Epilogue

Zen Mind

Before the rain stops we can hear a bird
  Even under the heavy snow
    we see snowdrops and some new growth

We must have a beginner's mind
  free from possessing anything
    a mind that knows everything is
      in flowing change

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Right Understanding

Traditional Zen Spirit

If you are trying to attain enlightenment
  you are creating and being driven by karma
    and you are wasting your time on your black cushion

The most important things in our practice 
  are our physical posture and our way of breathing

Zen is not concerned about philosophical understanding
  We emphasize practice

According to Bhodidarma's understanding
  practice based on any gaining idea 
    is just a repetition of your karma

You may think that Buddha attained some stage 
  where he was free from karmic life
    but it is not so
      He was not at all different from us
        He had a very scientific understanding that was his way of life
          after he achieved enlightenment

Transiency

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence

That everything changes is the basic truth of each existence
  Because each existence is in constant change
    there is no abiding self
      The cause of suffering is our non-acceptance of this truth

The Quality of Being

For me the stars are not speedy beings
  but calm, steady, and peaceful beings
    We say,
      "In calmness there should be activity
        in activity there should be calmness"

Strictly speaking there is no connection between 
  I myself yesterday and 
    I myself in this moment
      there is no connection whatsoever

Dogen-zenji became interested in Buddhism as a boy
  as he watched the smoke from an incense stick
    burning by his mother's dead body
      and he felt the evanescence of our life

When he saw the smoke from thee incense stick 
  and felt the evanescence of life
    he felt very lonely
      But that lonely feeling became stronger and stronger
        and flowered into enlightenment when he was 28 years old

And at the moment of enlightenment he exclaimed,
  "There is no body and no mind!"
    He said, "I have dropped off mind and body"

Naturalness

Naturalness is some feeling of being independent of everything
  or some activity that is based on nothingness

For a plant or a stone to be natural is no problem
  But for us there is a problem
    indeed a big problem
      To be natural is something we must work on

The true practice of zazen 
  is to sit as if drinking water when you are thirsty
    There you have naturalness

Everyone comes out from nothingness
  moment after moment
    So we say Shin ku myo u
      "From true emptiness the wondrous being appears

Emptiness

We say that a life based on existence alone is heretical
  If you take things too seriously 
    as if they existed substantially or permanently
      you are called a heretic

True existence comes from emptiness
  and goes back again into emptiness
    we have to go through the gate of emptiness

Each one of us must make his own true way   
  and when we do that way will express the universal way

When you try to understand everything
  you will not understand anything
    the best way is to understand yourself
      and then you will understand everything

As long are you are caught by duality 
  you cannot attain absolute freedom
    and you cannot concentrate

Your effort should be directed at nothing
  You should be concentrated on nothing

Readiness, Mindfulness

It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom
  Our mind should be soft and open
    enough to understand things as they are

Believing in Nothing

I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary
  to believe in nothing
    we have to believe in something which has no form and no color
      something which exists before all forms and colors appear

I do not mean voidness
  There is something but that something is something which is 
    always prepared for taking some particular form
      and it has rules, or theory, or truth in its activity

This is called Buddha nature or Buddha himself 
  When this existence is personified we call it Buddha
    When we understand it as the ultimate truth we call it Dharma
      and when we accept the truth and act as part of the Buddha or according to the theory
        we call ourselves Sangha

But even though there are three Buddha forms
  it is one existence which has no form or color
    and it is always ready to take form and color
      This is not just theory
        This is not just the teaching of Buddhism
          This is the absolutely necessary understanding of our life

Attachment, Nonattachment

Dogen-zenji said
  "Even though it is midnight, dawn is here
    event though dawn comes, it is nighttime"

In activity there should be calmness
  and in calmness there should be activity
    calmness and activity are no different

Experience not Philosophy

To practice zazen with a group is the most important thing for Buddhism
  and for us
    because this practice is the original way of life

Original Buddhism

Actually we are not the Soto school at all
  We are just Buddhists
    We are not even Zen Buddhists
      If we understand this point, we are truly Buddhists

Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down
  are the four activities or ways of behavior in Buddhism
    Zazen is not one of the four ways of behavior
      and according to Dogen-zenji
        the Soto school is not one of the many schools of Buddhism

Zazen is a practice which contains innumerable activities
  Zazen started even before Buddha 
    and will continue forever

Buddha's teaching is everywhere
  Today it is raining
    This is Buddha's teaching
      Teaching is in each moment
        in every existence 
          that is the true teaching

Beyond Consciousness

To realize pure mind in your delusion is practice
  If you try to dispel the delusion it will only persist the more
    Just say, "Oh, this is just delusion"
      and do not be bothered by it

Buddhism emphasizes the world of unconsciousness
  To sit in zazen is much better than
    to read books or study the philosophy of Buddhism

Buddha's Enlightenment

If you take pride in your attainment
  or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort
    you practice will confine you by a thick wall

We do not talk so much
  but through our activity we communicate with each other
    intentionally or unintentionally
      We should always be alert enough to communicate
        with or without words

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