Annotations by Kikan Michael Howard

Updated May 9, 2025

Katagiri Roshi discussed Fukanzazengi – Zen Master Dogen’s “Universal Recommendation for Zazen” – in many of his talks. On this page, I go through Fukanzazengi line-by-line and add notes and links to talks where Katagiri Roshi discussed the line or lines in question. This is very much a work in progress; I will update this page as I transcribe talks and find additional references.

The text annotated here is the Sōtōshū translation of Fukanzazengi (external link), which is used by many English-speaking Zen centers. Alternative translations by Katagiri Roshi are provided where they are available.

No single English translation of Fukanzazengi should be taken as authoritative. For a comparison of six English translations of Fukanzazengi, see “Fukanzazengi: 6 translations” (external link).

Fukanzazengi

The way is originally perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent on practice and realization?

  • “Practice and realization” is a translation of shushō (修證). This important term appears several times in Fukanzazengi; here it is also translated as “practice-realization” and “practicing and realizing.” Elsewhere it is sometimes translated as “practice-enlightenment.”
  • The meaning of shō (證) – often translated as “realization” – should not be taken for granted. Katagiri Roshi gave an entire talk on the meaning of shō – and its distinction from kaku and satori, which are also sometimes translated as “enlightenment.” See “Shobogenzo Bendowa: Dogen’s Questions & Answers – Talk 5”.
  • The oneness of practice and realization is often presented as a key point of Dogen’s teaching, if not his key point, period. On the statement “to think practice and realization are not one is a heretical view” from Bendowa, see “Shobogenzo Bendowa: Dogen’s Questions & Answers – Talk 4”.

The true vehicle is self-sufficient. What need is there for special effort?

Indeed, the whole body is free from dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from this very place; what is the use of traveling around to practice?

  • “Dust,” “brush it clean,” etc. is primarily a reference to The Platform Sutra and the well-known “poetry contest.” See especially “Platform Sutra – Talk 1”.
  • Although these lines might initially seem to be supporting the verse attributed to the Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng over the verse attributed to Shen Hsiu, note that the very next words are, “And yet.” As Katagiri Roshi states in “Platform Sutra – Talk 1,” and on many other occasions, “sudden” and “gradual” are regarded as two aspects of the same reality, and they work together. They are two sides of the same coin, and Dogen’s “and yet” is basically him flipping the coin.
  • Partly because of the Platform Sutra, it is commonly understood that there was a “Northern School” and a “Southern School” in early Zen, and that the Northern School represented “gradual enlightenment,” while the new Southern School represented “sudden enlightenment.” However, this does not seem to be Katagiri Roshi’s understanding, nor Dogen Zenji’s understanding. Note that in “Shi-zen Biku” Dogen refers to the Platform Sutra as “a forged writing,” and in “Soku shin ze butsu” (“This Mind Itself Is Buddha”) he approvingly quotes one National Teacher Dazheng, who criticizes “folk stories” added to The Platform Sutra which “erase” the true meaning of the Sixth Ancestor. There doesn’t seem to be anything complicated going on here: basically, it has always been understood in Zen that the Platform Sutra contains revisions by many people, some of which are problematic. This is referred to in “Platform Sutra – Talk 1” in the beginning and at 54:25.
  • For a Western analysis of the “poetry contest” story of the Platform Sutra in a historical light, see for example John R. McRae’s The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch’an Buddhism. The introduction to McRae’s posthumously released Zen Evangelist: Shenhui, Sudden Enlightenment, and the Southern School of Chan Buddhism sums up the general point: “McRae’s meticulous analysis of the Northern school materials reveals the distortions and biases of the received tradition. To pick a single example, McRae takes to task the standard narrative that Northern teachers advocated a gradual path—that they viewed Buddhist practice as constituting a step-by-step ascent toward awakening. Instead, McRae shows that Northern teachers taught something closer to ‘constant practice’ —an approach that anticipates later Söto [sic] Zen teachings in Japan. For the Northern school, Chan practice was not a means to achieving liberation so much as a moment-to-moment re-cognition and affirmation of what is already the case, that is, of one’s abiding bodhi.” This is perhaps not too far off, except it should be emphasized that this understanding of the unity of “sudden” and “gradual” did not disappear with the “Northern School” and suddenly re-appear with Dogen. See for example Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness, or any number of koans in the Blue Cliff Record (a Rinzai text!). In fact, this understanding probably goes back to the era of Bodhidharma (“Two Entrances”) – and if so, presumably it goes back even farther than that.
  • See also Katagiri Roshi’s commentary in “Blue Cliff Record Case 45: Chao Chou’s Seven-Pound Cloth Shirt, Talk 1” at 30:00 (and note the historical shift in the assignment of “sudden” and “gradual”): “Zen history says Soto Zen is ‘gradual enlightenment,’ Rinzai Zen is ‘sudden enlightenment.’ It’s ridiculous! [He laughs.] If you talk about this, it’s ridiculous. If you’re really crazy about this discussion, you don’t understand Zen Buddhism, you don’t understand Buddha’s teaching, you don’t understand human life. [He chuckles.] History is history. Don’t worry about it. If you see someone who is interested in history, let him do that. But don’t be involved in it too much. [He chuckles.]”

And yet, if there is a hairsbreadth deviation, it is like the gap between heaven and earth. If the least like or dislike arises, the mind is lost in confusion.

  • In Katagiri Roshi’s talks, discussions of the idea of separation or discrimination – and its opposite, which would be samadhi, “one-pointedness,” or “total acceptance,” etc. – are probably too numerous to cite. A random example would be “Blue Cliff Record Case 50: Yun Men’s Every Atom Samadhi” (the talk I happen to be transcribing at the time of writing), which lines up very well with this discussion.
  • Similarly, “like or dislike” appears too many times to be enumerated here – probably in over ten percent of Katagiri Roshi’s talks.
  • The specific term “hairsbreadth deviation” appears in the Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness. The Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness also alludes to the legacy of the Platform Sutra with its reference to “sudden and gradual.” Although not publicly available, KR’s commentary on this is complementary with what can be found in “Platform Sutra – Talk 1”.

Suppose you are confident in your understanding and rich in enlightenment, gaining the wisdom that knows at a glance, attaining the Way and clarifying the mind, arousing an aspiration to reach for the heavens. You are playing in the entranceway, but you are still short of the vital path of emancipation.

  • KR translates this as: “Suppose one gains pride of understanding and influences one’s own enlightenment, glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things, attaining the way and clarifying the mind, raising an aspiration to escalade the very sky. One is making the initial partial excursions about the frontiers, but is still somewhat deficient in the vital way of total emancipation.”
  • This is extensively discussed in “Shobogenzo Bendowa: Dogen’s Questions & Answers – Talk 5”.

Consider the Buddha: although he was wise at birth, the traces of his six years of upright sitting can yet be seen. As for Bodhidharma, although he had received the mind-seal, his nine years of facing a wall is celebrated still. If even the ancient sages were like this, how can we today dispense with wholehearted practice?

Therefore, put aside the intellectual practice of investigating words and chasing phrases, ..

… and learn to take the backward step that turns the light and shines it inward.

  • “Turn the light and shine it inward” is ekō henshō (回光返照). This key phrase is translated and understood in slightly different ways.
  • One way Katagiri Roshi translates this line is, “To learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate yourself.”
  • “The backward step” means to “return to the very inception of the moment.” It implies “cutting off the root of discriminative thought.” It does not mean “to withdraw,” nor “to escape from.” See “Principles of Practice, Talk 4: Faith”, and “Principles of Practice, Talk 5: Direct Transmission”.
  • This is perhaps one of the most challenging lines to interpret reliably. The meaning is almost certainly simple, and yet interpretations often seem to veer toward problems. Particularly, any interpretation that approaches “withdrawing from the world” does not line up with the rest of Katagiri Roshi’s or Dogen’s teachings. The point seems to be that when one takes the backward step, the whole world is present. Taking the backward step is taking a step toward life as it is.
  • “The backward step” is closely related to prajna (“wisdom”). See “Platform Sutra – Talk 2”, where it is discussed as the function of prajna.
  • Another translation is “to learn that one withdraws one step and turns the light inward on oneself.” In “Karma: Karmic Retribution in Present Life”, Katagiri Roshi discusses the backward step of ekō henshō in relationship to the word ekō which means “dedicating the merit.” To be honest, I’m not quite sure what’s going on there yet. More to follow.

Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will manifest.

  • “Body and mind of themselves will drop away” is extensively discussed in the Fukanzazengi series. Particularly see the beginning of “Fukanzazengi: Dogen’s Universal Recommendation for Zazen – Talk 4”: “In shikantaza, all delusions drop off from the first. That is dropping off body and mind, body and mind dropping off. That is zazen itself.” And also: “Dogen Zenji says, ‘Zazen is dropping off body and mind.’ Remember this. In your whole life, you should remember: ‘Zazen is dropping off body and mind.’ It means all delusions drop off.”
  • “Dropping off body and mind” is discussed in conjunction with “from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside.” See the notes for “dullness and distraction are struck aside” below, closer to the end.
  • Another clear reference is in “Principles of Practice, Talk 4: Faith”: “So that is, if you put your body right there, then you can drop off your body and mind, drop off, you can be free from the root of discriminating mind. That means you can be exactly one with the very minute vibration of the mind. And then, no concept of the minute vibration of the mind.”
  • Or, see “Zazen: Dropping Off Body and Mind”. This is an important talk where dropping off body and mind is discussed in relation to compassion.
  • A good search term in KR’s talks is “drop off.” There are many references to things that “drop off”: delusions, dullness and distraction, verbal explanations, all unwholesome things, all unwholesome human behaviors, thought and discursive thinking, ideas, the “concept of wondrous practice which you have realized” … and so on.
  • “Original face” is discussed in connection with total personality and buddha-nature at the beginning of “Fukanzazengi – Talk 2”. See also “Fukanzazengi – Talk 6” after 1:16:36, and “Blue Cliff Record Case 25: The Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak Holds Up His Staff, Talk 2” after 1:00:05.

If you want to realize such, get to work on such right now.

  • A better translation might be, “If you want to realize suchness, practice suchness immediately.”

For practicing Zen, a quiet room is suitable.

Eat and drink moderately.

Put aside all involvements and suspend all affairs.

Do not think “good” or “bad.” Do not judge true or false. Give up the operations of mind, intellect, and consciousness; stop measuring with thoughts, ideas, and views. Have no designs on becoming a buddha. How could that be limited to sitting or lying down?

  • This is discussed as the “arrangement of the brain and nervous system” in “Fukanzazengi: Dogen’s Universal Recommendation for Zazen – Talk 1” (44:56) and in the rest of the series.
  • Here Katagiri Roshi uses the Norman Waddell and Masao Abe translation: “Do not think good or bad; do not administer pros and cons.” “Cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Have no design on becoming a Buddha.”

At your sitting place, spread out a thick mat and put a cushion on it. Sit either in the full-lotus or half-lotus position. In the full-lotus position, first place your right foot on your left thigh, then your left foot on your right thigh. In the half-lotus, simply place your left foot on your right thigh. Tie your robes loosely and arrange them neatly. Then place your right hand on your left leg and your left hand on your right palm, thumb-tips lightly touching. Straighten your body and sit upright, leaning neither left nor right, neither forward nor backward. Align your ears with your shoulders and your nose with your navel. Rest the tip of your tongue against the front of the roof of your mouth, with teeth together and lips shut.

Always keep your eyes open, and breathe softly through your nose.

  • “Breathe gently through your nose” is discussed as “arrangement of the internal organ system”; see “eat and drink moderately,” above.

Once you have adjusted your posture, take a breath and exhale fully, rock your body right and left, and settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking, “Not thinking –what kind of thinking is that?” Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease, the practice realization of totally culminated enlightenment.

It is the koan realized; traps and snares can never reach it. If you grasp the point, you are like a dragon gaining the water, like a tiger taking to the mountains.

For you must know that the true dharma appears of itself, so that from the start dullness and distraction are struck aside.

When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately. Do not rise suddenly or abruptly.

In surveying the past, we find that transcendence of both mundane and sacred, and dying while either sitting or standing, have all depended entirely on the power of zazen.

In addition, triggering awakening with a finger, a banner, a needle, or a mallet, and effecting realization with a whisk, a fist, a staff, or a shout –these cannot be understood by discriminative thinking; …

  • KR translates this as: “In addition, the bringing about of enlightenment by the opportunity provided by a finger, a banner, a needle, or a mallet, and the effecting of realization with the aid of a hosu (that is, a whisk), a fist, a staff, or a shout cannot be fully understood by one’s discriminative thinking.”
  • This is discussed in “Fukanzazengi: Dogen’s Universal Recommendation for Zazen – Talk 6” at 21:38.

… much less can they be known through the practice of supernatural power. They must represent conduct beyond seeing and hearing. Are they not a standard prior to knowledge and views?

This being the case, intelligence or lack of it is not an issue; make no distinction between the dull and the sharp-witted. If you concentrate your effort single-mindedly, that in itself is wholeheartedly engaging the way. Practice-realization is naturally undefiled. Going forward is, after all, an everyday affair.

In general, in our world and others, in both India and China, all equally hold the buddha-seal. While each lineage expresses its own style, they are all simply devoted to sitting, totally blocked in resolute stability. Although they say that there are ten thousand distinctions and a thousand variations, they just wholeheartedly engage the way in zazen. Why leave behind the seat in your own home to wander in vain through the dusty realms of other lands? If you make one misstep, you stumble past what is directly in front of you.

You have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form. Do not pass your days and nights in vain. You are taking care of the essential activity of the buddha-way. Who would take wasteful delight in the spark from a flintstone? Besides, form and substance are like the dew on the grass, the fortunes of life like a dart of lightning –emptied in an instant, vanished in a flash.

Please, honored followers of Zen, long accustomed to groping for the elephant, do not doubt the true dragon. Devote your energies to the way of direct pointing at the real. Revere the one who has gone beyond learning and is free from effort. Accord with the enlightenment of all the buddhas; succeed to the samadhi of all the ancestors. Continue to live in such a way, and you will be such a person. The treasure store will open of itself, and you may enjoy it freely.