Fukan Zazengi and 'Dance'

[Hosui]

[Edit: the title should read Fukan Zazengi]

Using the OBC translation of Fukan Zazengi, or Rules for Meditation, Dogen says, among other things, that:

“...To train and enlighten ourselves is to become thoroughly wise: the koan appears naturally in daily life. If you become thus utterly free you will be as the water wherein the dragon dwells or as the mountain whereon the tiger roams. Understand clearly that the Truth appears naturally and then your mind will be free from doubts and vacillation...”

I've a longstanding belief in this natural arising of our koan, but I’d welcome some Treeleaf guidance on how “one’s koan arises naturally in daily life”.

Gassho
Hosui
sat/lah today

[Houzan]

Hi Hosui,

The way I understand it is that your lived experience itself is the koan, not any specific situations, but all of it. And this koan is not to be solved, but embodied. You live the koan.

You could also check out Domyo Burk’s article on this: https://zenstudiespodcast.com/natura...-dharma-gates/

Good article, but a bit different approach than what I feel Dogen is prescribing in Genjokoan.

Gassho, Hōzan
satlah

[Jundo]

Well, one might say that ALL of our practice here at Treeleaf ... from Zendo and Zafu, to work, family, doctors office, riding the bus ... is about applying these teachings in life, resolving the Koan of what is right here all through our lives.

By the way, some other translations of that part of Fukanzazengi. The OBC translations tend to be a bit florid and biblical in tone. It is nice to compare several translation when reading old Dogen ...

OBC
...To train and enlighten ourselves is to become thoroughly wise: the koan appears naturally in daily life. If you become thus utterly free you will be as the water wherein the dragon dwells or as the mountain whereon the tiger roams. Understand clearly that the Truth appears naturally and then your mind will be free from doubts and vacillation...

Nishijima-Cross
It is the practice-and-experie nce which perfectly realizes the state of bodhi. The Universe is conspicuously realized, and restrictions and hindrances never reach it. To grasp this meaning is to be like a dragon that has found water, or like a tiger in its mountain stronghold. Remember, the right Dharma is naturally manifesting itself before us, and darkness and distraction have dropped away already.

Okumura
It is the practice/enlightenme nt of the ultimate awakening (bodhi). In doing zazen, the koan manifests itself; it cannot be ensnared.When you clearly see the truth you are like a dragon with water, or a tiger in the mountain. You must know that true dharma manifests itself in zazen, and that, first of all, dullness and distraction are struck down.

Waddell
[Zazen is] the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is things as they are in suchness. No traps or snares can ever reach it. One the heart is grasped, you are like the dragon when he reaches the water, like the tiger when he enters the mountain. You must know that when you are doing zazen, right there the authentic Dharma is manifesting itself, striking aside dullness and distraction from the first.

Yokoi
[Zazen is] the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom. The Truth appears, there being no delusion. If you understand this, you are completely free, like a dragon that has obtained water or a tiger that reclines on a mountain. The supreme Law will then appear of itself; and you will be free of weariness and confusion.

Tanahashi
It is the practice-realization of complete enlightenment. Realize the fundamental point free from the binding of nets and baskets. Once you experience it, you are like a dragon swimming in the water or a tiger reposing in the mountains. Know that the true dharma emerges of itself, clearing away hindrances and distractions.

Yasuda-Anzan
... it is realized-practice within already manifest enlightenment. It is the display of complete reality. Traps and cages spring open. Grasping the heart of this, you are the dragon who has reached his waters, the tiger resting in her mountains. Understand that right here is the display of Vast Reality and then dullness and mental wandering have no place to arise.
.

Gassho, J
stlah