Moment by Moment Nirvana

In his new translation of Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Kazuaki Tanahashi explores why even a moment of meditation is a moment of enlightenment. By Kazuaki Tanahashi

https://www.lionsroar.com/moment-by-moment-nirvana/

Meditation (zazen) can be restful and enjoyable, according to Dogen. Its state (samadhi) can be like an ocean that is serene and yet dynamic. Its field can be as vast as springtime, which encompasses all of its flowers, birds, and mountain colors. Being in spring, we hear the sound of a valley stream or become a plum blossom swirling in the wind.

Dogen’s poetic descriptions may seem contrary to our usual meditation experience. Often we are troubled with physical pain and sleepiness; our mind may be scattered, and our daily concerns continue to preoccupy us. We may feel that we have had a bad meditation. Dogen, however, seems to show no interest in these specific issues. He simply speaks of the magnificence of meditation and asserts that we can experience luminosity as soon as we start to meditate.

What we think we experience in meditation may be different from what we actually experience. What, then, do we experience? How do we recognize our deep experience and apply it to our daily lives? These are some of the questions Dogen addresses.

If we were to summarize Dogen’s teaching in one word, it might be “nonseparation.” In meditation, the body experiences itself as not separate from the mind. The subject becomes not apart from the object.

While our thinking is often limited to the notion of “I,” which is occupied by “my” body, “my” mind, and “my” situation, Dogen teaches that we can become selfless in meditation. Then, we are no longer confined by our self-centered worldview and a dominating sense of possessions. Only when we become transparent and let all things speak for themselves can their voices be heard and their true forms appear.

As we calm down and move away from the usual mode of physical and mental activities, we often have a good idea or even, at times, an extraordinary insight during meditation. However, this is only a beginning stage. If we go further, we may experience a dissolving of the notion of the self. Dogen describes such an experience of his own at the climactic moment of his study as “dropping away body and mind.”

Dogen says that even a moment of meditation by a beginning meditator fully actualizes the unsurpassable realization, whether that is noticed or not. In this way, enlightenment, often regarded as the goal, is itself the path. The path is no other than the goal.

in Dogen’s explanation of the “circle of the way,” all those who practice meditation are fully enlightened. Enlightenment is not separate from practice; enlightenment at each moment is no other than the unsurpassable enlightenment. This aspect may be called the unity of practice–enlightenment or practice–realization. Dogen emphasizes practice that is inseparable from enlightenment as the essential practice of the way of awakened ones—the buddha way. The awareness of enlightenment, however, may not necessarily be recognized by everyone all the time, as it is an experience deeper than one grasped by intellect alone.

Finally, when we practice meditation, we often don’t notice that we are already enlightened, and thus we look for enlightenment somewhere other than in practice. Dogen calls this tendency of separation “great delusion.” This pursuit, however, provides us with the potential for “great enlightenment,” which is a merging of the unconscious practice–enlightenment and conscious understanding.

This enlightenment can happen unexpectedly and dramatically as a body-and-mind experience of the nonseparation of all things, rather than as a theoretical understanding. Such spiritual breakthroughs, sometimes called “seeing through human nature” (kensho in Japanese), may bring forth exuberance. Dogen quotes many such stories of “sudden realization” by ancient Chinese Zen practitioners as cases of study (koans).