Forgetting the Self, Dropping Away of Body and Mind

By: Eihei Dogen

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 actualized by myriad things.  When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away.  No trace of realization remains, and this no trace continues endlessly.

From "Actualizing the Fundamental Point (Genjokoan), Moon in a Dewdrop, translated by Kaz Tanahashi and Robert Aitken.

Note: Other translations of this passage from the Genjokoan can be found on the blog page of this site.

Dharma Filling One's Body and Mind

By: Eihei Dogen

If the dharma has not yet fully come into one’s body and mind, one thinks it is already sufficient. On the other hand, if the dharma fills one’s body and mind, there is a sense of insufficiency. It is like going out in a boat in the middle of the ocean with no mountains. Looking in the four directions one only sees a circle; no distinguishing forms are seen. Nevertheless, this great ocean is neither a circle nor has directions. The wondrous features of this ocean that remain beyond our vision are inexhaustible. It is like a palace; it is like a jeweled necklace. It is just that, as far as my vision reaches for the time being, it appears to be a circle. The myriad dharmas are also just like that. Though they include all forms within and beyond the dusty world, clear seeing and understanding only reach as far as our penetrating insight.

From Dogen’s Genjokoan, in Flowers Fall: A Commentary on Zen Master Dogen’s Genjokoan, Hakuun Yasutani