Dogen's Private Notes from the Hokyo Era: Are We All Buddhas Just the Way We Are—Or Not?
In the passage from Hokyo-ki highlighted in this post, Rujing clearly says that unless we awaken we are not Buddhas. So much for the dogma of nonattainment.
We hazard to assert that most people in the West who practice Zen, especially Soto Zen, believe that the teaching of the Soto Zen ancestors is that we are already awake, already Buddhas.
However, two of the pivotal Soto ancestors, Rujing (1163-1227) and Dogen (1200-1253) expressly disagree with the above assertion. Indeed, in the passage from Hokyo-ki highlighted in this post, they clearly say that unless we awaken we are not Buddhas. So much for the dogma of nonattainment.
In what follows, we first offer an original translation from Hokyo-ki (i.e., "Dogen's Private Notes from the Hokyo Era") with annotations, and then some highlights. You might find this to be another challenging post. After all, it is the series finale!
So, first the list of the posts in this series—they read like the chapter titles for a book (all titles begin with "Dogen's Private Notes from the Hokyo Era," so we didn't it included in the list):
2. The Five and Six Hindrances
3. What Was Dogen Doing?
4. One-Practice Samadhi
5. Obstructions or Picking and Choosing?
6. What Was Dogen Thinking?
7. The Interacting Communion of Appeal and Response
8. The Just-Sit Koan
9. Immediately Extinguish the Flames from Your Head
10. Are We All Buddhas Just the Way We Are—Or Not?
