1. A story, quoted here in Chinese, that also appears as case 62 in Dôgen's shinji Shôbôgenzô (DZZ.5:158); probably taken from the Zongmen tongyao ji (Zengaku tenseki sôkan [ZTS] 1:159b); see also Liendeng huiyao (ZZ.136:384d).

"Zen Master Shenshan Sengmi" (Shinzan Sômitsu zenji): Tang-dynasty figure (dates unknown); disciple of Yunyan Tansheng; his biographical notice occurs at Jingde chuandeng lu, T.51:323b.

"Great Master Dongshan Wuben" (Tôzan Gohon daishi): Title of Dongshan Liangjie (807-869), founder of the Caodong tradition of Zen; also a disciple of Yunyan Tansheng; his biography appears at Jingde chuandeng lu, T.51:321b.

"Cloister beside the road" (bô in): Supplying ro from the Chinese versions of the story, which gives lu bang yuan.

"Inside" (rimen): The element men, while here having little semantic function in the Chinese, has the etymological sense, "face" or "surface" - a sense Dôgen will take advantage of in his commentary below (see Note 20, below).

"There's someone" (unin): Or simply "someone"; but Dôgen will play with the predicate-nominative syntax of the Chinese idiom in his commentary (see Note 20, below).

"Talking of the mind, talking of the nature" (sesshin sesshô): A famous phrase that gets picked up in other Zen texts. "Mind" and "nature" can be understood either as two topics (the mind and its true nature) or as two elements of a single binome, shinshô, "the nature of the mind." The predicate, setsu, taken here simply as "to talk about," also has the meanings, "to explain," "to expound," "to teach," "to preach." Hence, especially in the setting of the cloister here, Dongshan's remark could be read, "There's someone teaching the mind and teaching the nature."

"Elder brother Sengmi" (Sômitsu sihaku): The term shihaku, translated here as "elder brother," refers to the fact that Shenshan Sengmi and Dongshan Liangjie were fellow disciples of Yunyan Tansheng and, hence, are "dharma brothers." While the Chinese sources (and the shinji Shôbôgenzô) identify Sengmi simply as "the master" (shih), Dôgen introduces here the honorific term that Liangjie will use in reference to Sengmi. Commentators often parse this binome as "the master's (i.e., Liangjie's) elder brother" and treat it as an honorific among Dongshan's followers; this interpretation may work for Dôgen's use in this line, but it hardly fits with Liangjie's own use in the next line.

"He's immediately doomed" (jiki toku kyoshi jûbun): The expression kyoshi jûbun, translated here as "doomed," is an idiom occurring in Zen texts with a sense something like "is as good as dead"; in his commentary below, Dôgen will play with the element jûbun ("fully," "totally,"), which has a literal sense, "ten parts" (or "a hundred percent"). The grammatical subject is unexpressed here; it is usually taken as the "someone" (unin) who is "talking of the mind and talking of the nature," but it could be Dongshan himself.<Return to Note 25>

"In death, he lives" (shi chû toku katsu): Or "he revives," "he survives." Perhaps derived from the idiom, "to seek life in death" (sichung qiu huo) - i.e., to hope to survive a desperate situation.

2. A series of references to the spiritual career of the buddha, ending with a comment from one of the ancestors. The hyperbolic praise of the expression, "talking of the mind and talking of the nature," here and throughout this fascicle is in stark contrast to Dôgen's earlier statement, in the Shôbôgenzô sansui kyô (from 1240), that "talking of the mind and talking of the nature" is something not approved by the buddhas and ancestors" (DZZ.1:318).

"Turning the wheel of the wondrous dharma" (ten myôhô rin): I.e., the teaching of the buddha dharma.

"Production of the thought and cultivation of the practice" (hosshin shugyô): I.e., the bodhisattva's aspiration for unsurpassed, perfect bodhi and the training to attain it.

"The great earth and sentient beings simultaneously achieved the way" (daichi ujô dôji jôdô): A reference to the Buddha's enlightenment under the bodhi tree. The expression, which appears in several of Dôgen's texts, is from a line that he will quote in his Hotsu bodai shin fascicle: "The Buddha Shakyamuni said, "When the morning star appeared, I, along with the great earth and sentient beings, simultaneously achieved the way." (DZZ.2:164; also quoted at Eihei kôroku 1, jôdô 37, DZZ.3:28.) Although the line appears in Chinese Zen texts from this period (see, e.g, Xu deng lu, ZZ.136:36b17-18), it has not been located in any extant sutra. The translation here follows the usual reading of daichi ujô as a compound subject; the phrase could also be read, "sentient beings of the great earth."

"All living beings lack buddha nature" (issai shujô mu busshô): A saying attributed to Gueishan Lingyu (771-853); see shinji Shôbôgenzô, case 115 (DZZ.5:188; Zongmen tongyao ji (ZTS.1:88b2); Liandeng huiyao (ZZ.136: 271c10). Often interpreted to mean that the buddha nature is "empty," not some thing that sentient beings have. Perhaps intended here as what we might call the reverse of the relationship between buddha and and sentient beings given in the preceding clause.

3. A series of references to the history of the ancestors, ending with the teaching activities of the Zen masters.

"Holding up a flower and blinking" (nenge shunmoku); "breaking into a smile" (hagan mishô): Reference to the famous founding story of Zen, in which the Buddha held up a flower on Vulture Peak, his disciple Mahakashyapa smiled, and the Buddha recognized him as the heir to his "treasury of the eye of the true dharma." (See shinji Shôbôgenzô, case 253 [DZZ.5:258]. Though this famous story appears throughout the Chinese Zen literature, Dôgen's version of it does not seem quite to match any extant text.)

"Making a bow and standing there" (raihai ei ni ryû): A reference to the account of Huike's recognition as the Second Ancestor of Chinese Zen. Bodhidharma asked four of his disciples for expressions of their understanding of his teaching. Huiko's response was simply to bow, whereupon Bodhidharma declared, "You've got my marrow." (See shinji Shôbôgenzô, case 201 [DZZ.5:230]; Jingde chuandeng lu [T.51:219c4-5].)

"The ancestral master entering the Liang" (soshi nyûryô): A reference to the Twenty-eighth Ancestor, Bodhidharma's, bringing the Zen tradition to China from India. The Liang dynasty ruled southern China during the period 502-557; Bodhidharma is said to have had an interview with the founder of the dynasty, Wudi (r. 502-550).

"Transmitting the robe in the middle of the night" (yahan den'e): A reference to the ascension of the Sixth Ancestor, Huineng, who is said to have received the robe of Bodhidharma from the Fifth Ancestor, Hungren, in secret during the night.

"Taking up the staff" (nen shujô); "laying down the whisk" (ô hossu): Gestures of the Zen masters associated with their teaching. The staff (shujô) is a walking stick, often carried by the master when he "ascends the hall" (jôdô; i.e., gives a formal lecture); the whisk (hossu) is a ceremonial fly-whisk, often held by the master during lectures and other rituals.

4. "The ordinary" (heijô): Likely an allusion to the famous saying of Nanquan Puyuan (748-834): "The ordinary mind is the way" (bianchang shin shi dao). (Shinji Shôbôgenzô, case 19 [DZZ.5:134]; Jingde chuandeng lu [T.51:276c15].)

"Fences, walls, tiles and pebbles" (shô heki ga ryaku): A fairly common definition of the "old buddha mind" (kobutsu shin), first attributed to Nanyang Huizhong (d. 775).

"The realization of the principle" (dôri genjô): An unusual locution, found occasionally in Dôgen's writings, probably meaning something like, "the expression (or appearance) of the truth that . . ."

"When the mind arises, the various dharmas arise" (shin shô shuju hô shô); "when the mind ceases, the various dharmas cease" (shin metsu shuju hô metsu): Likely from the Dasheng qishin lun (T.32:577b22).

5. "Mediocre types (yôru): One of Dôgen's favorite terms for those with whose views of Zen he disagrees.

"Discussing the dark and discussing the subtle" (dan gen dan myô): The binome genmyô ("dark and subtle" or "deep and marvelous") is a common one in Buddhist texts, and in Chinese writing more generally, for what is profound and mysterious. Here, a reference to the words of Dahui that Dôgen will quote just below (see Note 6).

"They think of "talking of the mind and talking of the nature" as "talking of the mind and talking of the nature" (sesshin sesshô wo sesshin sesshô to omou): Usually interpreted to mean that they take "talking of the mind and talking of nature" is some shallow sense.

"They have not been critical of the passage and obstructions of the great way" (daidô no tsûsoku wo hihan sezaru): Usually interpreted to mean that they have not thought critically about what is and is not integral to the great way. "Passage and obstruction" here translates tsûsoku, meaning that a road or way is "open or blocked"; often carrying the idiomatic sense of "affairs going smoothly or not."<Return to Note 16>

6. This passage is given in Japanese and in fact does not seem to be a direct quotation from any extant text. The writings of Dahui do contain several passages in which he is critical of the practices of "talking of the mind and talking of the nature" (shuo xin shuo xing) and "talking of the dark and talking of the subtle" (shuo xuan shuo miao). (See, e.g., Dahui yulu, T.47:830c5; 927b26.)

"Of late" (kôrai): Ordinarily an adverb meaning "subsequently," "thereafter," etc., this term seems to appear in Dôgen's writings exclusively in dismissive references to what is merely recent (cf. the more "classic" korai).

"Zonggao, the Zen master Dahui of Jingshan" (Kinzan Daie zenji Sôkô): Dahui Zonggao (1089-1163), a leading figure in the Linji lineage during the Southern Song; his biography occurs at Liendeng huiyao (ZZ.136:351d). The Shôbôgenzô contains several criticisms of him; see especially Jishô zanmai.

"The two do not arise" (nisô fushô): Literally, "the two characteristics do not arise." Could be understood as a reference either to the two pairs, "mind and nature" and "dark and subtle," or to the two members of each pair.

"Verify and accord" (shôkai): A tentative translation of a term occurring a number of times in Dôgen's writings but more rarely in the Chinese Zen texts. Both elements of the binome are common Zen terms, with legal connotations, for spiritual understanding: shô ("verify") has the sense of "bearing witness" to something; kai ("accord") has the sense of "agreeing" with someone or something (from the nominal usage as "tally," "contract" or "agreement"). The translation here treats both elements as verbs, but interpretations of Dôgen's use of shôkai regularly treat it as a subject-predecate compound, meaning one's "verification accords" with that of one's master; the relationship could also be understood as a predicate-object, meaning that one "verifies the accord" with the teachings. (I have not encountered this term in Dahui's writings, though he does use the two elements in reverse: qisheng, perhaps to be understood, "to accord with the verification").<Return to Note 13>

7. "The pale yellow silk of the buddhas and ancestors" (busso no kenshô); "the monarchal line of the buddhas and ancestors" (busso no reppeki [or retsuheki]): "Pale yellow silk" (kenshô) refers to the silk threads used to decorate books; hence, as a synecdoche, "texts." "Monarchal line" (reppeki) is usually taken as a reference to the Zen lineage; some interpret heki here as "law"; others take it as a substitute for the homonymous graph for "jade."

"The mind is consideration, knowledge, thought, and perception" (shin wa . . . ryo chi nen kaku nari); "consideration, knowledge, thought, and perception are also the mind" (ryo chi nen kaku mo shin naru): The four terms translated here as "consideration, knowledge, thought, and perception" represent a list, appearing with some frequency in the Shôbôgenzô, that is generally understood to indicate the full range of mental activities. The point here appears to be that Dahui thinks that the mind has mental activities but doesn't understand these activities are themselves the mind.

"Such a nature" (nyoze shô): The adjective "such" (nyoze) here could refer simply to the preceding "buddha nature" and "dharma nature," but it also suggests the famous list of ten "suchnesses" (jû nyoze), appearing in Kumarajiva's translation of the Lotus Sutra, one of which is "such a nature." (Miaofa lianhua jing, T.9:5c.)

"Biased view" (hekiken): Reading heki (Morohashi 38642) here as heki (Morohashi 1166).

8. "Skin, flesh, bones, and marrow" (hi niku kotsu zui): An expression used throughout Dôgen's writings for the essence or entirety of what is transmitted in the Zen tradition; from the famous account of the occasion on which Bodhidharma is supposed to have received responses from four disciples and remarked to each in turn, "You've got my skin," etc. (See Jingde chuandeng lu, T.51:219b-c; shinji Shôbôgenzô, case 201.)

"The bamboo truncheon and staff" (shippei shujô): Two insignia of the master. The shippei is a short rod carried by the master; the shujô is a ceremonial walking stick.

"Columns and lanterns" (rochû tôrô): An expression, fairly common in Zen texts, for the ordinary insentient things of the world around us.

"Knowledge and understanding (chiken ge'e): I.e., our ordinary experience of the world.

9. "Those who are not like this are not students of the way." (shika no gotoku ni arazareba gakudô in arazu): Or "If it is not like this, it is not the study of the way."

10. "Therefore, "attaining the way" does not attain the way; when it does not attain the way, it is not that it does not attain the way." (tokudô no tokudô sezu futokudô no toki futokudô narazaru): The subject of the second clause is unexpressed here. The translation treats it as Dahui's words, "attain the way," but it may also be understood as Dahui himself or perhaps as "those who are not like this" from the preceding sentence. In any case, the passage is generally interpreted to mean that Dahui's sense of "attaining the way" is not really attaining the way; similarly, what he thinks of as not attaining the way is not in fact not attaining the way.

"As you say" (nanji ga iu ga gotoku): I.e., as Dahui has said above. As is common in Zen comments, Dôgen is directly addressing the person he is quoting. The translation continues the use of the second person throughout the passage, though the grammatical subject is unexpressed and could as well be interpolated as "he" (i.e., Dahui).

"A part expressing the talking of the mind" (shin no setsu arashimuru bun); "a part forming the discussion of discussing of the dark (dan gen no dan narashimuru bun): The possessive no in both these phrases is ambiguous. It is possible to interpret shin no setsu either as "talking about the mind" or as "the mind's talking"; similarly, it possible to interpret dan gen no dan either as "the discussion that is discussing the dark" or as "discussing the dark's discussion."

11. "Pivot" (kanreisu): A common Zen idiom referring to the pivots at the top and bottom of door frame on which the door turns; hence, the pivotal point of something. The text repeats the term just below in the expression "higher pivot."

"Innermost darkness" (okugen): A somewhat unusual term, no doubt introduced here to pick up the "darkness" (gen) of the "dark and subtle" (genmyô) above. Oku connotes the "interior" of a structure; hence, what is "hidden" from public view, what is "remote."

"The tea and rice of the buddhas and ancestors" (busso no sahan): I.e., the "fare" provided by the buddhas and ancestors. The term is a fairly common one in Dôgen's writings and in Chinese Zen texts, especially in the context of words attributed to Fuyung Daokai (1043-1118), "The words of the buddhas and ancestors are like family style tea and rice" (fozu yenju ru jiazhang chafan).

12. "To investigate physically" (taikyû su): The element tai can refer both to the physical body and to the essence, or substance, of something; hence taikyû may refer either to "getting at the substance [of a matter]" or to "making [a skill] one's own." The translation seeks to retain Dôgen's play with notions of the body in his subsequent "before the body and after the body (shinsen shingo)."

13. A story found in several texts; see, e.g., Zongmen tongyao ji 34 verso. The story is also quoted by Dahui; see Dahui yulu 28 (T.47:925b17ff). The protagonists here are, of course, Bodhidharma ("the First Ancestor") and his disciple Huike ("the Second Ancestor").

"Without panting" (mutan): Or "without busyness." The English loses what may be a play in the Chinese with the graph xi, translated here as "put a stop to" but also meaning "breath."

"Verify and accord" (shôkai): See above, Note 6. The Chinese versions of the story use only the verb qi).

"Severance and extinction" (danmetsu): A term typically understood as indicating a spiritually undesirable state; sometimes associated with the "extinctionist" position (danken; Sanskrit uccheda-vada) that denies the law of cause and effect.

14. "Those who doubt" (gijaku suru mono); "those who take it up" (konen suru): To "doubt" may refer either to "being suspicious of" or to "wondering about." To "take up" refers to "taking as a topic for study or comment."

15. "Thought of bodhi" (bodai shin): I.e., the bodhisattva's aspiration for supreme, perfect enlightenment.

"Whether from a friend, whether from a scripture" (waku jû chishiki waku jû kyôkan): Dôgen here shifts to Chinese, as if quoting a text. A "friend" (chishiki) is a common term for a Buddhist teacher.

"One maturation" (ichirô): Rô is usually taken here as rôren ("mature," "veteran").

16. "Passage and obstruction" (tsûsoku): See above, Note 5.

17. A ri (Chinese li) is a unit of distance, often figured as one-third of a mile, that has varied in length throughout history.

18. "Direct [approach] of the way of the buddha" (butsudô no shôjiki): A loose translation of a somewhat odd locution; the term shôjiki would normally function as a modifier ("direct," "directly," "straightforward," etc.).

"Mr. Gao" (Kakô): "Mr." translates kô, an honorific not normally applied to a Zen master; here probably carries a certain ironic tone.

19. "The Eminent Ancestor, the Great Master Wuben" (Kôso Gohon daishi): I.e., Dongshan Liangjie.

"Episode" (innen): Literally, "causes and conditions," the term is regularly in Zen texts to indicate a story, or "old case" (kosoku), or koan.

Dôgen here begins a line-by-line Japanese translation and comment on the Dongshan story with which he opened this piece.

20. "Inside or surface" (waku ri waku men): Dôgen is here playing with the two elements of the binome rimen; see Note 1, above. Presumably, he is thereby calling into question any assumption that the "someone" is only "inside."

"There's someone and someone's there" (unin nin'u): Dôgen simply is reversing the order of subject and predicate in Dongshan's phrase, "there's someone."

"Within the surface the mind is talking; within the surface, the nature is talking." (menri shin setsu menri shôsetsu): Here, Dôgen reverses the syntax of all three binomes: rimen ("inside"), sesshin ("talking of the mind") and sesshô ("talking of the nature").

21. "The view of other ways" (gedô no ken): I.e., a non-Buddhist, or heterodox, view.

22. "Talking of the mind has not reached the field" (sesshin mitô denchi): Usually interpreted to mean that, [unless one understands "no one" talking of the mind,"] one has not yet understood "talking of the mind." The agricultural term denchi ("paddy field") is often used in Zen texts for a realm of discourse or state of mind.

"No one who talks of the mind" (sesshin munin; "no one talking of the mind" (munin sesshin): Tentative translations of phrases that could be parsed in several other ways: e.g., "talking of the mind is without anyone," "there is no one who talks of the mind," etc.

23. "The true person without rank" (mui shinnin): A famous saying by Linji Yixuan (d. 867), founder of the Linji house of Zen. See Linji lu, T.47:496c.

"He has not reached the ground of penetration" (mitô santetsu chi): A phrase that picks up the expression "has not reached the field" in the preceding paragraph. The English "ground" here tries to capture something of the semantic functions of the term chi, which reminds the reader both of the earlier "field" (denchi) and of the "grounds," or "stages" (chi, Sanskrit bhumi), of the Buddhist path that Linji is dismissing.

"We meet them in the ear, we meet them in the eye" (nisho ni sôken shi gensho ni sôken su): Or "we see them where we hear, we see them where we see." The terms nisho (Sanskrit shrotayatana) and gensho (Sanskrit cakshurayatana) are used in technical Buddhist vocabulary respectively for the auditory and visual sense fields.

24. "When he expresses this saying" (kono dôshu o genjô seshimuru ni): The verb in the original is a causative, the agent of which is unexpressed; it could be understood either as "we" or as "he."

"Previously avail himself" (saki ni mo . . . jôzu), "subsequently avail himself" (nochi ni mo . . . jôzu): This could be interpreted to mean simply that, in the story, Sengmi asks the question twice; but commentators regularly take it to suggest that the question is a timeless one.

"That inside" (nari): The translation struggles to capture something of the apparent play here with the term nari ("there," "over there"), which includes the element ri of Dongshan's "inside" (menri); hence, the suggestion that Sengmi's question is itself what is being talked about there in the cloister. Some would interpret nari here to be an oblique reference to the "teaching of the mind and teaching of the nature" that is "over there," beyond a conventional meaning.

"Those of other quarters" (yohô no tomogara): A term of ambiguous reference; presumably, those (like Dahui and Linji) in other Zen traditions.

"Recognize the thief as their son" (zoku o ninjite ko to su): Dôgen's vernacular rendering of a common Zen saying (ren zei wei ji), used to describe an egregious error; usually traced to the Lengyan jing (*Shurangama-sutra).

25. "Dead words" (shiku): A standard expression for empty, ineffective language. Dôgen is, of course, playing with the term shi, translated in Dongshan's remark as "doomed." To retain something of this play, one might treat shiku here not only as "dead words" but as "deadly words."

"Doomed a hundred percent" (jûbun no kyoshi), "doomed is a hundred percent" (kyoshi no jûbun): Dôgen is here playing with Dongshan's expression, kyoshi jûbun ("completely doomed"). See Note 1, above, for this phrase.

"Shielding the heavens and covering the earth" (shaten gaichi): Generally interpreted to mean "all inclusive."

26. "Zhang's third" (Chô san), "Li's fourth" (Li shi): From the Chinese idiom Zhang san Li si (Zhang's third son, Li's fourth son), used (as we might use "Tom, Dick, and Harry") to indicate anyone at all. The sentence is usually interpreted to mean simply that Sengmi is asking twice about the same person.

27. A sentence difficult to parse, for which there are varied readings. The translation follows Terada (Dôgen 2, p. 23n) in taking the final negative to govern both clauses. However the sentence is read, the point seems to be that we should not think that "in death" refers to the same state as "doomed," or that "who is it?" refers to the one who is "talking of the mind and talking of the nature."

28. "Arranges the "someone" (unin o sahai su): Taken to mean that the question "who is it?" refers to an array of "someones."

"He does not wait forever" (banki sezu): Literally, "does not have ten thousand expectations."

"True at the head and true at the tail" (zushin bishin): A fairly common expression meaning "throughout," "entirely."

This is perhaps the most difficult passage of the text. One possible paraphrase of its "argument" might look like this.

The death in Dongshan's statement, "in death," does not refer simply to the state he calls "doomed," just as Sengmi's "who is it" does not refer simply to a person "talking of the mind and talking of the nature." Rather, the question "who is it?" refers to the array of phenomena that are all "talking of the mind and talking of the nature"; and these phenomena are always "doomed," always alive in death. They are what is occurring right before us. They are all both "doomed" and "alive"'; they are all completely liberated even as they live and die.

29. "Way of life" (kakkei): A common expression for one's occupation or livelihood.

30. "Before the body and after the body" (shinsen shingo): An expression Dôgen uses elsewhere in the Shôbôgenzô; perhaps indicating "in past lives and future lives."

31. The first year of Kangen corresponds to 1243. Kippôji is the monastery in Echizen (present Fukui) where Dôgen resided following his departure from the capital in the summer of 1243.