(Follow these links to see the September 2023 Priory Newsletter, the October 2023 Priory Newsletter or the November 2023 Priory Newsletter where this was published in three parts.)

– Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett

The following is a transcription of a lecture given by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett to all monks and lay trainees during the Segaki sesshin held in the fall of 1980; the lecture was given on October 29 of that year. In this Dharma talk, Rev. Master Jiyu has used paraphrased quotes from Volume I of Dogen Zenji’s Shobogenzo. (Shobogenzo, Volume I, trans. Kosen Nishiyama and John Stevens, Tokyo, Nakayama Shobo, 1977, pp. 34 – 38.)

The original transcription first appeared in The Journal of Shasta Abbey, November – December, 1981, and is reprinted here in a slightly modified form with permission. (For this presentation, I have edited the original transcription for readability. LK)

Daigo, which has here been translated as Great Enlightenment, would be better translated as “the Great Water of the Spirit of the Great True Self.” Go is the old Japanese term for self; and to find the True Self, which is of course the Cosmic Buddha or the Buddha Nature, to become one with that True Self, is the rightful occupation of all monks. [The spiritual purpose of all beings.]

But the title daigo is a many-faceted sword because not only does it imply the True Self, the Buddha Nature, it also implies “great stupidity, great foolishness” if one clings to that Self. Because go in its polite form means the True Self – the Buddha Nature – and go in its impolite form means stupidity or selfishness.

So Dogen has chosen a word which means that you are either a great Buddha or a big fool, whichever way you like to look at it. If you take daigo as simply two opposites, the Great, True Self and the great egocentric self – if you only see these two and do not see that there is an underlying thing to which it points, the third position, [that which encompasses the opposites and goes beyond them] then indeed you will have problems with this particular chapter of the Shobogenzo. 

The egocentric translation of go – the egocentric self – is simply an illusion and the daigo, the True Self, underlies the illusion and is in fact the reality. Keeping those two points in mind it is possible that this chapter can be truly understood.

Right transmission of the Truth of Buddhism is handed down through the experience and practice of True Understanding; it passes from Ancestor to Ancestor without alteration and through them is manifested as the continually flowing Water of the Spirit. But do not become attached to the idea and benefits of this True Understanding; for if you do, your practice will stagnate. And the refreshing beauty of the spring of the holy water of the Spirit will no longer refresh. It is important to remember this.

You must be completely detached from the benefits of True Understanding and never seek or crave them. To look forward to them, to love them, to enjoy them is excellent, but to seek with the egocentric mind, to crave with the egocentric mind is dangerous. There is nothing wrong when one is in a state of aridity, to long for reunion with the Cosmic Buddha so long as it is known that what you are longing for is that which is the Cosmic Buddha’s will, not that which you are trying to create.

Such an expression as, “Abandon enlightenment and walk freely” reveals that to attain freedom we must transcend the concept of clinging to this Great Understanding. Do not make the big mistake here that so many people make which is, “I must throw away enlightenment, I must not enjoy the Water of the Spirit.” That is not true. What they are saying is, “Throw away the clinging to and the wanting – the constant, avid wanting of the egocentric ‘I.’  Of course, there is nothing wrong with thoroughly enjoying and loving the results of True Understanding. Do not throw out the baby with the bath water, if you will excuse a pun. You only need to rid yourself of the egocentric wanting of it.

Great Enlightenment, True Understanding, being washed by the Water of the Spirit, is the daily activity of the Buddhas and Ancestors, but they just do not think about it. They go about their daily occupation. This type of enlightenment controls time, includes time, and is controlled by time. This is the purpose of True Understanding, of Great Enlightenment. Ordinary people cannot grasp this point because they are attached to so many things, but Buddhas can open the gate, the floodgates to the Waters of the Spirit, with the key of complete freedom, and bask and play in those Waters of the Spirit without ever being attached to them.

I have previously talked of the importance of not trying to grasp a handful of water, of trailing your hand in the river of truth, in the river of the Water of the Spirit, feeling it run through your hands, loving every moment of it; and when you take your hand out of the water, not trying to bring a handful with you. Of course you bring the memory, that memory is an enjoyable thing. But do not try to grasp it. If you grasp it there is no way you can truly know it. If you try to make it happen you will stagnate.

It happens because it happens, because of right action, right thought, right speech, right livelihood; when you are trying to do that which the Buddhas taught, it happens as if by accident. This is why so many people who never seem to actually sit down to meditate formally so often experience this. They are doing the Lord’s work and, if you like to use a coarse term, they are getting the Lord’s pay.^[1] They get that which they have truly worked for and are not trying to grab hold of it.

But they did not work for the purpose of a reward, they just did that which had to be done. They did the very best they could. And this teaching is very important for those who are living in the world and come to a monastery, for a term or a sesshin, because it makes the dignity of human work in the world so much greater to know that sitting in Zazen – although it is the greatest of all things one can do – is not the only way by which this can be achieved, if achievement is the right term. Just doing that which has to be done is taken great notice of by the Buddhas and the Ancestors.

All the Buddhas have learned through Great Enlightenment to actualize the true meaning of enlightenment in everyday life. Nevertheless, Buddhas are detached from this idea, and Great Enlightenment is not conscious of who is, or is not, a Buddha.

You should not think that there is some being who is singling you out and choosing you personally – there is nothing personal in this – for the Cosmic Buddha is something in which we all share equally when we do that which is ‘right’ to be done. When we do the right thing, when our activity is right action, when our thought is right, when our speech is correct, when we are ceasing from evil, doing only good to the very best of our ability – not arguing about it but just trying – when we are trying to do good for others without getting in their way, then we receive the joy of the fruits of Great Enlightenment.

Do not get personally attached to this. If you have experienced the Water of the Spirit you are not special, you are not a secret agent of God. You are someone who was doing that which had to be done according to the laws of the Universe and are, therefore, one with those Laws of the Universe and at one with the Cosmic Buddha. So often, once a person has experienced the Water of the Spirit, they think of themselves as a special agent of God. They are not. And, again, they are. But if they think they are, they are in trouble. They have just done that which had to be done.

I am not God and there is nothing in me that is not of God. I am not the Cosmic Buddha and there is nothing in me that is not of the Cosmic Buddha. When I do that which is the Cosmic Buddha’s will then, without seeking or wanting, the Water of the Dharma flows forth freely. What we are here to study is how to do that which has to be done in whatever state of life we happen to be living. The old motto of Buddhism, ‘We hope for the best, expect the worst and do the possible,’^[2] should be very valuable for people who live in the world.

Human beings have many different ways of realizing the Water of the Spirit, of experiencing it. Some realize the meaning of life from birth and are detached in every stage of their life – beginning, middle and end. Such people never seem to have difficulties.

Others achieve detachment by mastering the true meaning of study – that is, ‘self-study,’ or study of the skandhas, study of the body, the study of that which has caused us to be as we are – going back through past lives, studying the skin, flesh, bones and marrow, finding that which has caused us to be as we are and, in so doing, sloughing off all this ‘stuff’ and finding the True Spirit, sloughing off the shadows as one parts curtains and allows in the sunlight so that the True Spirit, the Water of the Spirit, may flow freely.

Others learn as a Buddha learns; they do not possess this sort of understanding from birth. They gain this True Understanding by transcending the world of the opposites. This is the system that Rinzai taught but it should be remembered that Rinzai himself learned on the Soto method which we use here.

Still others gain this True Knowledge of themselves without resorting to masters, scriptures, or any other means; for some reason, perhaps as a result of past accrued karma – no one knows for sure – their True Nature suddenly manifests itself. These last people, which in many ways are extraordinarily fortunate by the standards of some, are to my mind perhaps the most unfortunate, for so often they are unprepared for what happens and have no knowledge of what to do with it.

This is perhaps why the two forms now known as Soto and Rinzai, the self-study of one’s skin, flesh, bones and marrow and the transcending of the world of the opposites, are the two most heard of, the two most certain of success.

Different types of people have different means of realization. Everyone, however, possesses the ability to understand the true function and meaning of the Buddha Nature. This is the important point. The means by which they go are thousandfold but pure Zazen must be done in some way or another. Whether it be in the way in which one does one’s work, just doing that which has to be done, or whether it be sitting in a meditation hall – whatever the method, pure Zazen is done.

If everyone possesses this innate Buddha Nature then we can say that they are already enlightened, have received the seal of enlightenment, and practice the Buddhist Way. Therefore, when Buddhas and Ancestors are enlightened they are simply returning to their original True State, their Buddha Nature. It is very important to understand this. Since we have this innate ability all we have to do is find out why we do not, at this present time, know it. And when the understanding comes, when the Water of the Spirit flows, you should know that all we have done is ‘gone Home.’ Do not think that this turns you into a special agent of God.

To become a Buddha is to have the enlightenment of a Buddha: to know the dynamic, living Water of the Spirit. This Water exists innately but we have dammed it up in many ways; it is the original Truth that covers the three worlds, the million grasses – that is, everything – the four elements, the Buddhas and Ancestors, the koans. It is constantly growing and manifesting itself like a great torrent. So we can see that right now is the time for our own Great Enlightenment, our own knowledge of the True Self, the daigo.

Great Master Rinzai in Esho said: “In the great Tang Dynasty you could not find any unenlightened people no matter how hard you tried.” Since Rinzai transmitted the true Buddhist Way there is no reason to doubt his statement. If we examine his saying closely we will see that ‘Tang Dynasty’ does not refer to any particular era or place.

This ‘Tang Dynasty’ is our own body and mind so do not think that enlightenment is to be found in just one place or in just one era. The ‘Tang Dynasty’ was frequently used to refer to the human body because it was such a dignified dynasty; therefore, in the ‘Tang Dynasty,’ in the human body, do not think that enlightenment does not exist. It is impossible, not merely difficult, to find an unenlightened person in the kingly body – the ‘Tang Dynasty,’ the king, returning to his true home in the palace of the golden castle, the guest in that castle discovering who the host truly is, discovering who the True Emperor really is living within the ‘Tang Dynasty.’ The old Chinese codes^[3] for the safety of Buddhism are still used occasionally by Dogen. By speaking of the ‘Tang Dynasty’ in this way, Rinzai meant that our True Self, both in the past and present, is this True, Enlightened Self, the True Host, the True Emperor.

Rinzai said that throughout history, all the woodcutters in the mountains and fishermen in the seas have had this True Enlightenment. This was not something kept for the great and the holy. If students study Rinzai’s words in this way they will not be wasting their time. However, we should also study the teachings of other great Ancestors.

Let us question Rinzai, says Dogen: If you only think that it is difficult to find unenlightened people that is not good enough. You should also realize that it is just as difficult to find enlightened people who know of their enlightenment. In addition, you should know that there are half-enlightened people with wonderful and bright appearances who are frequently mistaken for enlightened people. Have you never seen such a person?

Even though it may be true that it is difficult, nay, impossible, to find unenlightened people living in the human body do not make it the standard of your study. Seek to find great dynasties within just one half-enlightened person, i.e., know that the full Buddha Nature lives even in the half-enlightened. These people are the most difficult to help and the least likely to truly accept that enlightenment really exists in them because of the terror of equivocation. We are always safe, we feel, with someone who does not know his enlightenment and with someone who does. But with the man or woman who knows only half of it we are scared; and we tend to forget that the fact they only know half of it, and that we can only see half of it, does not mean that the other half is not there.

Do not be frightened by such things. Do not turn away from such a person for that is certain to drive them, not only away from the monastery, but away from the understanding in this particular lifetime. If this particular point is difficult to understand, feel free to write or talk to a senior priest for it is an extraordinarily important point. If you can comprehend this point fully, it can be said that you will become a Buddha or Ancestor as the result of real practice in the future.

Now we come to a potentially dangerous point in this lecture:

One day a monk asked Great Master Hochi of Kegonji (whose name was Kyujo), the Dharma heir of Tozan, “What happens if a person of Great Enlightenment has illusion?”

In other words, what happens if a person who has had a full understanding turns away and persists in his illusions?

Kegon answered, “A broken mirror never reflects again, flowers cannot rebloom on the branch.” Although this is a dialogue, it still reveals the truth to the monk. Such a conversation is only heard inside of Kegon’s monastery or from someone who is a disciple of Tozan (as we are). That is why his monastery can be called a real monastery of the Buddhas and Ancestors.

Now remember when hearing this statement, “What happens if a person of Great Enlightenment has illusion,” that the daigo, the great True Self is.^[4] That a person has illusion or not does not alter the fact that the True Self exists in them. But if they persist in their illusion, and persist in holding onto the shadow, then indeed the broken mirror cannot reflect nor can the flower rebloom on the branch. It is important not to think that the mirror is broken forever and that another flower cannot bloom – it will not be the same flower. The glass of a mirror can be replaced just as the waters that have been ruffled and in which the moon cannot be seen must again become calm before the moon can be reflected.

Dogen takes it even further however: When we say “a person of Great Enlightenment” it can refer to several things. It can refer to someone who does not possess enlightenment from the beginning but we know that this is not true. It can refer to someone who has attained it from some other place and keeps it hidden. True Enlightenment exists openly in the Buddha and Dharma Halls. These are statements made by various people. True Enlightenment cannot be gained by an old novice, nor can it be cultivated by oneself. All these are true statements, unfortunately the translator has not done a very good job with them.

For True Enlightenment always exists no matter what, and it should not be thought of as merely an absence of illusion. Many a cloud passes across the sun and we do not see the sun clearly for a moment, but the clouds are passing and the sun is always there. Do not think that because there is Great Understanding, Great Enlightenment, that there has to be Great Illusion. As I have said before, do not make opposites where opposites do not exist. This is the danger of studying via the opposites. We forget that, although there is sun and cloud, the sun is always there.

Not only does a person of Great Enlightenment increase their enlightenment but, whether they wish to or not, a person of Great Illusion increases their enlightenment too. Whether they want it or not, they are stuck with it. If they wish to play with their illusions that is their problem. The fact that they have Great Enlightenment still exists, and they cannot get rid of it.

“What happens if a person of Great Enlightenment has illusion?” raises the central question of all Buddhism, and Kegon’s answer is the one we should use  –  they are the meritorious words of the Buddhas and Ancestors. Is a person of Great Enlightenment who has illusion the same as an unenlightened person? Is it possible for a person of Great Enlightenment to have illusion? Can they change their illusion to enlightenment or does illusion cover their enlightenment perpetually? Or if they change illusion to enlightenment is it still called illusion? These are the questions we must clarify.

And they can only be clarified if you know that the reality is the Great Enlightenment and the illusion is the shadow. Kegon’s reply went right to the heart of these questions. He meant that enlightenment and illusion are like two hands on one body. The ultimate goal of our practice is to determine if it is possible for a person of Great Enlightenment to really have and possess illusion.

Surely to have and possess illusion in this way is to be the same as the person who is trying to hold onto water, or the same as the person who is trying to grasp their own shadow. You can know the truth of the Water of the Spirit but you cannot hold onto it. By volition you can grasp your illusion or you can let it float by. If you choose to cling to great illusion it is like a thief who is not able to recognize their own child and vice-versa. Great Enlightenment recognizes a thief as a thief, and the child as the child. Furthermore, if a small quantity is added to or removed from a large amount no change can be seen by anyone regardless if they are enlightened or not. Consequently, we should examine increased Great Illusion and find its true meaning.

Blow it away as a chimera in the wind and find, meet and know the True Self, the person of Great Enlightenment. We must examine ourselves with great care in order to find if we have such illusion. Passing illusions, like passing clouds, are of no importance. I see nothing in the sky holding onto clouds and the sun does not worry about them.

Kegon’s reply, “A broken mirror never reflects again,” concerns the actual moment the mirror is broken. Do not be concerned with the mirror’s condition before or after, for if you do, you will cling to the past and yearn for the future. Get rid of the clinging to the illusion and quickly the waters will again reflect the moon. Do not believe that Kegon’s answer can be taken to mean that a person of True Enlightenment never falls into illusion. This is not true. A person of Great Enlightenment does not cling to their illusions for, because they know this third position, because they know the True Self, they recognize illusion when they see it and allow it to pass by. Kegon’s answer is directed towards the actual moment an enlightened person falls into ‘illusion.’ When the flower falls it is just that, nothing else. No matter how high it is placed it can still fall.

When a mirror is broken it is broken. It can only give fragmented reflections in its broken pieces until there is a deliberate attempt to throw away the clung-to illusion.

To question the real meaning of the broken mirror and the fallen flower is to have great understanding of an enlightened person’s illusion.

And remember never to carry any example such as broken mirrors and fallen flowers too far. Do not get stuck with analogies. Know that a branch blooms again, broken glass can be replaced and ruffled water becomes calm. Know the deeper meaning of the daigo, the Great Enlightenment.

Do not think, as most people do, that if you have Great Enlightenment and become a Buddha you are different from ordinary people, for you are not. Great Enlightenment does not cause Bodhisattvas to return to the world and try to save others. In our present study we are not concerned with the difference between enlightenment or illusion, or Buddhas and ordinary people.

Great Enlightenment, the True Self, the Water of the Spirit, That Which Is, the Dharma Cloud, is different and the same as the Great Awakening of a Bodhisattva. Great Enlightenment, the Buddha Nature, the Cosmic Buddha, is without beginning or end and illusion is without beginning and end also. Great Enlightenment is not external, it permeates all things, and no illusion, no shadow can ever obstruct it. Great Enlightenment embraces illusion knowing what illusion truly is and is not concerned with large or small.

Great Enlightenment is its own Great Enlightenment; it is snow-covered mountains, rocks and trees, you and I. The Great Enlightenment of Buddhas is for sentient beings and the Great Enlightenment of sentient beings illuminates the Great Enlightenment of the Buddhas, for all is all contained within all. There is no distinction between them and us, no distinction between anything whatsoever. Great Enlightenment is not just the function of ourselves or others. It fills everything, it is the center of existence in both the form of enlightenment and illusion. Illusion can only seek Great Enlightenment and we can never find Great Enlightenment unless we have first gone through and discarded illusion.

Priest Meiu of Kyocho sent a monk to ask Gyozan, “Do people living nowadays need to be enlightened?” Gyozan replied, “Enlightenment exists whether they want it or not but it is easy to misunderstand this.” The monk returned to Meiu and reported Gyozan’s answer. “What a wonderful answer! Only a very great Zen master could give such an answer.” Meiu praised Gyozan highly. “People living nowadays” is the eternal present. Thousands of years exist in the present and our life, in the present, is the focal point of our study. Understanding must be attained through the body and mind and not based on others’ interpretation or illusions. We must reflect upon the fact that all things are contained in our original self. We must understand the deep meaning of this body of ours. We must search for this principle with a clear mind not worrying about shadows.

Recently in the Sung Dynasty, [we are speaking now of the 12th century], there were monks who did not shave their heads because they did not understand its true meaning and did not understand Buddhism even though they studied it for many years. They were constantly striving to become Buddhas and continually waiting for enlightenment, which for them, was the basic purpose of Buddhism.

They waited for others to feed them and did nothing whatsoever in order to do that which was necessary to be done. What vulgar people they were! They had never touched real Buddhist teaching so they thought enlightenment came as a result of just sitting in Zazen.

They did not realize that work, if it was the work of a Buddha, if it was done to the best of their ability, was to do Zazen of body. Trying to gain enlightenment stagnated their practice.

Because they were attached to the idea of enlightenment they lost the chance to meet a real Zen master – they were lazy and slothful, wasted time, and misunderstood Buddhism.

Do not think here that Dogen is speaking in a low fashion of sitting in Zazen, for pure Zazen has to be done. He is saying do not despise that work which is done with a pure heart. To build a ferry or a bridge, to nurse the sick, to milk a goat – these are the works of great compassion. Do not think of them as something that one does just to stay alive, think of them as part of the work of the great Buddhas and Ancestors. Do your Zazen with the same energy that you do your work, do your work with the same energy with which you do your Zazen.

Priests of the present day are evasive about the question, “Do people living nowadays really need enlightenment?” If we say there is enlightenment, they will deny it. If we say enlightenment emerges naturally they ask, “Where is enlightenment? Do we actually need enlightenment? Is what we are doing of any value?”

Despair emerges all the time if one does not keep the bright mind of Zazen and do the very best one can at all times. For it is doing our best without worrying about it that turns everyday work into pure Zazen, and doing the very best you can when sitting that turns the sitting into pure Zazen.

Priests of the present day think that there are two distinct states: unenlightenment and enlightenment and thus set up another pair of opposites. They do not know that enlightenment exists and illusion floats across the face of it as the cloud across the face of the sun.

They think that unenlightenment becomes enlightenment and it is attained from somewhere or someone else. But even that idea is nothing but Great Enlightenment. Unenlightenment is, and always has been, a form of hidden enlightenment. For example, yesterday I was unenlightenment; but today I am enlightenment, i.e., I got rid of my illusions. We possess in the present enlightenment the enlightenment of yesterday – enlightenment does not begin with the moment of perception. Consequently, everything, right now, in the eternal present is Great Enlightenment. That is Great Enlightenment, this is Great Enlightenment. Everything is Great Enlightenment; and if you cannot see It, brush the clouds away.

^[1] Following the usage of Keizan Zenji and others, Rev. Master Jiyu would often refer to the Cosmic Buddha or the Unborn Buddha Mind as the “Lord of the House.” The term “Lord Buddha” is also a term that is used by Buddhists to refer to the historical Shakyamuni Buddha, especially in the Pali Canon and by those who refer to and comment on the Pali Canon. This phrase, “to do the Lord’s work,” is a somewhat common phrase in evangelical Christian circles and may have been common in Christian circles of Rev. Master Jiyu’s experience; she seems to have borrowed that phrase to convey a very Buddhist idea using a Christian phrase.↩

^[2] Currently the motto of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, 33 Sukhumvit Road, Phra Khanong, Bangkok, Thailand.↩

^[3] For political safety in authoritarian countries, words were used which had both a secular and a spiritual meaning. The monks knew and understood the spiritual one while the secular one would be heard by the government in a way that would not be threatening to their secular authority.↩

^[4] The discussion of illusion arising in the enlightened person also applies to any obstacle that arises for someone who has started to train whether that illusion takes the form of desire, anger, complacency, laziness, or any other form of negativity.↩