Dear All Pivot Points Pivoting,
In the first half of this chapter, on Shoji and Zenki, we look at Zenki ... "The Whole Works" or "Total Functions." We will dance with Shoji, "Life and Death," next time.
Dogen presents a very lively sense of life and death in Zenki, in which it all comes down to this pivot point of life and death right here. He guides us to, somehow, leap past "live vs. death" yet to dive right in to each moment of life in life time, death in death time. The whole universe is springing forth as this moment, this pivot point.
Exercise 1 - Please take some other poignant moment of life other than death, especially some difficult or painful experience (e.g., a stubbed toe, a car crash, serious illness, or pick something else from your own life that was hard), and place it into Master's Dogen's descriptions below in the [ ] spaces. We equally could choose a happy event, but for purposes of this exercise, let us choose something hard. Hopefully, doing so will shed new light on the experience.
Master Dogen writes:
Exercise 2 - Rather than boat, sailing and shore, rewrite the following with any action in your life, even something mundane (e.g., making toast, feeding the cat, going to the toilet, or one of your choosing), replacing all elements (e.g., sail, rudder, pole, boat, shore etc.) accordingly:
Try not to look at what others may have written and posted before posting your responses.
Gassho, Jundo
In the first half of this chapter, on Shoji and Zenki, we look at Zenki ... "The Whole Works" or "Total Functions." We will dance with Shoji, "Life and Death," next time.
Dogen presents a very lively sense of life and death in Zenki, in which it all comes down to this pivot point of life and death right here. He guides us to, somehow, leap past "live vs. death" yet to dive right in to each moment of life in life time, death in death time. The whole universe is springing forth as this moment, this pivot point.
Exercise 1 - Please take some other poignant moment of life other than death, especially some difficult or painful experience (e.g., a stubbed toe, a car crash, serious illness, or pick something else from your own life that was hard), and place it into Master's Dogen's descriptions below in the [ ] spaces. We equally could choose a happy event, but for purposes of this exercise, let us choose something hard. Hopefully, doing so will shed new light on the experience.
Master Dogen writes:
The Buddhas’ great way, when completely penetrated, is liberation and is realization. This “liberation” means that life liberates life and [ ] liberates [ ]. Thus, there is getting out of life and [ ] and entering right into life and [ ], both of which are perfectly penetrating the great Way. ... At such a moment of realization, there is nothing but the total realization of life, and there is nothing but the total realization of [ ].
This pivot point causes life to be and causes [ ] to be. ... Life at this present moment exists at this pivot point, and this pivot point exists as life in this present moment. Life is not a manifesting of the present; and life is not a becoming. Rather, life is the manifesting of the total functions, and [ ] is the manifesting of the total functions.
Please know that among the innumerable dharmas [phenomena] that are present in the self, there is life and there is [ ].
... The truth that “life is the manifesting of the total functions” has no beginning and end, and fills the whole earth and the whole of space. Yet that fact neither hinders “life being the manifesting of the total functions” nor hinders “[ ] being the manifesting of the total functions.” The time that [ ] is the manifesting of the total functions—and although it then fills the whole earth and the whole of space—not only does not hinder “[ ] being the manifesting of the total functions” but also does not hinder “life being the manifesting of the total functions.” Therefore, life does not obstruct [ ] and [ ] does not obstruct life. The entirety of earth and the entirety of space are both present in life and present in [ ].
However, it is not that one bit of the whole earth and one bit of the whole of space totally function in life on the one hand and totally function in [ ] on the other hand. It is not one, but neither is there difference; there is not difference, but neither is it identical; it is not identical, but neither is it many. Thus, in life all dharmas [phenomena] are manifesting as the total functions, and in [ ] all dharmas are manifesting as the total functions. As well, in the state beyond “life” and beyond “[ ]” there is the manifesting of the total functions. In the manifesting of the total functions, there is life and there is [ ].
This pivot point causes life to be and causes [ ] to be. ... Life at this present moment exists at this pivot point, and this pivot point exists as life in this present moment. Life is not a manifesting of the present; and life is not a becoming. Rather, life is the manifesting of the total functions, and [ ] is the manifesting of the total functions.
Please know that among the innumerable dharmas [phenomena] that are present in the self, there is life and there is [ ].
... The truth that “life is the manifesting of the total functions” has no beginning and end, and fills the whole earth and the whole of space. Yet that fact neither hinders “life being the manifesting of the total functions” nor hinders “[ ] being the manifesting of the total functions.” The time that [ ] is the manifesting of the total functions—and although it then fills the whole earth and the whole of space—not only does not hinder “[ ] being the manifesting of the total functions” but also does not hinder “life being the manifesting of the total functions.” Therefore, life does not obstruct [ ] and [ ] does not obstruct life. The entirety of earth and the entirety of space are both present in life and present in [ ].
However, it is not that one bit of the whole earth and one bit of the whole of space totally function in life on the one hand and totally function in [ ] on the other hand. It is not one, but neither is there difference; there is not difference, but neither is it identical; it is not identical, but neither is it many. Thus, in life all dharmas [phenomena] are manifesting as the total functions, and in [ ] all dharmas are manifesting as the total functions. As well, in the state beyond “life” and beyond “[ ]” there is the manifesting of the total functions. In the manifesting of the total functions, there is life and there is [ ].
Life can be compared to a time when a person is sailing a boat. On this boat, you are working the sail, you manage the rudder, you are handling the pole. At the same time, the boat is carrying you, and there is no “you” to sail without the boat. By your sailing of the boat, this boat is made to be a boat. Please study and understand profoundly just this instant of the present. Understand this fully. At this very instant, everything is nothing other than the world of the boat. The sky, the water, and the shore have all become this time of the boat, which is very different from what this time would be if there were no boat. Thus, life is what you make of it, and you are what life is making of you. While you are sailing in the boat, your body and mind, self and environment, are all essential pivot points of the boat; and the entire earth and all of space are all essential pivot points of the boat. That is to say, life is the self, and the self is life.
Gassho, Jundo
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