The Zen Master's Dance - 12 - Genjo Koan (Chapter Start to End of p. 55)

[Jundo]

Dear All,

We now turn to Master Dogen's Genjo Koan, perhaps the clearest and most direct entrance into Master's Dogen vision. We begin from the start of the chapter on p. 51, ending at the bottom of p. 55 (right BEFORE the sentence, "And so, Dogen next addresses these questions:")

Dogen presents a series of ways of encountering this life-self-world:

- Our ordinary vision of division, me and you, high and low, good and bad, here and there ...

- A vision which sweeps that away into wholeness, peace, resolution ...

- A vision in which all of the above is encountered to be true at once, two faces of a no-sided coin ...

I believe that it is very much a dance of inter-identity of the so-called "relative and absolute", that "mountains are mountains when we first start to practice ... then we realize mountains are not mountains, ... then mountains are mountains again, and yet, are not known the same way as before")

- And yet, even with such wisdom, life is hard sometimes. Easy sometimes, but hard sometimes.

I would like you to play this game, following the wording, grammar and structure of Dogen's four phrases with something in your life or of interest to you. For example, if I were to take football ...

When things are seen as separate in the Buddha’s teachings, there is the ball, there is the distant goalline, there are plays to move us from the former to the latter, there is winning and losing, the first half and the second half, there is my team and your team, spectators and judges that stand apart.

When the myriad things are realized as each without an individual self, there is no ball and no separate goalline, no plays, no points to measure, no clock, no divided teams, no seers/seen and nothing to judge.

In the Buddha Way, we must leap clear of and right through both the view of fullness and the view of lack; thus there are again the ball and goalline, plays, winning and losing, halfs and teams, spectators and judges.

Yet even so, sometimes we fumble although we had the ball, sometimes we get blocked although we want to score.

Now, without reading what anyone else has written until after, please write the same about any activity or situation in your life.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Koriki]

When things are seen as separate in the Buddha’s teachings, there are flamenco guitars, there are dancers, and there is music to connect the two, there is the beginning of the song and the end, there are performers and there is the audience that stand apart.

When the myriad things are realized as each without an individual self, there is no guitar and no strings, no golpes and no compas, no dancers or palmas, no player and no audience.

In the Buddha Way, we must leap clear of and right through both the view of fullness and the view of lack; thus there are again performers and audience, rhythm and clapping, dancer and music.

Yet even so, soon the music finishes, the singers grow quiet, and the dancers stop though we wish it were not so.

Gassho,
Koriki
s@lah

[Jundo]

.
The singer, Shohei Muto, was under treatment for cancer for a long while. He is still with us, still doing Buddhist songs now and then ...



Gassho, J
stlah

[Koriki]

.
The singer, Shohei Muto, was under treatment for cancer for a long while. He is still with us, still doing Buddhist songs now and then ...



Gassho, J
stlah

I would not have thought to put flamenco and the Heart Sutra together. Something to aspire to.
Gassho, Koriki
s@lah

[Jundo]

I would not have thought to put flamenco and the Heart Sutra together. Something to aspire to.
Gassho, Koriki
s@lah

I like his live version ...
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbo1LbD13J8

[Hokuu]

When things are seen as separate in Buddha's teachings, there is gym and there is pain in the lower back, there are sets and repetitions, and goals, and frustration, effort and relief, post-gym shower and pre-gym meals, coaches and athletes, those stronger and those weaker, dumbbells, machines, and myriad weights.

When the myriad things are realised as each without an individual self, there is no separate effort, nor separate relief, no separate coaches and athletes, all pulled in a crazy dance of being and becoming, no weights nor weighing, no dumbbells nor machines. All being one and one being all.

In the Buddha way, we must leap both through the view of fullness and the view of lack; there are again dumbbells, and weights, and coaches, and athletes, and those stronger, and those weaker, and pain in the back, and effort, and relief.

Yet even so, we achieve results sometimes; yet even so, we fail, and the pain is too hard to bear sometimes.

PS I had this image of "interwoven coaches and athletes and baths and locker rooms," but decided not to unwrap it further

Gassho
Hokuu
satlah

[Jundo]

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[Furyu]

When things are seen as separate in the Buddha’s teachings, there are recorders, players, and music to master, there is the distant concert, there are music scores, practice sessions, and rehearsals to move musicians from cacophony to beauty. There are musicians and listeners that stand apart.

When the myriad things are realized as each without an individual self, there is no player, no instrument, no music to perfect, no concert to prepare, no audience to listen or judge.

In the Buddha Way, we must leap clear of and right through both the view of fullness and the view of lack; thus there are again instrumentalists, wind blown into recorders, practices, rehearsals and concerts, music to perform, an audience and players.

Yet even so, sometimes the recorder will not sound though we blow in it, the music will fall flat even though it was practiced endlessly.

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Gasshō
Fūryū
sat-lah

[Jundo]

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[Heikyo]

When things are seen as separate in the Buddha’s teachings, there is the gym spinning studio, the spin bike, the instructor and the power zones to aim for. There are the cleats holding my shoes to the bike, there is the pain in my legs. There are the other people in the class, there is the heat and the music and the instructor shouting encouragement at us.

When the myriad things are realized as each without an individual self, there is no bike, no legs clipped in to the pedals, no sweat or pain in my legs. There is no separate sound of the instructor and the music and people cursing under their breath. There are no heart rate zones to aim for and nothing to achieve in the class.

In the Buddha Way, we must leap clear of, and right through, both the view of fullness and the view of lack. To make sure I complete the class, there are again the spin bikes and the power zones to aim for, and the pain in my legs that I need to overcome. But at the same time they are also just one with me, no separation.

Gassho
Heikyo
Sat today, LAH

[Jundo]

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Gassho, J
stlah

[Chikyou]

“When things are seen as separate in the Buddha’s teachings, there is the ball, there is the distant goalline, there are plays to move us from the former to the latter, there is winning and losing, the first half and the second half, there is my team and your team, spectators and judges that stand apart.”

When things are seen as separate in the Buddha’s teachings, there are me, sitting on the patio, and the birds, in the forest, their song crossing space to reach me.

When the myriad things are realized as each without an individual self, there is no ball and no separate goalline, no plays, no points to measure, no clock, no divided teams, no seers/seen and nothing to judge.

When the myriad things are realized as each without an individual self, there is no me, no birds, no forest, no song, and no space to cross.

In the Buddha Way, we must leap clear of and right through both the view of fullness and the view of lack; thus there are again the ball and goalline, plays, winning and losing, halfs and teams, spectators and judges.

In the Buddha Way, we must leap clear of and right through both the view of fullness and the view of lack; thus we are again ourselves and the birds, song, forest, and the space between.

Yet even so, sometimes we fumble although we had the ball, sometimes we get blocked although we want to score.

Yet even so, sometimes we stumble in the garden, and sometimes a bird flies into the window.

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō

[Jundo]

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