Dear Fudo,
I'm aware of the Soto point, and thanks for bringing
it forward so succinctly.
I think that, in one respect, Dogen produced a lot of
mumbo-jumbo. I don't mean to be disrespectful here,
but his teachings are one of the easiest to
misinterpret and to get lost in and end up being
utterly confused.
I question here whether it is possible to have only
means without having an end at the same time. It's
like saying that there are only tall people in the
world. Short people simply don't exist.
But you see, the only way we could have tall people at
all is if we have short people as well. They condition
each other, they make each other arise (no pun
intended).
Same is with means and an end. We cannot have an end
if there are no means, and vice versa. They are
dependently originated, dependently ceased.
Similarly, there can be no becoming if there is no
being. There can be no realizing without the realized.
No karma without karta. No attribute without the
underlying substance. No underlying substratum without
the mode.
No identity without difference. No difference without
indentity.
No rupa without sunyata. No sunyata without rupa.
Such is the conventional truth of dependent
origination (pratitya samutpada). This is the backbone
of the Buddha's teaching (Four Noble Truths being the
heart of his teaching). And the backbone of
Nagarjuna's teaching is that pratitya samutpada ==
sunyata.
Dogen's practice, the way he formulated it, is just a
big honking make-believe. It is all bullshit. Anyone
who firmly believes in the cocreteness of Dogen's
prescribed practice might as well go and practice
under Dalai Lama or under the Pope for that matter.
It's all the same charade.
Medieval Japan was a bedrock of largely unchecked
superstitious behavior (the same can be said for the
modern Japan? Yes? No?)
Now, dear Fudo, as a person with a vested interest in
the Japanese brand of the Buddhist practice, I know
you will now plug your ears and go "lalalalala!", and
I don't blame you. I apologize for desecrating (or for
even bringing up) your lifestyle of choice.
But we need to address this issue of the propensity
for superstitious behavior that is so prominent
amongst humans. Especially among humans from the Far
East.
Alex
--- fudo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear Alex,
>
> You have somewhat missed the Soto point here. There
> is no end...so the
> means are all there is. There is no realized, only
> realizing. There is
> no being a Buddha, only becoming a Buddha.
>
> Practice is possible to identify, at least the Soto
> definition of
> practice. Dogen has laid it out in his writings down
> to how to wipe your
> ass with a ball of clay. Every moment of every day
> there is a prescribed
> practice for the Soto monk to be performing.
>
> Dogen does not say practice is the means and
> realization is the end. He
> says practice itself is realization, and to the
> extent you practice (and
> yes he does give you a set practice) the more
> enlightenment is realized
> (made real).
>
> For Dogen realization is not something that happens
> within the mind. It
> is what happens. It is what is made real or made
> manifest in the world.
>
> "If practice and realization were two different
> stages as as ordinary
> people consider then to be, the one sitting in zazen
> and things should
> perceive each other. to be associated with
> perceptions is not the mark
> of realization, because the mark of realization is
> to be beyond such
> illusions."
>
> From the first moment you sit down to your clumsy
> attempt at zazen,
> your are realizing, and this realizing is no
> different twenty years
> later. It does not cease, there is no end, no
> progress, no attainment
> and nothing to attain.
>
> In such a position there is no debate about the
> means being different
> from the end. It is not looking at practice as the
> means to an end. It
> is looking at what you put into practice as all that
> really is.
>
> Be Well
>
> Fudo
=====
No karma was produced during the composition of this letter
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