The Awakening of Faith – Talk 37
April 18, 1986 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Roshi
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This transcript is in draft stage.
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Page 63, “(b) The General Coordinating Causes.”
According to this chart, in the bottom, you can see general coordinating causes. […] The permeation of the truth is divided into two.
The one is permeation through manifestation of the essence of suchness, simply speaking essence permeation, essence of truth permeation. So this is the truth or suchness is constantly permeating into the … ignorance, the samsaric world, constantly, but we don’t realize exactly. But regardless of whether we realize or not, this truth, suchness, constantly perfumes human life.
So from this point it is always constantly helping us inwardly. So from this point this essence permeation is constantly always helping us, helping all sentient beings, inwardly.
And this permeation of the suchness is going beyond our consciousness. Consciousness or unconsciousness, it’s always going.
And next permeation, the second one is permeation through influences. Then this is a function of the suchness toward human being, human world. Constantly, with the power of wisdom which the suchness possesses, and also the wishes of the wisdom, the wishes of the suchness. Wishes of the suchness constantly help human beings, human world, externally. From the outside, constantly help. This is the permeation through influences.
And then how this permeation of the essence, essence permeation, in other words how the essence of the suchness and the functioning of the suchness is helping us. That is two points: specific coordinating causes, and also general coordinating causes.
So specific coordinating causes means individually, helping from inside and outside, constantly helping. To the person who is mature, this is immediate causes. For the mature person, truth is helping immediately or directly, from outside or inside, this is immediate causes. Remote causes is, truth is constantly practicing patience, and magnanimity, and then helping to immature person. For immature person, the truth helping him or her for the long run, with compassion, with patience, et cetera.
So from this point, everyone has great possibility to grow or to develop in this life.
And next, the causes that strengthen activity. So this is for the people, for the human beings, to try to give help in concrete way, they try to help us as six paramitas. That is the causes that strengthen activity.
And then, the causes that enable one to attain enlightenment through through the practice of the six paramitas, people can experience the truth, suchness.
The next, today, general coordinating causes. Generally, universally, how the suchness helps us. So number B, page 63.
(b) The General Coordinating Causes. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas all desire to liberate all human beings, spontaneously permeating them [with their spiritual influences] and never forsaking them. Through the power of the wisdom that is one [with suchness], they manifest activities in response to [the needs of human beings] as they see and hear them. [Because of this indiscriminately permeating cause], human beings are all equally able, by means of concentration (samadhi), to see the Buddha.
So here is two points. The power of wisdom which is one with suchness: in this case, suchness and wisdom are one, here. In this teaching, the wisdom and suchness are one.
Suchness means … essence of the truth, and also attribute of truth. Maybe next time, we will study the three greatnesses of existence, that is, the essence of existence, and attributes of existence, and functioning of existence. Three points.
So, the essence of suchness is called li. According to D.T. Suzuki’s book, Essence of Buddhism, li is the absolute, or the whole, or totality, or principle, we can say. In contrast with li, the principle, or the totality, the whole, I think there is a gi is individual, individuality, or particularization. In other words, each of the phenomenal world. Those two theories in Avatamsaka philosophy. So anyway, the essence of suchness is kind of li, totality, or the absolute, we can say.
So li, the totality or the principle of existence is one with wisdom. Wisdom is the attribute of existence, in other words, boundless quality or merit of Buddha, of existence. In other words, quality of essence of the truth, or merit of the truth. Merit is always essence of the truth is functioning in many ways. How? This is quality or merit. Merit of the truth is called wisdom.
So, wisdom and principle, the principle, or the absolute of the truth is one. So that’s why here it says, through the power of wisdom, which is one with suchness.
By this power of the wisdom, which is one with suchness, the buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest activities in response to the needs of [people], constantly helping like this. That is the power of wisdom. So the basic nature of existence is constantly function, supporting. That is, according to general Buddhism, we call dharma. Dharma is constantly helping.
The second is the wishes of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
The terminology is here buddhas, and there are three points of existence: essence and attribute and functions. Here these are buddhas. So, buddha is understood as the three points: dharmakaya, buddha body, and nirmanakaya, and sambhogakaya buddha. So, three buddhas are considered in Buddhism.
Dharmakaya Buddha, buddha body, is corresponding to essence of the truth and attribute of the truth. This is called dharmakaya, we say.
And functioning of the truth is corresponding to sambhogakaya buddha and nirmanakaya buddha. Nirmanakaya buddha is physical, mental human body as a buddha. And sambhogakaya is the buddha who […] manifests dharmakaya, truth, essence of the truth, within his body, in other words his life, everyday life. So, within his everyday life, buddha manifests dharmakaya, the essence of the truth. That buddha is called sambhogakaya. So sambhogakaya buddha is human beings, but he is not exactly human beings, because he manifests himself dharmakaya, within human body. So he is not human beings, but he is dharmakaya. Sambhogakaya buddha is human beings, but something more than human beings. Just like a buddha statue, Avalokiteshvara’s buddha statue. Buddha statue follows the human shape, but there is something more than human shape. So this is the object of buddha as art. So that is sambhogakaya, the buddha statue is a symbol of sambhogakaya, who is working in the human world every day. So that is sambhogakaya, we say.
So sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya is … a function of the truth.
So the buddhas, we use the term buddha and bodhisattva. On the other hand, the essence of the truth or attribute of the truth, so-called suchness, okay? But both are the same exactly, but we use a different term. When the suchness is personalized, when the suchness is realized by individual human life, it is called dharmakaya or nirmanakaya or sambhogakaya buddha, something like that.
So, the second point is, there is the wishes of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. So here it says, the buddhas and bodhisattvas all desire to liberate all people, spontaneously permeating them with your spiritual influences, and never forsaking them. This is the wishes of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, wishes of a person who realize the three points: essence of the truth, attributes of the truth, functioning of the truth. Those people never forsake.
So constantly, that is called vow. A person who realize the truth and form of the truth and functioning of the truth, never forgets human beings, and helps.
That is a general coordinating causes. So there is the invisible help there, in the human world. We don’t realize it, but constantly helping us. Generally, for everyone equally, the truth functioning like this.
This is number B.
Through the power of the wisdom that is one [with suchness], they manifest activities in response to [the needs of human beings] as they see and hear them. [Because of this indiscriminately permeating cause], human beings are all equally able, by means of concentration (samadhi), to see the Buddha.
Samadhi is, in this case, seeing the buddha samadhi. Kambutsu samadhi means, literally, “seeing buddha samadhi,” samadhi of seeing buddha. Seeing buddha means, if you are in the samadhi exactly, that is called seeing buddha. Not seeing the image of the buddha through the naked eye, not hearing the voice of the buddha with naked ear. “Seeing buddha” is, if you sit in zazen, in samadhi, that is simultaneously seeing buddha, we say.
But this buddha – usually through that common sense we don’t see, we don’t realize buddha. We don’t realize how buddha is helping us, how buddha is present with us, when we are in samadhi, in zazen. We don’t know. But it is working. That’s is why this is general coordinating causes, here. Visibly, invisibly, always there is great help there.
That is the point of the general coordinating causes.
[…] Do you have questions on number B?
22:20
Question: You’ve been emphasizing how suchness is helping everyone. How do you say that suchness is helping, for example, someone who died suddenly?
Katagiri Roshi: Uh, what do you want to say? What is the point? Why do you make a question about that? Is there some reason?
Questioner: Well, I’m thinking of [someone] who died suddenly…
Katagiri Roshi: To the person who died, or to the person who are left?
Questioner: To the person who died.
Katagiri Roshi: Well, truth is let the death be as it is. That is the helping of the truth. Death returns to the essence of the truth. So death is death, beyond human speculation. That’s all we can say.
So that’s why Buddha says, “Realize dharma, then you can see me. If you see me, you can see the dharma.” This is real help of the truth. But we don’t realize it. That’s why we have funeral service or memorial service. Through the memorial service we try to express the help of the truth to all sentient beings. That is memorial service, religious service. So we can feel a little bit through the ritual and form, religious form, we can see the general function of the truth to all sentient beings. So, we try to express. That is an opportunity for us to express the truth. That is religious ritual. Because the person is already died, okay? So we don’t know, we don’t know where he or she is. But it is very clear for us that the life returned to the essence of the truth. Returned to the earth – “earth” means returned to the essence of existence, exactly.
So essence of existence is something beyond human speculation. So it’s very quiet; silence. Later, here it says in the particular term, unison with, our being is in unison or being is united with the truth. That means exactly oneness. If you become one with death. This is exactly so-called idea of unity or unison with the truth, with the death. At that time this is called unison. But simultaneously it is not unison, because you become one with death, no death there.
So I think we don’t know what is exactly death, what’s happened. But it is very clear, we can see the person, we can really return to the essence of the truth. So all we can do is express this, through the funeral service, memorial service, et cetera. And then, we can communicate with the people who died, and simultaneously, that is a place where we can really communicate totally with the person who died, and trees, birds, mountains, et cetera.
That’s why sometimes in the funeral service and memorial service we can say something. We say something to the dead. But that dead, we think that statement, message, we have a doubt whether that message is helping the dead or not. This is human speculation. But that statement must be expressed in the realm of essence of the truth.
So from this point we have to be one with message. Then it really extends to every inch of the beings – mountains, rivers, and trees. That is the point which Dōgen Zenji mentions in Bendōwa. If you read Jijuyu Samadhi in the sutra [book], Dōgen Zenji mentions always, “if you do zazen, exactly in samadhi, that is helping, that sitting influences all over: trees, birds, et cetera.” Working as a Buddha – Buddha’s affairs, he mentions.
So actually, I don’t know. We [can’t] say exactly, the truth helping death, how? Funeral service. And the message you can say. But a point is, how do you give the quality or content of the reading message and content of the message. How do you do this? That is the most important point.
Then, through that message and the funeral service, people can feel something. But something which people have felt is already a kind of event which occurs in human society, in the dualistic world. But truth, helping constantly, always in the universal perspective, in the realm of human experiences, and also in the realm of nothing, constantly helping. Regardless of whether you feel or you don’t feel.
So generally, truth is constantly helping. But it’s very difficult to know it, that’s why we try to have religious opportunity, through which we can feel, we can experience.
But this is just, you know, the human form we manifest.
Is there any other question?
32:08
Question: Yes. Is there a main point that distinguishes Nirmanakaya from sambhogakaya?
Katagiri Roshi: Mm-hmm. Nirmanakaya is a human body. Buddha; the Buddha who has human body, as a human being. This is we call Nirmanakaya. Sambhogakaya is, within the Nirmanakaya Buddha, human body, he acts as a human being and also as something more than human being. That is a Dharmakaya. So within that is called Sambhogakaya, we say. Sambhogakaya Buddha. So Sambhogakaya Buddha is the person who is working in every day. He is a human being, he carries a human form, he is functioning not as a human, something more than human. That is the spiritual world. His actions and his everyday working is very inconceivable. That is Dharmakaya world; the truth is working. So his action is human action, but something more than that. You can see this. This is Sambhogakaya.
Questioner: Would you say then … that the Sambhogakaya is kind of the spirit or energy within Nirmanakaya?
Katagiri Roshi: Mm-hmm. Spirit of energy means dharma, the essence of the truth. That is the spirit of energy, energy of the spirituality there. So that is dharma, the essence, absolute of the truth, absolute of existence. That is Sambhogakaya.
Any other questions?
35:30
Let’s read the next paragraph,
This permeation through the influence of the wisdom whose essence is one [with suchness] is also divided into two categories [according to the types of recipients].
Number one is:
The one is yet to be united [with suchness].
In this chart, it says that… the last one, you can look at the last one, “that which is not yet united with suchness,” and the other one is, “that which is already united with suchness.”
That is, we try to see the permeation of the truth in terms of human practice, in terms of the practice we do. In other words in terms of human eyes, what is the permeation of the truth.
So, that is the two things. The permeation of the truth is considered as that which is not yet united with suchness. The other one is that which is already united with suchness.
So number one, the one is yet to be united with suchness:
Ordinary people, the Hinayanists, …
And Hinayanist means sravaka and pratika buddhas. Ordinary men, all human beings. And sravaka and pratika. Sravaka is a person who attains enlightenment by listening to the Buddha’s teaching. Pratika is the person who tries to attain enlightenment through the law of nature. According to the Buddha’s teaching, that is twelve chains, [twelve] causations. Okay, that is we say sravaka and pratika.
[Tape change.]
Ordinary people, the Hinayanists, and those bodhisattvas who have just been initiated devote themselves to religious practices on the strength of their faith, being permeated by suchness through their mind and consciousness.
Well, I think “through their mind,” in this case [means] manas, and the “consciousness” is mano-vijnana, we say in Sanskrit. The mind in this case, manas, that is the source of the consciousness. Mano-vijnana means ego consciousness. But manas is ego itself. So usually we say vijnana, that is usually understood as consciousness. But consciousness is ego consciousness, strictly speaking, mano vijnana. The manas is translated as “the mind” in this book, but that is a manas that is called ego itself – the source of ego. That is according to Buddhist psychology the seventh consciousness. Six consciousnesses there, and next the seventh consciousness is called manas. And the six consciousnesses are generally called mano vijnana. Mano is the same as manas. But manas becomes one with vijnana, at that time we say mano vijnana. That is the ego consciousness.
So six consciousnesses are called ego consciousness, and also the seventh consciousness is exactly the source of ego consciousness. So ego consciousness comes from the seventh consciousness. That seventh consciousness has six consciousness as its own object. And also eighth consciousness has alavijnana as object. In other words, alavijnana means the original nature of existence, vastness of existence. So in other words, simply speaking, the truth. So manas has the object of the truth and also ego consciousness, six consciousnesses. It’s connected with the human phenomenal world and also the truth. Connected.
So, that is the mind and consciousness [here]. So through the mind and consciousness, the truth is permeated. Suchness is permeated. [That] means on the strength of their faith, buddhas and bodhisattvas, and ordinary people, and pratikas and sravakas, and novice bodhisattvas, all are practicing, making progress in their practice on the strength of faith. They believe there is help. They believe the help of truth.
But they realize the truth permeating through what? Through the mind and consciousness. So that is… through the mind, through the consciousness. Consciousness is ego consciousness, I mentioned, okay? Means discriminating consciousness. So through the discriminating consciousness, they make progress in their practice on the strength of faith. But the suchness is not exactly one with his life. Because through the consciousness, conscious world is creating discriminating world, separately, always. But they realize the truth, because of his strength of faith. They believe, but they accept the truth through consciousness. That’s why the truth is still a little far [away]. There is a gap between. But real truth is no gap between.
So, it’s not exactly one. So that is consciousness. So it’s very difficult to open their heart and accept the truth exactly. So always stand off, stand by, always. By the truth.
And next, but this, the ordinary men and the novice bodhisattvas, constantly practicing through this consciousness, again and again, and then finally they reach the depth of consciousness. The depth of consciousness is seventh consciousness, so-called manas. The manas manifests itself as very minute vibration of consciousness. Very minute, because it is [the] source of ego consciousness. So through the ego consciousness we are practicing constantly. And then, finally we reach the bottom of the ego consciousness. At that time, that ego consciousness constantly vibrating, very minutely. It’s very difficult to see it, but very minutely, it’s moving. That is called manas, the source of ego consciousness.
But it’s very strong, very strong power. It’s powerful, very powerful. Because it is source. If you ignore it, ego consciousness is extended, created. But if you realize it, you can be with it. At that time, that manas is exactly powerful, but if you become one with it, you can touch with the truth. Because manas has an object of the truth, alavijnana.
So, through the manas, they reach very closely to the truth. But not exactly. Still, still manas is manas. Still manas is creating dichotomy, dichotomized world, very minutely, very minutely.
For instance, if you sit zazen exactly, it’s very difficult for us just to be in samadhi – in peace, in harmony. It’s very difficult. If you feel peaceful, immediately you feel peace. But at that time, it’s this very minute vibration of the peace. At that time, that perfect peace is separate from you. So you are not perfect peace.
So perfect peace becomes [an] object, you can see. That is very minutely. But according to the six consciousnesses, vibration becomes very rough. That’s why we can see, we can see clearly. But in the realm of the manas, it’s very minute. So it’s very difficult to see. But constantly we do it. We do it.
For instance, if you become a practitioner of Zen for a long time, your whole life, and then you feel, “I am an elite person,” you know, or, “I am special person,” so-called Zen student, et cetera. Even though you don’t say it to anybody, even though apparently you are very humble, but in your mind, always thinking in that way. So very minutely, we are always creating the dichotomized world. That’s why it’s very difficult to touch exactly.
Those people are called ordinary people and sravaka, pratika, and novice bodhisattvas, who don’t reach yet ten stages of [jutsu], we call ten abodes. Ten kinds of abode there. But before that, ordinary people, sravaka and pratika, practice forty stages. Ten stages of faith… do you remember? I gave a list, of the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice. This is constantly, you should get use of those terms, okay? In the Buddhist teaching, always this kind of fifty-two stages coming up. So if you don’t know, it’s very [confusing]. So that’s why I gave a list. The ten stages of faith, the ten stages of security, the ten stages of necessary activities, the ten stages of transference of merits to others. And then the last one is the ten stages of developing buddha wisdom; that is the ten abodes, ten stages of abode, bodhisattva can go through. And then the last two are the stage of approaching buddhahood, and the last one is the stage of buddhahood. Those are the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice.
53:43
So, next:
Not having obtained the indiscriminate mind, however, they are yet to be united with the essence [of suchness], and not having obtained [the perfection of] the discipline of free acts, they are yet to be united with the influence [of suchness].
So, “not having obtained the indiscriminate mind”: “indiscriminate mind” is no sense of discrimination between subject and object. In other words, the indiscriminating mind means […] mind prior to its own vibration, prior to moving. That is indiscriminating mind; it means no discrimination between subject and object. That is before mind moves. That is very [touchy]. You don’t know. [He chuckles.] You don’t know if, but you can be, through samadhi. And after vibration, it is called dichotomy or dualistic world. That is discriminating mind.
So, if you become one with the suchness or truth, you can participate in the world prior to the vibration of the mind. That is called indiscriminating mind.
So, when the dharmakaya manifests in the human body as a buddha, he acts […] very smoothly, without using any effort, because he manifests the oneness with the truth. So-called indiscriminating mind: no subject, no object. So if Buddha sees a person or circumstances, Buddha just sees and acts very smoothly, naturally, without using his particular effort. That is called free act. Very smoothly. That buddha is called Sambhogakaya Buddha.
So “not having obtained the indiscriminating mind, however, they are yet to be united with essence of the suchness, …” If you become one with the essence of suchness, you become Sambhogakaya Buddha, and acting very smoothly without using any effort.
“… and not having obtained the perfection of the discipline of free acts, …” So still those people, ordinary people, sravaka, pratika, and novice bodhisattvas, don’t have free act, like this.
“… they are yet to be united with the influence of suchness.”
58:40
The next, page 64:
The other is the already united [with suchness]: …
The bodhisattvas who realize dharmakaya, these bodhisattvas already reach to the first stage of abiding, the first abodes of bodhisattva practice. Ten abodes. If this bodhisattva reaches the first abode of bodhisattva practice. After practicing the 40 stages of bodhisattva, then you can reach the first abode.
So, “the other is the already united with suchness: …”
… bodhisattvas who realize the dharmakaya have obtained undiscriminating mind…
These bodhisattvas already get undiscriminating mind, no discrimination between subject and object. Subject and object smoothly working.
… [and are united with the essence of the Buddhas; they, having obtained free acts,] are united with the influence of the wisdom of the Buddhas. They singly devote themselves with spontaneity to their religious disciplines, on the strength of suchness within; …
Because the source of energy Buddha shows is undiscriminating mind. So that is the energy of his act he always shows, that is called undiscriminating mind. And then when he tries to help all sentient beings, walking hand in hand with all sentient beings, this is wisdom afterward. Afterward wisdom. In other words, the afterward wisdom is the state of the wisdom which the undiscriminating mind is exercised. [Discriminating] mind is manifested in his life, that is called functioning of the undiscriminating mind. It has particular name, this is afterward wisdom. Wisdom works.
They singly devote themselves with spontaneity to their religious disciplines, on the strength of suchness within; permeating into suchness [so that suchness will reclaim itself], they destroy ignorance.
So this bodhisattva practice constantly right in the midst of the oneness with the truth. Always. Then, ignorance is destroyed, because ignorance doesn’t have its own root. So if the bodhisattva practice constantly right in the midst of suchness, very naturally, ignorance doesn’t appear. That is called “destroy ignorance.”
Again, the defiled principle (dharma), from the beginningless beginning, continues perpetually to permeate until it perishes by the attainment of Buddhahood. But the permeation of the pure principle has no interruption and no ending. The reason is that the principle of suchness is always permeating; therefore, when the deluded mind ceases to be, the dharmakaya (i.e., suchness, original enlightenment) will be manifested and will give rise to the permeation of the influence [of suchness], and thus there will be no ending to it.
The question is, why the truth is endlessly helping us, if the truth helps is just for destroying ignorance. If so, after destroying ignorance, why the truth has to continually help us? Why? This is the question here.
The reason is that the bodhisattva is constantly communicating with all sentient beings. In other words, help. Bodhisattva has to walk hand-in-hand, every day. So for this, inside of his life, there must be functioning of the undiscriminating mind. That is called perfect peace and harmony. No discrimination there.
That is the energy of Bodhisattva’s life. And then, they can walk hand-in-hand with bodhisattvas in the dualistic world. But inside, there must be a source of energy, which lets him work smoothly. So that is the helping of the truth, constantly, to Bodhisattvas. That is the answer here.
So the idea of unity, unison with – this is a pretty important idea in this book. Because united is… what would you say… there is a little bit contradictory situation that happens. When you become samadhi, exactly there is a contradictory situation, because you are united with samadhi, but simultaneously, when you become one with samadhi exactly, you cannot be united, because there is no discrimination. So you cannot say “I am united,” no. If you become exactly united, there is an idea, so-called “I am united with samadhi.” But when you become samadhi exactly, there is no idea of becoming united with samadhi. So that’s why you can see the contradictory situation there.
And then, when you become one exactly, no trace of becoming united with the samadhi. That is called this, the last one. The other is, the already united with the suchness. And then at that time, you become one with the truth. If you become one with the truth, that is just one. When you do gassho, just one gassho. So whole world becomes just one gassho. Because, no discrimination there. That is, Dōgen Zenji says, “When one is manifested, the other one is dark.” “When one is manifested the other one is in darkness” means the other one is behind, but it does not disappear. They become contents of the gassho. So the whole world becomes just gassho. At that time, gassho becomes stable.
1:10:25
Question: Hojo-san, […] a quick question? Is the faith that they refer to, do you know offhand what the Sanskrit is for that? Faith?
Katagiri Roshi: Faith? In Sanskrit, saddhā. Three terms… I forget exactly.
Questioner: How do you spell that?
Katagiri Roshi: One is adhimukti – I forgot the spelling. Or Saddhā, S-A-D-D-H-A, I think. One more term I forgot, that is faith in Sanskrit. I will tell you later, I will check, okay?
And also, you can see the explanation of saddhā in The Eastern Buddhist. I forget the number of the Eastern Buddhist journal; someone explains about […] Buddhist faith.
1:12:12
Question: Hojo-san, what are free acts?
Katagiri Roshi: Free acts, I [said], [are actions] based on the undiscriminating mind.