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Chapter 4 - This harvest moon
4
This harvest moon
5 August 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER,
DOGEN WROTE:
QUIETLY CONSIDER THE FACT THAT IF THIS WERE A TIME WHEN THE TRUE
DHARMA HAD NOT YET SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, IT WOULD BE
IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH IT, EVEN IF WE WERE
WILLING TO SACRIFICE OUR LIVES TO DO SO. HOW FORTUNATE TO HAVE
BEEN BORN IN THE PRESENT DAY, WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO MAKE THIS
ENCOUNTER!
WE ARE NOW ABLE TO COME IN CONTACT WITH THE BUDDHA SAKYAMUNI AND HEAR HIS TEACHINGS DUE TO THE COMPASSIONATE KINDNESS THAT
HAS RESULTED FROM THE CONSTANT PRACTICE OF EACH OF THE BUDDHAS
AND PATRIARCHS. IF THE BUDDHAS AND PATRIARCHS HAD NOT DIRECTLY
TRANSMITTED THE DHARMA, HOW COULD IT HAVE COME DOWN TO US
TODAY?
THE TRUE WAY OF EXPRESSING THIS GRATITUDE CAN BE FOUND ONLY IN
OUR DAILY PRACTICE ITSELF.
HOW TRANSIENT OUR LIFE IS! TO UTTER TWO OR THREE WORDS OF THE
BUDDHAS AND PATRIARCHS COMPLETELY IS TO EXPRESS THE BUDDHAS AND
PATRIARCHS THEMSELVES FULLY. WHY IS THIS SO?
IN THEIR REALM THERE IS NO GAP BETWEEN BODY AND MIND, SO EVERY
WORD OF THEIR UTTERING IS THEIR WARM BODY AND MIND.
THEREFORE, WHEN WE BECOME THE BUDDHAS AND PATRIARCHS, WE
TRANSCEND THEM.
THIS IS THE PRACTICAL EXPRESSION OF TWO OR THREE WORDS OF BUDDHAS AND PATRIARCHS.
SO I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO PURSUE THE PRACTICE OF THE BUDDHAS
AND PATRIARCHS.
Maneesha, obviously these statements of Dogen were uttered before his enlightenment. He is a beautiful scholar, a learned man. He has a rare intellect; from the age of seven he was able to translate Buddha's words from Chinese to Japanese. At the age of four he was able to learn Chinese. He was a rare child, a
rare intellect, a genius. But that is a barrier as far as Zen is concerned. It must have been a difficult time for him to later change gears from mind to heart.
These sutras are just from the mind. Whoever has compiled these sutras does not know that a master does not speak the way Dogen is speaking. This is the way of the scholar.
Osho - The Miracle 50
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