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At the workshop at Boundless Way a couple weekends ago, like usual, I emphasized the importance of discovering the subtle point of what Dogen refers to as the Buddha and ancestors\u2019 wondrous method. In this spirit I offered a Dogen verse in zazen that included this line:<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Do not control the monkey mind<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\nor the horse will.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\nMake effort like a lotus in fire.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The week before, the online practice period studied a section of Dogen\u2019s Instructions for the Cook<\/i> that included this passage:<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
That you still do not grasp the certainty of this principle is because your thinking scatters, like wild horses, and your emotions run wild, like monkeys in a forest. If you can make those monkeys and horses, just once, take the backward step that turns the light and shines it inward, then naturally you will be completely integrated.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
There seems to be a contradiction here, don\u2019t you think \u2013 don\u2019t control the monkey mind and do make the monkey turn around. What do you make of this?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Dogen could have been offering different advise to different audiences although both seem to have been given to his monks.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He could have changed his tune. The first passage is from late in his career and the latter is from early. However, I once asked Katagiri Roshi if Dogen\u2019s thought developed over his career. \u201cNo development,\u201d he said, \u201cexactly same and one from beginning to end.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Another possibility is that the limitation is from the side of the mind that sees the contradiction, and that Dogen\u2019s subtle point is free within not controlling and controlling.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
How does this roll out in your practice?\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/i> <\/div>\n
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