I wanted to use Eihi Dogen’s wonderful summation of practice as the “text” for my sermon at the First Unitarian Church of Providence, yesterday. As I reviewed the text in the variety of translations available at the Zensite (what an amazing resource the Zensite is), I realized that while it is a straight ahead pointer, to really read it one probably needs some basic familiarity with Buddhist and Zen terminology. So, I composed my own interpretation, or perhaps appreciation, or, perhaps a sort of gloss of the text.
For those who find this interesting and would like to delve more deeply, I’ve pulled these translations from the Zensite’s collection.
“To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening.” Aitken & Tanahashi
“Practice that confirms things by taking the self to them is illusion: for things to come forward and practice and confirm the self is enlightenment.” Waddell & Abe
“Carrying the self forward to confirm [the existence of] the myriad dharmas is delusion. The myriad dharmas advancing and confirming [the existence of] the self is realization.” Jaffe
“Driving ourselves to practice and experience millions of things and phenomena is delusion. When millions of things and phenomena actively practice and experience ourselves, that is realization.” Nishijima
“Conveying the self to the myriad things to authenticate them is delusion; the myriad things advancing to authenticate the self is enlightenment.” Cook
“Acting on and witnessing myriad things with the burden of oneself is “delusion.” Acting on and witnessing oneself in the advent of myriad things is enlightenment.” T. Cleary
“It is an illusion to try to carry out our practice and enlightenment through ourselves, but to have practice and enlightenment through phenomena, that is enlightenment.” Nishiyama & Stevens
“To train and enlighten all things from the self is delusion; to train and enlighten the self from all things is enlightenment.” Masunaga
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In