Now you know clearly: what is called ‘mind’ is the great earth with its mountains and rivers; it is the sun, the moon, and the stars. Shobogenzo, Soku Shin Ze Butsu, Hubert Nearman It really is that simple – the eyes are horizontal, the nose is vertical. There is nothing cryptic or esoteric about this, [...]

Ever already enlightened, ever already deluded It is axiomatic to Zen that Buddha can never be found “outside” our own mind or nature. As Dogen asserts, there is not one “objective molecule” in the whole universe; the human body-mind (shinjin) is the whole universe in the ten directions. There is no Buddha in the “outside,” [...]

While most here probably understand that “beginner’s mind,” “don’t know mind,” etc. mean one thing as popular slogans, and something else in the context of Zen Buddhism. The spiritual significance of Zen teachings on “beginner’s mind” and “don’t know mind” are multifaceted, but the most essential point of these teachings is to emphasize what Dogen [...]

Dogen on Bodhicitta (the mind, or thought of enlightenment). In general there are three kinds of mind. “The first, citta, is here called thinking mind. The second, hrdaya, is here called the mind of grass and trees. The third, vrddha, is here called experienced and concentrated mind.” Among these, the bodhi-mind is inevitably established relying [...]

Does a Falling Tree make a Sound When Nobody is there to Hear it? As it presupposes dualism (between “things” (dharmas) in themselves and “things” as represented) the representational view of knowledge and experience is definitely rejected in Zen Buddhism, as it is in Mahayana Buddhism generally. In Zen, all real dharmas (things, beings, instances, [...]

Dogen fan? If so, here are some links to a recent series of posts on our sister blog (Dogen and the Shobogenzo) Thursday, July 01, 2010 Your Mountain and My Mountain – The Same Mountain? Sunday, June 27, 2010 True Nature – The Reality of the Self and the World Saturday, June 26, 2010 The [...]