Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation

6. Nonthinking and the Practice of the Seated Buddha

6 Nonthinking and the Practice of the Seated Buddha If the autograph manuscript of the Fukan zazengi already displays some of the characteristic flavor of Dogen's Zen, the vulgate text, to which I want to turn in this chapter, is vintage Dogen. Written a decade or more after the original, Tenpuku version, it is a more mature expression of hiswriting. Generally speaking, the style has been somewhat refined, and one or two of the more self-consciouspassages have been omitted. Also omitted are several passages—some of them quite important—that had been taken over in the original work from the Tso-ch'an i. In their place has been added some new material, emphasizing a doctrine and couched in a technical language familiar to us from the Shobo genzo and other of Dogen's works written in the years separating the two versions of the Fukan zazengi. Taken together, these revisions result in a text still further in tone from Tsung-tse's manual and unmistakably bearing the characteristic stamp of Dogen's later approach to Zen. While we need not consider here all the minor revisions, several passages are ofparticular interest as representative ofboth the language and the doctrine of Dogen's mature teachings. We have seen that the Fukan zazen gi differs most conspicuously from the Tso-ch'an i in the attention it devotes to the wisdom tradition of Ch'an. In the vulgate revision of the text thischaracter of the work becomes even more pronounced as Dogen introduces several pregnant passages reflecting the sayings and writings of the masters. The contrast with Tsung-tse isobvious in the section just following the description of meditation. There, we may recall, the Tso-ch'an i offers some general remarks on the effects of the 134 Teachings practice. Meditation, we are told, is the "dharma gate of ease and joy." Although if improperly practiced, it can be injurious to the health, when correctly performed, it will be beneficial for both body and mind. The enlightened man takes to it quite naturally; and even the ordinary, unenlightened man, if he simply gives himself over to the spirit of the practice, will find it easy. At the same time the meditator should expect to face various demonic obstructions; he can prepare himself by reading their description in the Buddhist literature, and he can overcome them by maintaining right thought. In his earlier draft of the Fukan zazen gi Dogen significantly abbreviated this passage, dropping the references to the possibilityofillness, the practice of the unenlightened man, and the occurrence of demonic obstructions.1 As a result his version tended to advertise only the positive mental and physical effects of the practice. In his later revised text he goes considerably further and completely eliminates all discussion of the worldly benefits of z.aztn. Instead he introduces a totally new perspective.£azm is not the practice of dhyana: it is just the dharma gate of ease and joy. It is the practice and verification of ultimate bodhi. The koan realized, baskets and cages cannot get to it. Gone here are Tsung-tse's gentle encouragements and practical warnings for the novice embarking on the contemplative life; in their place is a strong doctrinal statement on the true nature of Zen meditation. Gone here are "ease and joy" in the sense of mental and physical pleasure; in their place are the ultimate ease and joy of nirvana. £azen here is no longer presented as a psychophysical exercise for the improvement of body and mind, or even for the attainment of Buddhist wisdom; it has itself become the actualization of complete enlightenment. Dogen's opening statement here that zazen is not the practice of dhyana (shaken) undoubtedly derives from an interesting passage on Bodhidharma, to which I have already referred, in Chiieh-fan Hui-hung's Lin-chien lu. When Bodhidharma first went to Wei from Liang, he proceeded to the foot of Mt. Sung, where he stopped at Shao-lin. There he just sat facing a wall. This was not the practice of dhyana [hsi ch'an], but after a while others, unable to fathom what he was doing, held that Dharma practiced dhyana. This dhyana [ch'an-na] is but one among various practices; how could it suffice to exhaust [the practice of] the sage [shengjen]? Nevertheless, people of the time understood [Dharma's practice] in this way; the historians followed this [understanding] and recorded him with those that practiced dhyana, thus...