Genjokoan
By: Bob Zeglovitch
Shohaku Okumura translates the character for "Gen" in Eihei Dogen’s Genjokoan as "to appear", "to be in the present moment", and "to show up"! So, the Just Show Up Zen Sangha name has this wonderful affinity with the title of this classic Soto Zen text. ("Jo" means "to become", "to complete," or "to accomplish"--so Genjo as a compound means "to manifest,", "to actualize," or "to appear and become."). The complex and multifaceted meaning of “koan” is saved for another day.
By: Bob Zeglovitch
At our last session, we looked some at what it means to be a student of the dharma. One of our jumping off places was the famous line In Dogen’s Genjokoan (often translated as Actualizing the Fundamental Point), “To study the Buddha Way is to study the self.” Shohaku Okumura, in his book Realizing Genjokoan, unpacks the meaning of “study”, in part through his translations of the Japanese word and Chinese character.
The Japanese word translated as “study” is “narau,” which originates from the word “nareru,” which means: “to get accustomed to”, “to become familiar with”, “to get used to”, “to become intimate with.” Study is therefore much more than just the intellectual investigation of a subject, although it can certainly include that.
In the Chinese character, the upper part is a symbol for the wings of a bird and the lower part means “self.” So, it points to studying something in the way a baby bird “studies” flying with its parents. The baby bird possesses the potential to fly, but must watch its parents to learn how to actually perform the action of flying. The baby watches and tries until can fly. This is the meaning of study as in “to study the self.”
Okumura also points out that when we truly practice or study the Self, there is no separation between I, self, Buddha Way, study and practice. When we practice the self, I is the self and there is no I apart from the activity of studying. Subject, object, and activity are all completely one thing. However, he kindly acknowledges that to speak, we must use concepts and language and say “I study the self,” or “I study the Buddha Way.”
The entire verse from Genjokoan reads:
To study the Buddha Way is to study the self.
To study the Self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be verified by all things.
To be verified by all things is to let the body and mind of the self and the body and mind of others drop off.
There is a trace of realization that cannot be grasped.
We endlessly express the ungraspable trace of realization.
By: Bob Zeglovitch
This week at JSU we are taking up the crucial sentence in the Fukanzazengi: “Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest.” The dropping of body-mind is central to Dogen’s practice of shikantaza (just sitting). It is mentioned many times in his writing, with the most famous reference likely being the passage about studying the self and forgetting the self in his Genjokoan. One translation of this passage, by Kaz Tanahashi and Robert Aitken, is set forth on the Readings page of this website. Here are some others:
Norman Waddell and Masao Abe:
To learn the Buddha Way is to learn one's self. 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 cast off one's body and mind and the bodies and minds of others as well. All trace of enlightenment disappears, and this traceless enlightenment continues on without end.
Paul Jaffe:
To study the Buddha way is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. The traces of enlightenment come to an end, and this traceless enlightenment is continued endlessly.
Gudo Wafo Nishijima:
To learn Buddhism is to learn ourselves. To learn ourselves is to forget ourselves. To forget ourselves is to be experienced by millions of things and phenomena. To be experienced by millions of things and phenomena is to let our own body and mind, and the body and mind of the external world, fall away. [Then] we can forget the [mental] trace of realization, and show the [real] signs of forgotten realization continually, moment by moment.
Francis Cook:
To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be authenticated by the myriad things. To be authenticated by the myriad things is to drop off the mind-body of oneself and others. There is [also] remaining content with the traces of enlightenment, and one must eternally emerge from this resting.
Thomas Cleary:
Studying the Buddha Way is studying oneself. Studying oneself is forgetting oneself. Forgetting oneself is being enlightened by all things. Being enlightened by all things is causing the body-mind of oneself and the body-mind of others to be shed. There is ceasing the traces of enlightenment, which causes one to forever leave the traces of enlightenment which is cessation.
Kosen Nishiyama and John Stevens:
To learn the Buddhist way is to learn about oneself. To learn about oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to perceive oneself as all things. To realize this is to cast off the body and mind of self and others. When you have reached this stage you will be detached even from enlightenment but will practice it continually without thinking about it.
Reiho Masunaga:
To study Buddhism is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. To be enlightened by all things is to be free from attachment to the body and mind of one's self and of others. It means wiping out even attachment to Satori. Wiping out attachment to Satori, we must enter actual society.