his commentary<\/a> to Dogen\u2019s \u201cUniversal Recommendations for Zazen,\u201d notes that most translations don\u2019t include a vital preface-like phrase, which he translates, \u201cAfter searching exhaustively\u2026\u201d that Dogen offers before jumping into the whole thing about the Way being perfect and all pervading.<\/p>\nNow Maezumi Roshi and Katagiri Roshi didn\u2019t agree on much but on this point they did. Katagiri Roshi often said that not many people (\u201cQuite few,\u201d he would say) really understood or practiced shikantaza, including those who had searched exhaustively. \u201cThere is no guarantee,\u201d he\u2019d say.<\/p>\n
I suspect neither Maezumi nor Katagiri would include the other in their short-list of those who actualized shikantaza but they\u2019d probably also agree that shikantaza is not what the plurality of views on a forum think that it is. I suspect that shikantaza is best discovered in shikantaza while practicing closely with a teacher of shikantaza.<\/p>\n
A related issue is the relationship between koan and shikantaza. I notice what looks to me like defensiveness by some on this point. Why else go on and on about wholeness and how in shikantaza nothing is missing or lacking?<\/p>\n
If nothing is missing or lacking, then koan would be included too, no? And how about our dear friends Missing and Lacking? While dogmatic shikantaza excludes them, true shikantaza expresses them as well.<\/p>\n
Shikantaza is not a dogma of wholeness or some simple formula based on original enlightenment, so don\u2019t believe that\u2019s all there is to it \u2013 if you want to realize it yourself \u2013 no matter what ribbons and bows the person asserting such views has pinned to their uniform. If you\u2019ve got a good bull shit detector you won\u2019t settle for such views but will simply continue your search.<\/p>\n
Blue Cliff Record, Case 91, makes an important point here:<\/p>\n
One day, Yanguan called to his attendant, \u201cBring me the rhinoceros fan.\u201d<\/em>
\nThe attendant said, \u201cIt is broken.\u201d<\/em>
\n Yanguan said, \u201cIf the fan is broken, bring back the rhinoceros.\u201d The attendant did not answer.<\/em><\/p>\nYanguan invites his attendant to bring him the rhino fan, the practice of vivid, ungraspable true nature. The attendant has searched exhaustively so doesn\u2019t offer up some trivial Zen doctrine that doesn\u2019t have the power or tenderness to satisfy hunger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the practice is broken, says Yanguan, then bring me the real McCoy!<\/p>\n
The attendant and his practice are so broken that he shows it by simply standing upright in full vulnerable brokenness. Beautiful.<\/p>\n
This is a powerful presentation of shikantaza, an expression of searching exhaustively until shikantaza and\/or koan are broken through and through. When you reach this point, you might be just about ready to quit Zen, not knowing how close you are.<\/p>\n
And so Dogen (Extensive Record<\/em> #229) invents an epithet that sings the praises of the broken Buddha, \u201cBroken Wooden Ladle Tathagatha\u201d \u2013 the artifice of one who comes and goes thus is broken. Can\u2019t even deliver a scoop of water.<\/p>\nBrokenness and Wholeness play well together.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/youtu.be\/j9l9JkxrYlM<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk\u2019s Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International, especially about koan and shikantaza, a topic that\u2019s been much discussed in those parts of cyberspace. And here too, for some good reasons. Shikantaza, the actualization of the matter at hand, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,6,4,5],"class_list":["post-678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-katagiri","tag-koan","tag-maezumi","tag-shikantaza"],"yoast_head":"\n
Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk's Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk's Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-27T16:42:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-27T19:41:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/88\/2011\/11\/IMG_0379.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"382\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html\",\"name\":\"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-27T16:42:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-27T19:41:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk's Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. Dosho received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri Roshi and inka shomei from James Myoun Ford Roshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the author of \\\"Keep Me In Your Heart Awhile: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri,\\\" \\\"The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans,\\\" and \\\"Going Through the Mystery's One Hundred Questions.\\\"\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.vineobstacleszen.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/author\/doshoport\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?","description":"My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk's Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?","og_description":"My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk's Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html","og_site_name":"Wild Fox Zen","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port","article_published_time":"2011-11-27T16:42:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-11-27T19:41:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"382","height":"512","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/88\/2011\/11\/IMG_0379.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dosho Port","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dosho Port","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html","name":"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-27T16:42:42+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-27T19:41:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd"},"description":"My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk's Scholarly Perspective, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/11\/everything-is-broken-what-is-shikantaza.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Everything is Broken: What is Shikantaza?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/","name":"Wild Fox Zen","description":"Living the Dream","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd","name":"Dosho Port","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dosho Port"},"description":"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. Dosho received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri Roshi and inka shomei from James Myoun Ford Roshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the author of \"Keep Me In Your Heart Awhile: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri,\" \"The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans,\" and \"Going Through the Mystery's One Hundred Questions.\"","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.vineobstacleszen.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/author\/doshoport"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/88\/2011\/11\/IMG_0379.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0379\\"")
<\/a>My recent post, Satisfying Hunger with Koan: A Critical Review of Foulk\u2019s Scholarly Perspective<\/a>, got some discussion over at the Zen Forum International<\/a>, especially about koan and shikantaza, a topic that\u2019s been much discussed in those parts of cyberspace.<\/p>\n