Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Study Hall - Shobogenzo

Sometimes reading Dogen brings on a furrowing of the brow, as I try to tease apart the sentences and the concepts. Sometimes there is relaxation, and the words flow in and out of the mind, and refresh the body. 'The Awesome Presence of Active Buddhas', 'Gyobutsu Iigi' was like the former yesterday, and I gave up on it; today, the latter. Here, with nothing added, as I don't have anything intelligent to say about them, is a selection of the words that I enjoyed:
"Do not take up the buddha measure to measure and analyze the great way. The buddha measure is one step, just like an open blossom. Do not hold out the mind measure to grope for and deliberate about the awesome presence. The mind measure is a single face, like the world...
When human calculation is small, knowledge is small. When a life span is fleeting, thinking is fleeting. How then is it possible to make calculations about the awesome presence of active buddhas?"

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