The Self in Medival Japanese Buddhism

·期刊原文
THE SELF IN MEDIEVAL JAPANESE BUDDHISM: FOCUSING ON DOGEN

By Kiyotaka Kimura
Philosophy East and West
Volume 41, Number 3
July 1991
P.327-340
(C) by University of Hawaii Press

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P.327

Preface

In the past many scholars and thinkers have
sought to discover some deep-rooted factor common to
all of medieval Japanese Buddhism, especially in the
case of the "Kamakura Neo-Buddhist" sects. For
example, Suzuki Daisetsu (1870-1966), who made an
outstanding contribution to the introduction in the
West of Oriental thought--particularly Zen--termed
this common factor "Japanese spirituality" and has
provided the following comment:

When with the advent of Kamakura times
government and culture lost their distinctively
aristocratic and conceptual conventions and took
on the qualities of the earth, Japanese
spirituality awakened to itself.(1)

Anezaki (Anesaki) Masaharu (1873-1949), on the other
hand, who was the first to compose a History of
Japanese Religion from the standpoint of modern
positivistic scholarship, defined the general
characteristic of the Buddhism of this period as
"simple piety" or "spiritual exercise, " and
asserting that this accorded with the spirit of the
times, he concluded:

The Buddhist religion of the new age was not one
of ceremonies and mysteries but a religion of
simple piety or of spiritual exercise. Dogma
gave way to personal experience, ritual and
sacerdotalism to piety and intuition, and this
new type of religion exerted its influence
beyond class limits, exhibiting many democratic
features.(2)

Furthermore, according to Watsuji Tetsuro
(1889-1960), renowned as a major representative
philosopher of modern Japan, the Kamakura period
witnessed a reconsideration of the nature of the
traditional gods of Japan, a reconsideration which
was brought about through the influence of Buddhism;
in this regard Watsuji stated:

Contemporaneous with the sudden rise of the
warrior class there occurred in the foundations
of Buddhism a new faith movement, and
contemporaneous with the establishment of
military rule this lead to the development of a
new Kamakura Buddhism. This must be regarded as
the greatest achievement of this period. Just as
an ethic of self-sacrifice was to develop among
the warriors, so an ethic of universal
compassion came to be strongly promoted by the
latter.(3)

In other words, Watsuji discovered the basic
characteristic of so-called Kamakura Neo-Buddhism in
"compassion," corresponding to the "self-sacrifice"
of the warrior.

Just how valid, then, are these interpretations
of medieval Japanese Buddhism, focused as they are
on "Kamakura Neo-Buddhism"? Is there

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any possibility that there may exist some other
method of generalization possessing a greater degree
of probability? It is with such an awareness that we
wish to attempt to shed some light on one aspect of
the history of medieval Japanese Buddhism by
focusing on Dogen(4) (1200-1253), regarded as one of
its most important representative figures, and we
shall make an introductory approach to our problem
through a consideration of the concept of the
"self," which has constituted a major point of
contention in Buddhism since its very beginnings.

I. The Conception of the Self

Dogen, who was born into a noble family of high
standing, took the tonsure at the age of thirteen
and first studied the doctrines of the Tendai
school. But overcome by doubts regarding the need
for cultivated practice and the significance of
Esoteric rituals, he changed his affiliation to Zen
and at the age of twenty-four crossed over to China.
There he continued his studies and eventually became
a successor to his teacher Ju-ching (1163-1228),
after which he returned to Japan and founded the
Japanese Soto sect. Although the groundwork for his
understanding of Buddhism had been laid in Japan,
his was a Buddhism that was introduced directly from
China. In this sense, too, it should be evident that
the question of just how "Japanese" his thought was
is a subject requiring careful examination.

When considering the question of the "self" in
regard to Dogen, the first point to be noted is that
for him "to learn the Buddha Way is to learn one's
own self."(5) In other words, it was Dogen's
conviction that there existed no Buddhism apart from
the learning and pursuit of the "self" and that this
constituted the whole of Buddhism. It should thus be
clear that for Dogen the question of the "self" was
of considerable importance.

However, this conviction of Dogen's is quite
different from the idea that the self is already
possessed of the totality of Buddhism and that
therefore "simply knowing that the Buddha Dharma
exists intrinsically in oneself is attainment of the
Buddha Way in its totality."(6) In fact, Dogen's
conception of the self runs directly counter to this
view, and he asserts that "if the Way were attained
by knowing that the self is Buddha, `Saakyamuni (the
founder of Buddhism) long ago would not have
undergone the hardships he did in guiding others to
enlightenment."(7)

There was a reason for Dogen's discussion and
criticism of the idea that "the self is Buddha," a
view traceable to the current of Tathaagatagarbha
thought, which occurred around 300 A.D. in India and
has widely influenced East Asian Buddhism. This was
that views leading to such a conclusion were to be
found on the one hand occupying a central position
in Tendai thought, which constituted the mainstream
of Japanese Buddhism at the time,(8) and were on the
other hand also quite

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predominant in the Zen of China which Dogen had
himself studied,(9) and in Dogen's view such ideas
defiled Buddhism and exerted a harmful influence
upon society.

This being the case, what does Dogen mean then
when he says that "to learn the Buddha Way is to
learn one's self"? In the "Genjo koan" in the
Shobogenzo this statement is given elaboration in
the following manner:

To learn one's self is to forget one's self. To
forget one's self is to be confirmed by all
dharmas. To be confirmed by all dharmas is to
effect the casting off of one's own body and
mind and the bodies and minds of others as well.

However, this explanation Hives the impression of
having been expressed in terms that are too
succinct, for it is difficult to comprehend its full
import as it stands. Accordingly, we shall cite
three further passages which may be considered to be
related in content to the quotation above. The first
is taken from the Gakudo yojinshu:

When one enters the gate to study the Buddha
Way, one listens to the teaching of a learned
master and cultivates oneself accordingly. One
must know at such a time the two teachings: (1)
one moves the dharmas and (2) the dharmas move
the self. When one moves the dharmas well, the
self is strong and the dharmas are weak. When
the dharmas move the self, the dharmas are
strong and the self is weak. In the Buddha Way
there have always been these two situations.
Only authentic Dharma-successors know this.(10)

The second passage is again taken from the "Genjo
koan" and precedes the passage already quoted above:

To practise and confirm all things by conveying
one's self to them is illusion: for all things
to advance forward and practise and confirm the
self is enlightenment. Those who greatly
enlighten illusion are Buddhas; those who are
greatly deluded about enlightenment are sentient
beings. Again, there are men who gain
enlightenment beyond enlightenment, and there
are men who further give rise to illusion within
their illusion. When Buddhas are genuinely
Buddhas, there is no need for them to be
conscious that they are Buddhas. Yet they are
realized Buddhas, and they continue to realize
Buddha.(11)

The third passage is taken from "Keisei sanshoku,"
also in the Shobogenzo:

When you practise correctly, the sound of the
valley, the colour of the valley, the sound of
the mountain, and the colour of the mountain do
not hold back their teaching of the 84,000
verses (which express truth itself). If you do
not begrudge your body and mind which are
occupied in the pursuit of fame and fortune,
then the valleys and mountains will similarly
express everything without holding anything
back.(12)

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If we consider the meaning of Dogen's "to learn
one's own self" in the light of these quotations, it
will be noticed first of all that "to learn one's
own self" is defined as "to forget one's self,"
which means to become free of any consciousness of
self and all discriminative judgments and to commune
with the embodiment of truth residing in all that
exists. If at that stage action rooted in the self,
including all forms of effort, should still
predominate, the truth does not reveal its full
form. But when the self yields completely to the
truth, it is then confirmed and acknowledged by the
truth. This is what is meant by being "confirmed by
all dharmas, " and it is equivalent to
"enlightenment" or "to effect the casting off of
one's own body and mind and the body and minds of
others." Such would appear to be the gist of Dogen's
view.

The same view is expressed more strongly in a
religious tone in "Shoji," thought to have been
composed in Dogen's later years, where it is
presented as a total surrender of the self to the
Buddha.

When you simply release and forget both your
body and mind and throw yourself into the house
of the Buddha, and when functioning comes from
the direction of the Buddha and you go in accord
with it, then with no strength needed and no
thought expended, freed from birth and death,
you become Buddha.(13)

In other words, according to Dogen the practice
of the Buddhist path becomes possible only by
discarding the "erroneous views of self and others,"
but at the same time, through practice of the
Buddhist path, any consciousness of self sustaining
this practice is overcome; then the world of reality
reveals itself in its full splendor and one becomes
a Buddha.(14) However, it is important to take note
of the fact that Dogen's overcoming of
self-consciousness as described above does not
signify the denial of one's own existence. This
should be evident, for example, from the following
passage in "Uji":

We set the self out in array and make that the
whole world. You must see all the various things
of the whole world as so many times. These
things do not get in each other's way any more
than various times get in the way of each other.
Because of this, there is an arising of mind at
the same time, and it is the arising of time of
the same mind. So it is with practice and
attainment of the Way too. We set our self out
in array and we see that.(15)

In a similar vein is this quotation taken from
"Komyo":

The entire world is the self, and the self is
the entire world. There can be no escape from
this fact, and even if there is a place to
escape, that is the path to further progress.
This seven-foot body is the form and phenomenon
of the entire world. The entire world realized
by the Buddha Way is this body, this skin,
flesh, bones and marrow.(16)

P.331

The entire world revealed through the overcoming
of self-consciousness is nothing other than the
world of the self, and it is totally revealed in
individual phenomena from one moment to the next. It
is impossible to draw any line of demarcation
between the self and the world. What is more, the
self with its "seven-foot body," which represents
the entire world in condensed form as it were, is
the self as it is, and it is here that the entire
world is realized. Insofar as Dogen's thought was
aimed at the establishment of a truly subjectively
independent self, he may be said to have correctly
taken over the basic standpoint of Buddhism in
regard to the "self" and "no-self."

II. Awareness of the Self and Compassionate Activity

If Dogen's awareness of the self may be
understood in the terms presented above, what, then,
was the nature of Dogen's understanding of Buddhism,
such that it gave birth to this self-awareness, and
what mode of being for the self did it lead to in
actual human relationships and the social milieu? In
the following we should like to examine these
points, focusing on "compassion," which was pointed
out by Watsuji to constitute the distinguishing
feature of medieval Japanese Buddhism.(18) In other
words, we shall consider Dogen's actual mode of
existence from the aspect of "compassion."

As is probably the case with all outstanding
practitioners of Buddhism, Dogen was convinced that
it was the Buddhism which he himself taught that
represented true Buddhism. Furthermore, he held that
it had been handed down through direct transmission
from master to disciple ever since the time of
`Saakyamuni or the seven Buddhas of the past.(19)
For Dogen, `Saakyamuni was both a great benefactor
to whom he was indebted for the "authentic tradition
of the exquisite means for attaining the Way"(20)
and, as a result of direct transmission, a familiar
existence with whom he came into direct contact,
with whom he communed, and who was realized within
his own being. Dogen describes this `Saakyamuni and
the religion of Buddhism founded by him in the
following terms:

The reason that `Saakyamuni appeared in this
world and became a great physician was that he
took pity on sentient beings submerged in the
depths of the sea of suffering. Accordingly, he
generated compassion, displayed pity, and
expounded many teachings through a variety of
expedient means. These were all methods of
administering medicine in accordance with the
illness and helping all sentient beings to
attain the state of true tranquility.(21)

It is evident from this passage that Dogen
regarded `Saakyamuni as having been basically a
person of compassion and that he held `Saakyamuni's
teaching, namely Buddhism, to be a teaching of
compassion. The Eiheiji goroku records a poem of the
following import, said to have been composed on the
occasion of the service in honor of `Saakyamuni's

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enlightenment:

`Saakyamuni turned into a phantom and is
continuing to cause a stir in the world of
mankind. As a result we have lost our sight and
are unable to seek out anything whatsoever. In
such a world the plum tree is causing its
flowers to bloom anew on the same branches as
last year.(22)

Although assuming a paradoxical mode of expression
characteristic of Zen, this poem is brimming over
with the deep gratitude and joy felt by Dogen
towards `Saakyamuni, who still continued to guide to
enlightenment ordinary persons satisfied with the
peace and happiness found in delusion, and who
relieved Dogen of his own deluded vision and opened
his eyes to enlightenment.

Thus, according to Dogen, `Saakyamuni, and also
the Buddhas and patriarchs who are in essence
identical with him, took pity on sentient beings and
expounded the teachings out of compassion for them.
We are thereby drawn to the Buddhist path and able
to attain true enlightenment. But does this mean,
then, that compassion is ultimately an attribute of
the Buddhas and patriarchs alone and that it never
becomes a part of us ourselves? In the case of Dogen
the answer is "No," for in the first place there is
essentially no difference between the Buddhas and
patriarchs on the one hand and ourselves on the
other: "the past form of the Buddhas and Patriarchs
is us, and our future form is the Buddhas and
Patriarchs."(23) Hence, even if one has neither
compassion nor wisdom, "if one learns, they can be
obtained."(24) In fact the learning of the Buddhist
path is itself sustained from the first by the
spirit of compassion.

For Dogen the learning of the Buddhist path may
be summed up as "simply cultivating the Buddha
Dharma for the sake of the Buddha Dharma,"(25) and
this permits of no selfish motives whatsoever. This
is an extremely difficult task for the majority of
us, living as we do self-centered lives and forever
in pursuit of fame and fortune. It requires more
than an ordinary determination to aspire to such a
path and to continue to follow it. It was probably
for this reason that Dogen discusses the somewhat
bizarre events surrounding the renunciation of the
Zen master Yen-shou (904-75) , who happened to
misappropriate some public funds and give them to
the poor once when he was serving as a provincial
governor before becoming a monk.(26)

In this talk it is stated in regard to the
generation of the bodhi-mind or initial resolution
as the momentum leading to enlightenment that "you
should think lightly of your own life, deepen your
thoughts of compassion towards sentient beings, and
generate a mind which seeks to surrender itself to
the precepts of the Buddha." Grammatically speaking,
this sentence permits a variety of interpretations.
But whichever interpretation one may choose, it is
clear that for Dogen thinking lightly of one's own
life, taking pity on sentient beings, and
surrendering oneself to the

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precepts of the Buddha were not mutually unrelated
acts. The reason for this is in the first place that
taking pity on sentient beings naturally results in
a disregard for one's own life, while disregard for
one's own life further deepens one's compassion
towards sentient beings. Furthermore, to think
lightly of one's own life means in concrete terms
nothing other than to follow unconditionally the
Buddha's precepts and his teaching, and this
inevitably results in the birth of compassion toward
sentient beings. Hence, when discussing the
generation of the bodhi-mind, Dogen sometimes
emphasizes the contemplation of impermanence as a
means of minimizing the importance of one's own life
and freeing oneself of self-attachment. But still it
may be said that the essential characteristic of the
generation of the bodhi-mind in the case of Dogen is
to be sought in "taking pity on sentient beings."
This should be clear from Dogen's discussion of the
tale concerning Yen-shou mentioned above, and it is
directly elaborated upon in "Hotsubodaishin" in the
Shobogenzo.

Generating the bodhi-mind means to wish and
strive to deliver all sentient beings to the
further shore of enlightenment before you
yourself have crossed over. Even if your
appearance be lowly, if you generate this mind,
you are already a guide to all sentient
beings.... Sincerely, Generally speaking, the
bodhi-mind means striving unceasingly with all
your energy to help all sentient beings to
generate the bodhi-mind and lead them to the
Buddha Way. Merely providing them with mundane
pleasures to no particular purpose is not
referred to as benefiting sentient beings.(27)

Thus for Dogen the bodhi-mind represents a
totally altruistic and nondiscriminating mind of
compassion, and it therefore differs from gratitude
or affection directed toward a particular
person.(28) At the same time, it is not simply an
inner, spiritual quality but a psychosomatic
quality, which is being continually manifested
through concrete action. There are no limits
whatsoever to the sphere of its functioning or to
its functions themselves. Hence, the generation of
the bodhi-mind inevitably results in a mode of being
which even if the merit necessary for becoming a
Buddha has been consummated, still transfers that
merit to the attainment of Buddhahood by other
sentient beings.

What, in concrete terms then, is actually
regarded by Dogen as constituting practice grounded
in the bodhi-mind? A comprehensive discussion of
Dogen's views on this subject is to be found in
"Bodaisatta shishobo."(29) The Bodaisatta shishobo,
or "four methods of conversion of Bodhisattvas,"
represent four forms of practice for Mahaayaana
bodhisattvas expounded in the Praj~naapaaramitaa
literature and other works. They consist of
"giving," "kindly speech," "beneficial action," and
"identification," and the bodhisattva is said to
convert sentient beings by these means.

For instance, "identification," according to
Dogen's interpretation,

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means running counter to neither self nor others; it
is, namely, practice in which the self and others
are in a state of total harmony. The way in which
the ocean receives the waters of any river
whatsoever is an example of this "identification."
But Dogen points out that it should also be realized
in this case that the rivers are endowed with the
virtue of not exhibiting any aversion to the ocean.
In other words, the manner in which self and others,
forever changing with the passage of time, act as
friends and partners toward each other to create a
single, harmonious world represents
"identification." But the actual practice of this is
no easy matter. It is probable that Dogen, too, was
well aware of this fact, for he writes that "it
stands to reason that we may first harmonize others
with ourselves and then harmonize ourselves with
others," thus suggesting the direction of the path
leading to such a world, and as an initial concrete
step or basic form of practice he says that "we
should simply face everything with a soft
countenance."

But of course such practice of compassion is not
always correctly understood as such by others, and
Dogen was clearly aware of this fact, too, as is
indicated by comments on Genshin (924-1017; he laid
the foundation for the rise of the Pure Land
teachings in Japan and composed the Ojoyoshuu).
Genshin had formerly been criticized for having once
ordered someone to beat and drive away some deer
which were feeding on grass in the garden, but Dogen
points out that Genshin had caused the deer to be
driven away not because he was begrudging them the
grass but because he had been worried that they
might be killed by some wicked person, and Dogen
further adds:

Beating the deer may seem to be a form of
treatment lacking in compassion, but it is
evident that in his inner motives Genshin was
brimming over with compassion.(30)

Did Dogen himself, then, also make efforts to
tread this same path of compassionate practice? To
state our conclusion first, the answer is most
definitely "Yes." For example, he composed the
following poem:

Those astray far and near in the six paths are
my father and my mother.(31)

In other words, fellow beings in the six paths of
transmigratory existence all represented for Dogen
his father and his mother. As should be evident from
Dogen's understanding of the self as already
discussed in the previous section, the welfare of
all sentient beings would have been for Dogen a
matter of utmost personal concern. Hence, aware of
his own shortcomings, he was able to write in
self-admonition:

Although not a Buddha, I would, foolish as I am,
be a monk who delivers sentient beings to the
further shore,

and to pray day and night for his realization of the
altruistic path of the bodhisattva.

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Whether I am standing or sitting in my grass
hut, what I pray for is that I may deliver
others before myself.

This is a poem which may be said to express such
sentiments.

It was for this reason that Dogen also demanded
of each of those disciples who lived together with
him that they treat each other with thoughts of
compassion, as is indicated in the following
passage:

If all the monks in residence abide in the
thought that they have relationships as parents,
siblings, blood relations, masters, and good
friends, if they are compassionate towards each
other, if they take pity on self and others, and
if in the bottom of their hearts they maintain
the thought of how difficult it is to meet, then
there will assuredly be friendly and harmonious
relations between them.(32)

However, as is only to be expected, Dogen places
special emphasis on compassion by those who hold
positions of authority. For example, in the "Tenzo
kyokun," Dogen describes the mental attitude to be
assumed by all monastic functionaries and those
responsible for a particular duty when undertaking a
task in terms of "three minds," namely, a "joyful
mind," an "aged mind," and a "great mind." Stated
simply, a "joyful mind" is a mind satisfied with
one's present condition, an "aged mind" is a
parental mind, and a "great mind" is an
all-embracing and non-discriminating mind. In regard
to the "aged mind," Dogen gives the following
explanation:

The so-called "aged mind" is the parental mind.
For example, just as parents think of their
child, so you keep in mind the Three Treasures
as if you were thinking of your own child. It is
impossible for a person who does not have a
child of his own to understand the nature of the
thoughts of those, both rich and poor, who are
intent upon loving and raising their child. It
is only when you become a father or mother that
you are able to understand this. With no thought
for their wealth or poverty, parents desire only
the growth of their child. Disregarding their
own discomfort, they wrap their child up warmly
when it is cold and put it to rest in the shade
when it is hot. This may be described as the
ultimate expression of deep parental love. Those
who arouse such a mind are able to comprehend
this, and those who learn such a mind realize
it. Therefore, even when you look at water or
grain, you should always maintain the warm and
compassionate mind such as raises a child. The
Great Master `Saakyamuni sacrificed twenty years
of his life to help us of future generations.
What was his purpose in doing so? He was simply
exhibiting a parental mind.(33)

It is clear from this passage that, in regard to the
direction in which compassion functions, Dogen had a
deep understanding of parental sentiments, that he
regarded the exercise of this "aged mind" towards
all things as the Buddha's practice, and that he
demanded the realization of such an attitude
especially in those of his disciples who occupied
positions of authority.

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However, this practice of compassion as
described above seems to have been no easy matter
even for Dogen himself, as may be surmised from the
following two poems:

Whether asleep or awake in my grass hut, what I
say is "Homage to the Buddha `Saakyamuni! Take
pity on me!"

On peaks and on ridges deep in the
mountains, the evening cicadas herald nightfall
with their singing (as if they lament for my
daily life passing in vain).(34)

The figure of Dogen as reflected quite candidly in
these verses is that of one who realized that his
earnest and ceaseless cultivation of the bodhisattva
path, namely, the practice of compassion, was by
nature always incomplete and inadequate, and one who
was therefore always mindful of and looking up to
the Buddha for assistance. In this sense, Dogen was
by no means an aloof superman, nor did he pretend to
be one. Rather, he was a person who was well aware
of his own weaknesses and was capable of acknowledging
them. When Dogen extols one who has truly
attained the Way in the following terms, namely:

Any person able to practise the Buddha Dharma
and expound the Buddha Dharma, even a girl of
seven years, is a leader to all, whether monks
or lay people; he or she represents a
compassionate father for all sentient
beings,(35)

these words of his may be considered to be
inseparably linked to his awareness of his own
shortcomings.

Conclusion

In the preceding we have examined the revelation
of the self in Dogen. Although our discussion has
barely been sufficient, it may at least have become
clear that Dogen, faithful to the orthodox
standpoint of Buddhism, grappled with the problem of
the self with the whole of his being, and that not
only did he present a logical picture of the world
as the self and the self as the world, grasped
through his own religious experiences, which were
grounded in the practice of pure meditation through
"just sitting," but in his actual everyday life he
was also fully aware of his own inadequacies and
sought to return to this true mode of being of the
self, a mode of being which manifests itself as
compassion or action for the welfare of others. This
compassion is not, however, self-sacrificing but
rather self-realizing, and in this sense it differs
from Watsuji's medieval ethic of "self-sacrifice,"
In Dogen we see a representative example of a person
living in medieval Japan who faced its realities
squarely, who elucidated a truth for transcending
these realities in his own way, and who further
strove to act in accordance with this truth. In this
sense it may be said that the characteristics of
"simple piety" or "spiritual exercise" noted by
Anesaki existed in Dogen's Buddhism in a unique
form. But it is a moot point to what extent his
thought and life-style comported

P.337

with society in medieval Japan and actually
succeeded in influencing people both at that time
and later. Although Dogen returned to Japan with the
feeling that he was "carrying a heavy burden on his
shoulders" and with the desire to "spread the Dharma
and save sentient beings,"(36) events did not work
in his favor, and eventually he was forced to leave
the capital far behind and retreat to the mountains
of Echizen (modern Fukui prefecture). In addition,
within the span of a few decades after his death the
nature of his religious and philosophical standpoint
had begun to be modified, and a schism occurred in
the monastic community he had founded. In this
light, it may be said that in Dogen's thought and
life-style, superhistorical and supernational
elements that could be also called cosmopolitic
assumed a greater weight than historical and
national elements. Conversely, this means that there
was comparatively little in Dogen that may be
described as "Japanese" in the sense of the term
"Japanese spirituality" used by Suzuki.(37) This may
perhaps be one of the basic reasons why Dogen today
fascinates many intellectuals both in Japan and
abroad.

NOTES

This essay was originally presented at the Tokyo
Stockholm Symposium, Izu, Japan, November 1-3, 1988.

1 - Japanese Spirituality, trans. N. Waddell (Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science, 1972), p.
70.

2 - History of Japanese Religion (Charles E. Tuttle
Company, 1963), p. 168. It is said that the
original draft of this book was the outcome of
the author's lectures at Harvard University
during the years 1913-1915.

3 - Nihon rinrishisoshi (A history of Japanese
ethical thought), vol. 1; Collected Works of
Watsuji Tetsuro, vol. 12 (Iwanami Shoten, 1962),
p. 304.

4 - The reason that we are focusing on Dogen in the
present essay is on no account because we
believe his thought to be representative of
Kamakura Buddhism or medieval Japanese Buddhism;
nor is it because we consider the branch of
Buddhism which he founded, namely, the Soto sect
of Zen (although Dogen himself was strongly
opposed to any such sectarian appellations), to
be especially important in a historical or
social sense. The reason is none other than that
we consider him to have been, among the Buddhist
leaders of medieval Japan, one of those who
reflected most deeply on the essence

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of the self and earnestly strove to give
concrete expression in his life to the
conclusions of his reflections.

5 - Shobogenzo 1, "Genjo koan." When not stated
otherwise, all quotations from the Shobogenzo
are taken from the 75-fascicle version, and the
English translations have been made with
reference primarily to the translations by N.
Waddell and M. Abe in The Eastern Buddhist, new
series (Kyoto, 1971--).

6 - "Bendowa."

7 - Ibid.

8 - For example, the Shinnyokan ascribed Genshin
(Nihon shiso taikei 9: Tendai hongakuron
(Iwanami Shoten, 1973)) contains the following
passages:

Both self and others originally represent the
principle of the single real thusness, and there
is no distinction between hell and animal
life.... If when moving, when standing, when
sitting, when lying down, or whenever one acts
one thinks that one is identical with thusness,
then one will eventually become Buddha....
Because in this manner both self and others and
all sentient beings in general are thusness,
they are Buddha. That being so, grass and trees,
tiles and pebbles, mountains and rivers, the
earth, the ocean, and space are all thusness.
Therefore there is nothing which is not Buddha.

9 - In the Shobogenzo 5, "Sokushin zebutsu," for
example, Dogen considers and refutes the view
which would have it that "the mental faculties
of sentient beings in which the bodhi-mind has
not yet been generated are equivalent to
Buddha's."

10 - Gakudo yojinshu: "The need to practise Zen for
those who cultivate the Buddha Dharma and
desire emancipation." Cf. Y. Yuasa, The Body,
trans. S. Nagatomo and T. P. Kasulis (State
University of New York Press, 1987) , pp.
114-115.

11 - Shobogenzo 1, "Genjo koan."

12 - Ibid., 25, "Keisei sanshoku."

13 - 95-fascicle Shobogenzo 92, "Shoji."

14 - This way of thinking bears a close resemblance
to the thought of Shinran (1173-1262), the
founder of the Jodo Shin sect, and of Ippen
(1239-89), the founder of the Ji sect, both
more or less contemporaries of Dogen. Cf.
Yuishinsho-mon'i (Notes on "Essentials of Faith
Alone") (Kyoto, 1979), and Ippen SHonin goroku
I: "Hyakuri kugo," "Shosoku hogo."

15 - Shobogenzo 20, "Uji."

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16 - Ibid. 15, "Komyo."

17 - One of the basic tenets of Buddhism is the
doctrine of "no-self" (anattan). This may be
regarded as a doctrine which originally
developed out of the quest to elucidate man's
mode of existence, characterized as it is by
delusion and suffering, and hence this doctrine
is closely linked to the view that regards man
as being composed of the five elements, known
as the "five aggregates, " namely, "form"
(ruupa), "perception" (vedanaa), "conception"
(sa~n~naa), "volition" (sa.mkhaara), and
"consciousness" (vi~n~naa.na).

In our conclusion, the concept of "no-self"
represents a method of observation closely
related to the Buddhist understanding of
impermanence and suffering, and, secondly, its
goal is freedom from "self-possessiveness" and
"self-attachment." Although it is true that
Buddhism denies the existence of any "self"
(attan) on an empirical level, this does not
necessarily mean that Buddhism seeks to
demonstrate the nonexistence of the "self" in a
metaphysical sense. It was for this reason that
it became possible for Buddhism to employ the
one and the same term attan in encouraging the
establishment of a subjectively independent
self. Cf. Sa.myutta-nikaaya 12.15 (III, p.22);
Mahaavagga 1.6.38f (Vinaya-pi.taka I, p. 13f);
Diigha-nikaaya XVI.2.26; and Dhammapada 157-166.

18 - For further details see Kimura Kiyotaka, "Dogen
no jihi" (Compassion in Dogen), in Nihon Bukkyo
56-57 (1983).

19 - See Shobogenzo 51, "Menju," etc.

20 - "Bendowa."

21 - "Eihei Gen Zenji goroku."

22 - "Eiheiji goroku."

23 - Shobogenzo 25, "Keisei sanshoku."

24 - Shobogenzo zuimonki 6.

25 - Gakudo yojinshu: "Admonition against
cultivating the Buddha Dharma with thoughts of
attainment."

26 - Shobolgenzo zuimonki 2.

27 - 95-fascicle Shobogenzo 70, "Hotsubodaishin."

28 - Shobogenzo 16, "Gyoji" 1 contains the following
passage on gratitude and affection:

The Buddhas and Patriarchs once had the
feelings of gratitude and affection, yet they
have abandoned them. The Buddhas and Patriarchs
once lived in the various human relations, yet
they have abandoned them. Whatever feelings of
attachment we may have, the relations between
self and

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others are not to remain worthy forever; if we
do not abandon the feelings of gratitude and
affection, conversely will they function to
abandon us. To consider the feelings of
gratitude and affection, do consider them. To
consider the feelings of gratitude and
affection is to abandon them.

This may be described as an apposite
explanation of the reasons for a religionist's
abandonment of the bonds based on secular
gratitude and affection.

29 - 95-fascicle Shobogenzo 45, "Bodaisatta
shishobo."

30 - Shobogenzo zuimonki 1.

31 - "Sansho doei"; the following poems are also
taken from the same source.

32 - "Shuryo shingi."

33 - "Tenzo kyokun."

34 - "Sansho doei."

35 - Shobogenzo 28, "Raihai tokuzui."

36 - "Bendowa."

37 - But this does not mean to say that Dogen lost
his position of authority as a religious leader
in the Japanese society of later times. Rather,
his prestige gradually rose with the changes
that took place within the Soto sect, and he
became a great religious figure revered by all
levels of society. In other words, Dogen
attained a position of almost transcendental
authority, virtually unrelated to his own basic
thought and way of life, which has perdured
down to the present day. When considered in
relation to Suzuki's aforementioned
interpretation of medieval Japanese Buddhism,
it may be said that it is this very phenomenon
which is related to a general and basic
predisposition found among the Japanese, and it
is bound up not only with the problem of an
overall tendency of Japanese Buddhism to become
transformed into forms of patriarchal Buddhism,
but also with questions such as the deification
of heroic warriors and cultural prodigies and
the continuation of the Emperor system.