|
The bodhi-mind is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we are not separated from the Three Treasures. 菩提心是法明門、不斷三寶故。 As usual, first I’d like to look at bodhi-mind so we understand what that is, and then look at its relationship to the three treasures of buddha, dharma and sangha. Bodhi-mind goes by various names: bodhicitta, bodai-shin, mind of the Way, true mind. Bodhi means awake. We also find it in bodhisattva, “awakened being,” for instance. Bodhi-mind is the awakened mind. There are two kinds of bodhi-mind, which we might call aspiring and engaging. With bodhi-mind as aspiration, we see that our limited point of view isn’t the whole story. We decide to investigate reality through practice as best we can, and we aim ourselves at manifesting awakening; that’s our intention or our plan, even though we can’t do it perfectly. Bodhi-mind as engagement is the reality that as soon as we see reality clearly enough to want to practice, we’ve already taken vows and we’re already bodhisattvas. Unsurpassed complete perfect awakening is already present and there’s nothing to get. The bodhisattva Samantabhadra, or Fugen in Japan, represents both aspects of bodhi-mind. Fugen is the bodhisattva of practice, just as Monju is the bodhisattva of wisdom and Kannon the bodhisattva of compassion. It’s said that Fugen made 62 vows, and one of them is, “I will cultivate the pure paramitas with vigor and never abandon the Bodhi Mind. I will banish all obstructions and defilements and fulfill all wondrous practices.” In a number of the other vows he makes reference to completely carrying out the practice of bodhi, or completely attaining bodhi. We can see why Fugen is associated with wholehearted practice. Sometimes we find Shakyamuni depicted with Monju for wisdom on one side and Fugen for practice on the other as a triad. Dogen had a lot to say about bodhi mind; he wrote a whole fascicle about it called Shobogenzo Hotsu Bodaishin. He says he first aroused bodhi-mind because of seeing impermanence. The story goes that he experienced impermanence in a deep way when he saw the incense smoke rising up at his monther’s funeral when he was seven years old. This connection between impermanence and bodhi-mind is a theme in his teaching. When Dogen got back from China and founded Koshoji, some of his earliest teaching to his monks was about impermanence and bodhi mind. In fact, he defines bodhi mind simply as the mind that sees impermanence. He says that when you see impermanence, then egocentrism doesn’t arise and neither does the desire for fame and gain. In addition to impermanence, the second important connection Dogen makes with bodhi mind is faithfulness to the tradition. In his instructions for temple administrators, he says, “What is called the mind of the Way is not to abandon or scatter about the great Way of the Buddha ancestors, but deeply to protect and esteem their great Way.” Maintaining the guidelines for conduct is the same as giving up practicing for fame and gain, which is arousing bodhi-mind. In practicing with others, we stop practicing for sake of small self; there isn’t “my” practice and what I get out of it, there’s just practice unfolding in the liberation of all beings. (For more on these connections, see Okumura Roshi’s article here.) The gate statement connects bodaishin or bodhi mind with the three treasures. One connection we’re already familiar with is the verse of the three refuges. We chant these every month as part of the ryaku fusatsu ceremony, when we renew our aspiration to follow the precepts. The first part of the verse is: I take refuge in Buddha, together with all beings Immersing body and mind deeply in the Way, awakening true mind. Immersing body and mind in the way is arousing bodhi mind, and it’s also personally engaging in practice (remember aspiring and engaging?). The “awakening true mind” piece is interesting. Other translations are "vowing to awaken" or "resolving to awaken." Why true mind? I don’t know whether there’s actually a connection, but once Dogen decided to practice and enrolled in a temple, his view of his own aspiration started to change. His earliest teachers told him he should study hard so that he could be learned and famous and become known in the imperial court. Then he read the biographies of eminent monks in China, one of the genres of writing that greatly influenced him. (For more on literary trends in Dogen’s time, see the third lecture in my Introduction to Dogen.) Dogen realized by reading how these Chinese teachers lived and practiced that he had the wrong idea. Practicing for fame and gain wasn’t what real bodhi mind was about. After all, all you have to do is look at the life of the Buddha to see that he gave up a royal lifestyle to practice and awaken. This is true mind, or real bodhi mind. Dogen’s changing understanding of bodhi-mind was one of the things that pushed him to travel around and to go to China, looking for authentic practice and teachers. We’re vowing to awaken, and not just for our own sakes but for the sake of liberating all beings from suffering. Taking refuge in Buddha is taking refuge in awakening, or bodhi. In Minnesota, where I first practiced with Okumura Roshi many years ago, we used a different translation of the refuge verse, “Embodying the Great Way, resolving to awaken,” as opposed to “Immersing body and mind deeply in the Way, awakening true mind.” Here’s what he says about this using this other translation: We have to understand the Great Way with our bodies. The Buddha’s teaching is not something we can understand merely with our intellects; we have to practice it in our day-to-day lives. To understand and agree with this teaching is not enough. If we agree with this teaching, we have to carry it out, to live it. . . . [W]e have to embody the Great Way in our daily lives. (1) An interesting characteristic of bodhi mind is that the thing that’s causing us to seek is the thing that we’re seeking. If awakening wasn’t there, we wouldn’t be aspiring to awaken. Embodying the Great Way or immersing our bodies and minds deeply in the Way is itself both aspiration and awakening. Immersing ourselves in the way is practice, and according to Dogen, practice and awakening are not two separate things. Okumura Roshi goes on: When we embody the Great Awakening, we awaken to the awakening mind. Its a strange expression, but that is the reality. We awaken the awakening mind in order to wake up. (2) Although bodhi-mind includes both aspiring and engaging, there’s really only one bodhi-mind or one awakening. One of the themes of Dogen’s teaching is there’s really only one Buddha. We might see Buddha in various forms or representing various aspects of the tradition, but really there’s only one, and that’s because there’s only one awakening. (Related: Two founders and two head temples in Buddhist Essentials.) Dogen says: In the past the buddha-ancestors were like us; in the future we may be buddha-ancestors. When we look up at the buddha-ancestors, we see only one buddha-ancestor. When we contemplate arousing [bodhi-]mind, there is only a single mind that is aroused. When [buddha-ancestors] radiate their compassion in all directions, we will receive helpful conditions and drop them off as well. (3) This is immersing body and mind deeply in the way. We’re in the midst of the wisdom and compassion of the universe, so we receive helpful conditions, or support for our practice and we verify our bodhi mind with our own experience. At the same time, we drop off those helpful conditions. We don’t cling to them as something we own or something that will never change, and we don’t get stuck with our ideas about what good conditions for practice are. We’re immersed in this one swirling dynamic reality of practice. It’s always been true, but with bodhi mind we can start to see it, and sometimes it’s a bit unsettling. When we think about taking refuge in something, that sounds comforting and safe, but arousing bodhi mind and deciding to practice is really a couragous thing to do. It means challenging all of our assumptions and preconceptions. It means we’re going to be uncomfortable, because change is going to happen and change is scary. In the midst of that growth and change and taking our first tottering steps as bodhisattvas, it does help to know that the three treasures are always there for us, that they are wholesome and real and don’t leave anyone out. The next part of the refuge verse is: I take refuge in Dharma, together with all beings Entering deeply the merciful ocean of Buddha’s Way. When we arouse bodhi mind and start learning to see, what we see is the dharma, the true functioning of reality. Dharma is the reality to which Shakyamuni awakened, and that’s what we awaken to as well when we enter into that space with him. As I mentioned, an important element of arousing bodhi mind is seeing that our ideas and conventional thinking aren’t whole story. At some point, we get the sense that there’s something larger going on in the universe, that there’s something else we’re just not seeing. As Okumura Roshi says, The meaning of taking refuge in the Dharma is that we value Dharma more than our own limited opinions and views based on our personal karma. (4) The dharma treasure is also important to bodhi mind because without it there’s nothing to practice. There wouldn’t be much point in arousing bodhi mind. To enter the ocean of dharma teachings is to embody awakening and to transmit those teachings through our bodhisattva actions. Provisionally, there is awakening or Buddha, and dharma, the contents of that experience, but we need to remember that also, in the largest sense, they’re not different. Okumura Roshi says: We usually think of awakening as something subjective that happens inside a person, and dharma as the object of awakening. In the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, there is no separation between subject and object, between the person who sees reality and the reality that is seen. When we separate the two, wisdom becomes delusion. Awakening, beings and reality are one. The dharma is bodhi, awakening itself. (5) I said above that Dogen felt that maintaining guidelines for conduct within temple and sangha is an expression of bodhi-mind. Those guidelines are designed to show us how to fold seamlessly into the functioning of reality. They’re based on the reality of impermanence, interconnectedness and the emptiness of the self, so this is an example of the connection between bodhi-mind and the dharma treasure. The last part of the refuge verse is: I take refuge in Sangha, together with all beings Bringing harmony to everyone, free from hindrance Uchiyama Roshi saw a real connection between bodhi-mind and the sangha treasure: It is important that every one of us cooperate with each other to protect and maintain an atmosphere conducive to practicing together. There is no one who can claim to always embody bodhi-mind, the mind that aspires to practice and attain enlightenment. Each of us gathers and contributes his or her own little bodhi-mind to the general effort. Sawaki Roshi often said that a monastery is like a charcoal fire in a hibachi. If you put in just one little coal, it will go out right away. But if you gather many small coals, each glowing just a little bit, then the fire will flare up. In the same way, each one of us should contribute a little bodhi-mind and thus enable our sangha to thrive. (6) This is a different specific way in which our bodhi mind contributes to liberating beings. Simply being present with others who practice supports them in that practice. There were plenty of folks who were practicing in isolation during the pandemic and were very anxious to come to Sanshin once we were gathering in person again without masks. Keeping that flame alive when you’re doing Sanshin Solo practice can be hard. This is why I’ve been requesting that practitioners who live in Bloomington and are able to get here to participate in person rather than virtually. It’s better for them, but it’s also better for the rest of us. Yes, it’s really convenient to slide out of bed on Sunday morning and turn on the computer rather than getting yourself here, but everyone here appreciates that extra effort. Bodhi mind supports practice, but practice also supports bodhi mind, and Uchiyama Roshi says that as soon as we stop sitting and those little flames of bodhi mind start to go out, cracks start appearing in the sangha. It’s the common thread of bodhi mind that defines a sangha: a community of people with the same bodhi mind. He says: Even in a community of practitioners, troubles arise somehow without any particular reason when we don’t sit, for example for a month during summer vacation. Since the monastery is a community of people with the same bodhi mind, there should not be any conflict. Yet as soon as the bodhi mind becomes even a little bit weak, the world of individual strangers appears. When we uphold bodhi mind and devote ourselves to practice and cooperate together, practitioners become even more intimate with each other than parents or brothers and sisters. When bodhi mind weakens, the world of conflict arises. When we start sesshin and daily zazen schedule again, the disputatious mind melts away. (7) With Buddha we have awakening, and with dharma and sangha we’re arousing the vow to actually do something with all that wisdom and compassion. Thus bodhi mind is also closely tied to precepts: how we actually go about engaging in liberating beings. One interesting thing about the connection between bodhi mind and liberating beings is that you can’t arouse bodhi mind in someone else. One reason Buddhism doesn’t evangelize is that you can’t talk someone into believing and practicing if bodhi mind isn’t already there. Folks have their own timeline, which you can’t push. They’re not ready until they’re ready. All you can do is be available when their time comes. If Sanshin launched a huge advertising campaign around Bloomington expecting to get a lot of new practitioners, it wouldn’t help. People might show up in the zendo for a lot of reasons, thinking that zazen is good for something, but unless bodhi mind was already there, they’d just get disappointed and they wouldn’t stick around. When people are ready for us, they can find our website and we’ll welcome them in. The upshot is that we can be grateful that bodhi mind has showed up for us, and that we’ve encountered the three treasures and started to practice. We don’t need to judge others for whether or not bodhi mind has arisen for them. We don’t get personal credit for the karma that led us here; we can just be happy it did. We were able to have enough faith in the beginning to stick with it even though our own experience didn’t yet confirm our bodhi mind. Once we have some personal experience of practice and awakening and we have some wisdom and compassion, then we don’t need anyone else to tell us that zazen is good or practice is meaningful. As Okumura Roshi says: In other religions, we can’t understand, so we believe. But in Buddhism, we have faith because we have the wisdom to see. (8) Bodhi mind arises in the midst of some degree of faith, and then practice and wisdom verify that faith. With that wisdom we see clearly. With compassion we feel with others because of interconnection, so action arises naturally. It’s not a matter of theory or philosophy. We’re already a part of the dynamic functioning of the universe, so our actions are a seamless part of that. Dogen equates arousing bodhi mind to taking bodhisattva vows. All those arousing bodhi mind are already bodhisattvas. When we see that everything is impermanent and that we’re pulled around by clinging to things that change, compassion arises naturally and we want to liberate ourselves and others from the pattern of five skandhas clinging to five skandhas. He says: [W]hether we wish in our mind or not, being pulled by our past karma, the transmigration within the cycle of life and death continues without stopping for a single [instant]. With the body-and-mind that is transmigrating in this manner through the cycle of life and death, we should without fail arouse the bodhi-mind of ferrying others before ourselves. Even if, on the way of arousing the bodhi mind, we hold our body-and-mind dear, it is born, grows old, becomes sick, and dies; after all, it cannot be our own personal possession. This very body and mind is a constant and acute example of impermanence. Even if we don’t want it to age, get sick and die, it will anyway. Seeing that is the arousing of bodhi mind, and since all beings are in the same situation, we all have this kind of suffering, so the vow is already there. This also illustrates another important intersection in Dogen’s teaching: the five skandhas clinging to five skandhas is what keeps us from seeing impermanence and arousing bodhi mind. The five skandhas are Mara, the demon that came to Shakyamuni while he was sitting under the bodhi tree and tried to keep him from realizing awakening. It’s our own body and mind that provides the hindrances to bodhi mind. However, Dogen also says that the five skandhas are five instances of prajna, or five kinds of wisdom. There is nothing other than the five aggregates, so there is no awakening or wisdom outside of them, and yet they can be what keeps us from arousing bodhi mind. When we don’t see the emptiness of the five skandhas, we have delusion and hindrance and Mara. When we let go of self clinging and see them for what they are, then wisdom and compassion are right there. We have to do this over and over, millions and millions of times. We have to arouse bodhi mind moment by moment, over and over again—it’s not a one-time thing. This is why we need to keep practicing and keep verifying, and why we need to keep doing vow and repentance. There’s a real intersection here between the individual self and the universal self. Arousing bodhi-mind is something that happens for each of us and we can’t do it for someone else. At the same time, as soon as that mind comes up, it stops being an individual small-self event or process. We have to take care of our own bodhi mind; we have to manifest it here and now in this body and mind. We have to undertake our own practice, but we don’t do it by ourselves or for ourselves. This is our practice of non-reliance. In his final lecture at Antaiji, Uchiyama Roshi said: You can spend your whole life oblivious of what’s happening around you, or you can live your whole life with an aware mind. To live blindly is utterly meaningless. Bodhi-mind—or Way mind, or awakening mind—is that mind which constantly reminds you to wake up in the real sense. So, “realizing that development and backsliding are your responsibility alone, endeavor to practice and develop.” (9) Notes: (1) Okumura, S. (2012). Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts. United Kingdom: Wisdom Publications, p. 64 (2) Living by Vow, p. 64-65 (3) Boundless Vows, Endless Practice, p 3-4 (4) Living by Vow, p. 65 (5) Living by Vow, p. 91 (6) Uchiyama, K. (2005). Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice. Ukraine: Wisdom Publications, p. 168 (7) The Wholehearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dogen's Bendowa, With Commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. (2011). United States: Tuttle Publishing, p.111 (8) Living by Vow, p. 68 (9) Opening the Hand of Thought, p. 165 Questions for reflection and discussion:
Comments are closed.
|
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
July 2025
|
RSS Feed