A question on Dogen Zenji

[Kenshou]

Thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughts, it is touching to receive such sincere well wishes.
He is doing really well; even looking like coming home today.
And again thank you Everyone who responded to this post.

Gassho
Patrick

[Jakuden]

Just read this, wow Patrick sounds like you faced an extremely difficult situation, and were able to sit through it and become one with the mountain. Deep bows. Sending Metta for you and your son.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

[Mp]

Thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughts, it is touching to receive such sincere well wishes.
He is doing really well; even looking like coming home today.
And again thank you Everyone who responded to this post.

Gassho
Patrick

Gassho
Shingen

s@today

[michaeljc]

I have always felt that we quote Dogen at our own peril. I threw away all my Buddhist books a few years ago aside from 3: one being Dogen’s Eihei Koroku. It is about all I read on Zen these days.

The Eihei Koroku gathered dust for centuries being rejected in favour of the various Shobogenzo by the authorities, until resurrected not so long ago. I prefer it over the Shobogenzo as it records Dogen’s daily teachings to his monks and nuns. He quotes hundreds of sayings and koans from earlier masters.

Do I understand Dogen? – no. However, to a point we can be forgiven in that he uses many metaphors that would have been understood by his Sangha. These have also been subject to translation. Was he really referring to a mountain? Probably: sometimes yes, sometimes no. We can’t know now because we were not there.

This, to me is the key to Dogen. He uses every trick in the book, trying to jab his students into realisation at that very moment at which he is speaking. Note how his summary commentaries to a short teaching appear to have no resemblance to the core subject. He then usually abruptly leaves. Why does he do this? He is more a gardener than a teacher. I currently don’t believe that he ever wanted to be understood in a permanent sense. My bias, but I get irritated by long analysis of meaning in Dogen's work.

One way of seeing it right now

m

Sat-2-day

[Myosha]

Thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughts, it is touching to receive such sincere well wishes.
He is doing really well; even looking like coming home today.
And again thank you Everyone who responded to this post.

Gassho
Patrick

Metta to all.


Gassho
Myosha
sat today

[Kenshou]

Thank you everyone for your interpretations of this question and your kind words.
My beautiful boy is back home and back to entertaining himself by trying to remove my chin via my beard. :-)

I am truly grateful to have this practice to help me to appreciate the love and joy my son and wife bring into my life; and am also immensely grateful to have found the Treeleaf Sangha. Online as it may be, I have found more substantial teaching and community here than anywhere else in the past 10 years and I thank you all for this.
I have so much respect for the work being done here and for the amazing Teachers and Sangha as a whole.

Gassho
Patrick

[Seishin]

Thank you everyone for your interpretations of this question and your kind words.
My beautiful boy is back home and back to entertaining himself by trying to remove my chin via my beard. :-)

I am truly grateful to have this practice to help me to appreciate the love and joy my son and wife bring into my life; and am also immensely grateful to have found the Treeleaf Sangha. Online as it may be, I have found more substantial teaching and community here than anywhere else in the past 10 years and I thank you all for this.
I have so much respect for the work being done here and for the amazing Teachers and Sangha as a whole.

Gassho
Patrick

Paddy

Good to here your son is back home and hopefully safe and well. I think as parents and even grandparents we all understand how difficult this will have been for you. Good that just sitting helped you in your time of need. Much metta to you and your family.

As to Dogen as a beginner to me he speaks in riddles that for now I struggle to comprehend but when the future becomes the present perhaps I will..........or already have. The mountain is me and I am the mountain but there is no me or mountain just us in our oneness.

[Taiyo]

A question on Dogen Zenji

Really happy to read your son is back home and that your Practice is helping you through difficult times, Paddy. This is a wonderful sangha indeed .

Gassho,
Andoitz.

SatToday.

[Mp]

Thank you everyone for your interpretations of this question and your kind words.
My beautiful boy is back home and back to entertaining himself by trying to remove my chin via my beard. :-)

I am truly grateful to have this practice to help me to appreciate the love and joy my son and wife bring into my life; and am also immensely grateful to have found the Treeleaf Sangha. Online as it may be, I have found more substantial teaching and community here than anywhere else in the past 10 years and I thank you all for this.
I have so much respect for the work being done here and for the amazing Teachers and Sangha as a whole.

Gassho
Patrick

This is wonderful Patrick, just enjoy and be with each other! =)

Gassho
Shingen

s@today

[Getchi]

Hi!

One thing ind point out, see how often jundo uses "when" instead of "what" or "why".

The best tip I was given was that Do gen is imminently practical, not theoretical.

Approaching from ieadation gives rise to ideation, approaching from the pov of "we are always physical brings in a physical world that no one can fully comprehensive every concrete fact of" has allowed me to progress my practice.

Oh, and remember to smile.



Geoff

SatToday

[Byrne]

The more I read Dogen, the more I find something new, the more I make mistakes misunderstanding things. Good stuff. Keep on rock'n.

Gassho

Sat Today

[Heisoku]

Hi Paddy, which mountain were you looking at? Mine was a little boy screaming on the floor like a one year old with me wondering what he was really communicating.
Gassho Heisoku
Sat today.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Jakudo]

Hi Patrick,

My guess is that yes, we can only perceive reality but that perception will always depend on our background, culture and opinions.

By practicing zazen we can drop it all and see a mountain for what it is: without labels, our human language, judgments and as a whole with the universe.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday