I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words.

[01:29]

A work by A. A. Dogen, the founder of our school of Buddhism. Dogen was born in the year 1200 in Japan, and died in 1255. Particularly in our tradition, we particularly honor Shakyamuni Buddha and Bodhidharma, who brought our style of Buddhism to China, and Dogen, who brought our style of Buddhism to China, who developed the style of Buddhism that was in China into Japan, and our own teacher Suzuki Roshi, who brought Japanese style Buddhism of Zen, Soto Zen, to America.

[02:41]

But of course the most important time in the study of Zen is right now. No matter how much we may honor the past or look forward to the future, right now is the cutting edge of Zen. And in 1233, Dogen wrote this fascicle which is called Genjo Koan, which is maybe his most famous, or the one that's studied the most, or at least among the top two or three. It was the first essay to be collected, and when his disciple Koan Ejo collected all of his essays into the Shobo Genzo, he started off with Genjo Koan.

[03:42]

And Genjo Koan is a difficult term to translate. I'll give you some ways it's been translated before. The issue at hand, manifesting absolute reality, things as they are manifest in the present, the realization koan, the realized universe, actualizing the fundamental point, the koan of everyday life. So it's about right now, even though it was written in 1233. Just to give you a little bit of a feeling for the term, koan has maybe three ways of translating. Koan is public case as in a legal case, you know, a legal case that you can cite, this is a public case, this is a law from now on, or this is the precedent from

[04:48]

now on. The second way koan can be translated is simultaneously things as individual and as united. And the third way it's often used is a story, as in koan. And the third way it's often used is a story, as in koan. Now different translators argue different ways about what's the most important translation of it, but I think we'll be safe in using all three, realizing that all three play a part. In the term Genjo, the term Genjo is talking about things as they are in the present without their development in the past or their development into the future, just things as it is, now.

[05:49]

What's going on? What's going on? Well, maybe I'll stop there. So, you know, I had a grand scheme for, I've studied this fascicle for many years and I've taught it several times, and I'm going to be teaching it again, and I had this great grand scheme about how I would prepare for this lecture, but guess what happened? The Genjo koan came up, so I couldn't study the Genjo koan as an object. This morning I had great plans to prepare a very detailed lecture on Genjo koan, but when I went home after service to finish up my lecture and take care of the cobwebs and organize it, my son and wife were in a fit, and I was in

[07:09]

a fit, because I couldn't study the Genjo koan. Somebody had invited my son Nathan out to the Stanford football game, and they'd do a tailgate party, and so he had to be ready by 9.15, and he really wanted to go, but he was not, or anyhow. And my wife, who, you know, is just so much, she's got a full-time job, she's been leading a sitting group, she does community work and goes to two or three community meetings a week, is involved in signing and deaf language, and, you know, she was at her wit's end. And I had this important

[08:12]

thing to study called Genjo koan. I was annoyed that I had to be in this situation. That's kind of funny, isn't it? Well, I did see a little bit of a sense of humor in it, but not as much as I may see now. So that leads right into what I wanted to talk about today, the Genjo koan, and about the particular five lines within it, which is a good beginning to study, which is, the study of the world is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas. 10,000 dharmas means

[09:13]

everything. To be confirmed by the 10,000 dharmas means to free one's body and mind, and no trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment is continued forever. These five lines are very famous as core of Dogen's teachings, and not only that, they're a very immediate way to enter your life. So, this first line, to study the Buddha way is to study oneself. So, I was getting ready to study the Buddha way and to prepare to present the Buddha way to you by studying this text, which is a good thing to do, and all of a sudden I noticed that there was something else to study, which was myself. This is a very important point that, in fact, the Buddha way, or Buddhism, or enlightened mind, or

[10:28]

Buddha nature, is not somewhere that you have to go to something that's so far away. In fact, it's even where you are. In fact, to study the Buddha way is to study oneself. That's what's in front of you. This is not the first time I've had this experience that I had this morning. Many years ago, when we first opened Green's, it was very difficult work, and there was a lot of high energy interpersonal exchanges, because everyone was trying to do something difficult, working hard, hadn't done it before,

[11:32]

and getting up at 5 a.m. in the morning to do Zazen, too. And at the time, I wasn't so interested in my work, but I was very interested in studying the Lotus Sutra. But the more I studied the Lotus Sutra, I realized that the Lotus Sutra was happening in the restaurant, just as this morning I realized the Genjo Koan was happening in the middle of our family predicament, just like the Genjo Koan is happening right in the middle of your life right now. And of course, you say, the Buddha way can't be all the junk that I'm involved with. It can't be that. That can't be it. Well, maybe it's not it, but it's not not it. But of course, it doesn't stop there, to study the Buddha way is to study the self, as if it's some egocentric, that's all there is.

[12:42]

Because it says then, to study oneself is to forget oneself. And then the funny thing is, the more you study yourself, the more it kind of opens up and starts to disappear. The more the chatter, that individual chatter of storyline that you have, which you take as the real story, begins to melt. And in fact, if you really study yourself closely, that division between what yourself is and what other things are really begins to disappear. And there are several ways to look at that. It's also true that when you study yourself thoroughly,

[13:44]

you begin to see that your preconceptions of who you are and how you divide the world are great. And in fact, even the terms you use to discuss yourself to yourself disappear. So it's not that to study the Buddha way is to study oneself, it's to study the self and take for granted the self that you have as some fixed entity. It's not that. You know, for several years now, I've had a problem when I take off this robe. There's a way to take it off, and you take it off from behind, so you can't really see what you're doing too well. And there's this complicated folding pattern, which keeps your robe fairly pressed and ironed.

[14:51]

But for a couple of years now, I've had a difficult time in doing it. Whenever I bring it around and fold it, the top half is pretty good, but the bottom gets kind of ripped. And my story line for these couple of years is, it's because I'm tall, which is probably a minor factor, or because maybe the folds aren't quite right, which isn't true. But one day, I happened to be doing this in front of a mirror, so I could see behind me. And I saw that one corner wasn't being straight, it was getting caught up on the back side of my body. So it wasn't being put out straight. And ever since then, for some reason, it doesn't matter that I'm so tall, or the folds are the way they are, it kind of works.

[16:00]

So it's not that the robe changed that much, or the self changed that much. Something changed, maybe. So to study one's self is to forget one's self. It's not necessarily to forget, but to see through. Sometimes to forget, sometimes to see through the way you are thinking. The person you think you are. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things, I'll say. In Buddhism, whenever they say 10,000, that's just a large number, which means the whole works. It's also somehow kind of more elegant to say 10,000 things, more concrete or something to say 10,000 things.

[17:16]

Anyhow, maybe I've been brainwashed into that, but I do feel that. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. If, in fact, we get rid of our storylines, then everything is a teaching. The Genjo Koan can happen in this book, and it doesn't mean that you don't study these words, or do this study, but the Genjo Koan is happening all the time. The Genjo Koan is happening while you're listening to this lecture and wondering when it's over. The Genjo Koan is going to happen when you decide what's for lunch. Studying the Buddha way is not necessarily something far away. We started off by saying to study the Buddha way is to study one's self. Now, how is that different from usual life?

[18:20]

Well, maybe what's different about it is making it conscious. Instead of whatever, it's, what is it? It's making that which is, we can say, that which is karmic, the self which is karmic, making it dharmic, making it intentional. That self which is an accident of thoughts, social conditions, all kinds of conditions, and making it intentional, or studying it in an intentional way. So, when I started to study the Lotus Sutra in the restaurant, the Lotus Sutra was actually a great help to me, because it showed me the Lotus Sutra wasn't something that it was a part,

[19:27]

that in fact what was happening in the Lotus Sutra was happening in the restaurant. Just as studying the Genjo Koan can show, be a window to you, to show you that the manifestation of everyday life, actualizing the fundamental point, is not just in these words, but in your life in each moment. So, to study one's self is to forget one's self, to forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. To forget my ideas about the robe is to say, wow, the robe could be handled this way. To be confirmed by the 10,000 Dharma's means to free one's body and mind.

[20:34]

And by studying the self and being freed from your ideas about what your self is, you can join the rest of the world. And then, kindly, he says, there's no trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment is continued forever. This is a great aid to the practice of the Lotus Sutra, to deflating, inflating yourself on either end of this, by either saying, wow, now I really understand the Genjo Koan, or I must really understand the Genjo Koan because I have no trace of enlightenment.

[21:40]

So, this is, you know, the center of our practice is always finding out the Genjo Koan right now. And we use lectures to do that, and studies, and classes, and Zazen, and putting on and taking off robes, and chanting, and we have many ways to bring our awareness into the fact of where we are right now. And they shouldn't become obstacles. As if the Genjo Koan is contained in this book. This book can open ourselves to seeing the Genjo Koan everywhere.

[23:00]

This practice of meditation can open us to the suffering of ourselves and other people everywhere. It's not a little, it may be a little, it may be a little isolated, pure land, but it's one that opens out everywhere. So, my son did get off to the football game, and my wife is now busily doing the many things that she's doing, which are very helpful to myself and other people. And I did get through this lecture, almost, and I was very happy to be able to do it. The fundamental point...

[24:04]

Who are you? And then, when you answer that, are you really? And then, don't stop there. So, to study the Buddha way is to study oneself, is to take yourself seriously, and not so seriously. To take yourself seriously in that you are part of the Buddha way. And not so seriously in that you may be blocking your feeling of your existence. Or your participation. Or something. I don't know how to say this part. So, the lecture part of this Genjo Kongon is about to end.

[25:22]

But, I hope that... The Genjo Kongon, this little... I used to talk about the Lotus Sutra as being a very sneaky sutra. You know, you start off by thinking you're studying Buddhas and Buddha lands, and all of a sudden you notice that you're in the middle of it. And... Also, you find out how you keep yourself from being in the middle of it. How you run away. So, the Genjo Kongon... Don't let the Genjo Kongon block the Genjo Kongon for you. Find out, in each breath, what's the fundamental point. And the fundamental point is not exactly somewhere else. And it's not exactly the way you see things right now.

[26:35]

So, where is it? What is it? How's a good time for me to leave? May our intention equally penetrate every being and place.

[26:57]

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