The Robe and the Dharma are One Thusness
by Kōdō Sawaki
Translation by Michele Sevik and Issan Koyama
Since ancient times in our country, faith in the kesa has always been very strong. Examining the history of successive emperors, we find that there were several emperors who attended formal functions wearing the kesa. There were also emperors who slept peacefully under the kesa of a high priest. Today, some of the kesas worn by ancient emperors are still preserved in Shōsō-in, the imperial treasure house.
Statues of Hachiman, the syncretic divinity of war, were often fashioned in the form of bodhisattvas and priests wearing kesas. A well-known example is the Hachiman statue in the Usa Shrine. It was believed that Hachiman appeared wearing a nine-panel kesa when offering teachings. The Hachiman Mahasattva statue presented by Prince Atsumi was in the form of a priest wearing a nine-panel kesa.
Prince Shōtoku wore a kesa when performing governmental functions and later warriors wore kesas when going into battle. It is said that this was inspired by a description found in the Hike-kyo (Karunā-Pundarika Sutra) stating that, “Even in the midst of battle, if someone holds up a kesa, the respect and reverence the enemy feels towards it will defuse the conflict.”
Many people were given names incorporating the kanji character for kesa, emphasizing faith in the kesa.
Now then, what is the relationship between the kesa and our own school’s doctrinal principles? It is simply that the kesa and the Buddha Dharma are One Thusness.
The following passage appears in the Record of the Transmission of Illumination:
The forty-second Ancestor, Reverend Liangshan, sought instruction from the latter Tongan.
Tongan asked, “What about the great matter for those in patched robes?”
Liangshan had no response.
Tongan said, “When studying the teachings of the Buddha, failure to reach this understanding is the greatest form of suffering. You ask, and I will speak.”
Lingshan asked, “What about the great matter for those in patched robes?”
Tongan said, “Mitsu” (Intimate). Lingshan thereupon greatly awakened.
In other words, when asked, “What does it mean to be one who wears the kesa?” Tongan’s answer was “Mitsu” (Intimate).
“One wearing the kesa” is one body of kōan. This kōan is something we spend our entire lifetimes sincerely studying and examining. However high a person’s rank and position may be, the one wearing the kesa sits at ease. Such faith in the kesa envelops our entire being.
All buddhas and ancestors lived with this faith and revered, protected and maintained the Dharma Robes.
At the beginning of the Hymn of Praise of Buddhist Formal Clothes, there is a verse that says, “The merit of the kesa is immense. All buddhas of the three times use the kesa as armor to protect themselves from delusion. All sages in the ten directions use it as a raft to cross the ocean of life and death.”
The record of Tōzan Ryōkai’s teachings contains the following dialogue:
Tōzan asked a monk, “Of all the kinds of suffering, which is the most painful?”
The monk answered, “Hell is the most painful.”
(Anytime, anyplace there’s always one silly person.)
Tōzan said, “The most painful kind of suffering is to remain unclear about the most important matter while wearing the Robe.”
If you are still looking around for heaven while wearing the kesa, you will never reach the place you should be in your lifetime. Wearing the kesa is itself the completion of the most important matter and the arrival at the ultimate place. Not being able to realize this fulfillment while wearing the kesa is the worst suffering.
In the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, Buddha says, “Even after my death, those wearing the three robes, whether they have received the precepts or not, will enter Nirvana.” In other words, the kesa is the robe of liberation, it is the formless virtuous field.
In the fascicle entitled Shōbōgenzō Kesa-kudoku (Virtue of Kesa), Dōgen Zenji wrote, “Truly, although we regret that we have been born in this remote land in the degenerate
age of the Last Dharma, we can rejoice that we have encountered the Dharma and that the robe has been legitimately transmitted from a buddha to a buddha.” Dōgen Zenji is saying that the kesa is itself the Buddha Dharma. He continues by saying, “It is said that Shakyamuni who was six feet tall, transmitted the robe to Maitreya who
was 1,000 feet tall, but the kesa was neither too long nor too short.”
This is the robe of faith of no form. It is Buddha’s teaching itself. The kesa is ultimately the complete expression of Buddha Dharma. It pervades the entire universe and has immeasurable width and breadth. It is infinitely large and encompasses space in all directions. It is infinitely small and is present in the most incomprehensibly small spaces. It is exactly the Mind Seal of Liberation of No Form and Realization itself.
The Sixth Ancestor, Daikan Enō, read a poem submitted to the Fifth Ancestor by Jinshū, the head monk, who wrote:
The body is a bodhi tree
the mind is like a mirror stand
always try to keep it clean
don’t let it gather dust.
Enō responded with a poem of his own:
Bodhi doesn’t have trees
this mirror doesn’t have a stand
originally there is not one thing
where do you get this dust?
The Fifth Ancestor, Konin Zenji, transmitted the dharma and the kesa to Enō and told him to flee. While he was crossing the river, Jinshū’s followers pursued him with the intention of robbing him of the robe. When one follower caught him, threatened him and tried to seize the dharma robe, the Sixth Ancestor placed the robe over a rock and said, “This robe is nothing but a symbol. What is the use of taking it away by force?” When his aggressor tried to lift the dharma robe from the rock, he found it was impossible to budge, as if the robe was as heavy as a huge stone. The power of ordinary people cannot challenge it. The robe of the Sixth Ancestor is the robe of faith. It is our faith. It is a manifestation of our living experience and realization.
When Menzan Zuihō was 25 years old and staying at Rōbaian, he expressed this in the following verse:
Stitch by stitch, completing the sewing of the kesa,
following the rule not to use expensive or commercial grade fabric,
blue, yellow, red, and white patches are interwoven, some short, some long.
Assembling them into one finished piece, the merits of the ancestral buddhas illuminate
the mixed colored patches.
What all these teachers transmitted appears in the needle’s stitches.
Dignity is manifested and expands into the unending future.
Great fields of virtue for all beings eternally.
If you clearly understand this, the sewing of the kesa itself is already the completion of the One Great Matter. Each stitch truly manifests the essential teaching of our lineage. Each stitch is the entirety. Each stitch is the complete manifestation of the Dharma.
Each stitch is the ultimate place.
Each stitch is truly intimate, manifesting True Reality.
Differing in appearance,
we practice among those in all the different realms.
Regarding cutting the fabric, this means cutting away delusion and attachment. If you cannot discard your delusions, any fabric becomes impure. When attachments are cut off, even silk fabric becomes pure. This cutting is itself the essential teaching of our school and it is the completion of the One Great Matter.
Wild birds sing without intention.
Flowers just smile naturally.
Immovably sitting zazen without expectation.
Staying away from likes and dislikes, abandoning delusions and attachments, the true meaning of cutting the fabric naturally manifests itself.
Mokushitsu Zenji expressed it this way:
The great lofty blue mountain.
The white clouds come and go.
Movement and stillness manifest just as they are.
Without attachment and delusion, without intention, the mountain and the clouds are appearing just as they are. We should seriously reflect upon this point until we make this teaching our own. Discarding attachments and rejecting all clinging and craving, this is the essential path to liberation.
Regarding the fabric to be used for a kesa, since ancient times the instructions have been to eschew brocade, twilled fabric and silk. Silk should especially be rejected since it harms the living beings producing it. Fabric made from shed and discarded animal hair is the purest.
Regarding this point, however, Dōgen Zenji wrote, “As for the material of the robe, we use either silk or cotton according to conditions. It is not true that cotton is pure and silk is impure. [And yet] we never see people rejecting cotton in favor of silk. This is laughable.”
If you cannot let go of discriminations and emotional attachments, even fabric made from discarded animal hair can become impure. Only when likes and dislikes are abandoned and hating and loving have been discarded, does nyoho-e (robe of the Dharma of Thusness) manifests itself before us.
Once a monk asked the Ancient Buddha (Enō), “Is the robe of transmission you received in the middle of the night on Mt. Huangmei (Obai) cotton or silk?”
Enō said, “It is neither cotton nor silk. We should know that a kesa is neither silk nor cotton. This is the profound teaching of the Buddha Way.
Regarding color:
In the Mahāyāna-sūtra-alaṃkāra it is written, “I wear a red robe. When reflected in a jewel, it resembles the color of flesh.”
In the Nirvana Sutra it is written, “A drunk elephant looking at my disciples’ red robes think it is blood.” Based on these descriptions in the sutras, Dōgen Zenji writes, “The Tathagata always wore a flesh-colored (dark red) kesa. That was the color of the kesa.”
In the Brahma Net Sutra, it is written that, “When the kesa worn is of mixed colors, it is in alignment with the Way.”
Dōgen Zenji wrote, “The buddha’s kesa transmitted by the First Ancestor was blue-black. It was made of cotton from India.”
Regarding the dyeing the fabric, Dōgen Zenji wrote, “We always dye it with mixed colors so that it keeps us away from the five desires and enables us not to give birth to greed and attachment… As the everlasting dharma of all buddhas, the robe made with funzo-e (discarded fabric) is considered superior and most pure.”
In dyeing cloth for a kesa, the colors for nyohō-e are blue-black, mixed colors and ochre. Those are called the Three Nyohō-e Colors.
When both body and mind are cleansed like funzo-e, only then does nyoho-e become the virtuous field of no form and our five aggregates (body and mind) become the aggregates of 84,000 dharma gates.
Regarding measurements, the immeasurable Buddha’s body appears in the tiniest particles and the shortest moment. In some sutras, it is said that Shariputra appears as ten huge bodies, filling the three worlds completely, and Subhuti appears with the immense body of an entire ocean. In each case, the kesa is always in harmony with the Buddha’s body.
In Shōbōgenzō Kesa-kudoku, Dōgen Zenji wrote, “The measurements of buddhas’ and human beings’ bodies are very different. The bodies of human beings can be measured, but the bodies of buddhas cannot be measured. Therefore, if Shakyamuni Buddha of the present age wears the kesa or if Kasyapa Buddha of the past wears the kesa, it is neither too long nor too wide. Even if Maitreya Buddha wears the kesa of Shakyamuni Buddha, it is neither too short nor too narrow. We should clearly see, determine, clarify and observe carefully that the Buddha’s body is neither long nor short.”
This means that when the kesa worn by Shakyamuni Buddha who is 6 feet tall, is worn by Maitreya Buddha who is 1000 meters tall, it is neither too short nor too narrow. Why is this? This is because the kesa is the Dharma. When it is worn, the kesa is the robe of the virtuous field. In other words, when both body and mind are cleansed and become like funzo-e, the Buddha Dharma manifests.
Until now we have talked about fabric, color and measurements. When these three elements are interwoven appropriately, at that time, each and every stitch creates an illuminating kesa. When this happens, it is the 32 characteristics of Buddha and the 80 auspicious signs appearing here and now. The material, color and measurement of thusness are the Buddha’s Three Bodies and the Buddha’s Three Virtues.
In the Great Pure Gate Sutra, the kesa is called, “the robe of the removal of impurities” that eliminates the three obstacles and the five impurities.
In the Mahāsamnipāta Sutra, it is called, “the robe of releasing defilements.” That means it helps the wearer to leave behind all delusions and defilements. In the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, it is called, “the robe of leaving samsara,” which refers to extinguishing the three obstacles and going beyond the distinction of inside and outside of
samsara. It is also called, the “robe of purity,” the “robe of removing defilement” and the “robe of fading into translucence.” It is also called the “robe of the lotus flower” and the “robe of mixed colors.” All of these names refer to breaking through delusions and abandoning attachments.
Dōgen Zenji says, “First of all, we should know that the kesa is what all buddhas venerate and take refuge in. The kesa is Buddha’s body and Buddha’s mind. It is called the robe of liberation, the robe of the field of happiness, the robe of no form, the unsurpassable robe, the robe of patience, the robe of Tathagata, the robe of great compassion, the robe of the victory banner and the robe of unsurpassable supreme awakening. In this way, we should truly receive and maintain the kesa and venerate it by placing it on our head.”
Therefore the kesa must be our fist and our eyeballs. It is the full 14 verses at the beginning and the end of the sutras and it is also the verse devoid of words. We should study this point diligently until our bodies remember it, then we will respectfully receive, open and wear the kesa.
In conclusion, I will make a list of reference books for those who desire to study the kesa further.
It goes without saying that those in our school should base our understanding first on the Shōbōgenzō fascicles, Kesa-kudoku and Den-e (Transmission of the Robe). However, these fascicles are insufficient since they do not contain the exact information needed to do such things as stitch, measure and wear the kesa.
Among the Complete Collection of Buddhist Teachings published in the Meiji era, there are two books entitled The Series on Dharma Clothes. This includes the Hobuku Kakushō (Standards of Dharma Clothes) by Mokushitsu Ryōyō. In the full collection of teachings by Jiun of Katsuragi of the Vinaya School, there are two books
on kesa.
Besides that, there is the “Meaning of the Dharma Robe” in both an abridged version and an extensive version, as well as “Talks on the Significance of the Kesa.” Out of these three books, the abridged version is the most informative regarding the correct standards for the dharma robes of our school. The first part has explanations with illustrations and the second part describes the origins of the kesa in great detail, including how to dye fabric for the kesa, all in the form of questions and answers.
Teinin, the Vinaya teacher of Hajijisan, wrote a ten-volume book called Questions and Answers in the Vinaya Temple. In this collection of books, funzo-e is discussed and explained in detail. Furthermore, Menzan Zuihō wrote Shakushi Hōe Kun (Points to Remember Regarding Dharma Clothes) but the core of this writing is about Shōbōgenzō Kesa-kudoku.
There are additional explorations and studies of the kesa from the Vinaya School. Among these, you can find reliable information in the "Chapter on Purity" in the Sutra of Contemplation of the Mind Ground, the Karunā-pundarika Sutra, the Sea Dragon King Sutra, the Ten Chakras of Jizo Sutra, and the Sutra of the Wise and Foolish.
Translation by Michele Sevik and Issan Koyama
Since ancient times in our country, faith in the kesa has always been very strong. Examining the history of successive emperors, we find that there were several emperors who attended formal functions wearing the kesa. There were also emperors who slept peacefully under the kesa of a high priest. Today, some of the kesas worn by ancient emperors are still preserved in Shōsō-in, the imperial treasure house.
Statues of Hachiman, the syncretic divinity of war, were often fashioned in the form of bodhisattvas and priests wearing kesas. A well-known example is the Hachiman statue in the Usa Shrine. It was believed that Hachiman appeared wearing a nine-panel kesa when offering teachings. The Hachiman Mahasattva statue presented by Prince Atsumi was in the form of a priest wearing a nine-panel kesa.
Prince Shōtoku wore a kesa when performing governmental functions and later warriors wore kesas when going into battle. It is said that this was inspired by a description found in the Hike-kyo (Karunā-Pundarika Sutra) stating that, “Even in the midst of battle, if someone holds up a kesa, the respect and reverence the enemy feels towards it will defuse the conflict.”
Many people were given names incorporating the kanji character for kesa, emphasizing faith in the kesa.
Now then, what is the relationship between the kesa and our own school’s doctrinal principles? It is simply that the kesa and the Buddha Dharma are One Thusness.
The following passage appears in the Record of the Transmission of Illumination:
The forty-second Ancestor, Reverend Liangshan, sought instruction from the latter Tongan.
Tongan asked, “What about the great matter for those in patched robes?”
Liangshan had no response.
Tongan said, “When studying the teachings of the Buddha, failure to reach this understanding is the greatest form of suffering. You ask, and I will speak.”
Lingshan asked, “What about the great matter for those in patched robes?”
Tongan said, “Mitsu” (Intimate). Lingshan thereupon greatly awakened.
In other words, when asked, “What does it mean to be one who wears the kesa?” Tongan’s answer was “Mitsu” (Intimate).
“One wearing the kesa” is one body of kōan. This kōan is something we spend our entire lifetimes sincerely studying and examining. However high a person’s rank and position may be, the one wearing the kesa sits at ease. Such faith in the kesa envelops our entire being.
All buddhas and ancestors lived with this faith and revered, protected and maintained the Dharma Robes.
At the beginning of the Hymn of Praise of Buddhist Formal Clothes, there is a verse that says, “The merit of the kesa is immense. All buddhas of the three times use the kesa as armor to protect themselves from delusion. All sages in the ten directions use it as a raft to cross the ocean of life and death.”
The record of Tōzan Ryōkai’s teachings contains the following dialogue:
Tōzan asked a monk, “Of all the kinds of suffering, which is the most painful?”
The monk answered, “Hell is the most painful.”
(Anytime, anyplace there’s always one silly person.)
Tōzan said, “The most painful kind of suffering is to remain unclear about the most important matter while wearing the Robe.”
If you are still looking around for heaven while wearing the kesa, you will never reach the place you should be in your lifetime. Wearing the kesa is itself the completion of the most important matter and the arrival at the ultimate place. Not being able to realize this fulfillment while wearing the kesa is the worst suffering.
In the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, Buddha says, “Even after my death, those wearing the three robes, whether they have received the precepts or not, will enter Nirvana.” In other words, the kesa is the robe of liberation, it is the formless virtuous field.
In the fascicle entitled Shōbōgenzō Kesa-kudoku (Virtue of Kesa), Dōgen Zenji wrote, “Truly, although we regret that we have been born in this remote land in the degenerate
age of the Last Dharma, we can rejoice that we have encountered the Dharma and that the robe has been legitimately transmitted from a buddha to a buddha.” Dōgen Zenji is saying that the kesa is itself the Buddha Dharma. He continues by saying, “It is said that Shakyamuni who was six feet tall, transmitted the robe to Maitreya who
was 1,000 feet tall, but the kesa was neither too long nor too short.”
This is the robe of faith of no form. It is Buddha’s teaching itself. The kesa is ultimately the complete expression of Buddha Dharma. It pervades the entire universe and has immeasurable width and breadth. It is infinitely large and encompasses space in all directions. It is infinitely small and is present in the most incomprehensibly small spaces. It is exactly the Mind Seal of Liberation of No Form and Realization itself.
The Sixth Ancestor, Daikan Enō, read a poem submitted to the Fifth Ancestor by Jinshū, the head monk, who wrote:
The body is a bodhi tree
the mind is like a mirror stand
always try to keep it clean
don’t let it gather dust.
Enō responded with a poem of his own:
Bodhi doesn’t have trees
this mirror doesn’t have a stand
originally there is not one thing
where do you get this dust?
The Fifth Ancestor, Konin Zenji, transmitted the dharma and the kesa to Enō and told him to flee. While he was crossing the river, Jinshū’s followers pursued him with the intention of robbing him of the robe. When one follower caught him, threatened him and tried to seize the dharma robe, the Sixth Ancestor placed the robe over a rock and said, “This robe is nothing but a symbol. What is the use of taking it away by force?” When his aggressor tried to lift the dharma robe from the rock, he found it was impossible to budge, as if the robe was as heavy as a huge stone. The power of ordinary people cannot challenge it. The robe of the Sixth Ancestor is the robe of faith. It is our faith. It is a manifestation of our living experience and realization.
When Menzan Zuihō was 25 years old and staying at Rōbaian, he expressed this in the following verse:
Stitch by stitch, completing the sewing of the kesa,
following the rule not to use expensive or commercial grade fabric,
blue, yellow, red, and white patches are interwoven, some short, some long.
Assembling them into one finished piece, the merits of the ancestral buddhas illuminate
the mixed colored patches.
What all these teachers transmitted appears in the needle’s stitches.
Dignity is manifested and expands into the unending future.
Great fields of virtue for all beings eternally.
If you clearly understand this, the sewing of the kesa itself is already the completion of the One Great Matter. Each stitch truly manifests the essential teaching of our lineage. Each stitch is the entirety. Each stitch is the complete manifestation of the Dharma.
Each stitch is the ultimate place.
Each stitch is truly intimate, manifesting True Reality.
Differing in appearance,
we practice among those in all the different realms.
Regarding cutting the fabric, this means cutting away delusion and attachment. If you cannot discard your delusions, any fabric becomes impure. When attachments are cut off, even silk fabric becomes pure. This cutting is itself the essential teaching of our school and it is the completion of the One Great Matter.
Wild birds sing without intention.
Flowers just smile naturally.
Immovably sitting zazen without expectation.
Staying away from likes and dislikes, abandoning delusions and attachments, the true meaning of cutting the fabric naturally manifests itself.
Mokushitsu Zenji expressed it this way:
The great lofty blue mountain.
The white clouds come and go.
Movement and stillness manifest just as they are.
Without attachment and delusion, without intention, the mountain and the clouds are appearing just as they are. We should seriously reflect upon this point until we make this teaching our own. Discarding attachments and rejecting all clinging and craving, this is the essential path to liberation.
Regarding the fabric to be used for a kesa, since ancient times the instructions have been to eschew brocade, twilled fabric and silk. Silk should especially be rejected since it harms the living beings producing it. Fabric made from shed and discarded animal hair is the purest.
Regarding this point, however, Dōgen Zenji wrote, “As for the material of the robe, we use either silk or cotton according to conditions. It is not true that cotton is pure and silk is impure. [And yet] we never see people rejecting cotton in favor of silk. This is laughable.”
If you cannot let go of discriminations and emotional attachments, even fabric made from discarded animal hair can become impure. Only when likes and dislikes are abandoned and hating and loving have been discarded, does nyoho-e (robe of the Dharma of Thusness) manifests itself before us.
Once a monk asked the Ancient Buddha (Enō), “Is the robe of transmission you received in the middle of the night on Mt. Huangmei (Obai) cotton or silk?”
Enō said, “It is neither cotton nor silk. We should know that a kesa is neither silk nor cotton. This is the profound teaching of the Buddha Way.
Regarding color:
In the Mahāyāna-sūtra-alaṃkāra it is written, “I wear a red robe. When reflected in a jewel, it resembles the color of flesh.”
In the Nirvana Sutra it is written, “A drunk elephant looking at my disciples’ red robes think it is blood.” Based on these descriptions in the sutras, Dōgen Zenji writes, “The Tathagata always wore a flesh-colored (dark red) kesa. That was the color of the kesa.”
In the Brahma Net Sutra, it is written that, “When the kesa worn is of mixed colors, it is in alignment with the Way.”
Dōgen Zenji wrote, “The buddha’s kesa transmitted by the First Ancestor was blue-black. It was made of cotton from India.”
Regarding the dyeing the fabric, Dōgen Zenji wrote, “We always dye it with mixed colors so that it keeps us away from the five desires and enables us not to give birth to greed and attachment… As the everlasting dharma of all buddhas, the robe made with funzo-e (discarded fabric) is considered superior and most pure.”
In dyeing cloth for a kesa, the colors for nyohō-e are blue-black, mixed colors and ochre. Those are called the Three Nyohō-e Colors.
When both body and mind are cleansed like funzo-e, only then does nyoho-e become the virtuous field of no form and our five aggregates (body and mind) become the aggregates of 84,000 dharma gates.
Regarding measurements, the immeasurable Buddha’s body appears in the tiniest particles and the shortest moment. In some sutras, it is said that Shariputra appears as ten huge bodies, filling the three worlds completely, and Subhuti appears with the immense body of an entire ocean. In each case, the kesa is always in harmony with the Buddha’s body.
In Shōbōgenzō Kesa-kudoku, Dōgen Zenji wrote, “The measurements of buddhas’ and human beings’ bodies are very different. The bodies of human beings can be measured, but the bodies of buddhas cannot be measured. Therefore, if Shakyamuni Buddha of the present age wears the kesa or if Kasyapa Buddha of the past wears the kesa, it is neither too long nor too wide. Even if Maitreya Buddha wears the kesa of Shakyamuni Buddha, it is neither too short nor too narrow. We should clearly see, determine, clarify and observe carefully that the Buddha’s body is neither long nor short.”
This means that when the kesa worn by Shakyamuni Buddha who is 6 feet tall, is worn by Maitreya Buddha who is 1000 meters tall, it is neither too short nor too narrow. Why is this? This is because the kesa is the Dharma. When it is worn, the kesa is the robe of the virtuous field. In other words, when both body and mind are cleansed and become like funzo-e, the Buddha Dharma manifests.
Until now we have talked about fabric, color and measurements. When these three elements are interwoven appropriately, at that time, each and every stitch creates an illuminating kesa. When this happens, it is the 32 characteristics of Buddha and the 80 auspicious signs appearing here and now. The material, color and measurement of thusness are the Buddha’s Three Bodies and the Buddha’s Three Virtues.
In the Great Pure Gate Sutra, the kesa is called, “the robe of the removal of impurities” that eliminates the three obstacles and the five impurities.
In the Mahāsamnipāta Sutra, it is called, “the robe of releasing defilements.” That means it helps the wearer to leave behind all delusions and defilements. In the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, it is called, “the robe of leaving samsara,” which refers to extinguishing the three obstacles and going beyond the distinction of inside and outside of
samsara. It is also called, the “robe of purity,” the “robe of removing defilement” and the “robe of fading into translucence.” It is also called the “robe of the lotus flower” and the “robe of mixed colors.” All of these names refer to breaking through delusions and abandoning attachments.
Dōgen Zenji says, “First of all, we should know that the kesa is what all buddhas venerate and take refuge in. The kesa is Buddha’s body and Buddha’s mind. It is called the robe of liberation, the robe of the field of happiness, the robe of no form, the unsurpassable robe, the robe of patience, the robe of Tathagata, the robe of great compassion, the robe of the victory banner and the robe of unsurpassable supreme awakening. In this way, we should truly receive and maintain the kesa and venerate it by placing it on our head.”
Therefore the kesa must be our fist and our eyeballs. It is the full 14 verses at the beginning and the end of the sutras and it is also the verse devoid of words. We should study this point diligently until our bodies remember it, then we will respectfully receive, open and wear the kesa.
In conclusion, I will make a list of reference books for those who desire to study the kesa further.
It goes without saying that those in our school should base our understanding first on the Shōbōgenzō fascicles, Kesa-kudoku and Den-e (Transmission of the Robe). However, these fascicles are insufficient since they do not contain the exact information needed to do such things as stitch, measure and wear the kesa.
Among the Complete Collection of Buddhist Teachings published in the Meiji era, there are two books entitled The Series on Dharma Clothes. This includes the Hobuku Kakushō (Standards of Dharma Clothes) by Mokushitsu Ryōyō. In the full collection of teachings by Jiun of Katsuragi of the Vinaya School, there are two books
on kesa.
Besides that, there is the “Meaning of the Dharma Robe” in both an abridged version and an extensive version, as well as “Talks on the Significance of the Kesa.” Out of these three books, the abridged version is the most informative regarding the correct standards for the dharma robes of our school. The first part has explanations with illustrations and the second part describes the origins of the kesa in great detail, including how to dye fabric for the kesa, all in the form of questions and answers.
Teinin, the Vinaya teacher of Hajijisan, wrote a ten-volume book called Questions and Answers in the Vinaya Temple. In this collection of books, funzo-e is discussed and explained in detail. Furthermore, Menzan Zuihō wrote Shakushi Hōe Kun (Points to Remember Regarding Dharma Clothes) but the core of this writing is about Shōbōgenzō Kesa-kudoku.
There are additional explorations and studies of the kesa from the Vinaya School. Among these, you can find reliable information in the "Chapter on Purity" in the Sutra of Contemplation of the Mind Ground, the Karunā-pundarika Sutra, the Sea Dragon King Sutra, the Ten Chakras of Jizo Sutra, and the Sutra of the Wise and Foolish.