dharma<\/a>.<\/p>\nA few words, like \u201cred flesh ball\u201d and \u201cdecayed tree\u201d have a whole world of meaning and Dogen plays fast and furious with a wide range of koan references, vividly hopping along.<\/p>\n
The wild horse of Dogen\u2019s discourse leaps from meaning and metaphor to pure presentation, galloping along at a break-neck speed. The whole business seems most appropriate for advanced koan students.<\/p>\n
Take this, for example: \u201cThe root of mindfulness is the red flesh ball of a decayed tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRed flesh ball\u201d refers to Rinzai\u2019s statement, \u201cThe true person of no rank is coming in and out through the gates of your senses. Those who have not witnessed proof, look! look!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRed flesh ball\u201d is the literal translation of \u201ctrue person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seems that realizing the true person of no rank is a precondition for appreciating mindfulness in Dogen Zen. Otherwise it really doesn\u2019t communicate. But he doesn\u2019t stop there. The red flesh ball true person is a decayed tree.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecayed tree\u201d refers to the following koan that Dogen uses as the main dish in Shobogenzo<\/em> #65, \u201cDragon Song:\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cTouzi was asked by a monk, \u2018Is there a dragon singing in a decayed tree?\u2019 Touzi replied, \u2018I say there is a lion roaring in the skull.'\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDragon\u201d in this body of work is not the kind of dragon that kidnaps princesses. Apparently European dragons were into that kind of thing. East Asian dragons not only shed their skin but their bones too and so represent a revolution of the heart.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d parse \u201cdecayed tree\u201d then like this \u2013 this battered and beaten life itself is exactly the song of transformation.<\/p>\n
The song of transformation this broken down life sings is the real deal, the red flesh ball, and that\u2019s what mindfulness is \u2013 not a split consciousness observing itself, but just whole body of life and death dancing on the keyboard, the whole heart of life and death, scanning the blog post.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe root of mindfulness is the red flesh ball of a decayed tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Got it?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I may have mentioned, in our Monday Night Dogen Study we\u2019ve been working through the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment (click here for the list). Here\u2019s Dogen\u2019s explanation of mindfulness \u2013 something that appears five times on the list. \u201cThe root of mindfulness is the red flesh ball of a decayed tree.\u201d This fascicle of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":1004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,6],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dogen","tag-koan"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a> As I may have mentioned, in our Monday Night Dogen Study we\u2019ve been working through the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment<\/em> (click here for the list<\/a>).<\/p>\n