Zanmai o zanmai Notes

The King of Samadhis Samadhi
Zanmai ō zanmai

SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES

1. Dōgen’s reference to the one who is “greatly honored within the quarters of the buddhas and ancestors” may reflect Dongshan Liangjie’s 洞山良价 description of the “greatly honored” (tai zungui sheng 太尊貴生) official (guanchashi 觀察使), without name or duties, who simply remains within his chambers (langmu 廊幕), never going in or out. (Dongshan dashi yulu 洞山大師語録, T.47:509a26-b6.)

Back to Note 1.

2. “A flip” (honkinto 翻筋斗; also written 飜筋斗) or “somersault” appears in Chan texts in expressions like, “a flip in space” (xukong fanjindou 虚空翻筋斗), “a flip at the top of a temple pole" (chagan toushang fanjindou 刹竿頭上翻筋斗), “a flip in shit” (shili fanjindou 屎裡翻筋斗); Dōgen uses it at Eihei kōroku 3:218: “Old man Śākya does a flip” (Shaka rōkan honkinto 釋迦老漢翻筋斗) (DZZ.3:146).

“Brisk and lively” (kappatsupatsuchi 活鱍鱍地) is a loose translation of a Chinese idiom expressing the quick, powerful movements of a fish, especially of the carp as it leaps from the water; the elements patsupatsu 鱍鱍 (Chinese popo) are likely onomatopoeic. While the graph di 地 in the Chinese suggests an adverbial construction, Dōgen tends to use the phrase as a nominal.

Back to Note 2.

3. “Is it thinking? Is it not thinking?” (shiryō ka fushiryō ka 思量か不思量か): These questions doubtless are meant to evoke the well-known words of Yueshan Weiyan 藥山惟儼 (751-834).

師坐次有僧問、兀兀地思量什麼．師曰、思量箇不思量底．曰、不思量底如何思量．師曰、非思量．

Once, when the Master was sitting, a monk asked him, "What are you thinking of, [sitting there] so fixedly?"
The master answered, "I'm thinking of not thinking (siliang ge busiliang di 思量箇不思量底).”
The monk asked, "How do you think of not thinking?"
The Master answered, "Nonthinking (fei siliang 非思量)."

This passage, sometimes known as "Yueshan's not thinking" (Yakusan fu shiryō tei 藥山不思量底), appears in Yueshan's biography in JDCDL (T.51.311c26ff) and elsewhere, as well as in Dōgen's shinji Shōbōgenzō (DZZ.5,196,case 129). The passage is one of the prime sources for Dōgen's meditation teachings: it forms the core of his description of zazen in his (vulgate) Fukan zazen gi (DZZ.5.6), Shōbōgenzōzazen gi (1.224), and Bendō hō (DZZ.6.40), and is cited several times in the Shōbōgenzō and Eihei kōroku (fasc 5, DZZ.3.238, entry 373; fasc. 7 DZZ.4.104, entry 524).

Back to Note 2.

4. “Is it making? Is it without making?” (sa ka musa ka 作か無作か): While one need not assume a specific source for these questions, given the juxtaposition elsewhere in Dōgen’s writing of “Yueshan’s not thinking” with the story known as “Nanyue polishes a tile” (Nangaku ma sen 南嶽磨甎), they are suggestive of the famous episode involving Mazu Daoyi 馬祖道一 (709-788) and his teacher, Nanyue Huairang 南嶽懐讓 (677-744). The story has several variants; here is the version appearing in the JDCDL, (T.51.240c18ff).

開元中有沙門道一(即馬祖大師也)住傳法院、常日坐禪．師知是法器．往問曰、大德坐禪圖什麼．一曰、圖作佛．師乃取一塼、於彼庵前石上磨．一曰、師作什麼．師曰、磨作鏡．一曰、磨塼豈得成鏡耶．坐禪豈得成佛耶．一曰、如何即是．師曰、如人駕車不行、打車即是打牛即是．一無對．師又曰、汝學坐禪為學坐佛．若學坐禪禪非坐臥．若學坐佛佛非定相．於無住法不應取捨．汝若坐佛即是殺佛．若執坐相非達其理．一聞示誨如飲醍醐．

      During the Kaiyuan [era], there was a śramaṇa Daoyi (i.e., Great Master Mazu), who lived at the Chuanfa Cloister and always practiced seated meditation. The master [Nanyue], knowing that he was a vessel of the dharma, went to him and asked, “Great Worthy, what are you figuring to do, sitting there in meditation?"
      Daoyi said, "I'm figuring to make a buddha."
      The master thereupon took up a tile and rubbed it on a stone in front of his hermitage. Daoyi said, "Master, what are you making?"
      The master said, "I'm polishing this to make a mirror."
      Daoyi said, "How can you produce a mirror by polishing a tile?"
      [Nanyue replied,] "How can you produce a buddha by sitting in meditation?"
      Daoyi said, “Then what should I do?”
      The master said, “If someone is driving a cart, and the cart doesn’t go, should he beat the cart or beat the ox?”
      Daoyi did not respond.
      The master continued, “Are you studying seated meditation or are you studying seated buddha?” If you’re studying seated meditation, meditation is not sitting or reclining. If you’re studying seated buddha, the buddha is not fixed marks. In a nonabiding dharma, there should not be taking or rejecting. If you are a sitting buddha, this is killing buddha; if you grasp the mark of sitting, this is not reaching its principle.”
      When Daoyi heard this instruction, it was like drinking ghṛta (“ghee”).

Dōgen records a variant version of the story in his shinji Shōbōgenzō (fascicle 1, case 8; DZZ.5:128-30) and comments on it in Shōbōgenzō kokyō (DZZ.1:237ff) and Shōbōgenzō zazen shin (DZZ.1:105ff). The vulgate version of his Fukan zazen gi famously alludes to Nanyue’s remarks in its warning, “Do not figure to make a buddha, much less seize on sitting or reclining (maku zu sa butsu ki kō zaga ko 莫圖作佛豈拘坐臥乎)” (DZZ.5:4).

Back to Note 2.

5. This saying of Rujing has no known source in extant Chinese texts and is generally assumed to be the private recollection of Dōgen. A similar passage, unattributed to Rujing, appears in Dōgen’s early work, the Bendō wa 辨道話 (DZZ.2:538).

宗門の正規にいはく、この單傳正直の佛法は、最上のなかに最上なり。參見知識のはじめより、さらに燒香・禮拝・念佛・修懺・看經を不用、唯だ専ら打坐して身心脱落する事を得よ．

In the right standard of the school, it is said that this buddha dharma, singly and directly transmitted, is the supreme among the supreme. Once we have encountered a “friend,” we do not employ burning incense, making prostrations, recollecting the buddha, practicing repentence, or examining scriptures. Solely by sitting, attain the sloughing off of body and mind.

Slightly variant versions are attributed to Rujing at Shōbōgenzō gyōji 正法眼藏行持(下) (DZZ.1:198) and Shōbōgenzō bukkyō 正法眼藏佛經 (DZZ.2:178), as well as at Hōkyō ki 寶慶記 (DZZ.7:18-20).

Back to Note 3.

6. “Body and mind sloughed off” (shinjin datsuraku 身心脱落): In several places, Dōgen attributes this expression to Rujing (see Supplemental Note 5, above; also Eihei kōroku 永平廣録, DZZ.4:10; 4:240); but the phrase shenxin tuoluo 身心脱落 does not appear in the two redactions of the latter’s recorded sayings preserved in Japan (Nyojō goroku 如淨語録, T.48:No.2002A and 2002B). One of these two includes a postscript attributed to Dōgen that records the famous story of his hearing these words from Rujing (T.48:No.2002B:136c3-9; see also DZZ.7:246).

師因入堂懲衲子坐睡云、夫參禪者身心脫落只管打睡作麼．予聞此語豁然大悟．徑上方丈燒香禮拜．師云、禮拜事作麼生．予云、身心脫落來．師云、身心脫落脫落身心．予云、這箇是暫時伎倆、和尚莫亂印．師云、我不亂印儞．予云、如何是不亂印底事．師云、脫落脫落．予乃休．

      Once, when the master entered the hall, he said to a lazy robed one who was sleeping while sitting, “Studying Chan is body and mind sloughed off. How can you just sleep?”
      Hearing these words, I suddenly had a great understanding. I directly ascended to the abbot’s quarters, burned incense, and made prostrations.
      The master said, “Why are you making prostrations?”
      I said, “Body and mind are sloughed off.”
      The master said, “Body and mind sloughed off; sloughed off body and mind.”
      I said, “This is just a quick trick. The preceptor shouldn’t recklessly approve it.”
      The master said, “I’m not recklessly approving you.”
      I said, “What is it you’re not recklessly approving?”
      The master said, “Sloughed off, sloughed off.”
      I withdrew.

In the discussion of this phrase in the Hōkyō ki (DZZ.7:18-20), Rujing responds to Dōgen’s question about its meaning by saying,

身心脱落者坐禪也．祗管打坐時離五欲除五蓋也．

Body and mind sloughed off is zazen. When we just sit, we are free from the five desires [of the senses] and remove the five obstacles [to meditation: desire, aversion, torpor, agitation, and doubt].

Since we have no independent evidence supporting Dōgen’s attribution of this expression to Rujing, some have suggested that the phrase “dust of the mind sloughed off” (xinchen tuoluo 心塵脱落; Japanese shinjin datsuraku), appearing in Rujing’s recorded sayings, might have been Dōgen’s source. (See T.48:No.2002A:130c19.)

Back to Note 3.

7. “Thoughts, ideas, and perceptions” (nen sō kan 念想觀); “mind, mentation, and consciousness” (shin i shiki 心意識): Though seemingly not a standard combination in Chan texts, these two lists appear together elsewhere in Dōgen’s discussions of zazen. In his famous meditation manual, the Fukan zazen gi 普勸坐禪儀, he says,

放捨所縁、休息萬事．不思善惡、莫管是非．停心意識之運轉、止念想觀之測量．

Cast aside all envolvements; discontinue all affairs. Do not think of good or evil; do not deal with right or wrong. Halt the revolutions of mind, mentation, and consciousness; stop the calculations of thought, idea, and perception. (DZZ.5:4, 10.)

A closely parallel passage occurs in the Shōbōgenzō zazen gi 坐禪儀 (DZZ.1:100). Similarly, Dōgen’s early work, the Gakudō yōjin shū 學道用心集, contains the lines,

齋行者可貴者從古雖多、悟道之者唯少．是乃調心甚難故也．聡明不為先、學解不為先．心意識不為先、念想觀不為先．向來都不用之而調身心以入佛道也．

From ancient times there have been many revered ascetics, but only a few have understood the way. This is because it is extremely difficult to regulate the mind. Intelligence is not primary; learning is not primary. Mind, mentation, and consciousness are not primary; thought, idea, and perception are not primary. Without using any of these, one enters the buddha way by regulating body and mind. (DZZ.5:26.)

The expression translated here “thought, idea, and perception” is not a common one in Chan and likely derives from the famous “Prajñā-pāramitā-stotra” (banruobolomi ji 般若波羅蜜偈) appearing in the Dazhidu lun 大智度論):

般若波羅蜜、實法不顛倒
念想觀已除、言語法亦滅

The prajñā-pāramitā, real dharma, not inverted;
Thought, idea, and perception removed; the way of language extinguished. (T.25:190b.)

Here the phrase probably serves to indicate “discriminating cognition” (Skt. vikalpa). The three component terms of the phrase are also, of course, used to designate various contemplative exercises (as, e.g., by Chih-i 智顗 at T.46:626a29).

The expression translated here “mind, mentation, and consciousness” is a common one in Chan texts in general reference to “mental processes” — as, e.g., in sayings like, “The buddha dharma is not of the realm of mind, mentation, and consciousness” (fofa fei xin yi shi jingjie 佛法非心意識境界), or “study free from mind, mentation, and consciousness” (li xin yi shi tsan 離心意識參). In Buddhist technical usage, the three component terms can represent citta, manas, and vijñāna respectively, and can stand together for the eight types of consciousness discussed in Vijñānavāda literature.

Back to Note 5.

8. Dōgen’s quotation here is based on the verse from the following passage in the Dazhidu lun (T.25:111b-c):

爾時世尊自敷師子座．結加趺坐、直身繋念在前．入三昧王三昧、一切三昧悉入其中．．．．問曰、多有坐法、佛何以故唯用結加趺坐．答曰、諸坐法中結加趺坐最安隱不疲極．此是坐禪人坐法．攝持手足心亦不散．又於一切四種身儀中最安隱．此是禪坐取道法坐．魔王見之其心憂怖．如是坐者出家人法、在林樹下結加趺坐。衆人見之皆大歡．知此道人必當取道．如偈説、

若結加趺坐   身安入三昧
威徳人敬仰    如日照天下
除睡懶覆心    身輕不疲懈
覺悟亦輕便   安坐如龍蟠
見畫加趺坐    魔王亦愁怖
何況入道人   安坐不傾動

      At that time, the World Honored One spread his lion seat, and sitting with legs crossed, straightening his body and binding his thoughts before him, he entered into the king of samādhis samādhi, in which all samādhis are included. . . .
      Question: There are many ways of sitting. Why does the buddha only use sitting with legs crossed?
      Answer: Among the ways of sitting, sitting with legs crossed is the most comfortable, without pain. This is the way of the sitting of those who practice seated mediation. The arms and legs are gathered, and the mind does not disperse. Again, among all the four attitudes of the body, it is the most comfortable. This is the sitting that gains the way through seated meditation; when King Māra sees it, his mind is troubled and afraid. This sitting is the way of one who has left home, sitting with legs crossed beneath a tree; when the multitude see it, they all greatly rejoice and know that this practitioner will surely gain the way. As the verse says,

When sitting with legs crossed,
Body at ease, entered into samādhi,
One’s majesty, the people honor,
Like the sun illumining the world.
Removed, the lethargy clouding the mind,
The body light, without pain or fatigue;
Awareness similarly light and easy,
One sits calmly, like the dragon coiled.
King Māra is startled and fearful
On seeing depicted [one] sitting with legs crossed,
How much more [on seeing] one entered on the way,
Sitting calmly without stirring.

Back to Note 6.

9. The Dazhidu lun passage on which Dōgen is commenting here continues with an explanation of the name “king of samādhis samādhi” that emphasizes not the seated posture but the power to comprehend all things.

云何名三昧王三昧。是三昧於諸三昧中最第一．自在能縁無量諸法。如諸人中王第一。王中轉輪聖王第一。一切天上天下佛第一。此三昧亦如是。於諸三昧中最第一。

Why is it called the king of samādhis samādhi? This samādhi is the very first among the samādhis, freely able to take countless dharmas as its object. As the king is the first among people, the wheel-turning king is the first among kings, and the buddha is the first in heaven above and earth below, so is this samādhi the very first among the samādhis.

Back to Note 9.

10. In his expressions “for one life” and “without leaving the grove,” Dōgen seems to be alluding to a saying of the famous Tang master Zhaozhou 趙州 (778-897), references to which appear several times in Dōgen’s writings.

儞若一生不離叢林、不語十年五載、無人喚�儞作唖漢、已後佛也不奈儞何．

If for a lifetime you don’t leave the grove and don’t talk for ten years and five, no one will call you a mute; after that, even the buddha can’t do anything to you. (Liendeng huiyao 聯燈會要, ZZ.136:264.)

In his Shōbōgenzō dōtoku 道得, Dōgen uses a slightly modified version of the second clause that gives “sit solidly and don’t speak for ten years and five” (gotsuza fudō jūnen gosai 兀坐不道十年五載). (DZZ.1:376; see also Eihei kōroku, Juko 頌古13, DZZ.4:190.)

Back to Note 12.