Dogen uses the phrases “turning the head and changing the face” elsewhere in his writings, but those are also kind of obscure. Putting it next to the rest of his comment on this gate and knowing that it’s in the middle of a section about nonseparation, I’m going to guess that he’s setting up an example of freedom of movement in any of the ten directions (forming a cross). There’s an interpretation of “changing the face” elsewhere in his writings that concludes that it means awakening. Here it could mean that when we turn the head in any of the ten directions, or move through the world with this individual body and its karmic conditions, we also show the face, or our awakened nature or Buddha nature, in the ten directions. The head and the face are not separate just as our karmic selves and our Buddhanature are not separate. At lease, this is my guess. it is to enter the [master’s] room and to go to the Dharma hall. Now we’ve got nonduality between senior practitioners and the entire sangha, including beginners. If you had dharma transmission, you got to go to the teacher’s quarters to hear teachings and ask questions or have a private meeting about your practice and the dharma, but everyone was expected to go to the Dharma hall to hear the teacher’s talks for the community. Thus thorough investigation is to carry our your responsibilities as a senior member of the sangha, but not to think you’re too good to do what the rest of the sangha is doing or that you’ve achieved something and don’t need to practice any more. It expresses “having met at Bōshutei Pavilion, having met on Usekirei Peak, having met in front of the monks’ hall,”and having met inside the Buddha hall—there being two mirrors and three kinds of reflection. Dogen is incorporating by reference a koan story: Seppō addresses the assembly, “I have met you at Bōshutei Pavilion, I have met you on Usekirei Peak, and I have met you in front of the monks’ hall.” Hofuku asks Gako, “Let us forget for a while the front of the monks’ hall. What about the meetings at Bōshutei Pavilion and Usekirei Peak?” Gako runs back to the abbot’s quarters. Hofuku lowers his head and goes into the monks’ hall. Dogen talks about this story again in Shobogenzo Komyo: Great Master Shingaku of Mt. Seppo once told his monks, “I met you in front of the monastery.” This was the expression of his enlightenment and the true expression of himself. He wanted to teach the monks the real meaning of the word “monastery.” Once Seppo’s disciple Hofuku asked Gako, another disciple, “Our master insists on only using the expression ‘I met you in front of the monastery’ to explain his teaching but never mentions Boshutei or Usekirei.” Then Gako quickly returned to the master’s quarters and Hofuku to the monastery. They understood the meaning and purpose of their master’s teaching. By returning to their respective dwellings they showed that enlightenment is only to meet our real selves. This is the real meaning of meeting in front of the monastery. Similarly, great Master Shino of Jizo-in said, “The monk in charge of the kitchen enters the kitchen.” This expression surpasses the meaning of time. Bōshū Pavilion and Useki Peak are two scenic places on Mount Seppō where people did meditation. The teacher says he’s met his disciples at all of these places where they engage in zazen. The word for “meeting” here includes a kanji that indicates some mutuality, or nonseparation of subject and object. The teacher says that wherever they meet in zazen, or wherever we understand that there is only one awakening within this one unified reality, that’s the monastery. They don’t have to mention the other scenic places on the mountain, and they don’t really even need to physically be in the same place. They can each be in their own quarters or wherever and still be “meeting,” or not be separate. When Dogen says this expression surpasses the meaning of time, he’s pointing out that people in different times as well as different spaces are still not separate within awakening, and again, thorough investigation or right effort is not limited to one space or one time. And finally, the end of Dogen’s comment: It expresses having met inside the Buddha hall—there being two mirrors and three kinds of reflection. Subject and object are reflecting each other like two mirrors, and also those two mirrors are the undivided reality of this moment, so there are three reflections. There’s subject, object, and going beyond the distinction between subject and object. There are individual people meeting, talking and sitting, and there is also the reality that includes all the people and their activities. Thorough investigation or right effort operates from the point of view of individuals and forms and subject and object, and also from the point of view of emptiness. Thorough investigation, or right practice, or right effort, is about immersing ourselves in the complete functioning of this moment, doing that without any gaps or creating any separations. This is not like investigating with the intellect only, doing research in books and looking up facts. Uchiyama Roshi figured that out early on in his practice life. He says: By studying Western philosophy academically you can pretty much learn what it’s all about, but Buddhism is another matter. To investigate and understand Buddhism and zazen thoroughly, I became a monk. My becoming a monk was something of a fabricated means for doing zazen, because it was easier to do zazen if I took on the lifestyle of a monk, , , , I had been an intellectual, doing little besides reading and thinking, but I was determined to put all my energy into this practice. Later I wrote a poem I called “Poem for Leaving Home”: Like a sunbeam on a bright autumn morning I would like to become completely one, Body and mind, With transparent wholehearted practice. (2) The sunbeam is transparent, just shining the way it shines, carrying out complete functioning with no gaps, not disconnected from either the sun or whatever it lands on. We can see individual sunbeams in relation to shadows or to something in the air, like water vapor or dust particles, but in the absence of those things, we can’t separate a sunbeam from the rest of the light coming from the sky. Sometimes it has form and sometimes it doesn’t have any self-nature of its own, but in both cases, right practice is there. The question for us is how we can abandon unwholesome activities and turn instead toward “becoming one with transparent, wholehearted practice. Notes: 1) Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, tr. Nishijima and Cross, vol 4. (2006). United Kingdom: Booksurge Publishing, p. 13. 2 Uchiyama, K. (2005). Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice. Ukraine: Wisdom Publications, p. xxxii - xxxiii] 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
June 2025
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