By: Bob Zeglovitch
Yesterday we examined the first paragraph of the Fukanzazengi, paying particular attention to the term “Way.” The first line of the Fukanzazengi reads: “The Way is basically perfect and all-pervading.” Way is an English translation of Tao. Thus, we can immediately begin to see the connection between Taoism and the Zen tradition that Dogen brought to Japan.
Tao originally meant “way” as in “pathway” or “roadway.” It still has this meaning, and one, somewhat limited but practical understanding of way is the Buddhist path that we are walking along. But, it seems apparent from the first sentence of Fukanzazengi that “way” must be more than this. The Chinese translator/poet David Hinton tells us that Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, the great Taoist writers, redefined it as a generative cosmological process, an ontological pathWay by which things come into existence, evolve through their lives, and then go out of existence, only to be transformed and reemerge in a new form. In China, practitioners of Ch’an were often called “those who follow Tao”, or more literally, “those who flow along with Tao.” This brings together “pathway”, or practice, and the ultimate reality that is beyond intellectual understanding that Hinton points to as the deeper meaning of the term.
Kaz Tanahashi says, “Tao is a secret of the universe, the ultimate reality, which cannot be expressed, spoken about, understood intellectually; it has to be experienced through practice…”. This non-intellectual experiencing of the Way through practice, of flowing along with the Way, is the essence of the “just sitting” practice expressed in the Fukanzazengi.
Here is a great quote from Maezumi Roshi, providing yet another vantage point on “Way”:
What is the Way? In technical terms it’s anuttara samyak sambodhi, unsurpassable supreme enlightenment. This Sanskrit phrase can also be translated as the “Supreme Way”, the “very best Way”, the “unsurpassable Way,” or as “Perfect Wisdom,” which is what enlightenment actually is. Enlightenment is synonymous with the Way. The Supreme Way, complete realization, is perfect in itself, by itself.
What is wisdom? What is anuttara samyak sambodhi? It is our life itself. We not only have that wisdom, we are constantly using it. When it’s cold, we put on more clothing. When it’s hot we take some clothes off. When hungry, we eat. When sad, we cry. Being happy, we laugh. That’s perfect wisdom.
And this perfect wisdom doesn’t only pertain to humans, but to anyone and everything. Birds chirp, dogs run, mountains are high, valley’s are low. It’s all perfect wisdom! The season’s change, the stars shine in the heavens, its perfect wisdom. Regardless of whether we realize it or not, we are always in the midst of the Way. More strictly speaking, we are nothing but the Way itself
This points us toward a central point of Fukanzazengi—that practice and enlightenment are not separate.