Turning

In the Shobogenzo we have the fascicle called Hokke Ten Hokke, which means "Turning the Lotus Sutra". The title of this fascicle came from the Sixth Patriarch. I think you know that. Once the Sixth Patriarch was giving Dharma to people, and a bold disciple, a very arrogant fellow, appeared in front of him. But he couldn't bow to the floor, he failed to lower his head to the floor. So the Sixth Patriarch said, "Why are you so arrogant? Why do you bow in that way?" And the monk said, "I am very sorry." "If you say so, it is alright. But if you fail to lower your head to the floor, you must have something in your mind. What do you have in your mind?" The boy said, "The Lotus Sutra. I am reading it every day, and I must have read it maybe thousands of times." "Even though you are reading the Lotus Sutra, you don't understand what it means," the Sixth Patriarch said. "What is the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra" the boy asked him. And he said, "I will explain it to you, but I cannot read it, so please read it to me." So the boy started to read it, and the Sixth Patriarch said, "If your mind is deluded, you will be turned by the Lotus Sutra. If you are enlightened, you will turn it." -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Vairocana - the Cosmic Buddha of the Shingon sect

The whole mandala of Dainichi Nyorai is his body. There are many buddhas in the mandala, and all of them are a part of his body. Dainichi Nyorai is telling the truth to himself, to those buddhas in the mandala. Since they are a part of himself, he is not giving some special teaching to anyone else. Do you understand? It is like the universe is telling the truth to the universe, the whole cosmic being is telling the truth to the cosmic being. So whatever is going on in the cosmos is the teaching itself. When we understand their teaching in this way, it is very close to Zen. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Continuing from yesterday -

Tantric or Shingon Buddhism emphasizes this point. Their basic scripture is the Diamond Sutra, which was told by Buddha, but not by the historical Buddha. Buddha didn't speak this sutra with his mouth. He didn't tell it for an audience, but for himself. This means that we should not read that scripture with our mind. That is why they explain the sutra with various mudras. The Zen understanding is very similar to this, but Zen does not depend on any sutra, because everything is a sutra. But the Shingon school chooses one scripture. They say this sutra was told by the Bodhisattva Dainichi Nyorai [Mahavairocana tathagata]. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Esoteric

The other day, in the fireplace room, Lama Govinda talked about the Shingon understanding, the so called "Tantric" understanding not the physical Tantric, but the original Tantric, esoteric teaching of Buddhism. The reason we say "esoteric" is that true teaching is beyond understanding. Esoteric means you can't see or hear it. When you cannot see or understand it, you may say that is mystery or mystical. But that is not true understanding. There may be two kinds of things you cannot understand. One is something mystical just because you cannot see or cannot understand it. But there is another thing which you cannot understand. It is too obvious. The reality is too real to speak about. We say, "If you want to explain what water is, give him water, don't speak about it. Even though you speak about it, it is not possible to explain what water is." That kind of true experience, or reality, is not possible to talk about. In this sense, there is esoteric teaching. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Necessary

Everything is revealed through everything, revealing itself and fluently speaking about the First Principle. So Dogen understood enlightenment in this way. But it does not mean that there is no need to attain enlightenment. If you understand in that way, it is already the Second Principle, not the First Principle. If it is necessary or not necessary, this is the Second Principle. So if it is necessary to say something, you must say, "Sometimes necessary, sometimes not necessary." Whatever you say, that is right. That is more like Dogen Zenji's understanding. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

First Principle

The first Principle is the reality, the absolute, which cannot be conveyed in terms of good or bad, supreme or common. It is the principle that everything is revealed through everything, revealing itself and fluently speaking about the First Principle. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Everything

When we understand everything, everything will be important. This is the difference between our understanding of the Lotus Sutra and the understanding of other schools. And, according to Dogen, whether or not we attain enlightenment, we are actually fluently speaking about the truth. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Important

as Dogen Zenji said, even the sound of the bell and the color of the mountain are bodhisattvas—they all can teach. Actually, he means that all we see teaches the Lotus Sutra. That is how we Zen Buddhists understand this sutra. Zen Buddhism, especially Dogen's Zen, actually arose from the Tendai school and teaching. But the difference is that the other school treats this sutra as the king of sutras, the highest sutra, but we do not. We think this is one of the important sutras, but all of the sutras are important. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Comment on Lotus Sutra

 The Lotus Sutra should not be understood literally. What it describes is how things exist, animate and inanimate beings, human and non human beings, from the lowest being of the six worlds to the highest being of Buddha. You know the six worlds. Among the six worlds, the celestial world is the highest, next is the human world, and the hell world and hungry ghost world are the lowest. Above the celestial world are sravakas, pratyekas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. Buddha is the highest. This sutra includes all of those beings. We describe reality in terms of those beings, but that is not enough. We should understand in that way. If so, the Lotus Sutra is not the only valuable sutra, or the highest sutra. All the sutras are very valuable. There may be sutras not yet described by anyone. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Reading from the Lotus Sutra

"That very night, in the middle watch, he [Shakyamuni Buddha] met complete extinction, like a lamp when the cause (of its burning) is exhausted. His relics were distributed, and of his Stupas there was an infinite number of myriads of kotis."

There is, you know, a similar story in China. When a Zen Master Nangyo Ejo passed away, the Emperor asked him, "What should we do about your relics? Is there anything we can do to help you? What do you want me to do?" And Ejo said, "If you build me a mound for my relics, it is enough." "How should I build it?" the Emperor asked. Ejo said, "My disciple will know it well, so ask him." So after he passed away, the Emperor asked his disciple how to make the mound. The disciple said, "Make the best mound." "How do you make the best mound?" The disciple said, "From the east side of the Yangtze to the west side of the Yangtze River." And the Emperor couldn't understand. It would cover the whole country! So he couldn't answer, he couldn't say yes. Ejo's true body covers everything, you know. He is one with everything, so even though he dies, there is no difference. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-E as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC